Weekly Reading – שְׁמִינִי עֲצֶרֶת – Shemini Atzeret – Eighth Day of Assembly
There is a special moment in the Jewish calendar when end and beginning almost coincide. On Shemini Atzeret, which in Israel is also Simchat Torah, we read the final words of the Torah. Moses dies, an era comes to an end – and just moments later, we roll the Torah scroll back and begin again with the first words of Creation: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” We do not linger at the end. Perhaps therein lies one of the most powerful messages of the Jewish faith: An ending is not merely a farewell. It can be the moment when something new begins. And sometimes we must let go of something in order to be able to start again at Bereishit – Genesis.
After weeks full of movement, from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur to the days of Sukkot, filled with guests, joy and visible symbols, there finally comes a single, almost silent day: Shemini Atzeret, the eighth day of assembly. Our sages described this day...
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