NO SYMBOL OR REPRESENTATION

The month Tishrei is full of festivities. Start with the Yamim Nora’im, the 10 days of repentance and return to the roots that are the fundamental theme of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The celebration of Sukkot begins 5 days later and commemorates the Divine protection that the Hebrews had during the long period of 40 years of crossing the desert. The last day of this holiday, which in the Diaspora consists of 2 days, is called Shemini Atseret.

What is the reason for this celebration? Accordingto the Midrash, God longs for the company of the Hebrew people and exclaims: “It is difficult for me to say goodbye to you, stay an additional day.” The word Atseret means “closing” and the festivity comes to be a kind of conclusion of 3 weeks of intense religious celebration.

In the Talmud, the nomenclature Atseret is used to designate the holiday Shavuot, which lacks an exact date. It is celebrated 7 weeks after Pesach, according to the instructions of the biblical text and, due to that imprecision, there was a strong dispute between the Perushim and Tsedukim of yesteryear. The Tsedukim argued that the 7-week count should begin on the first Shabbat that occurs during Pesach, while the Perushim held that the holiday is celebrated seven weeks after theSecond Day of Pesach. We abide by the second opinion. 

The designation Atseret for Shavuot implies that the holiday is a conclusion, and in this case the reference is to Pesach. If we take into account that Shavuot is the anniversary of the giving of the Torah, it is clear that the closure, the goal of the Egyptian liberation that Pesach celebrates, is the giving of  the Torah, which will serve as a spiritual compass for the Hebrew people.

Freedom could not lead to debauchery that would lead to chaos and the destruction of society. The rights that freedom and independence grant had to have a legal framework to channel the energy of the people and allow their social and spiritual development. Therefore, the designation Atseret demonstrates the relationship between these 2 festivities.

What is the relationship between Shemini Atseret and the festivities that precede her on Tishrei? Rosh HaShanah has as its visible symbol the Shofar, whose sound must be translated into an ethical message, a call to Teshuvah, repentance for mistakes and a firm decision to avoid making them in the future. Yom Kippur, on the other hand, has no representation: it must be a day of pure spiritual content, no symbol can be allowed to cloud or obfuscate the purity of the day, its primary design.

The holiday of Sukkot, in addition to celebrating the divine protection of yesteryear, also marks the time of the last harvest of the year, a time to thank the goodness of nature that has a divine origin. Therefore, the symbolism of the Sukkah – a kind of hut used in the Middle East by Bedouins who move from place to place – and the use of the Etrog and Lulav withtheir companions, myrtle and willow leaves, allude to the relationship of the festival with agriculture and cultivation.

It is not difficult to detect a significant lesson in biblical instruction that requires residing in a Sukkah during this holiday. It teaches that the home does not depend on the solidity of its walls, nor on luxurious furniture. Home can be a simple hut when there is a relationship of harmony and solidarity among its members. Love and devotion, respect, and consideration, are the parameters that promote the happiness of the family that inhabits a house that, in this way, becomes a home.

The celebration of Shemini Atseret points to the fact that, beyond the symbolisms and their interpretations, the energy and vitality of the Hebrew people are based on their direct relationship with the Creator, who manifested His will and formulated, through the Torah, what is the path that allows and stimulates spiritual growth. That is perhaps the reason for the conclusion of the annual cycle of Torah reading on this date, which in the diaspora takes place on the Second Day, called Simchat Torah. Shemini Atseret concludes the Tishrei cyclewithout a specific symbol because, perhaps, the relationship between man and God cannot be summarized or compressed into an object: its nature consists of an exquisite mixture of intellect and feeling, which is particular and personal to everyone.