based on the teachings of The Lubavitcher Rebbe, ZT"L

Of Shemini Atzeres, the festival immediately following Sukkos, the Torah states: “The eighth day shall be a day of retreat for you; you shall do no work of labor. You shall bring a burnt offering, a sacrifice to be consumed by fire, of pleasing odor to the L-rd; one bullock, one ram . . .” (Bamidbar 29:35, 36).

There is a duality to Shemini Atzeres. On the one hand, it is an independent festival. At the same time, it is connected with Sukkos. The latter is indicated by the fact that the Torah terms Shemini Atzeres the “eighth day” — “eighth” in reference to the seven days of Sukkos. During the festival of Sukkos, the Jews offered seventy bullocks on behalf of the seventy nations of the world. On Shemini Atzeres, only one bullock and one ram were offered, solely on the behalf of the Jewish people.

The Midrash offers a parable to illustrate the nature of Shemini Atzeres and how it differs from Sukkos: “This may be compared to a king who made a banquet for seven days and invited all the people of the country. . . . When the seven days of feasting were over, he said to his beloved friend, ‘Now that we have already done our duty to all the people of the country, let us make do, just you and I, with whatever you can find.’ ”

Our Sages use a similar parable with children who are departing from their father, who says to them, “Your separation is difficult for me; tarry one more day.”

Both parables make the same point. The king and the father are G-d. The people of the country are the seventy nations of the world; the king’s beloved friend, and the children, are Jewry. The banquet arranged for all the peoples corresponds to the seventy sacrifices offered on Sukkos on behalf of the seventy nations of the world. When Sukkos has ended, G-d tells the Jews, “Your separation is difficult for Me; tarry one more day.” That day is Shemini Atzeres, on which only one bull and one ram are brought. It is a small, private feast for the Jews and G-d.

Shemini Atzeres cements the bond between the Jewish people and G-d, preventing any separation. The holiday is not just an extra day of being together; whereas the Jews will be departing anyway, what difference does one day make? Rather, Shemini Atzeres ensures that even after the holiday there will be no separation between G-d and Israel.

Unity Among Jews
How does Shemini Atzeres achieve this bond? In the parable of children departing from their father, the father says, “Your separation is difficult for me.” He does not say, “Our separation is difficult for me,” as would be expected, but “Your separation.” This is because from G-d’s perspective, the bond between His children and Himself can never be severed. Jews, however, can choose to separate themselves from G-d, to ignore the ties between themselves and their Creator. This is why G-d says, “Your separation is difficult for Me.”

Jews are separated from G-d when they are separated among themselves, lacking unity and brotherly love. “Your separation” now has the added meaning of “separation among yourselves.” And this in turn separates Jews from G-d. We say in our prayers, “Bless us, our Father, all of us as one, with the light of Your countenance.” When “all of us” are “as one,” the Divine blessing is fully bestowed. But when we are not united as sons of “our Father,” the blessing is correspondingly less.

An emphasis on unity is needed on Shemini Atzeres, for it is precisely then, after Sukkos, that disunity may occur. On Sukkos itself, Jews are united, as symbolized by the mitzvah of the four species. The esrog (citron), which possesses both taste and fragrance, corresponds to Jews who engage in both Torah study (taste) and the observance of mitzvos (fragrance). The lulav, palm branch, which has taste (its dates) but no fragrance, corresponds to Jews who concentrate more on Torah study than on mitzvos. The hadas, myrtle, possessing fragrance but no taste, represents Jews whose principal area of service is the performance of mitzvos. And the aravah, the willow, with neither fragrance nor taste, symbolizes Jews who engage in neither the performance of mitzvos nor Torah study. The mitzvah consists in taking the four species together, binding them into one mitzvah. It represents the idea of unity among all Jews, forming, in the words of the High Holiday liturgy, “a single band to carry out Your will with a complete heart.”

When the festival of Sukkos is finished and the weekdays arrive, this unity may dissolve, lacking the cement of the mitzvah to hold them together. Moreover, the unity symbolized by the four species does not change the actual species themselves. Even when together, each remains a separate entity — lulav, esrog, hadas, and aravah. They are bound together only within the mitzvah.

The unity represented by Shemini Atzeres is superior to the unity of Sukkos. It is symbolized by the sacrifices of the day, one bullock and one ram. It is not a union of disparate parts. It is a single entity. This unity carries over to the rest of the year, so that Jews remain united even after Shemini Atzeres.

Rejoicing With the Torah’s Essence
Jews observe Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah by emphasizing the unity among themselves. These festivals are celebrated principally by dancing with the Torah, when the most scholarly Jew and the most simple dance together, submerging their personal identities.

Dancing is done with the feet, not the head. One’s rejoicing can be dictated by intellectual awareness of the reason for being joyous — that is, one can rejoice with the “head,” the seat of the intellect. But then the joy is commensurate to the profundity of one’s comprehension, creating differences between the more and less scholarly. Moreover, because the joy is limited to intellectual understanding, even the most learned person cannot reach an infinite level of joy, because even he is bounded by certain intellectual parameters.

Rejoicing with the Torah on Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah is different. Jews dance with the Torah wrapped in its mantle, signifying that the joy derives not from the study of Torah, but from the Torah per se. For there are two dimensions to Torah: its wisdom, which can be understood by a person; and the essence of Torah, which transcends all human comprehension. G-d, in giving the Torah to His people, placed His essence in the essence of Torah. When a Jew studies Torah, he not only learns its wisdom, but also grasps G-d Himself, as it were. In the Tanya’s words: “He has given us His Torah and has clothed in it His blessed will and wisdom, which are united with His essence and being in perfect unity; and surely this is as if He gave us His very self, as it were.”

On Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah we rejoice with the true nature of Torah. Dancing with the Torah wrapped in its mantle, with its contents not being studied, emphasizes that we rejoice with the Torah’s essence.

All Jews relate equally to this level of Torah. The erudite and the unlettered alike inherit the entire Torah. As the Torah says (Devarim 33:4), “The Torah that Moses commanded us is a heritage of the congregation of Jacob.” The more learned understand more of the Torah’s wisdom, but every member of the congregation of Jacob can grasp G-d’s essence.

On Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah, all rejoice equally with the Torah. All dance with the feet, uncaring of any differences that would otherwise create barriers among Jews. The body of Jewry is whole and one, rejoicing with G-d who is One. It is a time for Jew and G-d to be together — alone.

Courtesy of Sichos in English; adapted from Likkutei Sichos