Shemini Atzeres (שמיני עצרת) — The Eighth Day of Assembly
Core definition
Shemini Atzeres — "on the eighth day, an atzeres shall be for you" (Bamidbar 29:35) — is the festival that closes the Tishrei cycle after Sukkos. "Atzeres" is read as kelitah, absorption [57652/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 55]: it is the day on which the whole of the Tishrei revelations are absorbed and internalized. "The three weeks between Rosh Hashanah and Shemini Atzeres are the time of the ascents from level to level" — "Shemini Atzeres is on the first day of the fourth week after Rosh Hashanah" — and "on Shemini Atzeres is the absorption of the general drawing" (hakelitah shel hahamshachah haklalit) [58841/maamar_022 :: עב׳ 198–199, עב׳ 209]. The seals are opened on Hoshana Rabbah; "the distribution of the notes in seals of blessings is on Shemini Atzeres" [58841/maamar_022 :: עב׳ 31–32], and "on the eighth day, all the fat and satiety" (kol hashuman v'hasova) [58841/maamar_022 :: עב׳ 33].
How the Rebbeim develop it
The central contrast is with Sukkos. On Sukkos's seven days they offered seventy bulls corresponding to the seventy nations — "from which they too can receive — since this hamshachah is only in the manner of makif" [57652/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 98]. But "Shemini Atzeres is 'atzeres tih'yeh lachem' specifically — since this hamshachah is in the manner of pnimiyus — from which they cannot receive" [57652/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 99]. The whole sequence is an interiorization: "the hamshachah of da'as is through the four minim of the lulav… and therefore through these four minim there is drawn afterward the yichud on Shemini Atzeres, which is hamshachah in the aspect of pnimiyus" [57652/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 55].
"Lachem" — "for you" — is the day's signature: "this is the matter of 'an eighth, an atzeres, shall be to you': all that is drawn is for Israel" [31690/maamar_002 :: עב׳ 546–547]. The verb is read in the present: "'shall be for you' (tihyeh lachem) — in the language of present and being (havayah) specifically" [31643/maamar_006 :: עב׳ 431] — the drawing becomes an enduring possession, "the revelation of the etzem revealed below" [31643/maamar_006 :: עב׳ 429–430]. From the peace of this union "is also made peace between a man and his fellow," and through it "is also drawn the peace above the Torah" [31690/maamar_002 :: עב׳ 544–545].
Key distinctions
- Sukkos vs. Shemini Atzeres: Sukkos's drawing is makif — the seventy nations can receive from it; Shemini Atzeres's is pnimiyus — "atzeres tih'yeh lachem," for Yisrael alone [57652/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 98–99].
- Makif to pnimiyus: the lulav draws da'as; Shemini Atzeres brings the yichud in pnimiyus — the interiorization of the whole cycle [57652/maamar_011 :: עב׳ 55].
- Ascent vs. absorption: the three weeks of Rosh Hashanah–Sukkos are ascents "from level to level"; Shemini Atzeres is the kelitah — the absorption of the general drawing [58841/maamar_022 :: עב׳ 199, עב׳ 209].
- "Lachem": everything drawn on this day is for Yisrael [31690/maamar_002 :: עב׳ 546–547], in "the language of present and being" [31643/maamar_006 :: עב׳ 431].
- Seals: Hoshana Rabbah reviews the seals; Shemini Atzeres distributes the notes [58841/maamar_022 :: עב׳ 31–32].
Related concepts
- Sukkos
- Hoshana Rabbah
- The four minim
- Yichud
- Makif and pnimiyus
- Simchas Torah
Sources
- 58841/maamar_022 — מאמר ביום השמיני עצרת: distribution of the notes [עב׳ 31–33]; three weeks of ascents [עב׳ 198–199]; the kelitah of the general drawing [עב׳ 209]; the drawing in greater particularity [עב׳ 226]
- 57652/maamar_011 — ד״ה והנה בזמן שבהמ״ק (פרקים ה–ח): atzeres as kelitah; the lulav and the yichud in pnimiyus [עב׳ 55]; seventy bulls vs. "tih'yeh lachem" [עב׳ 98–99]
- 31690/maamar_002 — Sefer HaMaamarim 5648, maamar 2: "all that is drawn is for Israel" [עב׳ 546–547]; the peace above the Torah [עב׳ 544–545]
- 31643/maamar_006 — ביום השמיני עצרת: the etzem revealed below [עב׳ 429–430]; "tihyeh lachem" in the present [עב׳ 431]