Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are timeless lessons of continuity, growth, study and celebration of all of God’s gifts, especially the spiritual ones.
At the conclusion of Sukkot, the culmination of the High Holiday season, there is yet one more holiday that the Jewish people observe: Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah (Leviticus 23:36).
In Israel, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are observed together on a single day while in the Diaspora they are observed over a two-day period.
Shemini Atzeret, translated literally as “the 8th Day of Assembly”, is one of the few Jewish holidays that has no special rituals and certainly no ritual objects. There’s no matzah to eat, no shofar to blow, and no lulav (4 species) to shake. So what is this ritual-less holiday and why do we need it after just having completed so many holidays?