{"id":676,"date":"2013-06-23T16:22:50","date_gmt":"2013-06-23T20:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bethadonai3.web802.discountasp.net\/wordpress\/?page_id=676"},"modified":"2013-06-23T16:24:20","modified_gmt":"2013-06-23T20:24:20","slug":"shemini-atzeret-simchat-torah","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/?page_id=676","title":{"rendered":"Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah come at the conclusion of Sukkot. \u00a0Some authorities consider Shemini Atzeret to be a separate festival, but its connection to Sukkot comes from scripture:<\/span><\/p>\n

Leviticus 23:36
\n<\/span><\/b>For seven days present offerings made to the LORD by fire, and on the <\/span>eighth day<\/span><\/i><\/b> hold a sacred <\/span>assembly<\/span><\/i><\/b> and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. It is the closing assembly; do no regular work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Numbers 29:35
\n<\/span><\/b>On the <\/span>eighth day <\/span><\/i><\/b>hold an assembly and do no regular work. \u201cShemini\u201d means eighth, while \u201cAtzeret\u201d means gathering or <\/span>assembly<\/span><\/i><\/b>. \u00a0It comes from the Hebrew root \u201catzar\u201d meaning \u201cto hold back\u201d or to \u201ctarry\u201d. \u00a0In that connotation it is seen as an added day to spend with the Lord. The Talmud explains that it is similar to a great king who has invited diplomatic guests to come visit him for a week long feast. \u00a0On the last day he calls his son who was also there aside and tells him: \u00a0\u201cWhile all these strangers were around we hardly had an opportunity to have an intimate conversation. Would you not stay for just one more day so we can have a simple feast all by ourselves?\u201d \u00a0A rabbinical turn on this is that during the seven days of Sukkot Israel is interceding for the world, a reference perhaps to this verse:<\/span><\/p>\n

Zechariah 14:16-17
\n<\/span><\/b>Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. \u00a0[17] If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. Israel then takes one last day to be alone with God. \u00a0\u00a0A Messianic explanation for this one day holiday is based on the theory that Yeshua was born on the first day of Sukkot. He came into the world and \u201ctabernacled\u201d with us.<\/span><\/p>\n

John 1:14
\n<\/span><\/b>\u201cThe Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…\u201d
\nThen, eight days later, on Shemini Atzeret, was His bris:<\/span><\/p>\n

Luke 2:21
\n<\/span><\/b>\u201cOn the eighth day, when it was time for his Brit-milah, \u00a0he was named Yeshua, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0As a separate holiday Shemini Atzeret has fewer rituals than the preceding feasts. \u00a0It is traditional though, to read one of the five \u201cmegillot\u201d, or scrolls, Ecclesiastes, and to recite \u201cYizkor\u201d, the memorial prayer for the dead.\u00a0 Perhaps Ecclesiastes is read because of its somber introspection, a balance to the joyousness of Sukkot, and an expression of the mood of soul searching associated with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur preceding.\u00a0 The mood swings upward again a day later on Simchat Torah. \u00a0In Israel this day is not considered as a separate feast, but as the second day of Shemini Atzeret. \u00a0In the Diaspora it is either a separate feast or considered the ninth day of Sukkot. In either case this day is not mentioned in scripture, and did not develop until the Middle Ages (ninth century). \u00a0At that time the three year cycle of reading through the Torah, ending on Pesach, gave way to a one year cycle ending on Shemini Atzeret.\u00a0 This way a different portion of the Torah is read each week so that the entire Torah was read through in a year. \u00a0Since the cycle of Torah readings would begin again, this became a joyous day. \u00a0Thus the name \u201cSimchat Torah\u201d, \u201crejoicing in the Torah\u201d. \u00a0What would otherwise have been a day of tediously re-rolling all the Torah scrolls to their beginnings, now became a very joyous festival involving the whole family.<\/span><\/p>\n

Traditions for this day include reading the last verses of Deuteronomy and immediately reading the first verses of Genesis. Jewish tradition did not want to leave the slightest impression that we are ever finished studying God\u2019s word. A portion of Joshua is also read to show that God\u2019s word extends even beyond the Torah. \u00a0As believers we can consider the eternal nature of the Word:<\/p>\n

John 1:1
\n<\/span><\/b>“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”<\/span><\/p>\n

In synagogues that read from the actual Torah scroll a great ceremony is made of rewinding the scroll. \u00a0It is considered an honor to be called up to help with this task. \u00a0Also, the Torah scrolls are carried in a circle seven times around the sanctuary in a joyous parade called \u201chakafot\u201d. \u00a0Children are given flags or small scrolls to follow in the procession. \u00a0Candles are put in the ark in place of the scrolls, a reminder of God\u2019s law being our light:<\/p>\n

Psalm 119:105
\n<\/span><\/b>“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a <\/span>light<\/span><\/i><\/b> for my path.”
\nAlso, as Yeshua reminded us when He was at the Temple on Sukkot:<\/span><\/p>\n

John 8:12
\n<\/span><\/b>When Yeshua spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the <\/span>light<\/span><\/b> of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the <\/span>light<\/span><\/i><\/b> of life.”\u00a0 We take delight in our celebration of the Torah as mentioned in Psalms:<\/span><\/p>\n

Psalm 119:77
\n<\/span><\/b>“Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for <\/span>your law is my delight<\/span><\/i><\/b>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Psalm 119:162
\n<\/span><\/b>“I <\/span>rejoice<\/span><\/i><\/b> in your promise like one who finds great spoil.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Psalm 119:174
\n<\/span><\/b>“I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my <\/span>delight<\/span><\/b>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Sweets are appropriate at this celebration to remind us:<\/p>\n

Psalm 119:103
\n<\/span><\/b>“How <\/span>sweet<\/span><\/i><\/b> are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”<\/span><\/p>\n

As believers we can rejoice in the Living Word:<\/p>\n

John 1:14
\n<\/span><\/b>“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah come at the conclusion of Sukkot. \u00a0Some authorities consider Shemini Atzeret to be a separate festival, but its connection to Sukkot comes from scripture: Leviticus 23:36 For seven days present offerings made to the LORD by fire, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present an offering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":109,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/676"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=676"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":678,"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/676\/revisions\/678"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}