BackStay a Little Longer
By: Rabbi Dr. Abraham Unger
We think of Yom Kippur as the culmination of the period of Teshuva, the penitential season, but that isn’t quite the case. The chance to fully return to G-d and get back to our best selves is extended to Shemini Atzeret, the festival that starts this Friday night to close out the autumn holidays.
Rashi comments that Shemini Atzeret is a day that G-d asks us, the Children of Israel, to linger with Him one more day before we all get back to our daily routines. Shemini Atzeret does not have the loftiness of the blowing of the Shofar, or the existential inwardness of the fast of Yom Kippur. In fact, it has no unique ritual at all.
Shemini Atzeret is simply a time to spend with each other, with ourselves, and with the Divine. We end these fall Chagim, festivals, not with a trumpet blast, but with quietude, preparing with focus for the year ahead.
How will each of us make individual use of this additional Yom Tov? Its absence of a unique ceremony allows us the creative space to make Shemini Atzeret a deeply personal spiritual experience. Some of us might reflect on our families and family histories, and the lessons bequested by those who came before us. After all, we recite Yizkor on Shemini Atzeret.
Others might think about how to grow closer to the Land of Israel, since we are just wrapping up Sukkot, which celebrates the land’s fall harvest. Especially in these times, that is certainly a worthwhile commitment. Others might read a bit more about Judaism or learn a bit more Torah. Still others will just concentrate on how to make the best of the upcoming year.
However one draws from the well of extra time afforded by Shemini Atzeret to move forward, it is a day that asks us each to take one more step in realizing our potentials.