What holiday will you be celebrating this weekend? (Hint to Canadians, this question has nothing to do with Canadian Thanksgiving, which - for the Americans - is scheduled for this Monday.) Most people would answer that we are about to celebrate Simchas Torah, the awesome holiday during which we celebrate starting over on the cycle of reading the Torah.
People who know me can probably predict what I am going to write: Simchas Torah is great, but there is no holiday in the Torah listed as Simchas Torah. There is only Chag Ha’Atzeres, the Festival of the Gathering.
The fascinating question is WHY we prefer to call the holiday Simchas Torah rather than Shmini Atzeres. It isn’t like one is easier to pronounce than the other or there’s something weird about Shmini Atzeres. Nevertheless, most people don’t walk around discussing their plans for Shemini Atzeres, but they do talk about what they are doing for Simchas Torah or for the second days (which is a whole other misnomer).
Of course there is the obvious statement that the overwhelming atmosphere of Simchas Torah, with its abundant candy and leibadik dancing, leaves an indelible mark on our memories. Chag HaAtzeres does not have much excitement attached to it. It has not rituals. It has no special and unique minhagim.
I am going to say something radical here. This is not going to be my usual type of Dvar Torah… The other day a friend and I were discussing how hard it was to relate to Simchas Torah as women. The conversation segued into a discussion of the drinking that occurs at shul and a question on why the drinking was necessary… I’m a bit of a tea-totaller by nature, so I won’t write my full feelings on that here.
People talk about drinking as a way of enhancing simcha. They speak of the freedom from inhibition and the lifting up of spirit. But when I think about Simchas Torah, I wonder if that level of joy should not - in an ideal world (and certainly we are far from that) - come straight from the joy of Torah and the celebration of learning. And I think this question is at the heart of why we refer to the holiday as Simchas Torah rather than Shmini Atzeres.
We are, alas, a humbled nation. We are a chosen people who has been exiled and distanced. Part of our exile is the challenge that many of us face with connecting spiritually, and that comes from an underlying insecurity. Because Hashem had to hide Himself away, we struggle to feel His hand fully in the world, and because we struggle to connect to Divinity - because it takes constant work - we have trouble truly celebrating Shmini Atzeres.
Although connected to Sukkot by its place on the calendar, Shmini Atzeres is a separate holiday. It is the day Hashem asked from us to stay with Him a little longer after the inter-national celebration that is at the heart of Sukkot. Chag HaAtzeres is translated as the Festival of the Gathering because Hashem wanted us to gather with Him a little longer. Think about that. On Shmini Atzeres we are answering Hashem’s request to spend more time with Him. What greater gesture of love is there than a request to stay in company longer?
But when you are insecure, when you are hesitant of your connection, it feels awkward to receive this invitation, to be the recipient of this affection.
We often compare the relationship of Bnei Yisrael and Hashem to that of a bride and groom, of people in a relationship. In our state of exile, however, we are the insecure partner in the relationship. We are the partner who, when a long moment of companionable silence occurs, needs to fill the space with noice. We do not know how to properly celebrate Shmini Atzeres, how to just gather and be… and so we focus on the celebration of Simchas Torah.
On Simchas Torah we acknowledge and celebrate our relationship with Hashem, but we do it loudly. We make certain that we are giving back to Hashem by verbously announcing our love for Him and our love for Torah. We are not secure enough to receive, but we are connected enough to want to try to give - and that is beautiful.
Please don’t get me wrong. This is not a criticism of the wonderful celebration of Simchas Torah. To see such gatherings of Jews pouring out their love to Hashem, declaring through prayer and song and dance how delighted we are to have the Torah is lovely and inspiring. This is a quest of thought on the state of our being today, so many years since we could gather and celebrate in the Beis Hamikdash. We have just welcomed in the year 5784. We know we are in the final epoch heading to Moshiach. May we see those days quickly and find ourselves next year in Yerushalayim celebrating Shmini Atzeres and basking in the Divine Presence.
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