page_title: Shemini Atzeret
section_title: Evolution of observances and customs
hierarchical_section_title: Shemini Atzeret / Evolution of observances and customs
caption_attribution_description: Torah and jad - exhibits in Big Synagogue Museum, Wlodawa - Poland.
context_page_description: Shemini Atzeret is a Jewish holiday. It is celebrated on the 22nd day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei in the Land of Israel, and on the 22nd and 23rd outside the Land, usually coinciding with late September or early October. It directly follows the Jewish festival of Sukkot which is celebrated for seven days, and thus Shemini Atzeret is literally the eighth day. It is a separate—yet connected—holy day devoted to the spiritual aspects of the festival of Sukkot. Part of its duality as a holy day is that it is simultaneously considered to be both connected to Sukkot and also a separate festival in its own right.
  Outside the Land of Israel, this is further complicated by the additional day added to all Biblical holidays except Yom Kippur. The first day of Shemini Atzeret therefore coincides with the eighth day of Sukkot outside the Land of Israel, leading to sometimes involved analysis as to which practices of each holiday are to apply.
  The celebration of Simchat Torah is the most distinctive feature of the holiday, but it is a later rabbinical innovation.
context_section_description: The Torah explicitly mentions Shemini Atzeret three times, all in the context of Sukkot. Only two observances are specified for Shemini Atzeret. One relates to the Temple service, and is not relevant to modern observance. The other is the avoidance of "servile labor" (melechet avodah), as on other major Jewish holidays. (See also Jewish holidays — "Work" on Sabbath and biblical holidays.) No other specific rituals or ritual objects are specified, making Shemini Atzeret unique in that regard among the festivals mentioned in the Torah.
  Two observances of Shemini Atzeret are mentioned in the Prophets and Writings portions of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). The first occurred at the time of the dedication of the First Temple by Solomon. The second came at the time of the Jews' return from the Babylonian exile. In both cases, however, the mention is limited to the observation that an "assembly [atzeret] was held on the eighth day".
  According to the Apocryphal Second Book of Maccabees, the first celebration of Hanukkah mimicked that of Sukkot, which the Maccabees and their followers had been unable to celebrate earlier that year. However, the only allusion to Shemini Atzeret in that narrative is that the Hanukkah celebration was fixed for eight days—in remembrance of both the seven days of Sukkot and the additional day of Shemini Atzeret.
  Like most Jewish holidays of Biblical origin, Shemini Atzeret is observed for one day within the Land of Israel, and traditionally for two days outside Israel. Reform and Reconstructionist communities generally celebrate this and most Biblical holidays for one day, even outside Israel. The second day observed outside Israel is called Simchat Torah (see next section).
caption: Torah and Yad
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