Celebrating Joy & Renewal Through Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah

August 9, 2021

By: Lola Stanten, Southwest Community Manager
and Alex Rosenbaum, West Coast Regional Jewish Educator

Coming at the tail-end of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are the final hurrah of the Jewish holiday season! In Israel, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are celebrated on the same day, but outside of Israel (where the philosophy re Jewish holidays is “the more the merrier”) they are generally celebrated as two separate, but consecutive holidays.

Falling eight days after the start of Sukkot, “Shemini Atzeret” literally means “the eighth day of assembly.” While it is a holiday in its own right, Shemini Atzeret’s purpose is a bit obscure! There aren’t any particular customs or rituals to it, but its etymological roots may clue us in to the essence of the day! The word “atzeret” also contains the Hebrew root for the word “stop,” and after the barrage of Jewish holidays that demand self-evaluation, transformation, and intimacy with the Divine, this is an opportunity to stop, or pause before returning to the mundane.

A group of young Jewish adults hold pages of the torah

A group of Moishe House participants hold pages of the torah.

“Simchat Torah” means “rejoicing in Torah,” because we are finishing the yearly cycle of reading through the whole Torah, and then we begin it anew! If you like to shake a leg, this is the holiday for you, as the custom is to dance with and around the Torah.

Hot take: Simchat Torah seriously rivals Purim as the party holiday!

Shemini Atzeret begins this year on the evening of September 27th, immediately followed by Simchat Torah the evening of September 28th, all concluding after nightfall on September 29th.

+ - Simchat Torah Program Ideas

“Holy Compost”
- “Composting is taking something and repurposing it, or as Rabbi Ben Bag Bag says, “turn it and turn it,” you never know what secrets you might find. The same way we would compost a food scrap and turn it into something new, we will reflect back on the past year and turn it into something new. Think of something from your year, something that is already a part of you, and think about how you can ‘repurpose’ it in the new year/next few months to start fresh.”
- Here is another great resource by Jessica Herrmann, a collection of Jewish composting texts to bring to your discussion!

“What Stories Do We Tell?”
- Check out this resource from Hillel for leading a Jewish learning community conversation exploring why the stories told in the torah might’ve been chosen as well as why we chose which stories to tell from our own lives.
Silent Disco
- Tango, twirl and tap into the joy of Simchat Torah! Tell your friends to bring over their wireless headphones and host a silent disco. OR have a virtual dance party on Zoom, sharing bits of Jewish wisdom during dance breaks!

+ - Shemini Atzeret Program Ideas

Putting Reflections Into Action, Vision Boarding for the New Year
- During the high holidays, we spent time reflecting on the last year. Now let’s put those reflections into action and plan how we’ll apply what we’ve learned to the new year, while we create vision boards to symbolize ways this will take place
  - Utilize the questions posed in this article from My Jewish Learning for inspiration on questions to pose to your community for the High Holiday reflection to then build upon for how you’d like your learnings to manifest in the new year.
Mi Shaberech Shabbat
- Host a Mi Shaberech Shabbat with this resource from OneTable. It has everything you need to host a meaningful Shemini Atzeret Shabbat including a discussion guide and intention setting activity.

+ - Additional Resources

Additional Resources

If you’re planning a larger program, make sure to utilize the $200 chag grant!
Check out last year’s resource pages for Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah for more ideas!
Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah 101: My Jewish Learning
Sefaria Source Sheet: Dancing with the Torah
Sefaria Source Sheet: Simple Joy: Shemini Atzeret