How Shmini Atzeret was born

Hi,

[The following is based on part of Yeshayah 26:15, rendered in this midrash as, ‘You have added for the nation; You have added for the nation, and You have been honored.’ The purpose is to explain how the 7-day holiday of Succot gained an eighth day.]

“The Jewish people declared before Gd: Master of the Universe! It is Your responsibility to provide us with festivals [literally: appointed times], and it is our responsibility to bring appropriate offerings to You. ‘You have been honored.’ You gave us Rosh Chodesh, and we bring offerings before You; on Pesach we brought offerings to You; on Rosh haShanah we brought offerings to You; on Yom Kippur we brought offerings to You; and the same was true for Succot. We have not abandoned a single festival!

“And so the Jewish people declared before Gd: It is for You to add festivals for us, and it is our responsibility to bring offerings before You and honor You. ‘You have added for the nattion, and You have been honored’ – HaShem said to them, ‘By your lives, I will not remove festivals from you, but rather I will add times for you to rejoice.’ And so it is written, ‘On the eighth day, you shall have a celebration.’”

(Midrash, Bamidbar Rabbah 21:23)

Moadim l'simchah,
Mordechai