Schmini Azeret

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Meal in the Sukkah,
Bernard Picart , Amsterdam 1722

Schmini Azeret or Schemini Azeret ( Hebrew שְּׁמִינִי עֲצֶרֶת 'Eighth [day] of the assembly' , in German also closing festival ) is the Jewish holiday immediately following the seven-day festival of tabernacles (Sukkot) , which is often viewed as part of Sukkot. In orthodox and conservative communities of the diaspora it is celebrated for two days on the 22nd and 23rd, in Israel and in certain reform communities one day on the 22nd Tishri , the seventh month of the Jewish calendar , in September or October. The second day of the holiday becomes Simchat Torahcalled; where Shmini Azeret only lasts one day, the two holidays coincide. Shmini Azeret was celebrated in ancient times following Sukkot, while Simchat Torah was not written until post-Talmudic times.

The holiday is mentioned several times in the Bible , for example in Leviticus 23.36  GNB and Numbers 29.35  GNB : “On the eighth day you come together for the great festival; all work must rest on this day ”, as well as in the description of the inauguration of the Solomonic Temple in Jerusalem ( 2 Chr 7,9-10  GNB ) and in the celebration of the return of the Jews from Babylonian exile ( Neh 8,18  GNB ) .

According to current practice is partly to Shemini Atzeret in the sukkah eaten, is in the morning in the synagogue during or before Musafgebet prayer for rain ( Hebrew גֶּשֶׁם Geschem ), and the request for rain is inserted from this day on until the first day of the Passover festival - i.e. during the rainy season of the winter half-year in Israel - at the beginning of the eighteen prayers. Unless one of the intermediate days of Sukkot falls on a Sabbath , the book of Ecclesiastes at Shmini Azeret is read. In addition, according to the Ashkenazi rite, the prayer that is said only four times a year in memory of the deceased, "Jiskor" or "soul memory" ( Hebrew הַזְכָּרַת נְשָׁמוֹת Haskarat Neschamot ), prayed.

Literature (selection)

  • Article Schemini Azeret. In: Jewish Lexicon . Berlin 1927, Vol. IV / 2, Col. 180-181.

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