Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah 101

That's right! It's just about time to turn the pages back and start anew on the Torah reading cycle as we celebrate Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. How much do you know about the traditions and customs to observe during the final days of the Sukkot festival? Here's a little primer from CHABAD.ORG.

These two days constitute a major holiday, when most forms of work are prohibited. On the preceding nights, women and girls light candles, reciting the appropriate blessings, and we enjoy nightly and daily festive meals, accompanied by the Kiddush. We don't go to work, drive, write, or switch electric devices on or off. We are permitted to cook and to carry outdoors (unless it is also Shabbat).

The first day, Shemini Atzeret, features the prayers for rain, officially commemorating the start of the Mediterranean (i.e., Israeli) rain season, and the Yizkor (prayer supplicating G‑d to remember the souls of the departed).

We no longer take the Four Kinds, and we no longer mention Sukkot in the day's prayers; in the Diaspora, however, we do still eat in the sukkah (but without reciting the blessing on the sukkah).

The highlight of the second day....well those can be found by clicking here.

Sukkot preparations in song

What is a Jewish holiday these days without some form of a musical parody? Here at The CJ Shmooze on the eve of Sukkot, we thought we'd bring you this musical tale of preparing to build the holiday dwelling of the sukkah to you. Enjoy and Chag Sukkot sameach! from The CJ Shmooze and The CJN.

The Sukkah: An unusual Mitzvah

Rabbi Michael Stavsky will illustrate the meanings behind and wrapped up in the customs and practices of the Chag of Sukkot:

We’ve just completed the high holiday period known as the Yamim Noraim. We’ve spent countless hours praying, fasting and beseeching Hashem to bless us with a sweet, healthy and happy New Year. Now that it’s behind us, we are blessed with the most joyous of our holidays, Sukkot. Yet this festival (which the Torah and Talmud simply refer to as Chag, and is the only festival where we are specifically commanded to rejoice) requires us to leave the comforts of our homes and sit in a temporary hut called a sukkah. In this article, we’ll explore this most unusual of mitzvot....

Read the full article online now from The Canadian Jewish News.