Many of our our
commentators were bothered by the question as to what could be the special
significance of this additional assembly.
All the various answers
point out the fact that this was a special token of love from Hashem himself to
the his children. The Yalkut Shemoni in Parshas Pinchas compares
Shemini Atzeret to Shavuous, which is also called " solemn assembly".
The fact that Shemini Atzeret comes immediately after the festival of Succos,
while Shavuous falls 50 days after the festival of Pesach, is explained by R.
Yoshua ben Levi with a parable.
A certain king had married children who
lived in different places. Some lived near to him and some far
away. The sons who lived in the neighborhood came and went when they
wanted, but when the distant sons gathered, he always kept them back for another
day before they departed, because they lived so far away and could not come so
often. Now in the summer, after Pesach, people can come to Jerusalem
whenever they wish, therefore there are 50 days separating Pesach from
Shavuot. But during the rainy Succas season one cannot come whenever one
wants, and therefore the Jewish people are kept back for an extra day.
I don’t know about you, but my boys are in
Yeshivas all over the country most of the year and when they do come home,
finally after Yom Kippur all I want to do is be with them. So as you see
from the attached picture, how happy I was, that three of my boys
simultaneously finished a tractate of Gemorra. I didn’t have the merit to
finish a Gemorra with them, but I picked up a sefer for the picture. My
son Shlomo on the left finished Baba Basra, Reuven in the middle finished
Nazir and Nedarim, and Eliezar next to me finished Gittin. I made a Seuda
in my Succah for about 25 people. One big grilled Namura, ( I’ll spare
you the fish picture, but its beautiful) and grilled chicken wings for the main
course.
May we all be Blessed to be together in rebuilt Yerushalayim
for the Chug next year.
Important Numbers
