Shemini Atzeret: Linking Religion & Agriculture

(33) ה' spoke to Moses, saying: (34) Say to the Israelite people: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month there shall be the Feast of Booths to ה', [to last] seven days. (35) The first day shall be a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations; (36) seven days you shall bring offerings by fire to ה'.

On the eighth day you shall observe a sacred occasion and bring an offering by fire to ה'; it is an עֲצֶ֣רֶת: you shall not work at your occupations. (37) Those are the set times of ה' that you shall celebrate as sacred occasions, bringing offerings by fire to ה' —burnt offerings, meal offerings, sacrifices, and libations, on each day what is proper to it— (38) apart from the sabbaths of ה', and apart from your gifts and from all your votive offerings and from all your freewill offerings that you give to ה'. (39)

Mark, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the yield of your land, you shall observe the festival of ה' [to last] seven days: a complete rest on the first day, and a complete rest on the eighth day.

(35) On the eighth day you shall hold an עֲצֶ֣רֶת you shall not work at your occupations.

(8) After eating unleavened bread six days, you shall hold an עֲצֶ֣רֶת for your God ה' on the seventh day: you shall do no work.

Now, Shemini Atzeret follows the seven days of Sukkot, just as from the seven days of Pesach we count seven week and the fiftieth day which is the day of Giving the Torah (Shavuot) follows them. And the days counted in between are like the Chol HaMo’ed between the first and eighth days [of Sukkot]. It is for this reason that the sages (of blessed memory) refer to Shavuot as “Atzeret” just as Shemini Atzeret which is called this in the verses. This teaches you that Shemini Atzeret weighs out equal to the day of Giving the Torah, and both are called Atzeret.

The Gemara notes: It was taught in a baraita in accordance with the opinion of Rav Naḥman: The eighth day is a Festival in and of itself with regard to the matter of: Peh, zayin, reish; kuf, shin, beit.

This is an acronym for:

• A lottery [payis] in and of itself, i.e., a new lottery is performed on that day to determine which priests will sacrifice the offerings that day, and the order established on Sukkot does not continue;
• the blessing of time [zeman], i.e., Who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this time, in and of itself, as it is recited just as it is recited at the start of each Festival;
• a Festival [regel ] in and of itself, and there is no mitzva to sit in the sukka (see Tosafot);
• an offering [korban] in and of itself, as the number of offerings sacrificed on the Eighth Day is not a continuation of the number sacrificed on Sukkot but is part of a new calculation;
• a song [shira] in and of itself, since the psalms recited by the Levites as the offerings are sacrificed on the Eighth Day are not a continuation of those recited on Sukkot;
• a blessing [berakha] in and of itself, as the addition to the third blessing of Grace after Meals and to the Amida prayer (see Tosafot) is phrased in a manner different from that of the addition recited on Sukkot.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: And both of them derived their opinions from the same verse [derived two meanings of the same contradiction between the verses]. One verse states: “It shall be an עֲצֶ֣רֶת for the Lord, your God” (Deuteronomy 16:8), indicating a Festival dedicated to the service of God, and one verse states: “It shall be an עֲצֶ֣רֶת for you” (Numbers 29:35), indicating a celebratory assembly for the Jewish people. How is this to be reconciled? Rabbi Eliezer holds that the two verses should be understood as offering a choice: The day is to be either entirely for God, in accordance with the one verse, or entirely for you, as per the other verse; and Rabbi Yehoshua holds that it is possible to fulfill both verses: Split the day into two, half of it for God and half of it for you.

(2) At four times of the year the world is judged: On Passover judgment is passed concerning grain; on Shavuot concerning fruits that grow on a tree on Rosh HaShana, all creatures pass before Him like sheep [benei maron], as it is stated: “He Who fashions their hearts alike, Who considers all their deeds” (Psalms 33:15); and on the festival of Sukkot they are judged concerning water, i.e., the rainfall of the coming year.

§ The Gemara returns to the topic of rain. The Sages taught in a baraita: The first rain [yoreh] is called by this name due to the fact that it instructs [moreh] people to plaster their roofs and to bring in their produce from the fields to their houses and to attend to all their needs in the field before more rain falls. Alternatively, yoreh is referring to the fact that it moistens [marve] the earth and waters it to the depths, as it is stated: “Watering [ravvei] its ridges abundantly, settling down its furrows, You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth” (Psalms 65:11). Alternatively, yoreh means that it falls gently and it does not fall vehemently. Or perhaps that is not the case; rather, yoreh means that the rain causes the fruit to drop from the trees, washes the seeds away, and washes the trees away in a destructive manner. According to this interpretation, yoreh is related to yeriya, shooting. Therefore the verse states: “Last rain [malkosh]” (Deuteronomy 11:14); just as malkosh refers specifically to rains that are for a blessing, so too, yoreh is referring to rains that are for a blessing. Or perhaps that is not the case; rather, malkosh means that the rain falls so hard [kashe] and vehemently that it knocks down the houses, shatters the trees and brings up the locusts? Therefore, the verse states: “Yoreh,” from which it may be inferred that just as yoreh is for a blessing, so too, malkosh is for a blessing. And with regard to yoreh itself, from where do we derive that it is referring to rain that falls for a blessing? As it is written: “You children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the first rain [moreh] in His kindness, and He caused to come down for you the rain, the first rain [moreh] and the last rain [malkosh], in the first month” (Joel 2:23). This verse clearly states that yoreh, also referred to as moreh, fall due to God’s kindness, for a blessing.

From the Musaf service of Shemini Atzeret until the Musaf of the first day of Pesach (in winter) you should say [as an insertion to the Amidah]:

"Causer of the wind to blow and of the rain to fall."