Today, the 7th day of Sukkot, is a day with its own name: Hoshannah Rabbah. On this day, there’s a special (or bizarre and obscure) ritual in which we take the willow branches from the lulav and strike them against the ground until the leaves fall off. It’s a symbolic attempt to get rid of any remaining sins we’ve held on to from the High Holiday season. Of course, while the goal was to get them all out earlier, the tradition knows that the work isn’t easy, and it gives us an extra week and a half to admit to some of our wrong-doings and own up.
Shemini Atzeret, which begins tonight, is when we start praying for rain. It’s when we officially mark the changing of the seasons, acknowledging that we’re entering a new timeframe. The beating of the willows just before this change feels striking to me not just as the seasons of the weather change, but in a way that marks our own internal changes. We have to work through the difficulty, bringing things to the surface, literally putting them on the ground before us, in order to transition to a new season of our lives. We have to shed some of the old before we can learn and grow and embrace the new, and if we didn’t do all the work before (could we ever?), we still have until today.
There’s another ritual that some have for Hoshannah Rabbah that sends a similar message. Some people stay up late studying Torah on the night before Hoshannah Rabbah, particularly focusing on the Book of Deuteronomy, the last book of the Torah. This last book is essentially a summary of the rest of the Torah, reminding the Israelites where they’ve been, what they’ve learned, and where they’re headed. We start the Torah over again on Simchat Torah, on Sunday this year, and there’s a sense that in order to start from the beginning again, perhaps we have to review the past.
In both of these rituals, the reading of Deuteronomy and the beating of the willow branches, there’s a reminder of our active, empowered role in experiencing changes. All of those changes are things that are beyond our control - the weather will change and the Torah will start over and the new year will begin. But engaging in these rituals allows us to feel like active participants in these changes, marking them and becoming a part of them. We don’t have to passively let changes affect us; we can take some ownership in being a part of the change. Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah mark the end of the holiday season. Now, we make our way into ‘regular’ life. As we close out the holiday season that starts off 5781, let’s take this opportunity to be active participants in the changes that occur in our lives.
Wishing you all a chag sameach and Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Sarit
Please click here for the Youtube playlist with davening and teaching I’ve prepared for this Shabbat (it will be uploaded before Shabbat).
Please check out our website for some Shabbat-related learning resources.
