Shemini Atzeret is the final chag of the year, following Pesach and Shavuot. Each chag has its own unique theme: Pesach commemorates our exodus from Egypt and involves eating Matzot and drinking wine, Shavuot celebrates the receiving of the Torah, Rosh HaShanah is a day of judgment when HaShem appears as a king, Yom Kippur is a day of forgiveness when HaShem appears as a merciful father, and Sukkot is a season of rejoicing where we remember the seven clouds of glory by sitting in the Sukkah and shake the four species.
But, on Shemini Atzeret, there is no theme or special mitzvot. Further more, the Gemara tells us that it is an independent chag and is not connected to Sukkot, which makes it even harder to understand. If this is the case, why do we call it the eight day? There were no days before. Many of us heard the parable mentioned in the Midrash that explains that for seven days we prayed on behalf of all the nations. This is why we offer 70 oxen sacrifices throughout Sukkot. We bring them do that HaShem should protect all the nations.
On Shemini Atzeret, we offer only a single ox and a ram representing the closeness that we have with HaShem, as after He already dealt with the other nations, He know wants to make a small, private meal with just us. Based on this Midrash, we discover that behind the simple words “Shemini Atzeret” and “Mikrei Kadosh”, we can see the unique theme of Shemini Atzeret: That HaShem wants us to connect to us, and wants our love. This is why we don’t have any special mitzvot on this day, as we want to designate this day to connect to HaShem.
On a deeper level, I would like to suggest, based on this Midrash, that Shemini Atzeret is a call from HaShem to be creative and get ready for the coming year by changing a random day to be a meaningful day because the life that we experience is the life that we focus on. If we focus on the mundane, life will never be anything other than that. But, if we focus on the seemingly simple mitzvot that we do every day, and the small moments of good that we experience, life will feel like one, big, uplifting holiday. \
This also explains why we call it Shemini (the eighth day), as it’s still connected to the past, because we continue the Simcha, but also a preparation for the future, so it has some aspect of a regular day.
Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Tal