אני מאמין באמונה שלמה בביאת המשיח ואף על פי שיתמהמה עם כל זה אחכה לו בכל יום שיבוא.

ישועה וגאולה אמיתית לכל ישראל.

"Demonstrating Faith..."

This week because the holiday Shmini Atzeret falls on Shabbat, we have a special Torah reading.

Shmini means eighth and generally the number eight symbolizes new beginnings. For example G-d chose the eighth day for brit miliah (circumcision) designating it as the perfect day to perform this rite. Brit miliah is G-d’s covenant of new beginnings with man.

Atzeret means "assembly" but it can also mean "holding back." Holding back in such a way as to bring something to its perfect completion, its new beginning. Therefore the holiday Shmini Atzeret is a day of assembly on which G-d has chosen to hold back the joy of the seven days of Sukkot for one more day to symbolize that His joy is always a new beginning.

Shmini Atzeret is a biblically designated holiday in its own right (Vayikra 23:36), therefore it does not involve any of the special observances of Sukkot; that is the lulov and etrog or the sukkah. Although the command for Shmini Atzeret, like the one given on Sukkot is to rejoice, the rejoicing on this holiday moves from the sukkah into the home. This I believe represents a shift from a public celebration to a more personal intimate one. All the guests have left and now G-d wants a one on one day with each person that came to the party to give them a new beginning of joy.

Sukkot in Israel is the beginning of the rainy season, therefore on Shmini Atzeret it is customary to pray for rain.

Well now to this week’s reading. The verse which caught my eye from this week’s Parasha deals with the fear of the L-rd: 

Devarim {14:22} You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes forth from the field year by year. {14:23} You shall eat before HaSHEM your G-D, in the place which he shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear HaSHEM your G-D always.

How would tithing possibly cause anyone to fear the L-rd? I think I can answer that question by saying that the principle of tithing does not produce fear, but the act of tithing is evidence of it. What is fear?