After celebrating seven days of Sukkoth, we celebrate an additional festival called Shemini Atzeret.  Sukkoth is time of intense closeness with HaShem. When the time comes for us to separate from HaShem, He doesn’t want His children to leave. So He pleads with us, "My children, please stay with Me another day. It is hard for Me to bear your leaving."

 

We were in the King’s presence for seven days celebrating together the joys of the Sukkoth festival. The joy, the love, the holiness is so beautiful. Just as it is hard for HaShem to separate from us, it is just as difficult for us to separate from Him. Therefore, we need one more day to be in His presence, to delay our departure. We simply love Him so much that we just can’t bear to leave His sweet light and pleasant blessings.

 

So too, the times that we separate from our loved ones are poignant and tender. The day of separation is a time to be spent together. An opportunity to express our love and admiration and to convey to our loved one just how difficult separation will be. These sensitivities are the cornerstone of relationships; building lasting and durable foundations of love, commitment, and joy.

 

May we be blessed with loving relationships with our fellow man and with HaShem.

[Based on Da’as Torah of Rav Yerucham]

 

TODAY: Express your love and care to a family member or friend.