קריאהThe readingDeuteronomy 14:22-16:17 · all of it in the booklet
What each aliyah says, with its page in the booklet. The text itself is on Sefaria.
First Aliyah
Every year one must set aside maaser (tithe) from the produce of the field and consume it before Hashem in the chosen place, converting it to money if the distance is too great, so as to learn to fear the Lord always—while never forsaking the Levite, who has no portion of land of his own. In the third year, this tithe is instead left within one's own gates for the Levite, stranger, orphan, and widow to eat and be satisfied, so that Hashem will bless all the work of one's hands.
Second Aliyah
Every seventh year brings shemittah (release), cancelling debts owed by a fellow Israelite and freeing Hebrew servants, who must be sent off with generous gifts from one's flock, threshing floor, and winepress rather than empty-handed. The wealthy are commanded to open their hands wide to the poor without resentment, remembering that they themselves were slaves redeemed from Miżrayim (Egypt), for such generosity brings Divine blessing on all their endeavors.
Third Aliyah
Every firstborn male of the herd or flock is to be sanctified to Hashem, set apart from ordinary labor and shearing, and eaten before Him year by year in the chosen place. A firstling with a blemish, however, may not be offered as a sacrifice but is to be eaten at home by anyone regardless of ritual purity, provided its blood is poured out and not consumed.
Fourth Aliyah
Bnei Yisrael are commanded to observe Pesach (Passover) in the month of Aviv, offering the korban Pesach (paschal sacrifice) from the flock or herd at the place Hashem chooses, in commemoration of the Exodus from Mitzrayim (Egypt) by night. For seven days one must eat matzah (unleavened bread), the "bread of affliction," refraining from chametz (leavened bread), so as to remember the day of the Exodus all the days of one's life.
Fifth Aliyah
Chametz (leavened bread) must be entirely removed for seven days, and the korban Pesach (Passover offering) may not be slaughtered in just any town but only at the place Hashem chooses, eaten there that evening and none of it left until morning. After eating matzah (unleavened bread) for six days, the seventh day is a solemn assembly to Hashem on which no work may be done.
Sixth Aliyah
Beginning the count of seven weeks from when the sickle is first put to the standing corn, one arrives at Shavuot, when a freewill offering is brought according to how the Lord has blessed each person, and rejoicing before the Lord is to be shared with son, daughter, manservant, maidservant, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. This generosity is rooted in the remembrance of having been a bondman in Miżrayim (Egypt), which obligates careful observance of these statutes.
Seventh Aliyah
The mitzvah (commandment) of Sukkot calls for a seven-day celebration in the chosen place, in which the entire household — son, daughter, manservant, maidservant, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow — shares in the joy, as gratitude for Hashem's blessing on the harvest and one's labors. All males must appear before Hashem three times a year, on the festivals of Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot, bringing an offering in accordance with the blessing each has received, and none shall come empty-handed.
Maftir
Shemini Atzeret, the closing eighth day of the festival season, calls for a solemn assembly free of servile work, marked by its own burnt offering, meal offering, drink offering, and sin offering, distinct from the fixed offerings of the other festival days. These mandated offerings stand apart from any personal vows or freewill offerings a person might separately bring, and Moshe faithfully conveyed all these commandments to the children of Yisra᾽el exactly as God had instructed.
Haftarah
After completing his prayer, Shelomo blesses the assembled congregation, declaring that God has fulfilled His promises to Yisra᾽el (Israel), and prays that the Lord remain with the people, incline their hearts to observe His mitzvot (commandments), and make known to all the earth that the Lord alone is God, urging the people to keep their hearts wholly devoted to Him. The dedication of the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) is then sealed with abundant sacrifices and a joyous fourteen-day festival, after which the people return home grateful and glad of heart for God's goodness to David and to Yisra᾽el.
מדרשMidrash5 teachings
The classic midrashim on the reading.
Sifrei Devarim 105:1
The verse teaches that ma'aser (tithe) must be given from each year's own produce, and one may not fulfill the obligation of one year's yield by tithing from a different year's crop. Each year's tevu'ah (produce) stands independently for purposes of this mitzvah (commandment), keeping the annual cycle of aser te'aser (diligently tithe) distinct and untangled from year to year.
Sifrei Devarim 118:1
Two seemingly contradictory verses—one promising that there will be no pauper among you, the other declaring that the pauper will never cease from the land—are reconciled by making poverty's location conditional on Israel's fulfillment of God's will. When Israel does the will of the All-Present, poverty exists elsewhere, among the nations; when Israel fails to do so, poverty settles among Israel itself.
Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Nezikin 1:20
A Hebrew maidservant's exemption from leaving through loss of bodily prominences (as Canaanite bondsmen do) does not mean she is also exempt from leaving via six years of service or Jubilee. Deuteronomy 15:12 establishes that she does go free after six years like a Hebrew bondsman, and Leviticus 25:42 establishes the same regarding Jubilee. Thus, of the two possible readings of "she shall not go out as the bondsmen go out," only the first—referring to loss of organ prominences—is correct.
Sifrei Devarim 143:1
Deuteronomy's command to appear "three steps (pe'amim)" of the year is read as teaching two things at once: pe'amim as zemanim (appointed times/seasons) and as regalim (pilgrimage-festivals), so that the requirement of rejoicing before the Shechinah (Divine Presence) is tied to the three Pilgrimage-festivals themselves. The midrash supports this double reading by noting that Isaiah 26:6 uses regel, raglei, and pe'amei interchangeably, showing that these terms all denote the same concept of a set, appointed occasion for going up on pilgrimage.
Bamidbar Rabbah 21:24
During Sukkot, Israel offers seventy bulls corresponding to the seventy nations, yet those nations respond with hatred rather than love, as the verse laments. In response, God sets aside Shemini Atzeret (the eighth day) as a day for Israel alone, paring the offering down to a single bull and ram. Like a king who feasts all his guests for seven days and then asks his close friend to stay for a simple, intimate meal of whatever is at hand, God asks Israel to remain for a modest, private celebration after having fulfilled the obligation to all the nations of the world.
חסידותFrom the Chassidic Courts6 teachings
One teaching from each court with something to say on Shmini Atzeret, most of them in English nowhere else.
Esh Kodesh
On Shemini Atzeret, the Holy One, blessed be He, chooses to unite with Yisrael not through abundance but through whatever meager offering is at hand — a hint that the deep yichud (unification) between G-d and Yisrael holds true even in times of tzimtzum (constriction) and hardship, not only in times of open goodness. Just as the prophets, watching from above like tzofim (watchmen), perceived song and mercy hidden even within judgment and Israel's troubles, so too this "making do together" reveals that G-d's closeness to Israel persists through difficulty, and from this very bond the yeshuah (salvation) will speedily be revealed.
Ohev Yisrael
On Shmini Atzeret, the unvocalized Great Name hidden within yirah (fear of Heaven) becomes vocalized through yirah ila'ah (supernal awe, greater than love), forming "Shamayim" and the vavei ha'amudim (hooks of the pillars) through which all blessing, rain, and salvation flow to Yisrael. This vocalization with the patach is the essential kedushah (sanctity) of the day, when Shemitah (the Sabbatical year) is gathered and crowned within the Yovel (Jubilee), and the King's kingship is firmly established.
Esh Kodesh
Even when circumstances leave us with only a "small meal" — diminished in physicality and spirituality alike, whether through sin or through suffering beyond our control — our hearts must not fall; rather we must exert ourselves to offer Hashem (God) even that small measure of avodah (service), for from this diminished offering He still derives pleasure. Applying this to the present hardship, one should take heart to mark the Yamim Tovim (festival days) and resume Torah study sessions as best as possible, however constrained, trusting that Hashem will soon show mercy and bring salvation.
Maor VaShemesh
On Shemini Atzeret, called Simchat Torah, joy with the Torah is celebrated not on Shavuot, the day the Torah was given, but on this eighth day, as hinted by the acrostic "Bayom hashemini atzeret" — "Osim Tzaddikim Rikudei Torah" (Tzaddikim perform dances of the Torah), teaching that the completion and rejoicing of Torah study belongs to this day even though some, following the Eretz Yisrael custom, complete the Torah reading cycle only once every three years.
Irin Kadishin
Yosef, who embodies the quality of a mashpia (one who bestows) reaching out even to the nations, is invoked in the Ushpizin during Sukkos when seventy bulls are offered for the seventy nations; but on Shmini Atzeres, when the Divine bestowal is meant to be held back exclusively for Klal Yisrael—as hinted in "Hashem badad" and the theme of "atzeres"—Shlomo is mentioned instead, representing the gefen (vine) that accepts no outside grafting, so that Hashem's blessing flows only to Knesses Yisrael (the Congregation of Israel).
Avodat Yisrael
Shemini Atzeret, called "the day of rains," parallels the day the Torah was given, since just as fifty days of rectification lead from Pesach to Shavuot, so too the days from Sukkot until Shemini Atzeret constitute a period of tikkunim (rectifications) meant to repair the Etz HaChaim (Tree of Life); out of compassion, Hashem compressed this lengthier process into the shorter span ending in an atzeret (gathering/stopping) on the eighth day. Indeed, per Rava, Shemini Atzeret's virtue surpasses even the giving of the Torah, for on it that very giving continues to drip down, drop by drop.
Sources & translations
| Avodat Yisrael | translated by AI (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5) |
| Bamidbar Rabbah | The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah, 2022 |
| Esh Kodesh | translated by AI (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5) |
| Irin Kadishin | translated by AI (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5) |
| Likkutei Etzot | Advice. Breslov Research Inst., 2015 |
| Likkutei Torah | translated by AI (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5) |
| Likutei Moharan | Likutey Moharan Volumes 1-11, trans. by Moshe Mykoff. Breslov Research Inst., 1986-2012 |
| Maor VaShemesh | translated by AI (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5) |
| Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael | Mechilta, translated by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein |
| Ohev Yisrael | translated by AI (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5) |
| Or HaChaim | Or Hachayim, trans. Eliyahu Munk |
| Ramban | Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976 |
| Rashi | Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934 |
| Shem MiShmuel | translated by AI (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5) |
| Sifrei Devarim | Trans. by Marty Jaffee, 2015 |
| Tiferet Shlomo | translated by AI (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5) |
| Torah and Haftarah | The Koren Jerusalem Bible |
| Zera Kodesh | translated by AI (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5) |