High Holidays 2025

What are Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah?

Sukkot is a seven-day holiday of Biblical origin. The first day (and second day outside of Israel) is a festival day. Since Sukkot begins five days after Yom Kippur, Sukkot is a very joyful holiday and is commonly referred to as Z’man Simchateinu (The Season of our Joy).

Sukkot is considered one of our three pilgrimage festivals, in addition to Passover and Shavuot. Sukkot has a dual significance: historical and agricultural. Historically, Sukkot commemorates the 40-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Agriculturally, Sukkot is a harvest festival and is sometimes referred to as Chag Ha-Asif (The Festival of Ingathering). The word “Sukkot” means “booths,” and refers to the temporary dwellings that we are commanded to live in during this holiday in memory of the period of wandering.

Shemini Atzeret is referred to as the eighth day of the festival, but in Jewish liturgy and tradition is considered a holiday in its own right. It is also a one-day festival day, extended to two outside of Israel. It is known as “the day of gathering,” yet its meaning is still somewhat cryptic.

Simchat Torah was a holiday later added to this day and commemorates the end of the annual reading of the Torah cycle. In places where only one day of the festival is observed, Simchat Torah and Shemini Atzeret are on the same day. In places that observe two festival days, Simchat Torah is celebrated on the second day.