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Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah (2025)

Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah

PJA (Public Jewish announcement)
Upon hearing exceptionally good news of spiritual and material importance, it is customary to recite a blessing in recognition and thanksgiving of the moment. Such is the joy and gravity of what we have seen today, that many Rabbinic authorities have mandated this blessing upon hearing the good tidings of the hostages return to Israel.

Hebrew transliteration: Baruch atah Ado-nai Elo-heinu melekh ha’olam, shehechiyanu, v’kiyimanu, v’higianu lazman hazeh!
English translation: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this occasion.

It is also recommended to recite the Hallel prayer (link) – which is recited today as part of the Sukkot liturgy.

Dvar Torah
Today is the final day of Sukkot — Hoshanna Rabba — a day literally meaning “the great cry for salvation.”
We’ve come a long way over these past two months. We’ve said selichot, prayed for a sweet year on Rosh Hashanah, begged for forgiveness on Yom Kippur, and rejoiced in our renewed purity throughout Sukkot. All of this leads to today — Hoshanna Rabba — when we cry out in prayer one final time.
And then something remarkable happens. Hashem says: “Stay with Me one more day.”
That day is Shmini Atzeret — a holiday with no specific mitzvot, devoted simply to closeness between God and the Jewish people. Yet we, the Jewish people, respond: “You ask us to stay for one day — but we want to stay with You all year.”
So we commit ourselves to learning the holy Torah, portion by portion, week by week. Out of our own initiative, we complete the Torah and begin it anew on this very day. Thus, Shmini Atzeret becomes Simchat Torah — a day of celebration, unity, and love for the Torah, observed simultaneously by Jews around the world.
But two years ago, Simchat Torah — a day meant for unbounded joy — became a day of unthinkable tragedy. And yet today, on Hoshanna Rabba, exactly two years later on the Hebrew calendar, we once again both rejoice and cry out — for comfort, for healing, and for salvation.
Still, our journey doesn’t end here. Just as Hoshanna Rabba flows into Simchat Torah, this moment calls us not only to pray and celebrate, but also to act — to renew our relationship with God and our unity with one another.
What better way to do so than by beginning the Torah anew — together.

Chag Sameach!

Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah in/out times
Please note that outside of Israel it’s a two-day holiday starting tonight and concluding on Wednesday night
Yerushalayim 17:29/18:44
Tel-Aviv 17:49/18:46
Nir Oz 17:43/18:48
Paris 18:47/19:48
NYC 18:00/18:56



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