Shemini Atzeret or Eighth Day Convocation

After the L-rd ordains the seven-day feast of Sukkot, the L-rd tells Moses: “On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly. You shall not do any ordinary work” (Numbers 29:35, also Leviticus 23:36). This eighth day of “solemn assembly” came to be called Shemini Atzeret.

Shemini Atzeret is set aside as a Shabbat, a closing convocation to the Festival of Sukkot, as it is written:

“Now, the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the festival of the L-rd, lasting seven days; a complete rest on the first day, and a complete rest on the eighth day.”  (Leviticus 23:39)