Friends!

Today Jews celebrate the last autumn holidays – Shemini-Atzeret and Simchat-Torah. In Israel they are indivisible, but the diaspora marks them separately - on Sunday and Monday.

I wish you sincere joy, good humor, good luck and inspiration! May God help you in every way!

Let me tell you about each of the events. Shemini-Atzeret in Hebrew literally means "the eighth day, someone was late." The reason is that it is celebrated on the eighth day of Sukkot, but the only similar thing is the atmosphere of joy and happiness. Shemini-Atzeret is a day, wrote in the Torah: "On the eighth day you will have a holiday." Right now, the Jews complete to read five books of Moses. In addition, the day has a different meaning. Thousands of years ago sages believed that on this day the heavenly court decides whether it will rain in the next year. A week earlier, rain could be a punishment for the Jews – you cannot be happy from it, while living in a tent on Sukkot. Therefore prayers for the right weather conditions began on the eighth day, the sacred words of this prayer are written in Mussaf that is repeated by all - from young to old.

Simchat-Torah is anover holiday. Translated as "Joy of the Torah." On this day, on the contrary, jews begin to read five books of Moses. To do this, they have a special ritual. From Aron Kodesh (storage space Torah scrolls) they take out scrolls and organize entertaining dance around the synagogue hall. People of all ages and social classes sing and rejoice with the Torah in their hands. It’s a sin not participate in the dance. The process is repeated for seven times, so as many people as possible can hold scrolls in their hands.

In these holidays of fun and joy I want to remind you - do not forget to learn. Because historically, these days are related to it reading, which is an important part of self-development. No matter how old you are, try not to stand still and learn more.