October 2 & 3, 2026: Parashot Torah Portions: Hoshana Rabba - "The Great Salvation" & Shemini Atzeret - "8th Day Assembly"
In this study, we will explore the Double Torah Portions: Hoshana Rabba - "The Great Salvation" & Shemini Atzeret - "The 8th Day of Assembly"
Double Torah Portions: Numbers 29:26-34 & Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17; Numbers 29:35-30:1
Haftarah: 1Kings 8:54-8:66
Brit Hadashah (New Testament): John 7-8 & Matthew 17:1-9; Mark 12:28-33
📜Friday October 2: Torah Portion Hoshana Rabba - "The Great Salvation"
Numbers 29:26-34
The seventh (and last) day of Sukkot is called הוֹשַׁנָא רַבָּא Hoshana Rabba or the "Great Salvation," a climactic day of praise to the LORD!
During the Temple period, willow branches were placed around the altar and a parade was made around the altar while the people recited: Hoshiah na "Save us, please!" taken from Psalm 118:25-26:
The New Testament records that it was on the last day of Sukkot - "The Great Day", perhaps just after the water libation ceremony - that Yeshua stood up and cried out,
"If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." John 7:37-38
The historian Josephus calls the ceremonial drawing of water from the Pool of Siloam "the very sacred close of the year," since the amount of rainfall over the next few months would directly impact the harvest in the spring. The need for rain over the winter months in Israel was an ongoing need for the welfare of the people.
"With joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation." Isaiah 12:3
Yeshua once encountered a woman who had come to draw water from a well and said, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14
Likewise, Yeshua taught earlier in His ministry, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Matthew 5:6
Just as the people understood they needed physical rain to sustain their physical lives, so Yeshua pointed to himself as the source of "spiritual rain," or "living water" that would sustain their spiritual lives.
The "rain of blessing," then, referred to the refreshing power of the Ruach Ha'Kodesh (Holy Spirit) that would become an inner source of life for those who believe. As Yeshua said, "out of his inmost being will flow rivers of living water," which some have thought refers back to the miraculous waters that were given in the desert, both in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20:
"5The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel." Exodus 17:5-6
"Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank." Numbers 20:11
Indeed the Hallel that is recited during the festival includes the verse found in Psalm 114:
"He turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters."
Psalm 114:8
During all their wanderings, wherever the need existed, they were supplied with water by a miracle of God's mercy. The water did not, however, continue to flow from Horeb. Wherever in their journeyings they wanted water, there from the clefts of the rock it gushed out beside their encampment.
It was Yeshua, by the power of His Word, that caused the refreshing stream to flow for Israel.
"They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Messiah." 1 Corinthians 10:4
He was the source of all temporal as well as spiritual blessings. Yeshua, the true Rock, was with them in all their wanderings.
"They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock and water gushed out." Isaiah 48:21
The stricken rock was a figure of Yeshua, and through this symbol the most precious spiritual truths are taught. As the life-giving waters flowed from the striken rock, so from Yeshua, "smitten of God," "wounded for our transgressions," "bruised for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:4, 5), the stream of salvation flows for a lost people!
If Hoshana Rabba represents "judgment delivered," then Yeshua was teaching that the Spirit of God would deliver the good verdict - and the true freedom - that Messiah secured for us through his sacrificial death as our atonement before God! HalleluYah!!
During the six previous days of Sukkot the lulav is shaken during the Hallel (praise psalms sung right after the prayers in the morning service) as well as during the Hoshana - a hymn that begins with Hosha' na [save us, please!] that is sung during the service.
The Torah is taken from the Ark and set on the bimah [torah reading table] and the congregation circles it (once) in a processional (called hakkafah) while shaking the lulav and carrying the etrog.
On Hoshana Rabba, however, instead of one Hoshana, seven Hoshanot are recited and seven hakkafot are made around the sanctuary. Normally all the Torah scrolls are taken from the Ark and put on the bima while this sevenfold processional takes place.
For many Jews, Hoshana Rabba is the last day one shakes the lulav and etrog and eats within the sukkah. Round challahs (bread) are often served, as well as apples and honey (just like the evening meal of Rosh Hashanah).
On the evening following Hoshana Rabba begins the festival of Shmini Atzeret - which this year, begins tonight, Friday October 2nd and runs through at sundown, Shabbat, October 3rd.
📜Friday October 2: Torah Portion Shemini Atzeret - "The 8th Day of Assembly"
Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17; Numbers 29:35-30:1
The seven days of Sukkot that end with Hoshana Rabba are immediately followed by another holiday called Shemini Atzeret, referred to in the Torah (5) simply as "the eighth day of assembly."
"On the eighth day hold a closing special assembly and do no regular work."
Numbers 29:3
The sages interpreted this to mean that God asks all who made pilgrimage for Sukkot to tarry - atzeret, which comes from the Hebrew root word meaning "to hold back", with ADONAI, one additional day.
In Israel, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are both celebrated on Tishri 22. Simchat Torah, which means Joy of Torah, celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle.
However, in the Diaspora (communities outside of Israel), Shemini Atzeret is observed on Tishri 22 and Simchat Torah on Tishri 23. In the Diaspora, Shemini Atzeret is considered a full holiday (Yom Tov), but none of the particular mitzvot (commandments) regarding Sukkot are observed.
Shemini Atzeret is perhaps best known for the tefillat geshem, or "the prayer for rain," recited during the Musaf service (an additional prayer service recited right after the morning service).
But why formalize a prayer for rain?
In Israel, crops planted in the spring (aviv) depend on the rainfall that occurs in the fall (tsav). Moreover, according to not only Jewish tradition, but the Word of ADONAI, all the world is judged at this time regarding the amount of rainfall to be given to each nation, depending on their participation in the Feast of Sukkot:
"16 Finally, everyone remaining from all the nations that came to attack Yerushalayim will go up every year to worship the king, Adonai-Tzva’ot, and to keep the festival of Sukkot. 17 If any of the families of the earth does not go up to Yerushalayim to worship the king, Adonai-Tzva’ot, no rain will fall on them. 18 If the family of Egypt doesn’t go up, if they refuse to come, they will have no [annual] overflow [from the Nile]; moreover, there will be the plague with which Adonai will strike the nations that don’t go up to keep the festival of Sukkot." Zechariah 14:16-18
Therefore, beginning with Shemini Atzeret additional prayers for rain are made part of the synagogue service.
The word atzeret comes from atzar, meaning to collect or to store. Since Sukkot marks the end of the Fall Festivals, it is suggested that Shemini Atzeret is meant as a time to reflect on the previous two months of observance and to store their memories within our hearts.
It's an opportunity to remember and reflect on ADONAI's goodness in our lives. To reflect on all He has done for us.
"1Praise the Lord, my soul; All my inmost being, praise His holy name.
2Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits—
3who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,4who redeems
your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
5who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is
renewed like the eagle’s.
6The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
7He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel:
8The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
9He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever;
10He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; 12as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him." Psalm 103:1-13
Shemini Atzeret suggests the idea of "remaining" or "abiding" (atzeret) an extra "day" with the LORD, beyond the seven days of fullness represented by the seven days of Sukkot.
Since Sukkot represents the olam habah (the coming world) and the millennial reign of Mashiach Yeshua in the soon-coming Kingdom. Shemini Atzeret represents the eternal state of perfection, the Day of the new heavens and new earth:
“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind." Isaiah 65:17
"Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea." Revelation 21:1
Yeshua Himself, calls us to abide in Him! Spending time with Him, because without Him, we can do nothing:
"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." John 15:5
In last week's Parashah Ha'azinu, Moses taught the Israelites a prophetic shirah (song) that foretold Israel's history and sternly warned the people not to stray from the path that God had commanded them. Now, just before he was to die, Moses wanted to bless the tribes of Israel and to praise the LORD for His care of the fledgling nation.
The portion begins:
"This is the blessing which Moses the man of God blessed Israel before his death." Deuteronomy 33:1
This week's Torah portion (read during Simchat Torah) is called Vzot HaBerakhah "this is the blessing", which is also the last portion of the entire Torah.
After reading this portion, we will "rewind the scroll" back to Parashat Bereshit to begin reading the scroll all over again. We do this every year because the study of Torah is a cyclical venture that equips us to better understand the Scriptures - including the New Covenant!
In this connection, it is interesting to note that the first letter of the Torah is a Bet (בּ) in the word bereshit (בְּרֵאשִׁית), which means "In the beginning", and the last letter of the Torah is a Lamed (ל) in Israel (יִשְׂרָאֵל).
Putting these together, we get the word lev (לֵב), "heart," suggesting that the entire Torah - from the first letter to the last reveals the heart and love of God for us.
Likewise, for us, as Believers in Messiah Yeshua, the first letter of Scripture is a Bet (בּ), as explained above, and the last letter is a Nun (ן) in the word "Amen" (אָמֵן), so the whole Bible- from beginning to end - reveals the Person of God, the Son (בֶּן) "Ben", for us! HalleluYah!!
"Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His son? Surely you know!" Proverbs 30:4
Vzot HaBerakhah contains Moses' last words to the people before his death on Mount Nebo in the land of Moab.
The portion therefore begins, "And this is the blessing (וְזאת הַבְּרָכָה) with which Moses the man of God (אִישׁ הָאֱלהִים) blessed the people of Israel before his death." Deuteronomy 33:1
The revelation at Sinai was a coronation of God as the loving King of Israel: "Thus the LORD became king in Jeshurun (יְשֻׁרוּן), a poetic name for Israel based on the verb yashar, "straight," or upright".
Moses goes on to bless the tribes of Israel, with a closing statement,
"Blessed are you, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord?
He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword.
Your enemies will cower before you, and you will tread on their heights.” Deuteronomy 33:29
After blessing the tribes, Moses went up from the plains of Moav to ascend Mount Nebo, where the LORD supernaturally revealed to him all the Promised Land. As Moses beheld the glory of the land, the LORD said to him,
"This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, 'I will give it to your offspring.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there." Deuteronomy 34:4
Joshua the son of Nun was then established as Moses' successor among the people and the Torah concludes by affirming that:
"10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, (פָּנִים אֶל־פָּנִים),11 who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. 12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel." Deuteronomy 34:10-12
And since we are finishing the entire Torah cycle for this year, it is customary to enjoy a festive party, celebrating the completion of the study of the Word of ADONAI. Studying the Torah is a great joy, chaverim (friends), since it reveals the Truth to us, the Truth that sets us free and helps us understand the LORD of Glory!
"31 So Yeshua said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my Word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31-32
As King David said, "You make known to me the path of life; In Your Presence there is fullness of joy; At your Right Hand are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:11
In Yeshua's Mighty Name, amen and amen!!
Chag Sameach!!
Dr. Hadassah Elia & Elihana
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