Shemini Atzeret (Eighth Day)

After the seven days of Sukkot, the Lord adds an eighth: "on the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation... it is a solemn assembly" (Leviticus 23:36). Seven speaks of fullness within time; eight, of what begins beyond it — a new beginning.

It was "on the last day, the great day of the feast" that Yeshua stood and cried out: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink" (John 7:37), against the backdrop of the water-pouring ceremony at the altar during Sukkot.

The eighth day points to what follows the temporary booths: new heavens, new earth, and "the dwelling of God with men" forever (Revelation 21:3). In the annual Torah cycle this day closes and restarts the reading: Deuteronomy ends and Bereshit begins again.