Shemini Atzeret, I Will Send Out My People

(15) you shall be free to set a king over yourself, one chosen by your God יהוה. Be sure to set as king over yourself one of your own people; you must not set a foreigner over you, one who is not your kin.

(9) For יהוה’s portion is this people; Jacob, God’s own allotment.

§ The mishna taught that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: There were no days as happy for the Jewish people as the fifteenth of Av and as Yom Kippur. The Gemara asks: Granted, Yom Kippur is a day of joy because it has the elements of pardon and forgiveness, and moreover, it is the day on which the last pair of tablets were given.

(47) Because you would not serve your God יהוה in joy and gladness over the abundance of everything,

(14) You shall rejoice in your festival, with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the [family of the] Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in your communities. (15) You shall hold a festival for your God יהוה seven days, in the place that יהוה will choose; for your God יהוה will bless all your crops and all your undertakings, and you shall have nothing but joy.

MISHNA: This mishna elaborates upon the first mishna in this chapter. The obligation to recite hallel and the mitzva of rejoicing on the Festival by sacrificing and eating the meat of peace-offerings are always for eight days. The mishna explains: How so? This teaches that a person is obligated in hallel, and in the mitzva of rejoicing, and in reverence for the last day of the Festival like he is for all the other days of the Festival.GEMARA: The Gemara asks: From where are these matters, that on the eighth day of the Festival one is obligated to rejoice, derived? It is as the Sages taught that the verse states with regard to Sukkot: “And you shall be altogether joyful” (Deuteronomy 16:15). The verse comes to include the evenings of the last day of the Festival, i.e., then too, one is obligated to rejoice by partaking of the meat of the peace-offerings sacrificed the previous day. The Gemara asks: Does the verse come to include the evening of the eighth day? Or perhaps it comes to include only the evening of the first day of the Festival. The Gemara answers: When the verse says: Altogether, it is exclusionary, and it has distinguished this night from the other nights of the Festival.

(14) It is a great mitzvah to maximize this celebration. The common people and anyone who desired would not perform [in these celebrations]; only the greatest of Israel's wise men: the Rashei Yeshivot, the members of the high court, the pious, the elders, and the men of stature. They were those who would dance, clap their hands, sing, and rejoice in the Temple on the days of the festival of Sukkot. However, the entire people - the men and the women - would come to see and hear.

(15) The happiness with which a person should rejoice in the fulfillment of the mitzvot and the love of God who commanded them is a great service. Whoever holds himself back from this rejoicing is worthy of retribution, as [Deuteronomy 28:47] states: "...because you did not serve God, your Lord, with happiness and a glad heart." Whoever holds himself proud, giving himself honor, and acts haughtily in such situations is a sinner and a fool. Concerning this, Solomon warned [Proverbs 28:10]: "Do not seek glory before the King." [In contrast,] anyone who lowers himself and thinks lightly of his person in these situations is [truly] a great person, worthy of honor, who serves God out of love. Thus, David, King of Israel, declared [II Samuel 6:22]: "I will hold myself even more lightly esteemed than this and be humble in my eyes," because there is no greatness or honor other than celebrating before God, as [II Samuel 6:16] states: "King David was dancing wildly and whistling before God."

On the eighth day he let the people go. They bade the king good-bye and went to their homes, joyful and glad of heart over all the goodness that GOD had shown to God’s servant David and to Israel—God’s people.

Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of ages past;
Ask your parent, who will inform you,
Your elders, who will tell you:

The Gemara asks: And what is the first blessing that one recites? He recites: Blessed…Who has made us holy through His mitzvot and has commanded us to light the Hanukkah light. The Gemara asks: And where did He command us? The mitzva of Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Torah, so how can one say that it was commanded to us by God? The Gemara answers: The obligation to recite this blessing is derived from the verse: “You shall not turn aside from the sentence which they shall declare unto you, to the right, nor to the left” (Deuteronomy 17:11). From this verse, the mitzva incumbent upon all Jews to heed the statements and decrees of the Sages is derived. Therefore, one who fulfills their directives fulfills a mitzva by Torah law. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said that the mitzva to heed the voice of the Elders is derived from the verse: “Ask your father, and he will declare unto you, your Elders, and they will tell you” (Deuteronomy 32:7).