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vaikra

After the Days of Awe, Hashem requests that His people celebrate another # 26347-EYAL-6
day with Him on Shemini Atzeret, since their departure is hard for Him.
Can one additional day really ease the difficulty of the parting? It would
seem that each additional day spent together makes the separation more
painful. What is the reason for this request?

This teaches us how important each day is to Hashem, and how much one
can accomplish in one single day. This is portrayed by the story of David
Hamelech. Hashem did not agree to detract a day of David’s life, because
each day was more precious to Him than all the korbanot that Shlomo
Hamelech was destined to sacrifice. Even though David explicitly
requested not to die on Shabbat, Hashem refused to take his life one day
earlier, on Friday. On the other hand, Hashem did not grant him an
additional day, allowing him to live until Sunday, since it was beyond the
timespan allotted to him.

Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai rarely left the Beit Hamidrash, since he
recognized the value of each day engaged in learning Torah. Likewise,
because of the appreciation he had for basking in the Presence of
Hashem’s Shechinah, he did not want to miss the opportunity by being
absent.

Each person should aspire to cleave to Hashem during the entire year, and
not only on the special festival days, because of the importance of each
day spent in Avodat Hashem and the study of Torah.