Reply To: Chabad Inspires all Jews to Yearn for Mashiach

Shmini Atzeres is a machlokes Rishonim. Same as tefillin on Chol Hamoed. Both depend on how to learn the conflicting sugyos. Already the Beis Yosef normalizes in the idea of arbitrating on Kabbalistic terms. This wasn’t accepted in Eastern Europe until the Gaon. The question depends on what the Gaon actually held versus what he did versus what he said versus how he is quoted. In over two hundred years of debate, there hasn’t been a satisfactory answer.