Eighth

This week’s Torah portion, Shemini, is about the eighth day of the inauguration of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), when the Shechinah (G-d’s Presence) finally rested in the Mishkan. The eighth day represents a level above the limitations of the world, which was created in seven days. The word Shemini-eighth has the same root as Shuman-fat and Shemen-oil. Just as fat and oil soak through and penetrate thoroughly, the ultimate is the high eighth level permeating the world. Eighth leads into ninth and immediately tenth. Our generation, the ninth from the Baal Shem Tov, leads straight into the Redemption, which is symbolized by the number ten, with no interruption!

(See talk of the Lubavitcher Rebbe King Moshiach Shlita, Shemini 5751 (1991))