The fact that this week’s parsha is called Shemini, which means ‘the eighth’, issues an invitation to us to answer the question of what is special about the number 8?
In Kabbalistic teachings, the number six represents the natural world. Hashem created our world in six days, and therefore we work on six days. The number seven represents the perfection of people. On the seventh day we celebrate Shabbat which is known as “מעין עולם הבא” – the closest we can come in this world, to the perfect spirituality of the world to come. The number nine represents Ha’Kadosh Baruch Hu, it is the Divine number.
In maths, quite extraordinarily, a number can only be divided by nine if its digits add up to nine, or a multiple of nine. For example, in the number 459, 4+5+9 = 18 which is a multiple of 9, and therefore we know it is divisible by 9. It shows that 9 fits perfectly into the world around it, and that is a description of Hashem.
At the end of the Shema, we conclude the words “ה' אלהיכם” – the Lord your G-d, but we always add the word ‘אמת’ onto it which means truth. That is because the Talmud teaches us “חותמו של הקב"ה אמת - the seal of Hashem is truth. The gematria of the word ‘אמת’ adds up to 441, which is 4+4+1, which equals 9, indicating that the truth of Hashem is represented by the number 9.
So if seven represents the perfection of people, and nine represents Hashem, eight represents the bridge, connecting us with our Creator. That is why a baby boy has his Brit through which he establishes a covenant between himself and Hashem on the eighth day. That is why the festival of Chanukah is eight days long when we recall the Divine intervention which saved our people. And that is why between Pesach and Shavuot for a period of 7×7 days we prepare ourselves for the re-enactment of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Once we reach that number 49, we are prepared for the festival of Shavuot, which takes place at the beginning of the eighth week, reminding us of that ultimate revelation when Hashem appeared to us, and of the first two of the ten commandments. He delivered them directly to us – the ultimate bridge between Heaven and earth.
Now we can understand our parsha, “ויהי ביום השמיני - and it came to pass on the eighth day” – once the משכן - the Sanctuary in the wilderness had been completed, and the Altar was there to be dedicated, for seven continuous days the people offered sacrifices with no response from Hashem, but after those seven days, “ותרד אש מן השמים” on the eighth day, fire came from Heaven and consumed the animal on the altar – there was that connection between Heaven and earth.
So we see from all the above that the number eight is a special number which issues a call to us. Let us embrace the natural world represented by the number six. Let us strive to reach our greatest potential for perfection, represented by the number seven. And in that way, may we merit to live up to the aspirations of the number eight, to feel the presence of Hashem in our lives and to enable Him to bless us always.
Another way for us to live up to the number eight is to pray it bridges us with Hashem so let us ask that Hashem bless and watch over our people with peace, no more fighting, no more issues, not to suffer great tragedies as we have in the past, and let us join together to pray with all our hearts, for the recovery of all the sick, for the release of the hostages, as well as praying for our soldiers and healthcare professionals, and Chevra Kadisha members worldwide, and for those who need healing, shidduchim, children and parnassah and may we be blessed to have the most awesome, gorgeous, beautiful, peaceful, healthy, amazing, relaxed, spiritual, sweet, happy Shabbat and Chodesh Tov.
NUMBER OF MITZVOT: 17
MITZVOT ASEH: 6
MITZVOT LO TAASEH: 11
NUMBER OF PESUKIM: 91
NUMBER OF WORDS: 1238
NUMBER OF LETTERS: 4670
We take out two Sifrei Torah, in the first, we have seven Aliyot in the weekly Parsha, followed by Half-Kaddish.
In the second Sefer Torah, the Maftir reads from Parshat Bo (12:1-20)., which starts with the first Mitzva given to the Bnei Yisrael, while they were still in Mitzrayim, even before the Mitzvot of the Chag Pesach - the Mitzva of Kiddush HaChodesh. The reading begins with the declaration that the Hebrew month of Nissan, and not Tishrei, is to be considered the first month of the year. The passage then continues with some of the mitzvot of Pesach, which are certainly appropriate to be read and studied as the holiday approaches.
HAFTORA:
Ashkenazim: Yechezkel 45:16 – 46:18
Sephardim & Chabad: Yechezkel 45:18 – 46:15
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