The number eight represents the integration of Divine inspiration into our souls. The eighth day of inaugurating the Tabernacle was the first day of the Hebrew month of Nissan. This is the day when Aaron and his sons began their service in the Tabernacle. It is the day when the Shechinah began to reside amongst the Jewish people.
A Number and a Name
The number eight is emphasized as the name of this Torah portion, Shemini, which means “Eighth.” It is the only Torah portion whose name is a number. In certain years, outside the Land of Israel we read from this portion a total of eight times. A popular saying highlights the similarity between the three Hebrew words, "Shemini, Eight – fat" (נָהְֹמוְּׁמִינִי, שׁש – ְמֵנָהׁש). Quoting this linguistic pun, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, said that a year in which this portion is read eight times will be a "fat" one, i.e., a year blessed with material and spiritual prosperity.
Numbers are not merely arbitrary values. Each number has meaning, not only as an amount, but as a unique expression of quality. Numbers are the building blocks that construct our world. They are one of the most important foundations of human thought. Kabbalah often deals with the qualitative mysteries found in the numerical equivalences of words.
The Torah portion of Shemini is read on the Shabbat either before or after Passover. This reminds us of the poem sung at the conclusion of the Passover Seder, "Who Knows One?" How did this poem about numbers sneak into the Haggadah?
The Haggadah is the text we read to comply with the Torah injunction to relate the story of our Exodus from Egypt to our children. At the Seder, the child asks questions and the father replies. This is an excellent opportunity to impart to the child (and to ourselves as well) a worldview of holiness. "Who knows one?" instills in the mind a natural association to “One is Hashem.” The same is true for each number and its unique significance. In Judaism, numbers are associated with meaningful content.
What then, is the meaning of the number eight?
In the Torah, eight often appears in conjunction with the number seven, as in the verse in Ecclesiastes, “Give a portion to seven and also to eight.” Eight often reflects the culmination of a series of seven. The festival of Shemini Atzeret follows seven days of Sukkot; Shavuot follows seven weeks of Counting the Omer; and the Jubilee year follows seven cycles of the Sabbatical year. In the Torah portion of Shemini, there is special significance to the eighth day of the inauguration of the Tabernacle.
Sevenths and Eighths
The number six represents the six extremes of the space dimension; the number seven represents the space that fills those extremes. Shabbat, the seventh day of the week, follows the six workdays. Just as the soul permeates the body, so the higher consciousness of rest penetrates the days of the week. Six represents the inanimate world around us. The number seven infuses it with life.
The number eight represents the Divine light that surrounds all worlds. It is the miraculous level of being that lies beyond nature. When revealed, it inspires the natural world to reveal Divinity. In the poem, “Who knows one?” the reply to “Who knows eight?” is “Eight are the days of circumcision.” A Jewish boy is circumcised on the eighth day after birth. This manifests the Jewish ability to connect to and reveal a higher dimension of consciousness. On the national level, this manifested in the miracle that took place on the eighth day of the inauguration of the Tabernacle. The revelation of Divinity is beyond the serene cycles of nature. The moment in which Divine light is infused into the finite realm of reality is an intensely awe-inspiring event. As Moses and Aaron blessed the nation, fire descended from heaven upon the altar and the entire nation “fell on their faces,” before the revelation of the Divine Presence.
The commandment to circumcise a Jewish boy on the eighth day after birth appears in parashat Tazria, the Torah portion that follows Shemini. This is another indication that “Shemini, Eight – fat” (נָהְֹמוְּׁמִינִי, שׁש– ְמֵנָהׁש). A year when Shemini is read eight times is propitious for a woman to become “fat” in pregnancy. Then she merits to perform the commandment, “When a woman conceives and bears a male... on the eighth day shall his foreskin be circumcised.”
