The Maharal teaches us a fundamental concept about the number eight. The number seven represents the seven days of the week, which is the teva - the so-called natural cycle of the world. The number eight represents what is beyond this natural world – a glimpse into infinity. This concept explains many different events and ideas that we learn about in the Torah.
A perfect example is this week’s parsha, which begins with “ויהי ביום השמיני –and it was on the eighth day.” Chazal explain that this eighth day refers to Rosh Choden Nissan. As the mefarshim explain (see Sifsai Chen), the name of the month itself expresses miracles; the root of the name Nissan is nes - miracle. However, it gets better. The beginning of the month contains the entire month, and the entire month is permeated with the theme of Pesach Night - Lail Haseder.
It hit me a few days before Pesach: What do the words “the night of the Seder” – literally, the night of order – mean? The following thought occurred to me. We live in a world – and especially these days, this is even more apparent – that can be described as chaos. On the one hand, one can say all is in order. However, when we think more deeply about what this world is and where we want to get to, we see this world’s complete disorder. True order will commence only when the Mashiach arrives.
The night of the Seder is the epic moment of the year when we can actually experience true order, beginning with Kadesh Urchatz, etc.
After we experience Lail Haseder – which the mefarshim explain is a gift of מוחין דגדלות, expanded consciousness – we are then given the task to climb up the ladder of the seven sefiros during the seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuos and try, as much as possible, to once again experience true order.
RABBI DANIEL COREN
SEMICHAS CHAVER SHIUR in R’ Coren’s office every Wednesday at 9:00 PM
