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| L'Chaim |
Miracle - definition 1. a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.
The Hebrew spelling of Hanukkah חֲנֻכָּה begins with the 8th letter in the Hebrew alphabet, Chet ח, which is also the Hebrew number 8.
ח=8
The 8th day of Hanukkah is considered by Jewish sages as the most important DAY of Hanukkah. It is called Zos Hanukkah, which translates to "This is Hanukkah."
"Zos" is the trait of Hanukkah. In other words, the 8th day is like ALL of Hanukkah - all the miracles wrapped into one. You might say, the miracle of miracles.
The Maccabees celebrated Sukkout, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths), once they rededicated the Temple. It too concluded with an all important and distinguishable 8th day. That day is called Shemini Atzeret, which means "Eighth Day of Assembly." The 8th Day was "The last day of the Great Feast." The great "Water Pouring Ceremony" took place. The celebrants would call out "Hoshana Rabbah" which means "please save us." They were seeking "Great Salvation."
Whether it is Zos Hanukkah or Shemini Atzeret, 8 is very great!
In the world, times revolves around the number seven: the seven days of the week. Eight, however, represents transcendence, a level that is beyond the natural order. 8 brings us to new beginning -- A New Song. Noah's family of eight represented a new beginning. In the Christian Gospels, Yeshua rises on the day after the Sabbath- the eighth day.
Leviticus 12.3 -- And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
Hanukkah, Festival of light, is celebrated for eight days. 1 Maccabees 4:59 -- Then Judah and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of the dedication of the altar should be observed with gladness and joy for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Kislev.
According to Torah sages, Life can only be considered "true" when it is infused with Godliness, because the body by itself is temporary, and anything temporary cannot be true. True life is immortal and everlasting. The way one acquires everlasting life is by connecting with God.
Thus, infinity, salvation and chet (8) are all connected. You have likely heard the expression L'chaim, "to life."
The Hebrew symbol for the expression L'Chiam is spelled Chet-Yud (חי). The Yud is the 10th letter - devine completeness. Chet (8)+ Yud (10) = 18, which is a very special number indeed! The symbol חי is very familiar to Jews. It is often seen in Jewish art and jewelry. Jews almost always give financial gifts in multiples of 18 so as to give the gift of life!
Modern Mathematicians began using the Greek letter π in the 1700s. But as you can see on the ancient Babylonian table above, it was used long before that.
The ancient Babylonians calculated the area of a circle by taking 3 times the square of its radius, which gave a value of pi = 3. One Babylonian tablet (ca. 1900–1680 BC) shown above indicates a value of 3.125 for π, which is a closer approximation.
Pi is an infinite number. Isn't it ironic that something which encloses space, a circle, would have a formula that has an infinite value.
Such is the circle of life. Such is the miracle of mircles. Happy Zos Hanukkah!
P.S. I have some more in another blog article titled Hanukkah and the Number 8.
