MIRACLE OF MIRACLES

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 was "Hoshana Rabbah."

“Hoshana” means “please save us,” and “rabbah” means “great.” The 8th day, Hoshana Rabbah, is seeking the Great Salvation. 

Whether it is Zos Hanukkah or Hoshana Rabbah, 7+1 = 8, and 8 is very great!   

There is so much that can be said about the number 8. After all, the mathmatical symbol for infinity is an 8 on it's side. 

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.

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!

Ancient Tablet with Babylonian Value for Pi

Even if you are not Jewish or know Hebrew, the Hebrew letter Chet ח may look familiar to you because it is very similar to the letter Pi (π). Pi has been known for almost 4000 years. 

If you take the Gematria (numeric) value for the first verse in the Hebrew bible (Genesis 1.1), which is 22 and divide that by 7, the number of days in Creation, you get 3.1428571429 (Pi). 

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 mircle of mircles. Happy Zos Hanukkah!

P.S. I have some more in another blog article titled Hanukkah and the Number 8.