Eight

Kislev is the month of miracles.

Hanukkah is the holiday of miracles within the month of miracles.

Zot Hanukkah, the eighth and final day of Hanukkah, is the most miraculous day within the holiday of miracles begun in the month of miracles. 

How do we, today, tap into this most miraculous of energies?

The secret lies in the number eight and its connection to Hanukkah.

The number seven represents nature, beginning with the seven days of creation (G-d resting on the seventh day completed creation) and extending throughout the principles of the physical world. There are seven days in the week, seven weeks of the omer, seven years in the agricultural cycle of shemitah. Seven colors in the spectrum and seven notes in the musical scale. Seven is the rhythm of natural, finite, physical life. 

Seven is our effort in this world, it is living by nature’s rules and within possibility. It is cause and effect, science and logic. It is structure, law, explanation, predictability. And we experience this world through seven emotional attributes, the sefirot.

Eight, naturally (pun intended), comes after seven, making it above seven, above natural law. While seven represents the closed cycle of creation, eight represents infinity. Eight is of an unbound realm, a realm of possibility and miracle. It reaches out of the bounds of the finite world and connects with the Source of goodness, Hashem.

It is one plus one equaling three, a pregnancy the doctor said was physiologically impossible, bills able to be paid when the account shows otherwise. Eight operates outside of our expectations. It is when the outcome far exceeds the effort, or when human capacity expands beyond anything that feels natural. A lucrative business deal after an appointment missed, strength and calm in a moment of chaos and crisis, a serendipitous moment.

Eight are the moments that leave us in awe, the moments that pause us, fill us with wonder and an intrinsic knowing: there is a G-d and this is His hand. 

Herein lies the secret:

Seven is our efforts and eight is G-d’s. 

Eight represent the sefira, emanation, of Hod, the root of Hoda’ah, gratitude. Gratitude extends past a simple “thank you” to a deep awareness of the One who gives. It is the acknowledgement of Source, the humility before Him and the release to Him. It is the relationship that is built through this receiving, acknowledging and sublimating.

We do in seven, G-d does in eight. 

Through Hod, our ego steps aside with an acceptance of our limitations and of G-d’s limitlessness. With an acceptance that we are responsible for our actions and Hashem is in charge of the outcome. Hod is a humility born from confidence and an ability to accept; we know we did our part and trust G-d to do His. Hod is where Divine relationship lives. 

Hod takes us out of the world of seven and submits us to the world of eight. And Hod is how we unlock miracles. Miracles are not found in seven, through man’s own hand, his natural effort and appropriate outcomes. Miracles abound in eight, when G-d is in control, when we step aside in trust. 

And every year we are reminded of this.

The eighth day of Hanukkah contains the holiness of all of the seven days prior. It is Zot Hanukkah, literally translated as “this is Hanukkah,” as it encompasses all the light, all the spirituality and all the kedusha of the entire eight days of Hanukkah. It’s not a new day, it’s all the days combined reaching their purpose. A day that contains the accumulated effort of seven and the potential for Divine response of eight.

Zot Hanukkah, the eighth and final day of Hanukkah, is the most miraculous day within the holiday of miracles begun in the month of miracles. Zot Hanukkah is man and G-d coming together in the relationship of Hod, and building the opportunity for miracles to abound.

This year, may we all acknowledge G-d as the source of our blessings, and may we thank Him and humbly open ourselves to His miracles waiting for us.