Chanukah: "Eight Is The Number of Infinity"

Yeah, I copped that from Matisyahu. He makes an excellent point, throwing a little mysticism into the Chanukah atmosphere.

Seven is considered to be the number representing the perfection of things in their natural state. HaShem fashioned the natural order in seven days. There are seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot. There are seven branches on the menorah that was rekindled by the Maccabees, the menorah that HaShem designed to burn in the Beit Hamikdash, the Temple in Jerusalem.

So why eight nights? There are many explanations beyond the fact that the oil that should have lasted one day burned for another seven. The one I like the best I heard from my rabbi in my last hometown.

If seven represents the perfecting of things in the natural order the miracle of Chanukah must be something beyond this perfection. There was something supernatural that drove the Maccabees to take on the Greeks who far outnumbered them. They were driven by their faith, their desire to maintain our relationship with HaShem, their desire to maintain the perfected natural order that the menorah represents. Because of this, the Hasmonean warriors merited something higher, something beyond the natural state of perfection, which is what the eight flames of Chanukah represent.

Each night of Chanukah the light grows stronger. With each successive night so too do we become stronger as we remember the miracles that were done for us then, and all the way up to today. In spite of the suffering we have endured at the world's hands, when we increase the light each night in our windows for all to see, we reaffirm the same faith that drove the Maccabees, and we let the world know that we are not letting that faith be dimmed or snuffed out. And so every chanukiah that is lit today is itself a miracle. Each is a member of Am Yisrael that has endured, that has not been broken or lost. And that's a very big deal.

May the celebration of the rededication of the Temple be a time to rededicate ourselves to our communities, our people, Torah, and HaShem.

And now a little Matisyahu. This video has been going around the Jewish blogosphere this week. It does the job. Lyrics appear under the video. Enjoy.

Chanukah Sameach!



Lyrics: Matisyahu

Just livin’ in the miracle, candles are my vehicle
Eight nights are gonna shine invincible
No longer be divisible, born through the struggle
Keep on moving through all this hustle
Head up, head down through all of the bustle
New York City wanna flex your muscle
Look so down, look so puzzled
Huddle ‘round your fire through all the rubble

Bound to stumble and fall but my strength comes not from man at all
Bound to stumble and fall but my strength comes not from man at all

Do you believe in miracles
Am I hearing you am I seeing you
Eight nights eight lights and these fights keep me right
Bless me to the highest heights with your miracles

Against all odds drive on till tomorrow
Wipe away your tears and your sorrow
Sunrise in the sky like a an arrow
No need to worry, no need to cry
Light up your mind no longer be blind
He who stretches will find
Leave your problems behind you will shine like a fire in the sky
what's the reason we’re alive – the reason we’re alive…
Bound to stumble and fall but my strength comes not from man at all
Bound to stumble and fall but my strength comes not from man at all

Do you believe in miracles
Am I hearing you am I seeing you
Eight nights eight lights and these fights keep me right
Bless me to the highest heights with your miracles

Eight is the number of infinity one more than what you know how to be
And this is the light of festivity when your broken heart yearns to be free

Do you believe in miracles
Am I hearing you am I seeing you
Eight nights eight lights and these fights keep me right
Bless me to the highest heights with your miracles