In Leviticus, Aaron is ordained as the High Priest. This week we are told (Leviticus 9:1): “On the eighth day, Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.” Why was the eighth day chosen?
Eight is a time for renewal. Seven represents fullness, completeness. There are seven days to creation, seven days to a week. Then comes the eighth.
When a male is born in Judaism, after a week the brit milah signifies a new beginning as one ushered into the covenant of Israel. Conversely, when someone passes away, the mourners sit shiva, literally seven, before they begin a new phase of life, one without the physical presence of the one whom they loved who has died. Each, the onset and the end of life, envision the eighth day as a starting point.
The holiday of Sukkot concludes with Shemini Atzeret, the eighth day of gathering. It concludes with Simchat Torah, the reading of the Torah – the new beginning, Genesis.
Before the bride and groom come under the huppah, it is traditional to have the bride circle the groom seven times (in these days, sometimes three, three and one.) That is completion, and now they are ready to take the eight step toward a new beginning.
Aaron begins on the eighth day because he must begin again. He failed with the golden calf and will know tragedy with the death of his sons. Rashi explains that the public announcement is so that people know God has chosen Aaron despite the golden calf.
He begins again. Moses too has known multiple frustrations, disappointments, and failures. He and Aaron will nonetheless renew themselves to continue to lead Israel’s march through the desert. Eight is the promise that shortcomings are not the final word.
We celebrate new beginnings. Yet the power not of beginning, but of beginning again, is a secret to survival. The community of Safed created vibrancy from the ashes of the Inquisition, American Jewry from those who fled Europe before the wars, and countless events in the history of the Jewish people down to our own day and the founding of the State of Israel.
Many peoples in history have lived their term and disappeared; they could not exceed seven. We seek to be the people of the eight. Beginning anew is the way of spirit.
