Chanukah day 8

The 8^th and last day is sometimes referred to as Zot Chanukah (זאת חנוכה), this title is taken from the torah reading for the last day of Chanukah which says v’zot chanukat hamizbeach (וזאת חנוכת המזבח) which means, “and this was the dedication of the Altar.  But it’s real meaning is something deeper.  

The word Zot begins with the Hebrew letter “Aleph (א)” and “zayin(ז),”  the numerical value of these two letters add up to equal 8.  This is pointing out to us that the special meaning of the 8^th day of Chanukah is related to the number 8.  The number 8 in Judaism is significant because it signifies something which is above the natural order.  This is learnt from the fact that 7 which corresponds to the days of the week, symbolizes the natural order of the world and 8, is one more than that.

I have already written about how Chanukah represents adding more Judaism to our lives and  choosing to celebrate the religious aspect of a political and cultural victory.  All of this and more is part of a message of the number 8 as it relates to Chanukah.  What I think is significant about having a special name for the 8^th day is that the 8^th day of the holiday which really is celebrating a lesson in the number 8 itself just drives the message home.  It’s normal to forget on the 8^th day of Chanukah that it’s still Chanukah until nightfall tonight, after all we’re not going to light candles tonight.  By singling out the last day we are forcing ourselves to end the holiday strong.  Instead of just going about this day forgetting that it’s still part of the holiday and letting the memories of the renewal and enlightenment fade out, we should make a special point to focus on the significance of Chanukah and how we can make those lessons transition with us out of the holiday into the rest of our lives.

Remember, the reason that the Maccabees needed the oil to last 8 days even though there was only enough for 1 was because according to some opinions it would take them 8 days to make new, pure oil for the menorah in the Temple.  When the 8 days of the miracle were over, they didn’t go on with their lives exactly as it was before, from that point forward they were able to light the menorah every day with a renewed supply of oil.