Are We Suddenly Transitioning from the World of 'Seven' to the World of 'Eight'?

8 Elul 5775

I opened the computer after Shabbat on 8 Elul to read the following from the Economic Collapse Blog...

"...The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 530 points (Friday), and that followed a 358 point crash on Thursday. When you add those two days together, the total two day stock market crash that we just witnessed comes to a grand total of 888 points, which is larger than any one day stock market crash in U.S. history."

May I remind you that the crash of 2008 began with a record one-day (9/29) loss of  777 points?

The message could not be clearer!!

What is the Spiritual Significance of the Number Eight?

In kabbalistic teachings, the number seven symbolizes perfection – perfection that is achievable via natural means – while eight symbolizes that which is beyond nature and its (inherently limited) perfection.

Some examples:

a) G‑d created the world and its natural order in seven days.

b) Between the holidays of Passover and Shavuot we count seven weeks. During these weeks we work on perfecting our seven emotions (love, fear, compassion, ambition, humility, bonding and receptiveness)—one emotion per week. At the conclusion of these seven weeks we have sufficiently perfected ourselves to be worthy of receiving the Torah on Shavuot. A completed person has control over all seven emotions.

c) The Holy Temple's menorah, which served to illuminate the natural world with the holy glow of spirituality, had seven branches.

e) There are seven colors of the rainbow and seven musical notes. When something has seven parts, it symbolizes that it has reached its state of completion: the seven notes of the diatonic scale make one complete octave, etc.

Eight, on the other hand, is symbolic of an entity that is one step above the natural order, higher than nature and its limitations. That's why Chanukah is eight days long—the greatly outnumbered Maccabees' resolve to battle the Greeks wasn't logical or natural. They drew on reservoirs of faith and courage that are not part of normative human nature. They therefore merited a miracle higher than nature – a miracle that lasted eight days – and to commemorate this, we light on Chanukah an eight-branched menorah. In a similar vein, we circumcise our children when they are eight-day old babies, because the brit milah symbolizes our nation's supernatural and logic-defying covenant with G‑d.

The number 8 is also connected to the revelation of Mashiach!

...In the era of Mashiach we will merit a higher revelation of G-dliness, and therefore Mashiach's harp will consist of eight strings, one more than the seven-stringed harp of the Beit Hamikdash (Arachin 13b). Chanukah is a preparation for the forthcoming Messianic era. These days are called "Chanukah" because they are a Chinuch — education/preparation — accustoming us to the final redemption.

...The correlation of Chanukah and Mashiach is most evident on day eight, because the number eight represents that which is above the chain of creation. Similarly, the Messianic era will usher in a new order which will also transcend the chain of creation. (Source)

Yes, there is going to be a New World Order, but Melech HaMashiach will be at the head of it, not the Pope!!