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Who knows eight?

Please cite/link your sources, if possible. In about one business day, I will:

  • Upvote all interesting answers.

  • Accept the best answer.

  • Go on to the next number.

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16 Answers 16

7

Eight are the creepy-crawlies in the Torah.

6

Shemona are the perakim of the Rambam

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  • Alternatively: "Eight are the chapters on Fathers."
    – Isaac Moses
    Dec 19, 2016 at 18:59
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Eight are:

  • The days of:
    • The Bris
    • Pesach (in Chu"L)
    • Sukkos (in Chu"L)
    • Rambam's levels of Tzedaka
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The number that represents the Oral Torah, according to the Maharal (see introduction to Tiferes Yisrael).

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  • 1
    midreshetrachel.com/chanukah-and-the-power-of-the-oral-torah This “unity of seven and eight” manifests itself within two aspects of the Torah itself. Maharal (see introduction to his Tiferet Yisrael) sees the Written Torah as associated with the number eight and the Oral Torah with the number seven. Chanukah, where the seven unites with eight (the seven branched Menorah burning for eight days), is a holiday of the redemption and elevation of the Oral Torah (see Pachad Yitzchak Chanukah at the end of Maamar 4).
    – Kfir
    Jun 18, 2019 at 0:30
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Eight(h) is the only number used as the name of a weekly parashah (Shemini).

5

Eight weeks of Shovavim Tat

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Eight days of Chanuka

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Eight are the sons of Avraham.

Eight are the sons through Leah (counting her maid).

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8 are the children of Yaakov born from full wives, which are the ches of echad (Maharal Nesiv HaAvoda)

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Maaseh Tuvia says that Betzalel was 8 years old when the Mishkan was built.

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  • Did the Keilim need to be built Leshmah? I would have thought yes...
    – Double AA
    Feb 19, 2014 at 3:38
  • @DoubleAA maybe he had simanim.
    – msh210
    Feb 19, 2014 at 16:01
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Eight are the sides of the traditional Chazzan's hat.

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There are 8 sets of lulav shakes done by the congregation during Hallel on Succot.

4 times saying the first set of הודו

אנא ה הושיעה נא

אנא ה הצליחה נא

last two הודו

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  • This is according to Beit Hillel, and only true in places which have the custom to repeat the verses at the end. Plus saying Hodu after the Chazzan says Yomar[u] is a pretty late custom.
    – Double AA
    Dec 19, 2016 at 17:55
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Megillah 14b - Eight prophets who were also priests descended from Rachav.

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Succah 52b - Eight princes among men: Yishai, Shaul, Shmuel, Amos, Zephania, Zidkiya, Moshiach, Eliyahu.

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Sanhedrin 69b writes how three generations were created in 24 years with each parent having a child at age eight:

וכתיב (יהושע יד, ז) בן ארבעים שנה אנכי בשלח משה עבד ה' וגו' ועתה הנה אנכי היום בן חמש ושמנים שנה כמה הויא להו ארבעין דל ארביסר דהוה בצלאל פשא להו עשרים ושית דל תרתי שני דתלתא עיבורי אשתכח דכל חד וחד בתמני אוליד

And it is written that Caleb, Bezalel’s great-grandfather, said to Joshua: “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land” (Joshua 14:7). And he added: “And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old” (Joshua 14:10). How many years old was Caleb when he was sent off with the spies? He was forty. Subtract fourteen years, as Bezalel was at least fourteen years old when Caleb was sent to spy out the land. This is known because that mission took place a year after the Tabernacle was erected. This leaves twenty-six years. Subtract two more years for three pregnancies, one preceding the birth of Hur, son of Caleb, one preceding the birth of Uri, son of Hur, and one preceding the birth of Bezalel, son of Uri. It turns out that three generations were born in twenty-four years, and that each and every parent begot a child at the age of eight. (Translation and notation from Sefaria)

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Chizkiya and Sancheiriv both have eight names. (Sanhedrin 94a)

אמר הקב"ה יבא חזקיהו שיש לו שמונה שמות ויפרע מסנחריב שיש לו שמונה שמות

The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: Let Hezekiah, who has eight [shemona] names, come, and exact retribution from Sennacherib, who has eight names.

The gemara then goes on to list them all.

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