Parashas Shemini

Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Shemini.The Parsha starts with the Inauguration of the Tabernacle.The Seven days before this, Moshe had set up and taken down the Tabernacle,doing the service himself. Now the Eighth day had arrived , which was the 1st of Nisan 2449 , and now, the Tabernacle would be permanent and Aharon would be inaugurated into his position as Kohein Gadol and take over the duties.This was the Eighth day . HaShem Would fill the Tabernacle with His Shechinah.
The Parsha tells how Moshe had to Summon Aharon for the duty. Summon suggests a more definite approach,for Aharon in his humility and feelings of unworthiness due to his actions at the Chait Ha Eigel felt that he did not deserve this holy task but Moshe summoned him and told him that it was due to his ( Aharon's ) humility and feelings of not being worthy, that was why he deserved the position.A man who would be handling the Teshuvah and repentance of others,needs to be one who personally understands Teshuvah , and so Aharon, on this Eighth day took up his position as Kohein Gadol .We notice that Aharon's Sin Offering was to be an 'Eigel Ben Bakar' - 'a young bull,' in representation for the Chait Ha Eigel , for one who wants to help others atone, must first look at and atone for himself and purify himself first.
HaShem shows the offerings made at this Inauguration are accepted , for a fire came forth from HaShem and consumed what was on the Altar.
This day was to be a happy day for Aharon and his wife Elisheva,but tragedy struck, for their two sons Nadav and Avihu took it upon themselves to do what was not their task and brought an alien fire, that was not commanded , before HaShem, and they were both consumed by HaShem's Fire. We see that tragedy would come, from the very first word of this Parsha, for the word 'Vayehi,' - 'And it came to pass / And it was,' often in Torah shows a hardship to come. Such is the life of the Jew, at times of celebration, sometimes negativity comes to dampen it. Like the reason that we Jews break a glass at a mazaltov wedding. True happiness can only truly come in Mashiach's time with the coming of the Third Temple. Like Nadav and Avihu, who went beyond their state of obligation, and were really consumed with wanting to serve HaShem, we must each humbly know our level and respect HaShem's Choices. Just after this, HaShem Instructs that Intoxicants should not be taken while performing the Avodah, so our Rabbis assume this could have been one of the reasons for their passing.Aharon was silent , and within felt they (his sons) had been taken due to his actions at the Chait Ha Eigel, yet they had gone beyond their position of State and were thus guilty of that and a lack of humility.Our Haftorah has a similar theme , read from II Samuel 6:1 - 7:17 , where also Uzzah reaches out to catch the Ark and is consumed, when David was bringing the Ark to Jerusalem.
The Parsha continues with an issue discussed between Moshe and Aharon and continues with the Laws of Kashrus ,of permissible animals, fish and birds which leads to the end of the Parsha. Kashrus, keeps us Jews on a Holy path, making a separation from what is forbidden and keeps us from mixing into paths that we shouldn't mix with, remaining pure and keeping our Jewishness sacred and preventing us from losing our holy Jewish line. This is one reason for Kashrus. HaShem Has many deeper reasons, but Kashrus certainly keeps us from foreign ways that are not Jewish and protects our people to remain Jewish and not stray or be tempted to foreign ways and foreign relationships.Kashrus, separation, keeps us Jewish and keeps us on HaShem's Path .
The Inauguration takes place on the Eighth Day . The number Eight is a holy Number in Judaism. We are now counting The Omer , between Pesach and Shavuot, in which we count seven weeks of seven, and the day after that, the 50th day, the Eighth in representation , is the day we received the Holy Ten Commandments,the day HaShem Revealed Himself to the Children of Israel on Har Sinai . The Eighth day is a day of Revelation. Here , in this Parsha of 'Shemini,' - which means 'Eighth - on this Eighth Day, HaShem's Shechinah Inaugurated the Tabernacle .
Also as another example of another place where this 7 and 8 number comes in,HaShem Asks us to count Seven Sabbatical Years and the following year after the Seventh Sabbatical year , the Fiftieth Year is a Yovel Year, again the holiness of the number Eight. 
HaShem Instructs that a Bris must be done on the Eighth Day, so again , that number Eight appears , when the Jewish child enters into the Covenant with HaShem . 
The Number Eight is a very Holy Number.It represents HaShem.If we take HaShem's Name ' Yud' 'Key' Vav' 'Key' , it comes to 26 in Gematriah, which added up (2+6) , comes to 8 . Thus the Number Eight is linked with HaShem's Name and thus is the number of Revelation, the Number after 7( 7 being the number of Mashiach ),and thus the time that comes after Mashiach ( the number 8 ) is The End Of Days. A Time when HaShem Will Reveal Himself to us . A Time of Ultimate Love. It is interesting to note that the word 'Love' in Hebrew, is the Word 'Ahav,' which in Gematriah also comes to (1+5+2 ) totalling 8 . HaShem Gives us ultimate love , in everything HaShem Commands of us. His very Appearing to us, as He Did on this 'Shemini' - 'Eighth Day Inauguration,' was a total act of His love . Anytime He Has Appears to us , at this Inauguration, or at Har Sinai, it was a total Act of His Love. Thus , the Laws He Gives us , to Bring us to be close to Him and worthy, is a total act and offer of Love from Him .Our response must always be a total selfless Act of Love in return, by following Only Him and Keeping all His Laws .
The Seven Days before this Inauguration, like the seven weeks we count in the Omer , is our time of preparation . We must always make ourselves ready and better ourselves every day , so we can meet HaShem with return love. It is interesting to note,that when Adam Ve Chava left Gan Eiden, they spent their day outside the Garden, after being chased out just before the Shabbos (two hours before ), and they spent that day of Shabbos and after Shabbos on the Eighth Day after the beginning of Creation outside the Garden of Eden. It is deeply logical, that HaShem's Forgiveness would bring Creation to the End of Days, on that Eighth Day, a day of total forgiveness, as if Adam and Chava's Descendants , us, would carry on into that Eighth Day the right way they ( Adam Ve Chava ) would have, as if they had continued that Eighth Day in Gan Eiden . Thus it ( the End of Days )- that 'Spiritual Eighth Day' - will be the forgiveness of Adam Ve Chava . 
Such is Creation, as our Rabbi said in Gemorah, that we are to be partners with HaShem in Creation, by keeping HaShem's Commandments. So must we do every day, so that we can be surrounded by HaShem as a partner, on the same path, ensuring that this World, gets to where it needs to go, with HaShem being given all of ourselves as partners with HaShem in Creation, so we can bring Creation to its fulfillment together with HaShem in the Final End of Days where HaShem Reveals Himself to us in total love. 
With love to HaShem, I wish HaShem with Love a Sweet Shabbos Kodesh with love and to all, a sweet Shabbos Kodesh with love.