The 25th of Nissan, כ״ה ניסן, will be the 8th yahrzeit of my daughter, Batsheva Chaya Stadlan z”l. It is so difficult to acknowledge that so much time has passed as her loss is still so very tangible though not as hard edged as was when she died.

Often when I think of her, it is a memory of how she embraced life. My family and I are in Israel for the chag this year where Batsheva spent the last months of her life. There are corners and cafes that I can see her enjoying her meal along with us or joking with her siblings while walking through the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. But these eight years later, I now mostly imagine Batsheva in a place beyond nature and the physical world.

The number eight in our tradition is significant in that it symbolizes perfection beyond tangible reality. Whereas the number seven indicates the order of creation and the natural world as there were seven days of creation, eight is the metaphysical number which lets us as humans perfect their spiritual relationship with God. While we........

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