Father

The following paragraph is from Dr. Asher Eder’s book The Star of David, which was published in 1987 in English in Jerusalem. The publication here is courtesy of Oren Mass
This version includes corrections and new materials that do not appear on the printed version

The Hebrew characters aleph and beth, forming the word av, father.
These two Hebrew characters (letters) combined in the word av convey a profound twofold message:
a) They stand for the Alphabeth, the faculty of language as the base of human culture;
b) they put each of us before the crucial question: do we see, and accept, the Creator of all as our father and benefactor; or do we remain entangled in the heathen concept that “war is the father of all things” (as famous Clausewitz put it)? True, the struggle for survival, and the consequential survival of the fittest, is an indispensable component of life on earth. While every animal has peculiar tools for its struggle – claws, paws, sharp teeth; or protective coloring, fast feet, highly developed senses; etc – we humans got the intellect and will as our main outfit. Must we continue using this specific outfit of ours on the animal level; or can we come to our senses and apply them on the Divine level, in the image of our Creator and Divine Father (and not in the image of the destroyer)? Applying the axiom of the “survival of the fittest” to human history, we will have to admit that Israel, the smallest of all peoples, proved to be the fittest. In the following we will trace what’s behind this astounding fact.

Dr. Eder's notes to this chapter:

The Aramaic word abba is also used in Hebrew, especially by children addressing their fathers. Cf Rom.8:15; Gal.4:16.

Otiot, signs (singular ot). This Hebrew word has two meanings: supernatural wonders of Divine providence, often hidden in the garb of nature (cf. note 1 of chapter 9); and the signs (letters, characters) of the Hebrew alphabet, the building blocks of our world. Each depicts a particular state of contraction of the supernatural light and life force. The combination of these "building blocks" into words gives life to that which is named therewith. We may say that these 22 signs of the Hebrew alphabet are the very first gospel (=Godspell), with the Torah as its Divine interpretation. The Books of the Psalms and Prophets are then further elucidations.

The eighth day plays an important role in Judaism. For instance, "the institution of circumcision on the eighth day teaches us to free ourselves from the fetters of the sensual world as a prerequisite for our covenant with the Lord." (Hirsch, in his comment on Ps.6:1).