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Gimatria
Shalom friends,
Have you ever heard that eighteen is a lucky number in Judaism? Have you wondered why? Well, the Hebrew word חַי (chay) means life. The numerical value of the letters ח and י is 18 and therefore people believe that this number brings luck (life). Hence, people give gifts of money in multiples of 18, or wear these two letters as a lucky adornment.
If you ever looked at a Hebrew calendar you probably noticed that instead of numbers, you see letters. For example, we live now in the year התשע"א: the numerical value of ת is 400; ש is 300; ע is 70, and א is 1. The ה in the beginning stands for 5000. If we sum it up we get: 5000+400+300+70+1=5771. According to Rabbinical reckoning, this is the number of years that passed since one year before the creation of the world. In daily use the letter ה is not added, assuming that we all know that we are in the 5th thousand.
How do we give numerical value to Hebrew letters? We use a system called Gimatria (גִּימַטְרִיָּה) in which a number is assigned to each Hebrew letter as shown in the following table.
So, if my name is שִׁירָה, its numerical value is ש=300 י=10 ר=200 and ה=5 – altogether the value is: 300+10+200+5=515. What does it mean? Well, some say it has no meaning at all while others will try and find other word combinations that have the same value, for example: אִשָּׁה צַדִּיקָה (righteous woman).
It is important to note, however, that Gimatria is not the main tool of interpreting the bible or other sources in the Hebrew language - it is only an extra tool. Rabbi Eleazar Chisma stated in Pirkei Avot 3:23 that the calculations of the gimatria are only the “desserts” or “side dishes” (פַּרְפְּרָאוֹת, parpera’ot) of wisdom.
Let’s try and see how we represent dates on the Hebrew calendar. For example, today is ט"ז בַּאֲדָר ב' תשע"א. As the value of the letter ט is 9 and the value of the letter ז is 7, the value of ט"ז is 9+7=16; hence, today is the 16th day of the Hebrew month Adar beyt.
Why do we represent the numbers 16 as ט״ז (9 + 7) and not as a combination of the letters י and ו? This is done in order to refrain from using this two-letter combination, which are alternate written forms for the Name of God, in everyday writing. (The same explanation applies to the representation of 15 as ט"ו instead of using the combination of the letters י and ה.)
You may have also noticed that the chapters and the verses in the bible are numbered using this system. For example, the reference to the first verse of the Torah is: 'בְּרֵאשִׁית א', פָּסוּק א (Genesis 1, verse 1).
Let us conclude this newsletter with a short Hebrew lesson helping us to remember family relations:
The numerical value of the word אֵם (em, mother) is 1+40=41.
The numerical value of the word אָב (av, father) is 1+2=3.
The sum of the numerical value of these two word is 41+3=44 which is the same value of the word יֶלֶד (yeled, child).
Translation: When the wine is in, the wit is out, in "vino veritas".
Gimatria: The word “wine” (יַיִן, yayin) is numerically 70, so is the word “sod” (סוֹד, secret).
Origin: This idiom appears in the Talmud following this story: The two sons of the Wiseman Rabi Xaye participated in a dinner held by Rabi Yehuda Nassi. They were very quiet, so Rabi Yehuda ordered to give them some wine to get them to start talking. After they got drunk, they began talking against Rabi Yehuda and he became very angry with them. Rabi Xaye told Rabi Yehuda that he shouldn’t be angry with his sons, because wine was given the value of 70, just like the word secret - when the wine gets into a person, out comes the secret.
The Secret Code
A student came to his Hebrew teacher and asked her to teach him the Hebrew language in one lesson. The teacher answered that he should first reveal the following verse using Gimatria.
Try to solve the code and decide if you agree with the teacher.
* You can find the answer at the end of the newsletter
Hebrew WordSearch (תִּפְזֹרֶת)
See if you can find all the words in the puzzle below:
Michal was King Saul’s daughter and one of King David’s wives.
When Saul wanted to kill David, Michal helped him to escape.
Citation:
“And Michal Saul’s daughter loved David, and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.”
1 Samuel 18, 20
Numerical Value:
100
Code Solution
לֵךְ אֶל-נְמָלָה עָצֵל, רְאֵה דְרָכֶיהָ וַחֲכָם
Lech el-nemala atsel, re’e dracheha vachacham
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.
Proverbs 6:6 (משלי ו', ו')
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Have you ever heard that eighteen is a lucky number in Judaism? Have you wondered why? Well, the Hebrew word חַי (chay) means life. The numerical value of the letters ח and י is 18 and therefore people believe that this number brings luck (life). Hence, people give gifts of money in multiples of 18, or wear these two letters as a lucky adornment.
Origin: This idiom appears in the Talmud following this story: The two sons of the Wiseman Rabi Xaye participated in a dinner held
