Wednesday, June 21, 2006

The Esoteric Meaning of Numbers - Numerology 100

There are those who believe that numbers are just numbers. Then you have people like Pythagoras and others that believe that numbers are so much more. I totally ascribe to this second school of thought. I love numbers. I live numbers.
As it turns out, this is also the accepted opinion of our Jewish sages.

The following is based on shiurim by Rav Ari Bergmann and other bits of knowledge that I have gathered over the years:

The oldest sefer we have, is the Sefer Yetzira, which happens to be a kabbalistic sefer. The sefer was apparently written by Avraham Avinu, or it was possibly given by Hashem to Avraham Avinu. In either case, it's quite old.
The Sefer Yetzira writes that the world was created with 32 paths of wisdom. No coincidence that the number 32 is the gematria of lev/heart. In Parshas Breishis, when discussing the creation of the world, the word/name "elokim" is written 32 times.
What are these 32 paths of wisdom? The Sefer Yetzira answers that the 32 paths of wisdom, the 32 building blocks of the creation of the world, are the 10 numerical digits and the 22 letters of the hebrew language.
Kabbalists discuss and delve into the importance of the numbers and they included one of the most telling pieces into our Haggadah, namely, the "echad mee yodea". It seems like a strange place. Why in the Haggadah?
Any time there are repetitions of numbers, there is always an inherent connection between those numbers. The question is asked why were there ten makos? Hashem could have easily wiped out Mitzrayim with one. The Maharal gives a beautiful answer. He explains that Yetzias Mitzrayim, wasn't just about extrictaing the jews from Egypt. It was a re-creation of the world purely for the sake of the Jews and the Torah. The ten makos, perfectly correspond to the shutting down of the ten "maamoros" with which the world was created (yes, the aseres hadibros also ties in to these ten maamoros). He explains them all, but the easiest ones to understand are the maka of choshech, offsetting "yehi ohr" and makas bechoros offsetting "naaseh adam", etc. So, on Pesach night, when we discuss the genesis and recreation of the world for the jews, there is no more fitting time to discuss the numbers, the building blocks of the world, and how they apply to us.
As time goes on, I will try to go number by number and explain their importance, when possible combining it with its corresponding letter. I hope you enjoy!

16 Comments:

Blogger socialworker/frustrated mom said...

Wow I love gematria and the maharal and all of that stuff. There is always more to learn and explore.

June 21, 2006 10:53 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I had understood that the Gemara claims the world was created with the letter 'hey' (in Menachot). Does this clash with the explanation of 32?

June 21, 2006 12:59 PM  
Blogger A Frum Idealist said...

sw/fm - get ready. this is just the beginning. this was only the introduction. hopefully there is much more to come.

anon - I'm not sure. I have not come across that gemara. Do you know what daf it's on? Also, we know that the medrash says that the world was created with the letter "bet".
In which case, maybe it's not a conflict at all, because the world was created with all the letters.
The other possibility is that the letter hey or bet were the letters used to create the world, but the 32 are the components, the roots of the world's makeup.

June 21, 2006 1:13 PM  
Blogger socialworker/frustrated mom said...

Oh yay I am excited! I am ready!

June 21, 2006 2:51 PM  
Blogger bamidbarminbar said...

Menachos 29b i THINK - I'm between classes but found it here: http://soferet.blogspot.com/2006/06/blog-post.html

June 21, 2006 3:48 PM  
Blogger kasamba said...

I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!!!
You just posted my all time favourite vort that I heard on one of Rabbi Tatz's tapes and I found it so confusing that I had to ask him to clarify!
You did a great job!!
Yosher Koach!

June 21, 2006 3:51 PM  
Blogger anonym00kie said...

ooo looking forward to more, thanks!

June 21, 2006 9:20 PM  
Blogger chaverah said...

yes i agree with kasamba, very deep. had to think alittle but explained very clearly! I love learning about gematriah! Its get alittle spooky to start thinking about how everything is for a purpose even a little old number 10.

June 21, 2006 11:04 PM  
Blogger FrumGirl said...

Yay! A series on Torah-numerology!!! I am so excited I can;t wait to read more....

I guess its true that everything comes down to a number - how life is broken down into a mathematical science, as is music, etc. Everything is so exact, so perfect... it can only have been created by a greater being than ourselves... Hashem!

I especially liked that part about 32 = the heart.

June 21, 2006 11:09 PM  
Blogger A Frum Idealist said...

frumgirl - that can be understood two ways. either that the world was created with lev, with heart and kindness (kavayachol) or more likely that these 32 paths are the vital organ(s) of the world in the same way that the heart is to the body.

June 21, 2006 11:38 PM  
Blogger Pragmatician said...

it's qite facinating how numbers are found back in various palces, all connected with each other.

June 22, 2006 6:21 AM  
Blogger David_on_the_Lake said...

I think this lesson is also in the faous song we sing Pesach Night by the seder..Echad Mi Yodea
Who knows 1?

Its not just a frivolous song. It teaches us that
A. Each number has a soul...something that gives it its Tzura

B. Every number has one common denominator..and thats 1
Avinu Shebashomayim

Looking forward to reading more

June 22, 2006 11:15 AM  
Blogger A Frum Idealist said...

david - I know it was a relatively long post, especially by my standards, but did you read the entire post? LOL.
I specifically mentioned the "echad mee yodea" as one of the most telling pieces on this topic and explained why it appears in the Haggaddah.
BTW, the "echad mee yodea" will be the primary text going forward for this Numerology Course/Series.

June 22, 2006 12:41 PM  
Blogger David_on_the_Lake said...

Oops My bad.
I'm sorry
I skimmed thru it..and while I saw u mention the sedder someohow my eye only caught the thing with the Makkos.
Ok..will patiently wait.
:-)

June 22, 2006 1:25 PM  
Blogger Neil Harris said...

I always stayed away from numbers...until now.

Great post.

June 23, 2006 4:14 AM  
Blogger A Frum Idealist said...

anonymous/yakki - I did some research and to the best of my understanding, I have an answer for you....

If you look at the Gemara in Menachos, it begins discussing the name of Hashem and from that name states that this world was created with the letter "heh" while the next world was created with the letter "yud" (of Hashem's name).

My understanding is, that the world was created with the letter "heh" representation of Hashem's name. However, what were the ingredients that He used to created the world? What were the tools at His disposal? The 32 letter and numbers.
In fact, with which letter did He begin creation? The midrash tells us....... stay tuned.....

June 24, 2006 10:36 PM  

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