Questions tagged [number]
questions about numbers
699
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How many male names are there in the Torah? And how many females names? Is there any estimate?
Does anyone know how many "kosher" names are there in the Torah (jewish/hebrew)? And how many female names (including the talmud)? Any very rough estimate would be more than fine - we're ...
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0
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28
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Does one fulfill p’ru u’rvu after one child [duplicate]
Do men fullfill their obligation in their mitzvah of P’ru U’rvu after having one child? Or is the requirement to be fruitful and multiply fulfilled only after more children? If so, how many children ...
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0
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67
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Can one man count in two minyanim at same time
According to Halacha, if there are two minyanim is it permissible for both of them to count one man in a minyan at the same time? Or no, can he only count for one?
7
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1
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198
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Mi Yodeya the biggest number in Torah?
What is the biggest number found in Torah? Can be from any work at all, except maybe more recent contemporary works by popular Rabbis, such as R Kaplan or Dr. Schroeder, where they might bring in huge ...
3
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1
answer
122
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Why mention the number of words in parshat mieketz
Why does Parshat Miketz conclude by specifying the total number of words in the parsha, whereas other parshas typically only indicate the number of pesukim?
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0
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26
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What does the hebrew/biblical number 57 mean? [duplicate]
I heard the hebrew number/character for 47 is 'what', but what is does the number 57 mean? Also where can I learn about the other numbers?
0
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0
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85
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What does the number 40 represent?
The number 40 appears multiple times in the Torah and the works of the Sages, though in very different contexts:
For instance: 40 days of rain during the flood, for 40 days, Moses was on Mount Sinai, ...
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1
answer
143
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Is it true that the book of Numbers has the exact same number of Hebrew letters as the book of Esther?
I cannot remember the source and have been unable to find any further academic material, so I would like to put this request out to everyone in this online community.
I once heard that the book of ...
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2
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92
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Why does רבי עקיבא say "50 אמה", and not "50 אמות?"
In the first Mishna on Mesechta Bava Kama Daf סא עמוד ב (https://www.sefaria.org/Bava_Kamma.61b?lang=he), there is a מחלוקת about how far does a fire have to pass in order to be פטור.
When רבי עקיבא ...
6
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0
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69
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Recurring numbers by certain yomim tovim?
Does anyone know of any sources that talk about how each yom tov seems to have a special number attached? A number that seems to crop up several times?
For example:
Rosh Hashana - 3
3 sets of 3 shofar ...
14
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2
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3k
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1/60: why was the figure 60 chosen?
Many instances in the Talmud involve the number 60 as for instances:
battel beshishim
dreaming is 1/60th of prophecy
sleeping is 1/60th of death
Why was the number 60 chosen by the Sages and not 100 ...
0
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0
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45
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Spiritual meaning of different segmentations of the 613 Mitzvos
For the lovers of the spiritual and Gematrias. We can segment the number of Mitzvos in many different ways:
positive (248) vs negative (365),
Mitzvos specifically for men, women, or everyone
Temple-...
0
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0
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40
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שישי or ששי - two yuds or one?
The Shas Vilna Hachadash for Yevamos writes שישי with two yuds at the top of each page for the sixth perek yet writes ששי with only one yud for the Meforshim commentating on the sixth perek in the ...
2
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1
answer
183
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How did Aharon and his sons manage to handle the Mishkan service by themselves?
In later generations, there were hundreds and thousands of kohanim that could potentially assist with the very full schedule of managing the Mishkan/Mikdash on a day-to-day basis. However, in the ...
6
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1
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167
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Minimal number of kohanim working in the Mikdash
A couple of months ago, I heard someone say that in his opinion, when the Hellenist Kohen Gadol Jason created the Gymnasium which drew many kohanim (Maccabees 2:4:12-16), the kohanim made sure that ...
2
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0
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62
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Why not הקם לנו נסיכי שמונה?
The last four words of Maoz Tzur end with the words הקם לנו רועים שבעה. This is a clear reference to the verse (Micha 5:4):
וַהֲקֵמֹנוּ עָלָיו שִׁבְעָה רֹעִים וּשְׁמֹנָה נְסִיכֵי אָדָם
But as I was ...
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0
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64
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Which Talmudic chapter has the most Halachic references by number?
Modern printings of the Talmud include Ein Mishpat glosses at the top outside corner of each page (for the most part). Which chapter reaches the highest number? I think I'd like to delve into that ...
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1
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586
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Longest Mishna By Word Count
What is the longest individual Mishna?
Not asking regarding the number of Mishnayos in a Masechta,
rather by the word count of an individual Mishna
(An example of a long Mishna is Eduyot 6:3, with 317 ...
3
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1
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258
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What are Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach's Three Threes?
I believe it was Rav SZA who wrote/said that there are three "threes" (3 things that people do having to do with "3") that are made up.
Does anyone know where this is written and/...
3
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0
answers
102
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Explanation of number shifts in the Tanach
In many places in Tanach, the grammatical number (plural or singular) shifts. One famous example has to do with the rocks that Yaakov put under his head. When he woke, the "rock" is referred ...
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1
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What were the names of the places to which Bney Yisrael backtracked in Bamidbar 33?
What were the names of the places to which Bney Yisrael backtracked in Bamidbar 33?
In Numbers 33, the children of Israel journeyed from a total of 42 encampments.
In the process, as pointed out in
...
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2
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Link between 613 mitzvot and 613 parts of the body?
The gemara in Makot 23b writes there are 613 ("taryag") mitzvot (commandments) and links this number to 365 days of the year and 248 limbs in a human body. Targum pseudo Yonatan (Bereishit 1:...
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How is it possible that Numbers 33 talks about 48 camps instead of 42?
How is it possible that Numbers 33 talks about 48 camps instead of 42?
To what peshat did these mefarshim source this enumeration?
Some of these mefarshim conclude that instead of 42 locations, there ...
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1
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77
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Where in the TaNaCH, in its pshat reading, does it show that the 42 stops in Numbers 33 were divided as follows:
Where in the TaNaCH, in its pshat reading, does it show that the 42 stops in Numbers 33 were divided as follows:
"Hence journeys 1 through 11 were in the first year following the
Exodus, and ...
4
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4
answers
320
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What do the rabbis of old say about the number 42, or the meanings thereof, when it appears in the various passages of the TaNaCH?
What do the rabbis of old say about the number 42, or the meanings thereof, when it appears in the various passages of the TaNaCH?
My question is inspired from the forty two Locations in our Parashat ...
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2
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94
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The Tanakh books and the number 24 - what preceded what?
The Talmud evidently describes the existence of numerous extra-Biblical works (Apocrypha?).
When the sages decided on the canon (Bava_Batra.14b?), was it decided on each book separately and the number ...
4
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10
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Chamishit - mi yodeya?
Who knows a fifth?
?חמישית - מי יודע
In the spirit of the song "Echad - mi yodeya", please post interesting and significant Jewish facts about the number 0.2.
Lazy gematria may be worthy of ...
3
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6
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103
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Asirit - mi yodeya?
Who knows a tenth?
?עשירית - מי יודע
In the spirit of the song "Echad - mi yodeya", please post interesting and significant Jewish facts about the number 0.1.
Lazy gematria may be worthy of ...
5
votes
1
answer
513
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Why are Hebrew cardinal numbers switched to the other gender after the first two?
When counting in Hebrew, the first two cardinal numbers are in the correct gender, but all subsequent numbers seem to be in the opposite gender?
For example:
Feminine Numbers are: אַחַתֹ-שְתַּיִםֹ-...
2
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14
answers
272
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Revi'a - mi yodeya?
Who knows a quarter?
?רביע - מי יודע
In the spirit of the song "Echad - mi yodeya", please post interesting and significant Jewish facts about the number 0.25.
Lazy gematria may be worthy of ...
4
votes
13
answers
1k
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Shlish - mi yodeya?
Who knows a third?
?שליש - מי יודע
In the spirit of the song "Echad - mi yodeya", please post interesting and significant Jewish facts about the number ⅓.
Lazy gematria may be worthy of ...
8
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15
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1k
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Chatzi - mi yodeya?
Who knows a half?
?חצי - מי יודע
In the spirit of the song "Echad - mi yodeya", please post interesting and significant Jewish facts about the number 0.5.
Lazy gematria may be worthy of ...
7
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1
answer
539
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Why are there different versions of what Chazon Ish says is the size of an Amah?
Different sources have different information regarding the size of an Amah (all measurements are attributed to Chazon Ish):
Halachipedia - 24 in. / 60.96 cm
Dafyomi.co.il - 22.72 in. / 57.72 cm
Daat....
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1
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134
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Word count methods
I asked a question about the orthography of two words in the last chapter of the Shema, and I started to wonder, whether the presence of a maqaf mattered with respect to word count. And if you ...
4
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1
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372
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Why were Mabul rains for 40 days?
What is the reason that G-d brought rain during 40 days in the mabul; could G-d not do it a second?! Of course He could. So what's the explanation for this duration of 40 days?
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0
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113
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Hashem's Ontology and the Sefirot
My question is, Hashem ontologically speaking, His Being, is a singular, yichud in all respects.
So does this conception stop at Ein Sof, or even before Ein Sof? And once the ohr proceeds forth from ...
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0
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28
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Forty and five, not five and forty
In Bereishis 18:28, when Hashem says that He will not destroy Sedom if there are 45 righteous people there, the number is spelled out "forty and five." However, most times a number between twenty and ...
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2
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How to calculate the Hebrew character representing the verse number? [closed]
Here they have Hebrew letters on the sides marking each verse. It starts at the beginning of the alphabet and seems to work its way up. I can't find any information on it though. Searching around ...
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0
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40
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Holy days on the weekend [duplicate]
There are 13 holy days per year on which we must not work (outside of Israel): 2 Rosh Hashanah, 1 Yom Kippur, 4 Sukkot, 4 Pessah, 2 Shavuot. What are the minimum and maximum numbers of these days that ...
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1
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140
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How many times is the Amidah said in a year?
The Amidah is said three times a day during weekdays, four on Shabbat, and I believe a fifth time during Yom Kippur. Plus there are the repetitions of the Amidah that are said by the Chazen.
For ...
3
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0
answers
53
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How many Cohanim and Levi'im worked in the Temple daily?
How many Cohanim and Levi'im worked in the Temple daily (excluding supporting professions, like preparing woods or oils) and how many of them stayed there for sleep?
4
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0
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76
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What is 1,530 a reference to?
In his commentary to Genesis 7:12, R. Isaiah of Trani (the Elder) writes:
וכן במניין ישראל אלף וחמש מאות ושלשים ואי אפשר דבר זה שלא היה אחד מהם יתר או חסר אלא כן דרך המקראות לתפוש מניין שלם ואפי' חסר ...
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3
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284
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Has the number of the tribes of Israel anything to do with the universe/stars/planets?
Has the number of the tribes of Israel anything to do with the universe/stars/planets? Maybe the other way around? Is there anywhere in the Talmud or tradition that talks about this question (not ...
3
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1
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64
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Why does the Mishnah record the significance of the fifteen steps but not the twelve steps?
Middos 2:3 relates that there were twelve steps in the Cheil:
וּשְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה מַעֲלוֹת הָיוּ שָׁם
There were twelve steps there.
Later, in Mishnah 5, the Mishnah relates that there are ...
2
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2
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304
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Population of Jews at exodus seems unrealistically large [duplicate]
I am a preacher. Today I was talking with some Jews who talked about the 2.5 -3.0 million people who witnessed the miracles of the exodus.
But according to my knowledge, the population of Africa at ...
5
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1
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Why do washing cups have two handles?
My question is closely related to this one. However, that question has an unsourced assumption. So, I'm asking my question, here, hoping that I can get a clearer answer.
Most washing cups (for ...
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2
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314
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How many Mitzvos does the Mishnah cover?
How many (out of the 613 Deoraytah) Mitzvos are explicitly discussed in the 6 Sdarim of the Mishah (not including those that are only mentioned tangentially, like Kibud Av at the beginning of Peah)?
2
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4
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2k
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Is there math in Torah?
I have watched a nice movie back in the day that deals with numbers.
In one of the scenes. A Jewish man comes to The Mathematician and tells about how the Hebrew uses the same "letters" as letters ...
1
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1
answer
241
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The number 8 does not appear in the numbering of the tribes in Bamidbar except for the census of Kehos and the total of Leviim. Why not?
Is there any significance in the absence of the number 8 in the individual census of the 12 tribes taken in Chapter 1 of Bamidbar?
Reuben: 46,500
Simeon: 59,300
Gad: 45,650
Judah: 74,600
...
3
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0
answers
62
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When did the custom of giving charity in multiples of 18 begin? [duplicate]
People often give charity in multiples of 18.
What is the earliest record of such donations?