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Who knows three hundred forty?

ארבעים ושלוש מאות - מי יודע?‏

The traditional Passover song "Echad - mi yodeya" implies a possible presupposition that there is a Jewish significance to be found for each natural number. Accordingly, there is an ongoing series on Mi Yodeya that is attempting to unearth significant Judaism facts about each number, in sequence.

What significant Judaism facts are there about the number 340? The more significant within Judaism and the more intrinsically dependent on the value 340, the stronger the answer. Please include sources for your information wherever possible, as with all other answers on this site.

Please don't put anything named "lazy gematria" there in the answer box.

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340 are the fewest days in a year without a mandatory Shehechiyanu blessing for everyone in the Diaspora.

353 days in the shortest year - 1,2,10,15,16,22,23 Tishrei - 25 Kislev - 14 Adar [II] - 15,16 Nisan - 6,7 Sivan = 340

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Medrash Raba Braishis 26:4 - see Eitz Yosef at the bottom says that from the end of the Mabul until the Dor Haflaga was 340 years.

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  • How could that be if Peleg died after 340 years and his name was Peleg because of the Tower of Bavel? וּלְעֵ֥בֶר יֻלַּ֖ד שְׁנֵ֣י בָנִ֑ים שֵׁ֣ם הָֽאֶחָ֞ד פֶּ֗לֶג כִּ֤י בְיָמָיו֙ נִפְלְגָ֣ה הָאָ֔רֶץ וְשֵׁ֥ם אָחִ֖יו יָקְטָֽן
    – Double AA ♦
    Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 20:46
  • @DoubleAA, see Rashi to that verse.
    – msh210 ♦
    Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 21:53
  • The Mabul was in 1656 and the Dor Hafelagah was in 1996. See Rashi to AZ 9a.
    – DonielF
    Commented Dec 13, 2016 at 19:54
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Per Genesis 11:10–19, Peleg died 2+35+30+34+30+209=340 years after the deluge.

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The Jerusalem Talmud, Sh'viis 4:8, cites Deuteronomy 28:40 ("כִּי יִשַּׁל זֵיתֶךָ", "when your olive will fall away") and says that it means that 1/340 of the olives will survive. (Talmud commentaries ad loc. note that the gimatriya of "יִשַּׁל" is 340.)

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Seder Hadoros Elef Hashlishi - volume 1 page 49 says that of the 400 men Eisav gathered to attack Yaakov, 340 were from the "Bnei Se'ir Hachori".

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340 "chosen men", along with their chief, were killed, among a community of Christians that refused to embrace Judaism, in the 520s in Yemen, according to legend. Source: Jewish Encyclopedia

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In 1896, the synagogue in the Lange Wijngaardstraat in Haarlem was enlarged to 340 seats. (Source.)

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