Who knows forty-one?
Please cite/link your sources, if possible. After about one business day, I will:
Upvote all interesting answers.
Accept the best answer.
Go on to the next number.
asked May 23, 2010 at 12:10
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11 Answers
The 41st verse in the book of Numbers is about a tribe who numbered 41 (and a half) thousand.
A word with gematria 41 occurs in every book (and sub-book) of Tanach, except for Jonah. I have absolutely no idea what to make of that.
Although Freud would probably say it has something to do with him missing his mother...
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1It wouldn't be him missing "his mother" because that would equal 47! ;-)– YahuCommented May 25, 2010 at 17:27
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41 are the years that Yeravam (Jeroboam) II ruled. (II Kings 14:23)
This was the longest reign of any king of the Ten Tribes. He also holds these distinctions:
Under his rule, Jewish sovereignty over the Biblical borders of Eretz Yisrael was restored (ibid. verse 25).
He refused to accept lashon hara (slander) against the prophet Amos. He was rewarded for this by having his name listed together with the Judean kings (Hosea 1:1, Pesachim 87b).
The 41st day from Rosh Hashannah is Heshvan 11th, Rachel Imenu's Yahrzeit (I heard it from the Rabbanit Yemima Mizrahi)
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2Now there's another interesting connection with אם equaling 41!– AlexCommented Nov 23, 2010 at 20:35
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@DoubleAA, Are there any years in which Tishrei doesn't have 30 days?? Commented Aug 27, 2012 at 5:02
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@LeaCohen Sure! Approximately half of those that occurred between Yetziat Mitzrayim and the fixing of the calendar (~375CE).– Double AA ♦Commented Aug 27, 2012 at 5:04
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1@DoubleAA, OK, I was talking about the time after the fixing of the calendar... :) Commented Aug 27, 2012 at 5:11
The 41st day is the earliest point in a pregnancy where, if the woman miscarries (G-d forbid), she is considered to have given birth and is subject to the laws outlined in ch. 12 of Leviticus. (Rambam, Hil. Issurei Bi'ah 10:2)
The 41st day after giving birth to a boy is also the day on which the mother brings her offerings (as described in Lev. 12:6ff), and is then allowed to enter the Beis Hamikdash and to eat sacred food. (Rambam, Hil. Mechusrei Kapparah 1:5)
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Your first answer just underscores the significance of 40 days being the formation of the fetus. Your second answer just shows the significance of 40 as the process of afterbirth impurity and purity when a woman gives birth to a boy. Unless you want to connect it to Shlomo's gematria and say that a mother is not an "Eim"= 41 until she has a "Mama's Boy" and that is why she brings the offering on the 41st day! Hmmmm, not a bad idea! ;-)– YahuCommented May 24, 2010 at 3:25
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2True, but the point in both of them is that the 40th day itself does not count for this purpose. In that it's unlike, for example, the laws of a nazir, who may (after the fact) bring his offerings and shave on the 30th day (which is the day that his naziriteship expires) - though there too it's preferable for him to wait for the 31st, it's not an absolute requirement as it is here. Whether that's because of the association with "eim" - dunno.– AlexCommented May 24, 2010 at 18:19
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1Checkmark because I accept Alex's argument that there is indeed a 41-ness to these halachot.– Isaac Moses ♦Commented May 25, 2010 at 2:15
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The gematria of mother. (Aleph-Mem) ( Kibud av va-am.)
41 years from Ever's death to Yitzchak's.
41 is the times that Yirah (meaning awe/fear, not sight) appears in Torah.
Technically, there was only 41 journeys.
https://www.etzion.org.il/en/salt-motzaei-shabbat-july-30-2016
41 is nullified.
Alternatively
"41 is doing zilch!"
(The gematria of בטל)
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The deeper meaning of my two answers is that I am finding it extremely difficult to find any significance to 41. If the only significance one can find is arbitrary numerological associations then we are in "bitul" zone!– YahuCommented May 24, 2010 at 2:13
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1Yes, it is my "emptiness" that I was expressing; not any emptiness of the Torah- Everything is in it! Your Yeravam answer shows that.– YahuCommented May 24, 2010 at 3:19
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After thinking about your answer regarding the mother's offering and its connection to Shlomo's answer there may be even more to 41 than I thought. It was definitely "מכם" or rather "ממני"!– YahuCommented May 24, 2010 at 3:29
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1I still stand by my comment about "arbitrary numerological associations". Just a gematria is not a very significant answer, but Alex, you gave it some טעם - (taste;reasoning) (perhaps without intending to do so) and now my brain is racing.– YahuCommented May 24, 2010 at 3:35
In Kol Hator 1:6, Reb Hillel says 41 years and 8 months is a Divine Hour. Eh, it's close enough.
Asa ruled for forty one years. In his days the land was quiet for ten years. In the fifteenth year of Asa's reign, Zerach the Kushite came and returned to Asa all the booty that Shishak the king of Egypt had taken from Jerusalem, and Asa took it. This was the thirty-fifth year since the death of Shelomo, and God raised up an adversary to Israel, Rezon the son of Eliyada… What is the meaning of "of Asa"? This corresponds to the thirty-six years during which Shelomo was married to the daughter of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and it corresponds to the thirty-six years that were decreed against the kingdom of the house of David that it be divided, and that in the end will be returned to them… Therefore it is stated: "In the sixth and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa." In the sixteenth year of Asa, after Zerach the Kushite fell into his hands, it being the thirty-sixth year since the death of Shelomo, God raised up an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliyada (I Melakhim 16). At that same time the king of Israel and the king of Aram made a pact to go up and provoke Asa, and Asa sinned, and brought out silver and gold… a pact between me and you… and Ben Hadad heard… and at that time Chanani came… And the kings of Aram didn't stop being adversaries of Israel…. (Seder Olam Rabba, 16)