22
The following is just my understanding of the sources, and if there are any mistakes (ex: in the Ramban's reasons to disagree with the Rambam, the titles given to mitzvos, etc.), please point them out to me. I used the Mishneh LaMelech's Derech Mitzvosecha § 1, this article, and the Ramban's summary at the end of his Hasagos to help with this list.
In ...
19
Jacob had twelve sons, and on spiritual matters, we count those twelve. With Levi as one and Joseph as one. (That's for instance what you'd find on the High Priest's decision breastplate.)
On financial/land matters, however, Levi did his own thing, and Joseph got a double portion as his sons Ephraim and Menashe. For instance, there were spaces for twelve ...
17
According to Mechon Mamre:
TL;DR
TOTAL - 16,818 (+ 104)
Hamada` - 725
Ahavah - 730 (+ 63)
Zemanim - 1,738 (+ 41)
Nashim - 1,207
Qedushah - 1,140
Hafla'ah - 820
Zera`im - 1,582
`Avodah - 1,537
Haqorbanot - 651
Taharah - 2,317
Nezaqim - 993
Qinyan - 1,191
Mishpattim - 1,141
Shofettim - 1,046
Hamada` - 725
Yesode'i HaTorah - 140
De`ot - 130
Talmud Torah - ...
16
The straightforward answer to this question is that whereas the Christians are discussing what Hashem is made up of, the Kabbalists are discussing the ways in which He chose to reveal Himself.
Just like we can understand that ה' ממית ומחיה is not reminiscent of trinity, since it is simply a reflection of what Hashem will do about different circumstances, ...
15
The Talmud (Megillah 14a) writes:
הרבה נביאים עמדו להם לישראל, כפלים כיוצאי מצרים, אלא, נבואה שהוצרכה לדורות - נכתבה, ושלא הוצרכה - לא נכתבה.
Many prophets arose for the Jews: more than twice the number of Jews in the Exodus [1200000, but this language is likely meant to be understood as a really, really big number]. However, those prophesies which ...
15
The RaMBa"M is likely quoting this directly from the Gemara in Sanhedrin 2A (Hebrew, English):
סנהדרין גדולה היתה של שבעים ואחד וקטנה של עשרים ושלשה מנין לגדולה שהיא של שבעים ואחד שנאמר אספה לי שבעים איש מזקני ישראל ומשה על גביהן ר' יהודה אומר שבעים
The Great Sanhedrin consisted of seventy-one members; the small sanhedrin of twenty-three. Whence do we ...
14
The Maharal (Chapter 56 of Gevuros Hashem) points out that the plagues follow a pattern, split into units of 3 - the first of each group (plagues 1, 4, and 7) are preceded by a warning to Pharaoh issued by the Nile. The second of each group (2, 5, and 8) are preceded by a warning issued to Pharaoh while sitting on his throne. The third of each group has no ...
13
Well, I'll just treat this as a programming assignment. If we use mechon-mamre's masoretic text without vowels; if we ignore punctuation and paragraph marks; if we use the ksiv and not kri (occasionally there's a note -- "the scroll will say this, but read that out-loud instead), I'm getting 135 such verses. A lot of them you'd expect to find repeated a lot, ...
12
I actually saw a dvar torah this week that claimed that the tribe of Gad showed that the others were actually exact by a miracle in Mail Jewish (quoted below). See the quote from Rav Chaim Kanievsky below based on what his father the Steipler Rav told him.
Another explanation is that the counts were actually rounded to the nearest fifty or rounded up to the ...
12
Rashi raises this question, and answers (probably based on the Midrash 94:9) that the 33rd is Yocheved, who wasn't born until they got to Egypt.
Ibn Ezra (on verse 23) rejects this explanation, and instead suggests that Jacob himself is included in the count.
11
On three things the world depends -- al ha-torah, v'al ha-avodah, v'al gimilut chasadim (Pirke Avot 1:2).
And the world is sustained by three things -- by truth, by justice, and by peace (Pirke Avot 1:18).
11
Sevens
by Ari Lesser
Passover extends seven days my friends
And from the night after the first day ends
We count seven times seven days till Shavuot
Refining our souls with the seven Spheriot
We go through Tiferet, Malchut, Yesod
Chesed, Gevurah, Netzach, and Hod
We’re not tzaddiks but after seven weeks
We’re ready to receive the words G-d ...
11
This number has, to the best of my knowledge, no significance whatsoever in Judaism.
You can search according to gematria here but, as my teacher Rabbi Tzvi Aryeh Rosenfeld z'l said in a shiur, the average person shouldn't really come up with their own gematrios, generally speaking, and expect anything from them.
You will find that there are many ...
11
There are 304,805 letters in the Torah.
There are 79,976 words in the Torah.
There are 5,888 or 5,845 verses in the Torah.
Bereishit (Genesis)
12 Sidrot
50 Chapters
1,534 Verses
Shmot (Exodus)
11 Sidrot
40 Chapter
1,209 Verses
Vayikra (Leviticus)
10 Sidrot
27 Chapters
859 Verses
Bamidbar (Numbers)
10 Sidrot
36 Chapters
1,288 Verses
...
11
They are a Gershayim, a Hebrew diacritic used in a number of ways, but generally to indicate that a certain set of letters does not spell a word in the ordinary sense. In this case, it is used to indicate that the letters are to be taken as numerals.
11
For example, the posuk (5:32) says that Noach begot Sheim (Chom and Yefes) when he was 500 so I added 500 on to 1056 and got 1556.
But it doesn't say what order they were born in. Rashi later on (10:21) points out that Yefet is older since we know (11:10) Shem was 100 years old only 2 years after the flood, whereas we know (7:6) the flood started when Noach ...
10
Six are the ways Israel was rewarded for Avraham's service to the angels:
Because Avraham called for the angels to be brought water, G-d repaid by providing water in the Midbar, in the Yishuv (settlement) and in the Messianic Age (e.g. "Spring water will flow out of Jerusalem (Zech. 14:8));
Because Avraham offered the angels a chance to wash their feet, ...
10
Bavli Ketubbot 8a:
לוי איקלע לבי רבי בהלוליה דר"ש בריה בריך חמש רב אסי איקלע לבי רב אשי בהלוליה דמר בריה בריך שית...רב אשי איקלע לבי רב כהנא יומא קמא בריך כולהו מכאן ואילך אי איכא פנים חדשות בריך כולהו ...&rml;
Levi came to Rebbi's house after R Shimon [Rebbe's] son's wedding and said [all] of the blessings. Rav Assi came to Rav Ashi's house after Mar [...
10
Uktzin 3:12:
R. Yehoshua ben Levi said: In the World to Come the Holy One, Blessed be He, will make each righteous person to inherit 310 worlds, for it is written: "That I may cause those who love Me to inherit 'yesh' (310) and that I may fill their treasuries" (Mishlei 8:21).
10
Even if you purposefully didn't bow, you still fulfilled your obligation (Rambam Tefillah 5:1).
10
Yom Tov is regarded as Chatzi L'Hashem and Chatzi lachem (half for Hashem and half for you) - Refer to Gemoro Beitzah 15b
9
Three are the questions at the Seder (as presented in all the old manuscripts of the Mishna such as this one).
about the Korban Pesach (Why on this night do we only eat roasted meat?)
about the Matza (Why on this night do we only eat Matza?)
about the Maror (Why on this night do we dip vegetables a second time?)
Three are the explanations given by ...
9
1) From ילקוט ראובני :
וגם הולך לקראתך וארבע מאות איש עמו, ארבע מאות איש שנטל עשו שנשא מחלת
בת ישמעאל על נשיו, וירש ארבע מאות כתות החיצונים ששולטים עליהם מחל"ת
ולילי"ת, נשים בגימטריא ארבע מאות, וזהו מרבה נשי"ם מרבה כשפי"ם
2)
See also http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=20767&pgnum=89
3) From ספר הישר, cited in אוצר המספרים:
בני שעיר ...
9
There are 4192 Mishnayos. Source: The back of the משניות set that's called משנה סדורה.
See this online downloadable version.
Edit: Per @Yehoshua's comment, the link no longer seems to work, but I can still see the relevant table on the Internet Archive.
9
For a start, the words before the ones you mention are:
שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת, תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה
Seven complete weeks are only 49 days.
Secondly, we see other times in Chumash that a number means "until, but not including" that number. For example in Devarim (25:3):
אַרְבָּעִים יַכֶּנּוּ, לֹא יֹסִיף
We only strike him 39 lashes; all the up to - but ...
9
The Torah lists off the names of the tribes in multiple places. Every time, there are 12: either because Levi is counted, and Yosef is counted as one tribe, or because Levi is not counted, and in those cases Efraim and Menashe are both counted. Thus, we say '12' because that's clearly what the Torah is trying to do - emphasize that however you count the ...
9
The first Rashi in Parshat Masei mentions that Israel had 14 journeys during the first year until they arrived at Ritmah (which is Kadesh Barne'a). Then they wandered for 38 years where they had 20 journeys. Then, the final year there were 8 journeys after Aharon died as they went into the land.
The 40 years of wandering in the desert retroactively include ...
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