The Significance of the Number Eighteen
According to the gematria, the Rabbinic system of numerical
symbolism, each letter of the Hebrew
alphabet represents a number. The word chai - חי meaning life consists of two Hebrew
letters het - ח
equivalent to the number eight,
and yud - י equivalent to the number
ten which together add up to 18.
ח – 8
י -
10
-------
Total = 18
The main thing that we can learn from 18, Chai, is
the fulfillment of Torah and commandments (mitzvot), as in the verse:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 18:5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my
judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them (mitzvot):
I HaShem.
Eighteen means your
performance, the full extension. Eighteen is life!
Eighteen represents a basic
structure of life.
Matza and Eighteen
Both bread and Matza are flour mixed
with water, then kneaded into a dough and baked. What is the difference between
them? The difference is that bread dough has sat unattended for eighteen minutes
and becomes leavened (bread). The Matza which we eat on Passover has been baked quickly.
Eighteen is the amount of time it
takes to turn matza dough into chametz (leaven). It is
the difference between being cut off from the those who live (keret), during Pesach, and those who actually live.
The spelling of “Matza” is
similar to “mitzva:” Just as we shouldn’t delay in
the making of Matza, so too we shouldn’t
procrastinate in performing a mitzva. The lesson of Matza is to seize the moment. Delaying even one second can mean the difference between an opportunity
gained or lost.
Why eighteen minutes? Because the number
eighteen is the numerical value of “Chai,” meaning “life.” They say that “baseball
is a game of inches”. Actually, life itself is a game of seconds. The Talmud tells of people who had sunk to the depths of
humanity, and then in one moment of insight reversed their lives for all eternity. More
than just the difference between Matza and bread,
the Seder teaches us the
difference between life and death.
Eighteen In Our Prayers
Eighteen is the number of times HaShem’s name is mentioned in shema[1].
When we declare the unity of HaShem we are connecting
to The Source of life.
The number eighteen is prominent in the eighteen blessings
of the Shemone Esreh. The Shemone Esreh is called The Prayer,
The standing prayer. It is
the quintessential service of life. We live to serve HaShem.
The number eighteen is prominent in the song sung by the Jewish People after the splitting of the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-19).
Midrash B’Midbar Rabba to Numbers 2:1-34 AND THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES AND UNTO AARON,
SAYING (Num. II, 1). In eighteen passages you find Moses and Aaron placed on an
equal footing (i.e. the divine communication was made to both alike); to this
the Eighteen Benedictions correspond (the
reason, was that Moses and Aaron were both instruments of Israel’s deliverance,
which would not have been effected without their prayers,
hence the daily Prayer was likewise divided into
Eighteen Benedictions.). From the three Patriarchs you
derive the fixed ritual of praying three times a day. Abraham
instituted morning prayer, as it is said, And Abraham got
up early in the morning to the place where he had stood, etc. (Gen. XIX,
27), and ‘standing’
signifies prayer, as it is said, Then stood up Phinehas, and prayed [English Version: ‘wrought judgment’] (Ps. CVI, 30). Isaac
instituted afternoon prayer, as it is said, And Isaac went out
to meditate in the field at eventide (Gen. XXIV, 63), and ‘meditation’ signifies prayer; as it is said, A prayer
of the afflicted, when he faints, and pours out his meditation (E.V.: complaint) before the Lord (Ps. CII,
I). Jacob instituted evening prayer,
as it is said, And he lighted
(wayyifga’) upon the place, etc. (Gen. XXVIII, 11), and pegi’ah signifies prayer, as it is said, Therefore pray not you for this people ...
neither make intercession (tifga’
- all three are from the root paga’) to Me
(Jer. VII, 16). In eighteen passages Moses and Aaron are conjoined, thus giving
a hint for the Eighteen Benedictions which correspond to the eighteen
references to the Divine Name occurring in the shema’ and in [the Psalm
commencing,] A Psalm
of David: Ascribe unto the Lord, O you sons of might (Ps. XXIX, 1). The three Patriarchs, then, introduced the custom of praying three times a day,
while from Moses and Aaron and from the above-mentioned references to the
Divine Name we infer that eighteen benedictions [must
be said].
Chazal instituted Eighteen Benedictions of the Prayer (the Tefillah), corresponding to the Eighteen
mentions [of the divine Name] in the Reading of the Shema,
and also in [the Psalm], Ascribe to the Lord, O you
sons of might (Psalm 29):
Tehillim
(Psalms) 29:1 <<A Psalm of David.>> Give unto HaShem, O ye mighty,
give unto HaShem
glory and strength. 2 Give unto HaShem the glory due
unto his name; worship HaShem in the beauty of holiness. 3 The voice of HaShem is upon the waters: the God of glory
thundereth: HaShem
is upon many waters. 4 The voice of HaShem is powerful; the
voice of HaShem is
full of majesty. 5 The voice of HaShem breaketh the
cedars; yea, HaShem
breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He
maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
7 The voice of HaShem divideth the flames of fire.
8 The voice of HaShem shaketh the wilderness; HaShem shaketh the
wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of HaShem maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth
the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. 10 HaShem sitteth upon the flood; yea, HaShem sitteth King for
ever. 11 HaShem will give strength unto his people; HaShem will bless his
people with peace.
* * *
-Said R. Hiyya b. Abba: [The eighteen times ‘command’ are counted] only from “And with him was Oholiav, the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan.” (Exodus 38:23) until the end of the Book.
The phrase “as HaShem had
commanded Moses,” appears eighteen times in Torah portion Pekudei. The Talmud[2]
asks the following question: Why do we say eighteen blessings in the daily Shemoneh
Esrei prayer? Some of the answers the Talmud records are as follows: “Rabbi Shimon says that
the eighteen blessings correspond to the eighteen discs in one’s
spinal chord. Rabbi Chaninah says in the name of Rabbi
Pinchas that the eighteen blessings correspond to the eighteen times that our forefathers
(Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) are mentioned together in the Torah. Rabbi
Shmuel bar Nachmani says in the name of Rabbi Yochanan
that the eighteen blessings correspond to the eighteen times the phrase ‘as HaShem had commanded Moses’ appears in the Torah portion
of Pekudei.”
All of the reasons mentioned above can be combined into one central idea: One of the things
that differentiates man from animal is the fact that he is able to walk upright, that he has a spine full of vertebrae.
The mark of someone who is a ba’al ga’ava, a haughty person, is that he
walks with a straight spine, upright, in a way which shows that he feels
greater than everyone else. A humble person, however, tends to walk more bent over, in a submissive manner, realizing
his lowliness in comparison to his Creator.
One foundation of prayer is for us to realize that we are totally
subjugated to HaShem; only He can give us what we
need and has given us what we have. Three times a day
during our recital of the Shemoneh Esrei prayer
we bow to HaShem as we say the words “Baruch ata
-- blessed are you.” We then stand upright when we say “HaShem”,
recognizing the blessing HaShem provides man by
straightening the bent. A Jewish king is required to
recite the entire Shemoneh Esrei prayer while
on his knees, to show himself and the entire Jewish
people that even the king is totally subjugated and dependent on HaShem.
Another foundation of prayer is zechut
avot, the merit of our righteous forefathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Their deeds and self-sacrifice
are the only reason we have the opportunity to stand before HaShem. Without them, we would be like any other nation, devoid of the special relationship our
forefathers achieved to connect to the Infinite.
The central idea which connects
the reasons of the bent spine and our forefathers’ righteousness can be found
in the third reason mentioned above as to why we
recite eighteen blessings in the daily Shemoneh Esrei: “as HaShem had commanded Moses,” the phrase which is
repeated eighteen times in this week’s Torah portion. Moses did just as HaShem commanded him, and so did our forefathers. We,
too, because of their merit, are able to serve HaShem by bowing our spine and subjugating ourselves to
His will, as we do every time we recite the Shemoneh
Esrei prayer.
Berachoth 28b GEMARA: On what are these “Eighteen
Blessings” based? Rabbi Hillel the son of Rabbi Shmuel Bar Nachmani says that
they’re indicated by the eighteen times the name of God
is mentioned in Psalm 29, “Bring to God, you sons of
the mighty”. Rabbi Joseph bases it on the eighteen
times God’s name is mentioned in the Shema. Rabbi Tanchum said in the name
of Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levy that the eighteen blessings correspond to the
eighteen major vertebrae in the human spine.
Many attempts to uncover the underlying structure of the Amida are predicated on the significance of the number eighteen in
the “Eighteen Blessings.” These attempts include the drawing of correlations
between the eighteen blessings and the eighteen vertebrae of the spine,
eighteen matters of the Sanctuary, eighteen pivotal events in Jewish history, or
eighteen select biblical texts. R. Saadya Gaon came up with twelve different reasons for this number
of blessings.
3) THREE REASONS FOR THE
EIGHTEEN BLESSINGS OF SHEMONEH ESREH
QUESTION: The Gemara
describes three reasons why the Hakhamim instituted
eighteen blessings in the Shemoneh Esreh.
(b) They correspond to the eighteen times that the name of HaShem is mentioned in
the three paragraphs of Shema.
(c) They correspond to the eighteen vertebrae of the spine.
Is there anything common to these three groups of
eighteen?
(c) HaShem sees and knows all of
man’s actions and will reward and punish appropriately in the World to Come.
It could be that these three tenets
are included in the Shemone Esreh according to the three
reasons given for why the Hakhamim instituted eighteen blessings.
(b) Tehilim 29 describes the events
of the giving of the Torah, and therefore represents our belief that HaShem gave us the Torah .
(c) The spine represents the knowledge
that HaShem sees all of our actions, because the
spine is the part of the central nervous system that directs every action and
movement that a person makes, which are being watched by HaShem.
In addition, HaShem will take one
vertebrae from the spine and rebuild the body from it
at the time of the resurrection.
The spine therefore alludes to the belief that HaShem
will give eternal life to those who follow His ways[3].
These three illustrations appear to
correspond to the three parts of man’s Soul; the
vertebrae [Nefesh - physicality]; the Keri’at Shema [Ru’ach - Spirit, with which we praise HaShem]; “Havu la’Shashem B’nei Eilim” (which refers to Matan
Torah) [Neshamah - the most spiritual of the three Souls]. This teaches us
that, when we stand before HaShem, we must pray to him at all three
levels.
The Hallel and
Eighteen
Ta’anith 28b R. Johanan
said in the name of R. Simeon ben Jehozadok: “Eighteen
times during the year an individual may recite the whole Hallel, and they are:
On the eight days of the Feast of
Tabernacles,
on the day of Pentecost.
While in exile, however, one may recite
it twenty-one times during the
year, namely: On the nine days of the festival of Tabernacles, on
the eight days of Chanukah,
on the first two days of Passover, and on the two days
of Pentecost.”
Eighteen in the Mishkan
If we would list the materials for the offering for the Mishkan,
there would be eighteen different items:
Shemot
(exodus) 25:1-7 And this [is] the offering which ye shall
take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,
And blue, and purple,
and scarlet, and fine
linen, and goats’ [hair],
And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood, Oil
for the light, spices for anointing oil, and
for sweet incense,
Onyx stones, and stones
to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.
Said R. Samuel b. Nachman in the name
of R. Nathan: Eighteen times is [‘As the Lord did] command’
written in the section of the Tabernacle: Exodus 37:22; Exodus 38:1, 5,
7, 21, 26, 29, 31, 32, 42, 43; Exodus 40: 16, 19, 21,
23, 25, 27, 29, 32.
The Ba’al HaTurim[4]
points out the seemingly redundant repetition of the phrase, “As HaShem commanded Moshe” after each item for the Mishkan was constructed. He explains that as a reward
for Moshe’s pleading for the Jews after the sin of the Golden Calf, when he said, “Please erase me from
your book”, HaShem constantly repeats Moshe’s name in this portion. The Ba’al HaTurim notes further that
the phrase “As HaShem commanded Moshe” appears
eighteen times in this portion, corresponding to the eighteen blessings of the
weekday Amida. The phrase, “As HaShem
commanded, so they did” appears once, and corresponds to the additional
nineteenth blessing against heretics. How are these three
ideas - Moshe’s pleading, the Amida, and the
construction of the Mishkan - related?
The Torah repeats the phrase, “As HaShem
commanded Moshe” eighteen times, to show that the Mishkan
was constructed with the same selflessness which Moshe embodied. The only
purpose was to fulfill the will of HaShem. Similarly,
in prayer, we should strive for this commitment to
serving HaShem. We do not make requests of HaShem for our own pleasure, but so that we will be
better able to perform the will of our Creator.
Oftentimes a good way to get to know
someone or something is to investigate its name. The Gemara jumps in to do just that. Rabbi Hillel the son
of Rabbi Shmuel notices that the Divine name is
mentioned eighteen times in the 29th Psalm, most
often related to Kaballat Shabbat (Welcoming the Sabbath) and reading to Torah. In other words, he’s
telling us that our daily prayer corresponds on a
very deep level to both the Shabbat and to the
Torah. Rav Yosef brings us a new
connection, this time
with the Shema which also contains eighteen
repetitions of the Divine Name. The Shema,
as we already know, is the central declaration of the
Unity of All. Thus in this prayer we approach all
that there is which is now further linked with the realm of Shabbat and with the Torah.
Eighteen In The Body
Rabbi Tanchum, in the name of Rabbi
Yehoshua Ben Levy, points out another occurrence of “eighteen” in the primary
vertebrae as seen in medieval anatomy (in fact there are additional cervical
and tail vertebrae, but the largest set actually does contain eighteen!). The spine!
The structure that stands us upright, makes us, in a certain way, human. The
spine also represents the vav in the Divine Name, the
connector between the upper and the lower realms. The prayer
of Eighteen engages us in the ultimate service of life: Bowing to HaShem in prayer.
The spine represents the knowledge
that HaShem sees all of our actions, because the
spine is the part of the central nervous system that directs every action and
movement that a person makes, which are being watched by HaShem.
In addition, HaShem will take one
vertebrae (the luz bone) from the spine and rebuild the body
from it at the time of the resurrection.
The spine therefore alludes to the belief that HaShem
will give eternal life to those who follow His ways.
Zohar 821 Lulav is Righteous One,
NAMELY, YESOD, for the Lulav is like the spinal chord that contains eighteen
vertebrae, corresponding to the eighteen shaking movements with the Lulav. And
they correspond to the eighteen blessings of the Amidah
prayer, and they correspond to the eighteen mentions,
NAMELY, THE NAMES OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, in “Ascribe to HaShem,
O you mighty” (Tehilim 29:1), and the eighteen times that the Divine Name is mentioned in the recital of the Sh’ma. And the Lulav
is shaken in six directions: SOUTH, NORTH, EAST, UP, DOWN AND WEST, which makes six,
and it is shaken three times in each direction, MAKING
a total of eighteen.
Eighteen and the Menorah
Bamidbar (Numbers) 1:1 has
eighteen words in Hebrew. These resonate with the
fact that the Menorah was to be eighteen handbreadths in height:
Menachoth 28b Samuel said in the name of an old scholar, The
height of the candlestick was eighteen handbreadths: three
handbreadths for the base and the flower upon it, two handbreadths plain, one
handbreadth for cup, knop and flower, again two handbreadths plain, one
handbreadth for a knop out of which two branches come
forth, one on each side, extending and rising to the
same height as the candlestick, then one handbreadth
plain, one handbreadth for a knop out of which two branches come forth, one on each
side, extending and rising to the same height as the candlestick, then again one handbreadth plain, and one
handbreadth for a knop out of which two branches come
forth, one on each side, extending and rising to the
same height as the candlestick, and then two
handbreadths plain; there now remained three
handbreadths, in which space were three cups, a knop
and a flower.
The same may be learned from the cleansing procedure. The
cleaning could have been done without recourse to a set of steps, because the
Menorah was only eighteen tefachim (approximately five
and one-quarter feet) high. If
we could rely on presumptions and evaluations, a cleaning done from ground
level would allow us to confidently say the Menorah is perfectly clean and ready. But we may not rely on anything, and we
must know absolutely, by looking downwards into
the lamps, that they are perfectly clean and ready.
Similarly, when we teach others to avoid sin and develop good character traits, we must do so
fastidiously and with perfectionism.
Marriage At Eighteen
Pirkei Avot 5:21
At twenty to pursue [a
livelihood].
At fifty [one gives] counsel.
At sixty [one reaches] old age.
At eighty [one reaches] strong old
age.
At ninety [one is] bent.
Thus at eighteen we are ready to marry and beget life.
* * *
Lag BaOmer is the 18th of Iyar.
Shabbat candles are lit and a
blessing is recited no later than eighteen minutes before sunset.
An old tradition maintains that in every generation, there are thirty-six
hidden righteous people (two times eighteen) for whom
the world continues.
Zevachim 88b Our Rabbis taught: The robe [me’il] was
entirely of blue, as it is said, And he made the robe of the ephod of woven
work, all of blue. How were its skirts [made]? Blue [wool], purple wool and
crimson thread, twisted together, were brought, and manufactured into the shape
of pomegranates whose mouths were not yet opened and in
the shape of the cones of the helmets on children’s heads. Seventy two bells containing seventy two clappers were
brought and hung thereon, thirty six
on each side. R. Dosa said on the authority of
Rabbi Judah: There were thirty six,
eighteen on each side.
King Solomon and the Messiah.
The involvement with the nations of
the world, their wisdom and their art, requires
extreme caution. King Solomon’s desire or “passion”[5]
to rectify worldly art and science—his attraction to the culture and aesthetic
of the nations—so overtook that it adversely
affected his devoted obedience to the law of the Torah.
The Torah permits a king to marry eighteen
wives; in attempt to elevate all of the beauty and wisdom unrectified of the nations (embodied in the princess of each nation) King Solomon married a thousand wives: “King
Solomon loved many foreign women, and he had many wives, that numbered seven hundred, and three hundred
concubines.[6]
Sanhedrin 21a Whence do we deduce the number eighteen? —
From the verse, And unto David were sons born in Hebron;
and his first-born was Ammon of Ahinoam the
Jezreelitess; the second, Chileab of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite;
the third Absalom the son of Maacah; and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shefatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream of Eglah, David’s wife. These were born to
David in Hebron. And of them the Prophet said: And if
that were too little, then would I add unto thee the like of these, [Ka-hennah]
and the like of these, [we-kahennah], each ‘kahennah’ implying six, which, with the original six,
makes eighteen in all.
* * *
V. I. S. Zuri, op. cit., Part I, Bk. 3,
pp. 19-27 on the significance of numbers. He
maintains that eighteen is often used symbolically to denote a large number.
A Sabbath day’s journey is two thousand cubits.
This is generally regarded as an eighteen minutes’ walk.
Rosh HaShana 18a The Rabbis taught:
There was a family in Jerusalem the members of which
used to die at the age of eighteen. They
came and told Rabban Johanan b. Zaccai. He said to them, Perhaps you are of the
family of Eli, to whom it was said, and all the increase of thy house shall die
young men. Go and study the Torah and you may live.
They went and studied the Torah and lived, and they
used to call that family the family of Rabban Johanan after his name.
Rosh HaShana 20b R. Zera said in the name
of R. Nahman: The moon is invisible for twenty-four hours [round about new moon]. For us [in Babylon] six of these belong to
the old moon and eighteen
to the new; for them [in Palestine] six
to the new and eighteen to the old. What is the
practical value of this remark? — R. Ashi said: To confute the witnesses.
Yoma 9a ‘The fear of the Lord prolongeth days’ refers to the first
Sanctuary, which remained standing
for four hundred and ten years
and in which there served only eighteen high priests.
‘But the years of the wicked shall be shortened’
refers to the second Sanctuary, which abided for four hundred and twenty years
and at which more than three hundred [high] priests served . Take off therefrom the forty years which Simeon the Righteous served, eighty years
which Johanan the high priest served, ten, which Ishmael b. Fabi served, or, as some say, the eleven years of R. Eleazar b. Harsum. Count [the number of high priests] from
then on and you will find that none of them completed his year [in office].
* * *
This study was written by
Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben
David
(Greg Killian).
Comments may be
submitted to:
Rabbi Dr. Greg
Killian
4544 Highline Drive
SE
Olympia, WA 98501
Internet
address: gkilli@aol.com
Web page: http://www.betemunah.org/
(360) 918-2905
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