![]() This belief continues to this day, and was popularized by Michael Drasin’s best-selling (and much criticized) The Bible Code, published in 1997. Throughout history, some people have believed that the Torahcontains secrets that can be revealed by gematria and used to predict historical events. This equivalence leads to the conclusion that Elohim refers to the divine presence as it manifests in the physical world, as opposed to the name YHVH, which connects to the heavenly universe. ![]() The name Elohim adds up to the number 86, which equals the value of the word hateva (Nature). Much of gematria focuses on the various names of God and the powers of these names. Therefore, the text argues that it was through the power of speaking God’s holy name that Abram defeated his enemies. This text observes that the numerical value of the word “siach” (Hebrew for speaking or conversing) is 318. ![]() A Hasidictext, the Kedushat Levi, uses gematria to draw additional conclusions from this verse. The numerical equivalent of the name “Eliezer” (Abram’s servant) is 318 therefore, the text suggests that in fact it was only Eliezer that came with Abram, not all 318 men. This verse mentions the 318 men that made up the household of Abram (later in Genesis, God changes Abram’s name to Abraham), whom he took with him to defeat the armies that had recently attacked his kinsman. One famous example of gematria is in the interpretation of Genesis 14:14, which appears in the Baraita of the Thirty-two Rules and in other Talmudic and Midrashic references. Famous Examples of Gematria-Based Arguments The Sabbatean movement of the 17th century (the followers of which believed their leader, Shabbatai Tzvi, to be the messiah) and the Hasidic movement of the 18th century built on the kabbalistic tradition, employing gematria as a tool in their mystical writings. The kabbalist Moses Cordovero of Safed, Israel, in 1542 compiled a handbook called Pardes Rimonim (Garden of the Pomegranates), which includes many sections that expound on and elaborate previous systems of gematria. Their writings influenced Abraham Abulafia of the Castilian school of Kabbalah, whose meditation techniques included contemplating different names of God. In the 1200s the Hasidim of Ashkenaz (“German pietists,” a group of rabbis who practiced a mystical and ascetic form of Judaism, not to be confused with Hasidism, which developed 500 years later) used gematria in their mystical writings. Sefer Yetzirah supposedly contains the instructions to create a golem, the legendary creature made out of mud, popularized by the Maharal of Prague in the 19th century. The mystic practitioner could, it was believed, use this knowledge to harness the powers of creation. This text is concerned with God’s creation of the universe through the powers of the Hebrew alphabet, and with the permutations of God’s name. Sefer Yetzirah, the earliest kabbalistic text, believed to have been written in the 2nd century CE, was the first kabbalistic text to elaborate a system of gematria. They were much more invested in the use of logical reasoning and argumentation to support their positions.Ĭonnect with your community every morning. The rabbis occasionally employed gematria to help support biblical exegesis, but did not rely on it heavily. While gematria was used periodically in the Talmud and Midrash, it was not central to rabbinic literature. The Hebrew Alphabet in Numerologyĩ00 Tzady (final) ץ Who Believes in Gematria? If a word’s numerical value equals that of another word, a commentator might draw a connection between these two words and the verses in which they appear and use this to prove larger conceptual conclusions. In the realm of biblical interpretation, commentators base an argument on numerological equivalence of words. ![]() One can then calculate the numerical value of a word by adding together the values of each letter in it. In gematria, each Hebrew letter is represented by a number (for example, aleph = 1, bet = 2, etc.). This system, developed by practitioners of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), derived from Greek influence and became a tool for interpreting biblical texts. Gematria is a numerological system by which Hebrew letters correspond to numbers. ![]()
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