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Significance of numbers in Judaism

RAMOSS said:
Well, there is one big problem with that whole concept. The idea of numbering the passages is a Christian invention, and was not known to the writers of the Jewish scriptures. It was adopted by Judaism, because it is a handy concept for reference, but the writing itself was not designed to have chapter numbers and line numbers.
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that is not what the study of numerology is meant as. the study of numerology is the meaning of numbers as they appear and the significance as to why they appear.
The number 3 mean completion.
7 is the number of perfection
12 is the number of governance and order.
the number 2 is the number of witnesses.

etc ...
 
ludin said:
that is not what the study of numerology is meant as. the study of numerology is the meaning of numbers as they appear and the significance as to why they appear.
The number 3 mean completion.
7 is the number of perfection
12 is the number of governance and order.
the number 2 is the number of witnesses.

etc ...
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It still has to do with attributing meanings to patterns that really aren't there. If you look hard enough, you can perceive a pattern, even if it is random. Then you get Gematria , which people manipulate words and meanings (assigning a number to each word, based on the letters in it), .. which can be very clever to make points, but is very contrived.
 
Connection? Not really. Yes there is much mystical symbolism placed upon numbers in Judaism, with differing reasons for each specific number (though seven is undoubtedly the most frequent and important), but this is really relegated to Kabbalah and is, in my opinion, often quite silly.
 
RAMOSS said:
It still has to do with attributing meanings to patterns that really aren't there. If you look hard enough, you can perceive a pattern, even if it is random. Then you get Gematria , which people manipulate words and meanings (assigning a number to each word, based on the letters in it), .. which can be very clever to make points, but is very contrived.
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Yes and no. A traditional Rabbi would tell you that the number seven is important because God made it important and imbued it with powerful symbolism. How did he do that? By creating the Universe in 'seven' days. As a result there are many things which reflect this number, such as the seven weeks of the Counting of the Omer, the seven years of the Shemittah cycle, the seven shemittot of Yovel, etc. Where it gets silly is when people try and 'find' this number in any and all manner of things to 'prove' its significance. However within the confines of the Torah and associated scripture the number seven is often quite deliberately repeated and emphasized.
 
Sherman123 said:
Yes and no. A traditional Rabbi would tell you that the number seven is important because God made it important and imbued it with powerful symbolism. How did he do that? By creating the Universe in 'seven' days. As a result there are many things which reflect this number, such as the seven weeks of the Counting of the Omer, the seven years of the Shemittah cycle, the seven shemittot of Yovel, etc. Where it gets silly is when people try and 'find' this number in any and all manner of things to 'prove' its significance. However within the confines of the Torah and associated scripture the number seven is often quite deliberately repeated and emphasized.
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Now, it depends.. SOME Orthodox will say that. Others will not. The Orthodox and the Hasidim are much more likely to give significance than Conservative or Reform... and not even all Orthodox will.
 
RAMOSS said:
Now, it depends.. SOME Orthodox will say that. Others will not. The Orthodox and the Hasidim are much more likely to give significance than Conservative or Reform... and not even all Orthodox will.
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The vast majority of Orthodox will say that. It's probably the number most notable outside the confines of Kabbalah due to the deliberate repetition in the Torah. Maimonides even took the time to write about it and played around with numerology in his work, as did many other famous Jewish writers of the post-temple era.

As for Reform and Conservative, while I wouldn't call myself a believer I also don't place much stock in Reform or Conservative Judaism. They are modern innovations unmoored (especially Reform) from the historical and traditional understanding of Judaism.
 
vesper said:
Yes the number 7 is significant. From beginning to date. I am just about finished reading a book called The Mystery of the Shemitah. It has really left me with a lot to comprehend and pray over.

But JC there are a number of numbers that stand out with significance starting with one, the oneness of God. Move to number 3 and it was three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And for the Christian it is the three are one in power and purpose, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Move to number four you have 4 women that produced all the male children that would become tribes of Israel. It was the 4th child of Jacob called Judah that would be the tribe Kings would ascend. For a Christian Yeshua Jesus was a desendant of both Judah, King and Levi, Priest. I could go on for just about every number and find a major significant meaning. When it comes to 40 or 70, whoa, I would have to rent space on this forum to list the significance of them. :)
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That reminds me of this scene from Aronofsky's remarkable debut film: Pi (which actually revolves around the meaning of numbers in Judaism): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1IzNKIHhp0
 
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