Pardon Me While I Wax Gematria ...

9

Thanks to Shirat Devorah, I finally have my answer to the gematria behind this new year of 5770.  The year can be written as תש"ע, which those of you might recognize as the Hebrew number tishah, or nine (9).

So what does that mean? What's the point of this year being "nine" ...?

Some interesting tidbits? The number nine appears exactly nine times (according to Shirat Devorah) in the Torah. And, as you'll all remember from my 09/09/09 post, the Hebrew word for truth -- emet (אמת)-- has the gematria value of ... wait for it ... NINE!

I'm not always big on the big and wow of Judaism, the miraculous moments where things click and everything fits and the weird and eeriness of connections. It seems superficial almost, like I'm looking for things that might not be there. But I have to say that NINE is a big number here. We're in 5770, the year 2009 (still, for now), and truth is in all things, especially this year. Maybe there will be a great truth this year? I could use a little truth, a little bit of clarity in a few things.

Anyone else see anything interesting about this year being spelled out as tishah? Or perhaps the significance of the number nine in the coming year?

09/09/09

So today is 09/09/09, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention the awesomeness that is today. Inspired by Kathy Lee and Hoda this morning, I thought I'd take a gander at the date.

9 times 9 times 9 = 729

7+2+9 = 18

1+8 = 9!

Likewise ...

9+9 = 18

1+8 = 9!

Or ...

9+9+9+9 = 36

3+6 = 9!

You see, no matter how many times you multiply nine, when you take the number to its most basic form, you get nine! What a weird and nifty number. No wonder it's significant in many cultures. For my part, my favorite/lucky number is three, which is a divisor of nine!

But from a Jewish view, the number 9 is the gematria (calculation of numerical value of words according to corresponding letter/number values) of the word emet, or truth. And the word emet -- composed of aleph, mem, tav -- is interesting and beautiful in and of itself, because the first letter (aleph) is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the second letter (mem) is the middle letter of the alphabet, and the last letter (tav) is the last letter of the alphabet.

The point? Just as the word truth encompasses all things, from beginning, middle, to end (as in emet), so too the gematria of the word expresses this, because all multiples and additions of nine to nine always come back to, well, nine. To truth. No matter what road you take, if you start with truth, you end with truth, because it is found in all things.

Beautiful, no? I wrote about this concept of emet in the past, but not this beautiful thing with the number nine.

The Wisdom of the Letters

As an editor and lover of words, I tend to look at Tanakh and biblical texts with the eye of an editor. How do I do this? Qohelet, for example, from an editor's standpoint does not read as a fluid, singular piece of literature. Likewise, it doesn't read as a series of acts to compose a play. From an editor's standpoint, it can easily be separated into a variety of small, thematically similar poems or songs.

So today, in Hebrew class, when the professor brought up the Hebrew word for truth-- emet -- I was elated with the rabbis' take on the word. I give to you, the word for truth. Do you notice anything?

The careful reader will notice that the first letter is an aleph -- the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The last letter in the word -- tet -- is the final letter in the Hebrew alphabet. And then you have the mem in the middle, which, interestingly enough, is the middle letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Beginning, middle, end, and we have truth. What does this mean? The rabbis explained this to say that truth is all encompassing. Truth, as such, should be sought out and espoused from beginning to end, throughout the middle, from point to point.

A beautiful little morsel, I think, worth considering. My intent? To read each Hebrew word with the care and delicacy of the rabbis so that perhaps I, a mere academic Jewess, can discover the details and wisdom in the letters.