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77-636: This title is also used in Breslov Hasidic movements, who have no rebbe . Previously, those holding this position were referred to as "community rabbis". The related Hebrew word "mashpian" refers to an " influencer " such as a celebrity or social media promoter. Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi , the first rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch, discussed the role of mashpi'im in the preface to the Tanya , his book on Hasidic philosophy . Breslov (Hasidic group) Breslov (also Bratslav , also spelled Breslev )

154-590: A 1651 work by Georg Philipp Harsdörffer , and by Athanasius Kircher in 1665, and in a 1683 volume of Cabbalologia by Johann Henning, where it was simply referred to as the 1683 alphabet . It was mentioned in the work of Johann Christoph Männling  [ de ] The European Helicon or Muse Mountain , in 1704, and it was also called the Alphabetum Cabbalisticum Vulgare in Die verliebte und galante Welt by Christian Friedrich Hunold in 1707. It

231-546: A 2014 hard-cover edition (828 pages in length), is one of the few Hasidic siddurim available in an English language translation (and contains the original text). Translated by Avraham Sutton and Chaim Kramer. Today, Breslover communities exist in several locations in Israel, as well as in major cities around the world with large Jewish populations, including New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Montreal, and Lakewood Township, New Jersey. While there are no exact statistics, according to

308-569: A close personal friend. The goal is to establish complete unification with God, and a clearer understanding of one's personal motives and goals. A sub-group of the Breslov sect, colloquially known as Na Nachs , use the Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman mantra, which is based on a permutation of the Hebrew letters of Rebbe Nachman's name. This mantra was not used by Rebbe Nachman himself, but

385-563: A closer relationship with God. They noted that the Hebrew letters of the word Breslov (ברסלב) can be re-arranged to spell lev basar (לב בשר —the "ס" and "ש" sounds are interchangeable), "a heart of flesh", echoing the prophecy in Ezekiel (36:26): "I [God] will take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (For this reason, some adherents spell the name of the Hasidut, "Breslev", stressing

462-499: A cubit of ocean every day, but is unable to ever finish consuming it, because the oceans are also refilled by 360 rivers. The number 360 is given because the numerical value of the Greek word for snake, δράκων , when transliterated to Hebrew ( דרקון ) is 360. In a second example, the number of giants stated to have died during the Deluge is 409,000. The Greek word for 'deluge', κατακλυσμός , has

539-409: A daily basis. Rebbe Nachman claimed that every true tzaddik attained his lofty spiritual level almost uniquely because of hitbodedut . The Rebbe explained that hitbodedut is the loftiest form of Divine service, and that it is virtually impossible to be a good Jew without this practice. During hitbodedut , the individual pours out his thoughts and concerns to God in his mother tongue, as if talking to

616-472: A different secret cipher. A mathematical formula for finding a letter's corresponding number in mispar gadol is: where x is the position of the letter in the language letters index (regular order of letters), and the floor and modulo functions are used. The value of the Hebrew vowels is not usually counted, but some lesser-known methods include the vowels as well. The most common vowel values are as follows (a less common alternative value, based on

693-434: A joyful existence, and their approach to worship is very personalized and emotional, with much clapping, singing, and dancing. Rabbi Nachman said, "It is a great mitzvah [commandment or good deed] to always be happy". In this same lesson, he notes that even leading intellectuals in the medical field will attest to depression and bitterness being the main cause of most mental and physical ailments. Breslov teachings emphasize

770-723: A numerical value of 409 when transliterated in Hebrew characters, thus leading the author of 3 Baruch to use it for the number of perished giants. Gematria is often used in Rabbinic literature . One example is that the numerical value of " The Satan" ( השטן ) in Hebrew is 364, and so it was said that the Satan had authority to prosecute Israel for 364 days before his reign ended on the Day of Atonement , an idea which appears in Yoma 20a and Peskita 7a. Yoma 20a states: "Rami bar Ḥama said: The numerological value of

847-449: A successor. As such, they are sometimes referred to as the טויטע חסידים (the "Dead Hasidim"), since they have never had another formal Rebbe since Nachman's death. However, certain groups and communities under the Breslov banner refer to their leaders as "Rebbe". The movement weathered strong opposition from virtually all other Hasidic movements in Ukraine throughout the 19th century, yet, at

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924-590: A symbol for the cross also equaled 318. Another example is a Christian interpolation in the Sibylline Oracles , where the symbolic significance of the value of 888 (equal to the numerical value of Iesous , the Latinized rendering of the Greek version of Jesus' name) is asserted. Irenaeus also heavily criticized the interpretation of letters by the Gnostic Marcus . Because of their association with Gnosticism and

1001-402: A true form of gematria. Gematria sums can involve single words, or a string of lengthy calculations. A short example of Hebrew numerology that uses gematria is the word חי , chai , 'alive', which is composed of two letters that (using the assignments in the mispar gadol table shown below) add up to 18. This has made 18 a " lucky number " among Jews. In early Jewish sources,

1078-643: Is 70 ( י =10; י =10; ן =50) and this is also the gematric value of סוד ('secret', ס =60; ו =6; ד =4)‎. Although a type of gematria system ('Aru') was employed by the ancient Babylonian culture, their writing script was logographic , and the numerical assignments they made were to whole words. Aru was very different from the Milesian systems used by Greek and Hebrew cultures, which used alphabetic writing scripts. The value of words with Aru were assigned in an entirely arbitrary manner and correspondences were made through tables, and so cannot be considered

1155-467: Is a branch of Hasidic Judaism founded by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772–1810), a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov , founder of Hasidism. Its adherents strive to develop an intense, joyous relationship with God , and receive guidance toward this goal from the teachings of Rebbe Nachman. The movement has had no central, living leader for the past 200 years, as Rebbe Nachman did not designate

1232-450: Is given a numerical value between 1 and 400, as shown in the following table. In mispar gadol , the five final letters are given their own values, ranging from 500 to 900. It is possible that this well-known cipher was used to conceal other more hidden ciphers in Jewish texts. For instance, a scribe may discuss a sum using the 'standard gematria' cipher, but may intend the sum to be checked with

1309-526: Is likened to the Zohar's author, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai . This is based on the citation of numerous parallels between the lives of the two sages, as well as the fact that the names "Nachman ben Simcha" (Simcha being Rebbe Nachman's father's name) and "Shimon ben Yochai" share the same gematria (numerical value) of 501. Upon the Rebbe's instructions, Reb Noson collected all the practical teachings and advice contained in

1386-670: Is located on the Bug river in Ukraine (latitude 48.82 N., longitude 28.95 E.), midway between Tulchin to the south and Nemirov to the north—9 miles (14 kilometres) from each. Bratslav should not be confused with Wrocław , a town now located in Poland, called in German "Breslau", and also pronounced "Breslov" in Yiddish, which was a renowned Jewish center in its own right. Prior to his arrival in Breslov in 1802, Rebbe Nachman lived and taught in other towns in

1463-562: Is not known to be found in the Dead Sea scrolls, a vast body of texts from 100 BCE – 100 CE, or in any of the documents found from the Bar-Kochba revolt circa 150 CE. According to Proclus in his commentary on the Timaeus of Plato written in the 5th century, the author Theodorus Asaeus from a century earlier interpreted the word "soul" (ψυχή) based on gematria and an inspection of

1540-510: Is referred to as the shul. It is affiliated with the Edah HaChareidis , and led by Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shechter and Rabbi Shmuel Moshe Kramer . The first large-scale Breslov outreach activities were conducted by Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Bender , who attracted thousands of baal teshuva followers to the Breslov movement in the 1970s and 1980s. Concurrently, Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Schick began publishing his nearly 1,000 pamphlets distilling

1617-534: Is that if my followers really believe in me, they are not all scrupulous about being with me for Rosh Hashana. No one should be missing! Rosh Hashana is my whole mission. During his lifetime, hundreds of followers spent the holiday with him; after his death, his closest disciple, Nathan of Breslov ("Reb Noson"), organized an annual pilgrimage to his grave, starting with Rosh Hashana 1811, the year after Rebbe Nachman's death. Until World War I, thousands of Hasidim from Ukraine , Belarus , Lithuania , and Poland joined

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1694-454: Is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word or phrase by reading it as a number , or sometimes by using an alphanumerical cipher . The letters of the alphabets involved have standard numerical values, but a word can yield several values if a cipher is used. According to Aristotle (384–322 BCE), isopsephy , based on the Milesian numbering of the Greek alphabet developed in

1771-523: Is thus known as the Milesian system. Early examples include vase graffiti dating to the 6th century BCE. Aristotle wrote that the Pythgoraean tradition , founded in the 6th century BCE by Pythagoras of Samos , practiced isopsephy , the Greek predecessor of gematria. Pythagoras was a contemporary of the philosophers Anaximander , Anaximenes , and the historian Hecataeus , all of whom lived in Miletus, across

1848-600: Is used in the Talmud and Midrash , and elaborately by many post-Talmudic commentators . It involves reading words and sentences as numbers, assigning numerical instead of phonetic value to each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. When read as numbers, they can be compared and contrasted with other words or phrases – cf. the Hebrew proverb נכנס יין יצא סוד ( nichnas yayin yatza sod , lit.   ' wine entered, secret went out ' , i.e. "in vino veritas" ). The gematric value of יין ('wine')

1925-402: Is valid, but 3 + 1 + 1 {\displaystyle 3+1+1} is not). The original letter itself can also be viewed as a valid combination. Variant spellings of some letters can be used to produce sets of different numbers, which can be added up or analyzed separately. Many various complex formal systems and recursive algorithms, based on graph-like structural analysis of

2002-613: The A∴A∴ and Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O). Many other occult authors belonging to various esoteric groups have either mentioned the cipher or published it in their books, including Paul Foster Case of the Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A). According to Aristotle (384–322 BCE), isopsephy , an early Milesian system using the Greek alphabet, was part of the Pythagorean tradition , which originated in

2079-472: The Hebrew Bible itself. The first documented use of gematria is from an Assyrian inscription dating to the 8th century BCE, commissioned by Sargon II . In this inscription, Sargon II states: "the king built the wall of Khorsabad 16,283 cubits long to correspond with the numerical value of his name." The practice of using alphabetic letters to represent numbers developed in the Greek city of Miletus , and

2156-530: The Likutei Moharan , and published them in: Rebbe Nachman's other works include: After the Rebbe's death, Reb Noson wrote down all the conversations, fragments of lessons, and interactions that he and others had had with the Rebbe. He published these in the following collections: Reb Noson also authored these commentaries and novellae: Students of Reb Noson, their students, and their students' students added to Breslov literature, with further commentaries on

2233-691: The Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem , has also brought thousands of Jews from secular backgrounds closer to Orthodox Judaism and Breslov. One of Berland's students, Rabbi Shalom Arush , went on to found the Chut Shel Chessed Institutions in Jerusalem. Arush leads a group including Sephardic followers of Breslov Hasidut, who mainly originated in the baal teshuva movement . Rabbi Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld introduced Breslov Hasidism to

2310-538: The Phoenician alphabet , marking the 20th and 25th years of his reign using the letters K and KE ( למלכא אלכסנדרוס שנת כ and למלכא אלכסנדרוס שנת כה ). Some old Mishnaic texts may preserve very early usage of this number system, but no surviving written documents exist, and some scholars believe these texts were passed down orally and during the early stages before the Bar Kochba rebellion were never written. Gematria

2387-519: The digit sum , is given in parentheses): Sometimes, the names of the vowels are spelled out and their gematria is calculated using standard methods. There are many different methods used to calculate the numerical value for the individual Hebrew/Aramaic words, phrases or whole sentences. Gematria is the 29th of 32 hermeneutical rules countenanced by the Rabbis of the Talmud for valid aggadic interpretation of

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2464-412: The lev (heart). Contemporary Breslov teacher Rabbi Shmuel Moshe Kramer of Jerusalem also noted that the gematria ("numerical value") of the Hebrew letters of Breslov (ברסלב) is 294, as is the Hebrew spelling of Nachman ben Faiga (נחמן בן פיגא) (Nachman son [of] Faiga), the names of Rebbe Nachman and his mother. The Breslov approach places great emphasis on serving God through the sincerity of

2541-732: The 153rd day after the beginning of the flood. Some historians see gematria behind the reference to the number of the name of the Beast in Revelation as 666, which corresponds to the numerical value of the Hebrew transliteration of the Greek name "Neron Kaisar", referring to the 1st century Roman emperor who persecuted the early Christians. Another possible influence on the use of 666 in Revelation goes back to reference to Solomon's intake of 666 talents of gold in 1 Kings 10:14. Gematria makes several appearances in various Christian and Jewish texts written in

2618-522: The 2006 song '786 All is War' by the band Fun-Da-Mental . A recommendation of reciting the basmala 786 times in sequence is recorded in Al-Buni . Sündermann (2006) reports that a contemporary " spiritual healer " from Syria recommends the recitation of the basmala 786 times over a cup of water, which is then to be ingested as medicine. The use of gematria is still pervasive in many parts of Asia and Africa. In standard gematria ( mispar hechrechi ), each letter

2695-567: The 231 mystical Gates of the Sefer Yetzirah . Dozens of other far more advanced methods are used in Kabbalistic literature, without any particular names. In Ms. Oxford 1,822, one article lists 75 different forms of gematria. Some known methods are recursive in nature and are reminiscent of graph theory or make a lot of use of combinatorics . Rabbi Elazar Rokeach (born c. 1176 – died 1238) often used multiplication, instead of addition, for

2772-522: The 6th century BCE. Plato (c. 427–347 BCE) offers a discussion in the Cratylus , involving a view of words and names as referring (more or less accurately) to the "essential nature" of a person or object and that this view may have influenced—and is central to—isopsephy. A sample of graffiti at Pompeii (destroyed under volcanic ash in 79 CE) reads "I love the girl whose name is phi mu epsilon (545)". Other examples of use in Greek come primarily from

2849-805: The Breslov Research Institute, the number of core adherents in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak amounts to several thousand families, and several tens in Safed. The original Jerusalem community was founded by emigres from Ukraine in the late 19th century, and was joined by descendants of the Yerushami Yishuv haYashan ( Old Yishuv in Jerusalem) community. It is built around the Breslov Yeshiva in Mea Shearim , founded by Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Rosen in 1953, which

2926-637: The Christian literature. Davies and Allison state that, unlike rabbinic sources, isopsephy is always explicitly stated as being used. During the Renaissance , systems of gematria were devised for the Classical Latin alphabet . There were a number of variations of these which were popular in Europe. In 1525, Christoph Rudolff included a Classical Latin gematria in his work Nimble and beautiful calculation via

3003-514: The Greek city of Miletus , was part of the Pythagorean tradition , which originated in the 6th century BCE. The first evidence of use of Hebrew letters as numbers dates to 78 BCE; gematria is still used in Jewish culture . Similar systems have been used in other languages and cultures, derived from or inspired by either Greek isopsephy or Hebrew gematria, and include Arabic abjad numerals and English gematria . The most common form of Hebrew gematria

3080-558: The Hebrew word. Some hold it to derive from the order of the Greek alphabet , gamma being the third letter of the Greek alphabet ("gamma tria"). The word has been extant in English since at least the 17th century from translations of works by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola . It is largely used in Jewish texts, notably in those associated with the Kabbalah . Neither the concept nor the term appears in

3157-705: The Latin alphabet. In particular, the transliterated cipher was taught to members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn . In 1887, S.L. MacGregor Mathers , who was one of the order's founders, published the transliterated cipher in The Kabbalah Unveiled in the Mathers table . As a former member of the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley used the transliterated cipher extensively in his writings for his two magical orders

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3234-649: The New Testament. According to one theory, the reference to the miraculous "catch of 153 fish" in John 21:11 is an application of gematria derived from the name of the spring called 'EGLaIM in Ezekiel 47:10. The appearance of this gematria in John 21:11 has been connected to one of the Dead Sea Scrolls , namely 4Q252, which also applies the same gematria of 153 derived from Ezekiel 47 to state that Noah arrived at Mount Ararat on

3311-579: The Rebbe's teachings, as well as original works. See for example Nachman Goldstein § Publications . Beginning in the 1970s, Breslov works in English began to appear, most notably Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan 's Gems of Rabbi Nachman . The Breslov Research Institute , founded in Jerusalem in 1979, publishes authoritative translations, commentaries, and general works on Breslov Hasidut in the major languages spoken by modern-day Jewish communities: English, Hebrew, Spanish, and Russian. The Breslov Siddur , published in

3388-562: The Russian Empire, such as Ossatin, Medvedevka , Zlatopol , and Odessa . But upon his arrival in Breslov, he declared, "Today, we have planted the name of the Breslover Hasidim. This name will never disappear because my followers will always be called after the town of Breslov." Later, followers said the name of the town dovetailed with the Rebbe's teachings. He encouraged Jews to remove the barriers that stood between themselves and

3465-551: The Shir Chadash community in Tel Aviv, and Shalom Sabag . The Na Nach group, which follows the teachings of Rabbi Yisroel Ber Odesser , conducts on-the-street outreach with its roving musical vans and dancers, and sidewalk distribution of Breslov texts. Gematria In numerology , gematria ( / ɡ ə ˈ m eɪ t r i ə / ; Hebrew : גמטריא or גימטריה , gimatria , plural גמטראות or גימטריות , gimatriot )

3542-577: The Soviet Union in 1941. The movement was regenerated in the United Kingdom , the United States , and Israel , by those who escaped, with large numbers of Yemenite Jews and other Mizrahim joining the sect. "Breslov" is the name used nowadays by Breslover followers for the town of Bratslav , where Rebbe Nachman lived for the last eight years of his life before moving to Uman where he died. Bratslav

3619-605: The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) with its commentaries, the entire Talmud with its commentaries, the entire Shulchan Aruch (code of law), all the Midrashic works, the Zohar and Tikkunei Zohar, the teachings of the Arizal , and other kabbalistic works, all over the course of a single year. Today, many Breslov hasidim practice a daily review the Shulchan Aruch . Rebbe Nachman's magnum opus is

3696-529: The Torah. More advanced methods are usually used for the most significant Biblical verses, prayers , names of God, etc. These methods include: Within the wider topic of gematria are included the various alphabet transformations, where one letter is substituted by another based on a logical scheme: Most of the above-mentioned methods and ciphers are listed by Rabbi Moshe Cordevero . Some authors provide lists of as many as 231 various replacement ciphers, related to

3773-712: The United States from the 1960s. He also arranged for the first English translation of two key Breslov texts, Shivchei HaRan and Sichot HaRan. Heichal haKodesh , the Breslov yeshiva in Williamsburg , was founded there by Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Schick. In 1979, one year after Rabbi Rosenfeld's death, his son-in-law, Rabbi Chaim Kramer, established the Breslov Research Institute to continue the effort to publish Breslov teachings in English. Other Breslov rabbis engaged in outreach include Israel Isaac Besançon , rabbi of

3850-422: The above-mentioned methods. For example, spelling out the letters of a word and then multiplying the squares of each letter value in the resulting string produces very large numbers, in orders of trillions . The spelling process can be applied recursively, until a certain pattern (e.g., all the letters of the word " Talmud ") is found; the gematria of the resulting string is then calculated. The same author also used

3927-689: The artful rules of algebra [which] are so commonly called "coss" : At the beginning of the Apocalypisis in Apocalypsin (1532), the German monk Michael Stifel (also known as Steifel) describes the natural order and trigonal number alphabets, claiming to have invented the latter. He used the trigonal alphabet to interpret the prophecy in the Biblical Book of Revelation, and predicted the world would end at 8am on October 19, 1533. The official Lutheran reaction to Steifel's prophecy shows that this type of activity

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4004-406: The astrological influences on a particular person. According to one method, the gematria of the person's name is added to the gematria of his or her mother's name; the result is then divided by 7 and 12. The remainders signify a particular planet and Zodiac sign. Historically, hermetic and esoteric groups of the 19th and 20th centuries in the UK and in France used a transliterated Hebrew cipher with

4081-410: The criticisms of Irenaeus as well as Hippolytus of Rome and Epiphanius of Salamis , this form of interpretation never became popular in Christianity —though it does appear in at least some texts. Another two examples can be found in 3 Baruch , a text that may have either been composed by a Jew or a Christian sometime between the 1st and 3rd centuries. In the first example, a snake is stated to consume

4158-414: The first centuries of the common era. One appearance of gematria in the early Christian period is in the Epistle of Barnabas 9:6–7, which dates to sometime between 70 and 132 CE. There, the 318 servants of Abraham in Genesis 14:14 is used to indicate that Abraham looked forward to the coming of Jesus as the numerical value of some of the letters in the Greek name for Jesus as well as the 't' representing

4235-411: The graphical aspects of the letters that make up the word. According to Proclus, Theodorus learned these methods from the writings of Numenius of Apamea and Amelius . Proclus rejects these methods by appealing to the arguments against them put forth by the Neoplatonic philosopher Iamblichus . The first argument was that some letters have the same numerical value but opposite meaning. His second argument

4312-407: The heart, with much joy and living life as intensely as possible. Breslov teachings particularly emphasize emunah (faith) and teshuvah (repentance), and that every Jew on any level of Divine service is required to constantly yearn to return to God, no matter how high or low he or she is situated on the spiritual echelon. Breslover Hasidim see the study and fulfillment of Torah life as the means to

4389-450: The holiday prayer gathering. The Rosh Hashana kibbutz operated clandestinely, and on a smaller scale, under Communism , when public prayer gatherings were forbidden. The pilgrimage was officially re-instituted after the fall of Communism in 1989, and continues to this day, with upwards of 70,000 men and boys arriving each Rosh Hashana from all over the world. Breslovers also make individual pilgrimages to their Rebbe's grave at other times of

4466-467: The importance of drawing people to the "true tzadik" as the key to rectifying the world, overcoming evil, and bringing people closer to God, according to Rebbe Nachman and Reb Noson. In Breslov thought, the "true tzadik" is Rebbe Nachman himself. Rebbe Nachman also placed great emphasis on Jewish prayer . Besides the regular daily services in the synagogue , Rebbe Nachman advised his followers to engage in hitbodedut (literally, "self-seclusion"), on

4543-432: The letter names and their relations to each other, modular arithmetic , pattern search and other highly advanced techniques, are found in the "Sefer ha-Malchut" by Rabbi David ha-Levi of the Draa Valley , a Spanish-Moroccan Kabbalist of the 15th–16th century. Rabbi David ha-Levi's methods also consider the numerical values and other properties of the vowels . Kabbalistic astrology uses some specific methods to determine

4620-432: The letters that constitute the word HaSatan is three hundred and sixty four: Heh has a value of five, sin has a value of three hundred, tet has a value of nine, and nun has a value of fifty. Three hundred and sixty-four days of the solar year, which is three hundred and sixty-five days long, Satan has license to prosecute." Genesis 14:14 states that Abraham took 318 of his servants to help him rescue some of his kinsmen, which

4697-415: The same level as he, and disagreed with those who thought that the main reason for a Rebbe's greatness was the superior level of his soul. Another specifically Breslov practice is the annual Rosh Hashanah kibbutz , a large gathering at the grave of Rabbi Nachman in Uman, Ukraine , on the Jewish New Year . Rabbi Nachman himself said: My Rosh Hashana is greater than everything. I cannot understand how it

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4774-442: The same time, Breslovers do not restrict themselves to Rabbi Nachman's commentaries on the Torah, but also study many of the classic texts, including the Tanakh, Talmud, Midrash, and many others. They may also study the writings of Rebbes from other dynasties. In fact, Rebbe Nachman claimed that while even a complete simpleton can become a pure and righteous Jew, the ideal study schedule of an extremely scholarly Hasid should include

4851-420: The same time, experienced growth in numbers of followers from Ukraine, Belarus , Lithuania , and Poland . By World War I , thousands of Breslov Hasidim were located in those places. After the Bolshevik Revolution , Communist crackdowns forced the movement underground in Russia. Thousands of Hasidim were imprisoned or executed during Stalin 's Great Purge of the 1930s, and killed by the Nazis , who invaded

4928-399: The sea from Samos . The Milesian system was in common use by the reign of Alexander the Great (336–323 BCE) and was adopted by other cultures during the subsequent Hellenistic period . It was officially adopted in Egypt during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (284–246 BCE). In early biblical texts, numbers were written out in full using Hebrew number words . The first evidence of

5005-816: The sums of all possible unique letter combinations, which add up to the value of a given letter. For example, the letter Hei , which has the standard value of 5, can be produced by combining 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 {\displaystyle 1+1+1+1+1} , 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 {\displaystyle 2+1+1+1} , 3 + 1 + 1 {\displaystyle 3+1+1} , 4 + 1 {\displaystyle 4+1} , 2 + 2 + 1 {\displaystyle 2+2+1} , or 2 + 3 {\displaystyle 2+3} , which adds up to 30 {\displaystyle 30} . Sometimes combinations of repeating letters are not allowed (e.g., 2 + 3 {\displaystyle 2+3}

5082-428: The teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, and disseminating them to a worldwide audience. Schick founded the Heichal HaKodesh Breslov community – largely consisting of baalei teshuvah – in the Galilee town of Yavne'el , Israel, in 1985. As of 2015, that community had nearly 400 families, representing 30 percent of the town's population. Rabbi Eliezer Berland , rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Shuvu Bonim in

5159-407: The term can also refer to other forms of calculation or letter manipulation, for example atbash . Classical scholars agree that the Hebrew word gematria was derived from the Greek word γεωμετρία geōmetriā , " geometry ", though some scholars believe it to derive from Greek γραμματεια grammateia "knowledge of writing ". It is likely that both Greek words had an influence on the formation of

5236-402: The two-volume Likutei Moharan (Collected [Lessons] of Our Teacher and Rabbi, Nachman), a collection of 411 lessons displaying in-depth familiarity and understanding of the many overt and esoteric concepts embedded in Tanakh , Talmud , Midrash , Zohar , and Kabbalah . In the introductory section of certain editions of Likutei Moharan, the book is likened to the Zohar itself, and Rebbe Nachman

5313-427: The use of Hebrew letters as numerals appears during the late Hellenistic period, in 78 BCE. Scholars have identified gematria in the Hebrew Bible , the canon of which was fixed during the Hasmonean dynasty (c. 140 BCE to 37 BCE), though some scholars argue it was not fixed until the second century CE or even later. The Hasmonean king of Judea, Alexander Jannaeus (died 76 BCE) had coins inscribed in Aramaic with

5390-733: The year. Visiting the grave at any time is deemed beneficial, because Rebbe Nachman said: Whoever comes to my gravesite and recites the Ten Psalms of the Tikkun HaKlali ("General Remedy"), and gives even as little as a penny to charity for my sake, then, no matter how serious his sins may be, I will do everything in my power—spanning the length and breadth of Creation—to cleanse and protect him. By his very payot ("sidecurls"), I will pull him out of Gehennom [purgatory]! The main Hasidic texts revered and studied by Breslover Hasidim are those written by Rebbe Nachman and Reb Noson. All of Rebbe Nachman's teachings were transcribed by Reb Noson. Additionally, Reb Noson wrote some of his own works. Note that, at

5467-416: Was not welcome. Belief in the power of numbers was unacceptable in reformed circles, and gematria was not part of the reformation agenda. An analogue of the Greek system of isopsephy using the Latin alphabet appeared in 1583, in the works of the French poet Étienne Tabourot . This cipher and variations of it were published or referred to in the major work of Italian Pietro Bongo Numerorum Mysteria, and

5544-733: Was taken in Peskita 70b to be a reference to Eleazar, whose name has a numerical value of 318. The total value of the letters of the Islamic Basmala , i.e. the phrase Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim ("In the name of God , the Most Gracious , the Most Merciful "), according to the standard Abjadi system of numerology , is 786 . This number has therefore acquired a significance in folk Islam and Near Eastern folk magic and also appears in many instances of pop-culture, such as its appearance in

5621-499: Was taught in the 20th century by Rabbi Yisroel Ber Odesser . The NaNach movement, however, is highly controversial within the wider Breslov Chassidus, because they place less emphasis on learning traditional Jewish texts such as the Talmud , and for their wild dancing in the streets. Rabbi Nachman always maintained that his high spiritual level was due to his own efforts, and not to his famous lineage or any other circumstances of his birth. He repeatedly insisted that all Jews could reach

5698-451: Was that the form of letters changes over the years, and so their graphical qualities cannot hold any deeper meaning. Finally, he puts forth the third argument that when one uses all sorts of methods as addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, and even ratios, the infinite ways in which these can be combined allow virtually any number to be produced to suit any purpose. Some scholars propose that at least two cases of gematria appear in

5775-613: Was the mentor of Welsh magician John Dee , who makes reference to the Agrippa code in Theorem XVI of his 1564 book, Monas Hieroglyphica . Since the death of Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), a number of people have proposed numerical correspondences for English gematria in order to achieve a deeper understanding of Crowley's The Book of the Law (1904). One such system, the English Qaballa ,

5852-465: Was used by Leo Tolstoy in his 1865 work War and Peace to identify Napoleon with the number of the Beast . English Qabalah refers to several different systems of mysticism related to Hermetic Qabalah that interpret the letters of the English alphabet via an assigned set of numerological significances. The first system of English gematria was used by the poet John Skelton in 1523 in his poem "The Garland of Laurel". The Agrippa code

5929-399: Was used with English as well as Latin. It was defined by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa in 1532, in his work De Occulta Philosopha . Agrippa based his system on the order of the Classical Latin alphabet using a ranked valuation as in isopsephy , appending the four additional letters in use at the time after Z, including J (600) and U (700), which were still considered letter variants. Agrippa

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