The Significance of the Number Fifteen

By Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)

In Torah SheBaal Peh. 3

In Our Blessings. 3

In The Festivals. 6

In Pesach. 6

Fifteen in the Scriptures. 9

Judges of Israel 11

Prophets in Israel 11

Tribes. 11

In The Mishkan. 11

In The Nazarean Codicil 12

In Marriage. 13

End of Days. 13

HaShem’s Name. 13

In this study I would like to examine the significance and meaning of the number fifteen (15). I have discovered that we always find fifteen in places of holiness and redemption, but I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning.

Fifteen, in Hebrew, can be expressed with the letters yod (h) and a hey (v):

h = 10

v = 5

Normally we do not use the yod-hey - יה (Yah) to express the number fifteen (10 + 5) as it is one of the names of HaShem. Thus, the world was created with the concept of fifteen.

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 26:4 for within Yah- יה is HaShem, the rock of the universe.

Longstanding tradition is to avoid the straightforward way of writing the number fifteen. Accordingly, fifteen is written as tet-vav - טו: Nine + six. HaShem’s Name, as it were, is hidden within the number fifteen.

We could also retranslate the above pasuk as:

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 26:4 With the name Yah HaShem created the world.

The word Yah, spelled with a yod and a hey, equals in gematria fifteen. Thus, the world was created with the concept of fifteen. Yet, the word Yah only represents half of HaShem’s Name. HaShem’s kingship will only be fully revealed when Mashiach arrives.

So, if HaShem created the world with fifteen, then it naturally follows that the world was given to us as a way of perceiving HaShem from this world.

Fifteen represents the Gematria for the word Hod meaning glory, splendor, majesty, beauty, grandeur, magnificence and majestic splendor.

15 = ד = 4 + ו =6 + ה = 5

Fifteen always represents the elevation from physical to spiritual. From this we can understand the Kli Yakar that fifteen is often used to represent the bond between man and wife, as we shall soon see.

The elevation, mentioned in the previous paragraph, has a corollary: The number fifteen always signifies the fifteen steps necessary for the attainment of a lofty objective.

The physical world was created in six days and a spiritual dimension was added to it, the seventh day. The number eight begins the spiritual realm beyond this world. Through the performance of certain mitzvot, one can connect the physical and spiritual realms and this is symbolized by the number 15 [7+8=15] Thus, the number 15 represents a synthesis of heaven and earth.

The Mabul

Bereshit 7:20,24 The water rose fifteen Amot (cubits) above the highest of mountains.... The water covered the earth for 150 days.

The careful reader of the Torah’s account of the great flood is immediately struck by the recurrence of decimal factors of fifteen in the account. The waters of the flood rose fifteen Amot above the ground, and they remained there for 150 days. With regard to Noach’s Ark, we are told that it measured 300 Amot in length and 50 in width (Bereshit 6:15). That would make its floor space 15,000 square Amot. And since the 30 Amot height of the Ark was divided into three equal compartments, each compartment measured 150,000 cubic Amot in volume. Kli Yakar (Bereshit 6:15), noting this interesting recurrence, explains that the number fifteen indeed has in it a symbolism that is related to the events surrounding the great flood.

The Kli Yakar adds that the number fifteen, and the Holy Name produced by yod-hey - יה, often are used to represent the bond between man and wife. For example, in the Temple a staircase separated between the Women’s Court and the Men’s Court (Court of the Israelites). This staircase consisted of fifteen steps, upon which the Levite musicians stood and played their musical instruments during the Succoth celebrations. According to some, the fifteen “Songs of ascent” (Shir HaMaalot) of Tehillim (Psalms. 120-134) were so called because they were sung on these steps.^[1] The fifteen Songs of Ascent were sung by the Levites while ascending the fifteen stairs in the Beit HaMikdash, the Temple. Thus we see the elevation of fifteen, from physical to spiritual, in the physical act of moving, and ascending, closer to HaShem in the Holy of Holies, and closer to HaShem through the music and the lyrics of the Psalms. This is one reason for the fifteen steps between the Women’s court and the court of Israel in the Beit HaMikdash.

The waters of the Mabul (great flood) rose above the highest mountain fifteen amot, to signify that mankind’s activities had been anything but holy, and, had pushed the Divine Presence, symbolized by the letters yod-hey, toward heaven and away from man.

The fifteen cubits represented HaShem’s presence above the earth the hundred fifty days represents the fifteen permeating all ten aspects of creation.

In Marriage

The Talmud ^[2] states that a successful marriage depends upon the inclusion of HaShem in the relationship, that is, making the marriage Torah based. This is symbolized by the fact that the word “Ish” (man: aleph-yod-shin) and “Ishah” (woman: aleph-shin-heh) share common letters: aleph-shin – אש - which spells the word for “fire” -- but also have one letter different from each other: a “yod - י” in Ish and a “hey - ה” in Ishah, the letters of which we have been speaking.

The message is quite precise: Remove HaShem from a marriage (i.e., symbolized by fifteen, the yod-hey), and you are left with “fire” (aleph-shin), unholy passion and a flame that consumes the marriage.

YYY

Fifteen categories of women exempt their rivals from Yibum (Positive mitzva #216 - levirate marriage) and chalitzah (the shoe-removal ceremony relieving a brother-in-law of his obligation to marry his widowed sister-in-law).

Yevamot 2a FIFTEEN [CATEGORIES OF] WOMEN EXEMPT THEIR RIVALS1 AND THE RIVALS OF THEIR RIVALS AND SO ON, AD INFINITUM, FROM THE HALIZAH AND FROM THE LEVIRATE MARRIAGE; AND THESE ARE THEY: HIS DAUGHTER, THE DAUGHTER OF HIS DAUGHTER7 AND THE DAUGHTER OF HIS SON; THE DAUGHTER OF HIS WIFE, THE DAUGHTER OF HER SON AND THE DAUGHTER OF HER DAUGHTER; HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW, HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW’S MOTHER,10 AND HIS FATHER-IN-LAW’S MOTHER; HIS MATERNAL SISTER, HIS MOTHER’S SISTER, HIS WIFE’S SISTER AND HIS MATERNAL BROTHER’S WIFE;

In Torah SheBaal Peh

The Mishna in states “a fifteen-year-old begins the study of Gemara.”

Pirke Avot 5:25 He [Yehuda ben Taima] used to say: At five [one should begin the study of] Scriptures; at ten, Mishna; at thirteen [one becomes obligated in] the commandments; at fifteen [the study of] Talmud; at eighteen the wedding canopy; at twenty to pursue; at thirty strength; at forty understanding; at fifty counsel; at sixty old age; at seventy fullness of years; at eighty spiritual strength; at ninety bending over; at one hundred it is as if he has died and passed on from the world.

The Talmud ^[3] gives us fifteen signs of what the world will be like immediately prior to the coming of the Mashiach. This pre-Messianic period is known as the Ikveta D’meshicah - the “footsteps of the Messiah“, the time when we believe the Mashiach is just around the corner and his footsteps can be heard.

Here is the list of the signs that signal the Messiah’s imminent arrival, as quoted in the Talmud:

Sotah 49b When the footsteps of the Messiah can be heard...

(1) chutzpah (insolence) will increase;

(2) inflation will soar;

(3) the vine will yield its fruit, but wine will be expensive;

(4) the dominant power in the world will promote the denial of G-d;

(5) no one will be able to reprove another [for everyone will be guilty of the same transgressions];

(6) the meeting place (of Torah scholars) will be used for immorality;

(7) the Galilee will be destroyed, and the Gablan will become desolate;

(8) the people who live on the border will go around begging from town to town and will not be pitied;

(9) the wisdom of the Torah scholars will rot, and those who fear sin will be despised;

(10) the truth will be hidden;

(11) young people will shame old men, and old men will stand up before youngsters, a son will degrade his father, and a daughter will rebel against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

(12) a man’s enemies will be the members of his household;

(13) the face of the generation will be like the face of a dog;

(14) a son will not be ashamed before his father;

(15) On whom can we rely? On our Father in heaven.”

Midrash: Only the living call HaShem by the name of yod-hay; the dead are not allowed to do so, as the verse says:

Tehillim (Psalms) 115:17 The dead do not praise yod-hay.

It is a rule that the dead never mention HaShem’s two-letter name.^[4]

In Our Prayers

Many aspects of our prayers relate to the number fifteen. A few examples:

There are fifteen expressions of praise in the prayer Yishtabach (song, praise, etc.). Text of Yishtabach:

English translation	Transliteration	Hebrew
May your Name be praised forever our King,	Yishtabach shimcha la'ad malkeinu	יִשְׁתַּבַּח שִׁמְךָ לָעַד מַלְכֵּנוּ
the God, the great and holy King in heaven and on earth.	ha'eil hamelech hagadol vehakadosh bashamayim uva'aretz.	הָאֵל הַמֶּלֶךְ הַגָּדוֹל וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ, בַּשָּׁמַיִם וּבָאָרֶץ
Because for You is fitting HaShem, our God, and the God of our forefathers	Ki lecha na'eh adonai eloheinu v'eilohei avoteinu	כִּי לְךָ נָאֶה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ
1 song and 2 praise, 3 lauding and 4 hymns, 5 power and 6 dominion, 7 triumph, 8 greatness and 9 strength, 10 praise and 11 splendor, 12 holiness and 13 sovereignty, 14 blessings and 15 thanksgivings from this time and forever.	shir ushvacha halleil vezimra oz umemshalla netzach gedula ugvura tehila vetif'eret kedusha umalchut berachot vehoda'ot mei'atta ve'ad olam.	שִׁיר וּשְׁבָחָה, הַלֵּל וְזִמְרָה, עֹז וּמֶמְשָׁלָה נֶצַח, גְּדֻלָּה וּגְבוּרָה, תְּהִלָּה, וְתִפְאֶרֶת, קְדֻשָּׁה, וּמַלְכוּת בְּרָכוֹת וְהוֹדָאוֹת מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם.
Blessed are You, O LORD, God, King exalted through praises, God of thanksgivings, Master of wonders,	Baruch atta adonai eil melech gadol batishbachot eil hahoda'ot adon hanifla'ot	בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֵל מֶלֶךְ גָּדוֹל בַּתִּשְׁבָּחוֹת, אֵל הַהוֹדָאוֹת, אֲדוֹן הַנִּפְלָאוֹת,
Who chooses musical songs of praise King, God, Life-giver of the world.	habocheir beshirei zimra melech eil, chei ha'olamim.	הַבּוֹחֵר בְּשִׁירֵי זִמְרָה, מֶלֶךְ אֵל חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים.

Most of the prayers in the section of the liturgy called "Verses of Praise" [Pesukei d'Zimrah] begin and end with the word Hallelujah, the last letters of which (yud - י and hei - ה) equal fifteen.

In the prayer Emet v'Yatziv, there are fifteen successive words that begin with the letter vav.

King David recited fifteen songs of ascent (Psalms 120-134) in order to protect the world from the waters of the deep.[5]

Additionally, fifteen is the numerical value of the first half of the Name HaShem, the letters yud and hei. The Torah's passive commandments (the prohibitions) are associated with these two letters. In contrast, the active commandments are associated with the second half of the Name HaShem, the letters vav and hei. Since the people had sinned by transgressing the prohibitions of the Torah, licentiousness, theft, etc., which are associated with the first half of the Name HaShem, the waters surged to a height of fifteen cubits.[6]

Fifteen words in the bircat kohanim, the priestly blessings.

bircat kohanim contain three lines consisting of three, five and seven words, totaling fifteen words and fifteen is the gematria (numerical) equivalent for the Divine Presence (יה). Rabbenu Bachya stated that this sequencing reminds us of the three Patriarchs, the five books of the Torah and the seven days of the week (or seven dimensions of heaven). The number of letters in each of the three verses of the Priestly Blessing are also structured mathematically in a sequence of fifteen, twenty and twenty-five words.

Fifteen is the number of words in the blessing we say over the Yom Tov candles.

ברוך אתה יהוה אלוהינו מלך העולם, אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו להדליק נר של יום טוב.‏

1 Baruch 2 atah 3 Adonai 4 Eloheinu, 5 Melech 6 ha’olam, 7 asher 8 kid’shanu 9 b’mitzvotav 10 v’tzivanu 11 l’hadlik 12 ner 13 shel 14 Yom 15 Tov.

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us through the mitzvot and has commanded us to kindle the festival lights.

When we light these candles, we ascend from the days of work to the day of rest (of the festival). We ascend from the physical world to the spiritual world.

We also begin our ascent every morning when we pray. One of the very first parts of shacharit (morning prayers) are the fifteen Birchot HaShachar (morning blessings). These are the first fifteen of the 100 blessings we will say during the day. With these blessing we begin to transcend this world and enter HaShem’s world. The goal of the morning prayers is to make ourselves one with HaShem.

We recite fifteen blessings every morning:

ברוך... אשר נתן לשכוי בינה להבחין בין יום ובין לילה

Blessed... who has given the rooster the ability to discern between light and darkness

ברוך... שלא עשני גוי

Blessed... for not making me a gentile

ברוך... שלא עשני עבד

Blessed... for not making me a slave

ברוך... שלא עשני אשה/שעשני כרצונו

Blessed... for not making me a woman/ or making me according to His will

ברוך... פוקח עורים

Blessed... who gives sight to the blind

ברוך... מלביש ערמים

Blessed... who dresses the naked

ברוך... מתיר אסורים

Blessed... who frees the incarcerated

ברוך... זוקף כפופים

Blessed... who raises up those who are stooped

ברוך... רוקע הארץ על המים

Blessed... who sets the land upon the waters

ברוך... המכין מצעדי גבר

Blessed... who prepares the footsteps of man

ברוך... שעשה לי כל צרכי

Blessed... who has provided me with my needs

ברוך... אוזר ישראל בגבורה

Blessed... who girds Israel with heroism

ברוך... עוטר ישראל בתפארה

Blessed... who crowns Israel with glory

ברוך... הנותן ליעף כח

Blessed... who grants strength to the tired

והאחרונה

And the last blessing...

ויהי רצון מלפניך...ברוך המעביר שנה מעיני ותנומה מעפעפי...ברוך את ה' הגומל חסדים טובים לעמו ישראל

Blessed... who withdraws sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eye lids... Blessed... who grants benevolence to His Nation Yisrael...May it be Your will...

When analyzing the blessings, one could get the impression that although they relate to very basic issues - which indeed require the offering of thanks to the Almighty - there is no common thread joining them nor a discernible intellectual framework which guided the rabbis who instituted the blessings.

In addition to the apparent disconnected content of the blessings, there is another difficulty. At the end of every blessing recited by the chazzan, we must reply with "Amen." The only exception is with the last blessing, "Blessed... who withdraws sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eye lids," where the "Amen" is delayed until the end of an additional lengthy blessing which closes with, "Blessed... who grants benevolence to His Nation Yisrael." Why?

I suggest that there is, indeed, a definite framework within which the rabbis composed these fifteen blessings. It is the episode of the exodus from Egypt.

With this in mind, the blessings and their order become rational and mandatory:

Paro came to Moshe at midnight of the fifteenth of Nisan (seder night) to order him and the Jewish people to immediately leave Egypt. Moshe refused, saying that that we will not leave like "thieves in the night" but in daylight, as a proud people, with heads high, for all to see.

From midnight on, the Jewish nation waited impatiently for the first rays of dawn, which would signal daylight. When the roosters crowed, the rabbis knew that day had come; and they enacted the first blessing, "Blessed... who has given the rooster the ability to discern between light and darkness." This was not to glorify the natural ability of roosters to discern the beginning of morning, but to indelibly set in our national consciousness the glory of that night.

When looking back at what they left, the Jews saw the condition of the Egyptian people where not a home was without a death. This gave rise to the second bracha, "Blessed... for not making me a gentile." At the first taste of freedom they said, "Blessed... for not making me a slave."

The first mitzva given by HaShem to the nation to sacrifice a lamb or goat and put its blood on the doorposts was directed at the males of the nation. So they recited, "Blessed... for not making me a woman," in order to be obligated to do this first mitzva.

The flight out of Egypt came on the wake of the plague of darkness, when the Egyptians were blinded but the Jews were able to see. So they praised HaShem with the blessing, "Blessed... who gives sight to the blind."

HaShem commanded Moshe to instruct the people to "borrow" vessels and clothing from their Egyptian neighbors. This was to enable the Jews to shed their tattered clothing of slavery and don the clothing of free men. So they recited the next two blessings, "Blessed... who dresses the naked, Blessed... who frees the incarcerated."

Since a slave is prohibited from standing erect, the people now recited, "Blessed... who raises up those who are stooped."

Upon seeing the waters of Yam Suf turned into dry land they said, "Blessed... who sets the land upon the waters."

When the Jewish nation saw the might army of Paro running berserk into the death trap of the split waters, they praised HaShem with, "Blessed... who prepares the footsteps of man."

While walking in the twelve lanes of the parted waters (one for each tribe) that were filled with drinking water, fruit and other luxuries, the Jews said, "Blessed... who has provided me with my needs."

Upon being victorious in their battle against Amalek in Rephidim, the people said, "Blessed... who girds Israel with heroism."

When receiving the Torah, the people were blessed with "atarim", crowns of glory and they recited, "Blessed... who crowns Israel with glory."

And when the episode of the Exodus and all that transpired at that time ended, the nation took stock of what had happened and praised HaShem with the words, "Blessed... who grants strength to the tired."

And the last blessing -

"Blessed... who withdraws sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eyelids," after which there is no reply of "Amen."

We were freed by HaShem from Egyptian slavery and were given the Torah at Mount Sinai, followed by over 3000 years of Jewish history; but despite it all, HaShem has yet to fully "withdraw sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eyelids." We as a nation have not yet awoken to the true life which HaShem had planned for His "chosen people."

Yehuda Ha’Levi writes in his classic "The Kuzari" that, in the future, Am Yisrael will be granted the gift of prophecy. Cognizance of HaShem, accompanied by the unfolding of the profoundest secrets of the worlds within the text of the Torah, are possible only through prophecy. The human intellect was not made with the capacity to disclose these matters nor to comprehend them even when explained. For this we need prophecy.

When that time comes, we will all realize that life - with all its understanding and wisdom until that moment - was only a dream, a virtual reality.

This is what King David meant when he wrote in Tehillim 126:1

שיר המעלות בשוב ה' את שיבת ציון היינו כחלמים:

"A song of Ascent

When HaShem will return the captives of Zion, we will realize that we were dreaming"

Therefore the time has not yet arrived to answer "Amen" after "Blessed... who withdraws sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eyelids."

However, when the time does arrive, prophecy will be granted only to us who live in Eretz Yisrael (as stated in many sources that prophecy was granted only here).

In The Festivals

The moon, an oft used simile for Klal Israel, grows daily until it reaches its apex on the fifteenth day of the month. We have several festivals that occur during this climatic period.

Pesach is on the fifteenth day of Nisan.

Succoth is on the fifteenth day of Tishri.

Tu B’Shebat (Rosh HaShana for fruit trees) is on the fifteenth day of Shevat.

Tu B’Ab is on the fifteenth day of Av

Shushan Purim is the fifteenth of the month of Adar (or Adar bet).

In Pesach

There are two numbers that play a significant role by the Pesach Seder, which occurs on the fifteenth of Nisan. One number is four, and the other is fifteen.

The word Abib, spring, equals fifteen in gematria, and Pesach is referred to as Chag HaAbib, the spring festival.

We declare our praise to HaShem through the number fifteen, because HaShem redeemed us on the fifteenth of the month of Nissan

There are fifteen parts of the Pesach seder:

1) Kadesh 6) Ra-chatza 11) Shulchan Orech

2) Ur-chatz 7) Motzi 12) Tzafun

3) Karpas 8) Matzah 13) Barech

4) Ya-chatz 9) Maror 14) Hallel

5) Magid 10) Korech 15) Nirtzah

As we progress through these fifteen steps of the haggada, we ascend from this world to the next world even as the first half of the seder, before dinner, speaks to the past redemption and the second half speaks to the future redemption.

15 steps in the seder song Dayenu:

The Maharal writes [7] that all this is to teach us that, when Klal Yisroel were at their zenith, they had acquired fifteen levels of holiness (as enumerated in the song "Dayenu," which we sing on Pesach night), the ultimate sphere of holiness as represented in HaShem's name "Yah".

Why are there fifteen stanzas of Dayenu? The fifteen lines correspond to HaShem’s name: Yod and hey - ה + י. Yod represents the next world, and hey represents this world. Fifteen always represents the elevation from physical to spiritual. The Maharal further explains that the number 15 represents man’s connection to HaShem. Thus we see that when man (physical) is elevated to HaShem (spiritual), then we will surely see the number 15.

Five Stanzas of Leaving Slavery

1) If He had brought us out of Egypt.

2) If He had executed justice upon the Egyptians.

3) If He had executed justice upon their gods.

4) If He had slain their first born.

5) If He had given to us their wealth.

Five Stanzas of Miracles

6) If He had split the sea for us.

7) If He had led us through on dry land.

8) If He had drowned our oppressors.

9) If He had provided for our needs in the wilderness for forty years.

10) If He had fed us manna.

Five Stanzas of Being with HaShem

11) If He had given us Shabbat.

12) If He had led us to Mount Sinai.

13) If He had given us the Torah.

14) If He had brought us into the Land of Israel.

15) He built the Temple for us.

Note that Dayenu begins with the words: kamah maalot tovot - how many good favors has HaShem bestowed upon us.

The song then lists fifteen generous gifts that HaShem has given us. But the word maalot may not only mean “good favor,” but may also mean ascent, referring to our ascension from the physical to the spiritual.

Hebrew

English Translation

אִלּוּ הוֹצִיאָנוּ מִמְּצָרִים

וְלֹא עָשָׂה בָּהֶם שְׁפָטִים

דַּיֵּנוּ :‏

If He had brought us out from Egypt,

and had not carried out judgments against them