The Significance Of The Number Thirty-two

By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)

 

In this paper I would like to examine the significance and meaning of the number thirty-two (32).

 

The first use of the number thirty-two is found in Bereshit:

 

Bereshit (Genesis) 11:19-21 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. 20  And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: 21  And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

 

Our Sages have taught us that the first place that we find a word, in the Torah, is the place where that word is defined, or rather where that word is created. As the blueprint of reality, the Torah defines the world. When the Torah speaks a word, that is what the reality becomes.

 

Now Reu was the son of Peleg and the Torah records something very interesting about Peleg:

 

Bereshit (Genesis) 10:25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.

 

What was this division that began in the days of Peleg?

 

The verse could mean one of two things: 1. That when Peleg died, the Tower of Babel was built, and the languages of the world were divided. 2. Shem and the following three generations lived to the ages of 600, 438, 433, and 464; Peleg and the following four generations lived to the ages of 239, 239, 230, 148, and 205. Thus starting from Peleg’s generation, human lifespans were cut in half.

 

However, from the age of Reu when he begat his son, we can discern that something more is going on.

 

Chazal have taught that thirty-two is the joining or junction between the inside (inner world) and the outside (outer world).

 

Heart speaks to an inner reality, as we shall see.

 

We have thirty-two teeth which form the partition between inside the body (the inner world) and outside the body (the outer world).

 

Lag B’Omer

 

Lag B’Omer is translitterated Hebrew which means the “33^rd day of the omer”. It occurs on the fifth day of the fifth week of the omer count. Inner wisdom is revealed 5^th day of the 5^th week. 32 is inner significance.

 

Thirty-two is the numeric value of the Hebrew word for “heart”. Lamed bet - לב = heart (inner world).

 

HaShem’s name is mentioned 32 times in creation.

 

The numerical value of kavod - כְּבוֹד  is 32 (inner world). There is no glory but the Torah.

 

The B’nei Yissascher[1] explains that the forty-nine (49) days of counting the Omer can be broken down into two periods:  The first 32 days leading up to Lag B’Omer,[2] and the last 17 days from Lag B’Omer til Shavuot. These two periods can be compared to the numerical value of the Hebrew words: “A good heart” consisting of (lev [heart] לב = 32) and (tov טוב [good] = 17). (32+17=49).

 

This hints at the first thirty-two days of the omer, when Rabbi Akiva’s[3] students interacted with each other with just their lev, heart. The numerical value of tov is 17. This hints to the remaining seventeen days after Lag B’omer when they interacted with to each other with the added component of “tov”. Proper respect is reached when one can interact with a “lev tov”, a good heart.[4]

 

If you count from the first word of the Torah until the word “good” (“tov”) in “HaShem saw that it was good” (Bereishit 1:3), you will find exactly thirty two words. Together the first thirty two words (לב) and the word “good” טוב spell out the expression “טוב לב - A good heart”. HaShem commanded us to count the omer, literally the numerical value of “A good heart” in preparation for receiving the Torah, which embodies the quintessence of “A good heart”. The Torah is the heart of the world. Therefore, it has thirty-two paths of wisdom.

 

On the first day of Creation, after creating light, the Torah states that HaShem saw that the light was good. According to the Midrash,[5] He concealed this light in the Torah. Therefore, the Torah is the the essence of good corresponding to the hidden “light that is good”. This explains why HaShem commanded us to count 49 days (32+17) in order to be worthy of receiving the Torah.

 

The Netivot Shalom[6] says we count forty-nine days in the Omer, 32 days until Lag B’Omer, which spells ‘lev’, the heart. From Lag B’Omer till Shavuot we have 17 days which is the numerical value of ‘tov’ good. Lev Tov, a good heart. That’s what’s hidden in these days. And that’s our secret. How do you work on your character? With a good heart.

 

These thirty-two paths of wisdom are the twenty-two letters of the alphabet, plus the ten vowels that give them expression. Or, alternatively, the ten utterances by which HaShem created the world. It is these ten utterances that are revealed to Israel as the Ten Commandments, but only after they uncover the ‘lev’ at the heart of creation, as they count the first thirty-two days of the Omer.

 

The thirty-third word in the Torah is ‘Tov’. This is the light that was hidden away for the Tzaddikim. It is this light that is revealed to Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai[7] on the thirty-third day of the Omer, the Zohar that lights up the world.[8]

 

As an aside, it is interesting to note that this concept is the basis of the custom to light bonfires on the eve of Lag B’Omer.

 

Counting thirty-two days connects us to that world of Chachma (wisdom), one that is above and beyond our own. It brings us to Lag B’Omer, a day that reveals a hidden light to the world. It is this day that separates us from the world we left behind.

 

Tzitzith

 

Each of the four tzitzith have eight strings, making a total of thirty-two strings. Thirty-two is the numeric value of the Hebrew word for “heart”. The tzitzith’s loose strings represent HaShem’s ‘heart strings’. The purpose of the tzitzit is to remind us not to follow after the desires of one's heart. Since the Torah begins with the letter "Bet" and ends with the letter "Lamed", thus, spelling the word "Lev" - "heart."  The numerical value of the fringes in the tzitzit and the numerical value of the first and last letter of the Torah are the same.  This alludes to the importance of the mitzva of tzitzit.  Wearing tzitzit is compared to fulfilling the entire Torah.

 

Menashe

 

Vayikra (Leviticus) 1:35 Their count, for the tribe of Menashe; thirty two thousand, two hundred.

 

The count for tribe of Menashe was thirty-two thousand men. There is no doubt that every census was determined by HaShem. Consequently, there must have been a reason that the number thirty-two played such a prominent role in Menashe’s census.

 

Horav Chaim Pardes, Shlita, expounds on the significance of the number thirty-two through the perspective of Chazal.[9] The Talmud, in Yevamot 62b, states that Rabbi Akiva’s twenty four thousand students died during the period between Pesach and Shavuot because they were not accustomed to showing proper honor (kavod), honor/esteem, one for another. The Maharal of Prague[10] makes a profound statement in regard to the time frame of their death. On the thirty-third day of the Omar, Lag B’omer, the Heavenly decree that they should die ceased. What is the implication of this brief cessation in their tragic demise? He explains that they died because of laxity in observing proper honor - kavod, which in the Hebrew language has the gematria, numerical equivalent, of thirty-two. Hence, they perished during a thirty-two day period! The Talmud states that they died during the entire period between Pesach and Shavuot. However, the decree ended on the thirty-second day of the period. After that no one else became ill; only those who were already ill died after the thirty-second day.

 

The unique census of the members of Menashe’s tribe, HaRav Pardes suggests, may be attributed to Menashe’s nature. Menashe was the firstborn, the bechor, the elder of Yosefs’ two sons. He was Yosef’s kavod, his honor, hope, and source of confidence in the dark exile of Egypt. He represented Yosef’s kavod in Egypt. The number of men in his tribe reflected this unique status.

 

* * *

 

It is not at all unlikely that the number thirty-two that appears at the beginning of Sefer Yetzirah was chosen in order to reconcile two well-known statements from the Talmudic era:

 

Bezalel knew how to combine the [22] letters by which the heavens and earth were created.[11]

 

“With ten utterances was the world created.” [12]

 

Clearly, the number thirty-two is the sum of the 22 letters of the aleph-bet and the 10 utterances referred to in Pirke Avot.

 

Wedding

 

The Ring Ceremony. The groom’s giving and the bride’s accep­tance of a ring is the central act of kiddushin. With the ring the groom ac­complishes kinyan and “acquires” the bride. Strictly speaking, the groom is supposed to memorize the marriage formula, but in order to spare him any embarrassment the rabbi says the words, which the groom then repeats. Because it is essential that both bride and groom un­derstand the meaning of these words, the statement is recited both in He­brew and English (or whatever language the couple knows best):

 

“By this ring you are consecrated to me (as my wife) in accor­dance with the traditions of Moses and Israel.”

 

This formula, called the haray aht, contains thirty-two letters. In Hebrew, the number thirty-two is written with the letters lamed and bet, which spell the word that means “heart”—lev. The groom thus gives his heart as he recites the words.

 

In the Torah

 

In the Torah, the name Elokim appears thirty-two times in the six days of creation. Furthermore, the first and last letters of the Torah are bet and lamed which spell lev, heart or mind, and the gematria (numerical value) of this word is 32. When we finish reading the Torah, we immediately begin again. Thus, we find connections between the number thirty-two and Torah, the creation, and our own minds. This connection is paralleled by passages that may be found in the Tanach and the Midrash of Genesis Rabbah.

 

Shemot (Exodus) 31:6 In the hearts of all who are wise hearted I have put wisdom.

 

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:6 These words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart.

 

Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 31:32 I will put my Torah in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

 

God consulted the Torah and created the world, while the Torah declares, IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED, BEGINNING referring to the Torah, as in the verse:

 

Mishle (Proverbs) 8:22 The Lord made me as the beginning of His way.[13]

 

In summary, the creation represents a split of the One into thirty-two. This split is symbolized by the ten creative utterances and the twenty-two letters of the aleph-bet, the thirty-two times that Elohim is mentioned in the creation story in Genesis, the thirty-two vertebrae in the human body, and the Torah that is in our own hearts (lev=32). However, the text also tells us that this split is ultimately an illusion. The world is composed of “ten sefirot of nothingness”.

 

The thirty-two paths also relate, in particular, to human anatomy. The human spine is generally composed of thirty-two vertebrae (seven cervical, twelve thoracic, five lumbar, and eight that comprise the sacrum and coccyx), and the natural number of permanent teeth is thirty-two. At the end of life “the grinders cease”,^[14] indicating that the thirty-two paths of creation return to their source.

 

Our Sages and all of the commentaries have pointed out that the children of Leah mentioned by name number thirty-two (Reuven and his four sons, Shimon and his six sons, Levi and his three sons, Yehuda, his three sons and two grandsons, Yissachar and his four sons, Zebulun and his three sons, and Dina).

 

Bereshit (Genesis) 46:15, however, records ‘thirty-three souls’. Similarly, the Torah records that sixty-seven souls in total descended to Egypt (Leah – 33, Zilpa – 16, Binyamin son of Rachel – 11, Bilha – 7), and yet verse 46:26 speaks of sixty-six. The next verse then alters this number to a total of seventy by including Yosef and his two sons!

 

One approach, that of our Sages and Rashi, adds Yochaved to the list of those who descended, suggesting that she was born upon entry to Egypt. This would therefore bring the total of Leah’s descendents to thirty-three (as verse fifteen states) and the entire number to seventy (in accordance with verse twenty-seven). Yochaved, however, is conspicuously absent from the list of names. A different approach, that of the Rashbam, suggests that the seventieth soul is none other than Yaaqov himself, who is counted among Leah’s family. The sixty-six souls spoken of in verse twenty-six do not include Yaaqov, since it speaks of ‘Yaaqov’s descendents.’ I believe that another approach is in order.

 

* * *

 

An article titled, “The Heart of the Matter,” written by Rabbi Noson Weisz.

 

http://www.aish.com/torahportion/mayanot/The_Heart_of_the_Matter.asp

 

In his article, Rabbi Weisz points out an interesting fact, namely that there are THIRTY-TWO words in advance of the first appearance of the word tov - good, in the Torah. In Hebrew, the number 32 is written Lamed-Bait, which spells the word heart. Thus, Rabbi Weisz concluded:

 

“The 33rd word in the Torah is the Hebrew word tov, meaning ‘good.’ It refers to the light that was G-d’s first creation: G-d saw that the light was good (Genesis 1:4). The 32 previous words of creation, equaling the numerical value of lev - heart, serve to generate this good light. G-d’s light to the world is his Torah, which points the way to man’s purpose and renders him a creature worthy of respect. Between the 33rd day of the Omer and the 50th day, Shavuot - the day the Torah enters the world, there are 17 days, equal to the numerical value of the word tov. If we divide the days we count between the first 32 and the last17, we get lev tov, the ‘good heart’ - the heart that knows what to value and that distributes its kavod, (worth 32) with its entire essence (also 32) to the proper recipient, the Torah scholar.”

 

Thus, Rabbi Akiva’s students, who acted towards one another with bad hearts, ceased dying on Lag B’Omer. And thus, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai revealed the Zohar to the Jewish people, an act of a good heart and made possible because of a good heart. For, it is only through a good heart that the light of Torah, especially that which G-d made Creation and gave Torah, can flow to the world.

 

Thus, the Name of G-d - Elokim. appears 32 times in the Creation story, an allusion to the “32 Paths of Wisdom” with which the world was made, the spiritual conduits through which the light of G-d traveled on its way down from the sefirah of Chachmah which corresponds to man, and to the sefirah of Binah which corresponds to woman. And it is certainly no coincidence that the base of the Temple altar was 32 amot square, or that the Tefillin Shel Yad, which is shaped like the altar, sits on the left arm opposite the heart. Or, that we have 32 teeth. (We break some of the Evil Son’s teeth at the Seder.)

 

The Thirty-two Rules of

Eliezer B. Jose Ha-Ge-lili^[2]

 

R. Eliezer ben Jose the Galilean, a great man of Midrash, counted thirty-two norms for the interpretation of Scripture, a number remarkably apt, for thirty-two is the sum of the letters in lev, the Hebrew word for “heart”. And one key to Scripture’s heart is what a Midrash such as the Pesikta de-Rab Kahana provides.

 

Rules laid down by R. Eliezer b. Jose Ha-Gelili for haggadic exgesis, many of them being applied also to halakic interpretation.

 

1. Ribbuy (extension): The particles “et”, “gam”, and “af”, which are superfluous indicate that something which is not explicitly stated must be regarded as included in the passage uinder consideration, or that some teaching is implied thereby.

 

2. Mi’ut (limitation): The particles “ak”, “rak”, and “min”, indicate that something implied by the concept under consideration must be excluded in a specific case.

 

3. Ribbuy ahar ribbuy (extension after extension): When one extension follows another it indicates that more must be regarded as implied.

 

4. Mi’ut ahar mi’ut (limitation after limitation): A double limitation indicates that more is to be omitted.

 

5. Kal va-chomer meforash: “Argumentum a minori ad majus”, or vice versa, and expressly so characterized in the text.

 

6. Kal va-chomer satum: “Argumentum a minori ad majus” or vice versa, but only implied, not explicitly declared to be one in the text. This and the preceeding rule are contained in the Rules of Hillel number 1.

 

7. Gezerah shawah: Argument from analagy. Biblical passages containing synonyms or homonyms are subject, however much they differ in other respects, to identical definitions and applications.

 

8. Binyan ab mi-katub ehad: Application of a provision found in one passage only to passages which are related to the first in content but do not contain the provision in question.

 

9. Derek Kezarah: Abbreviation is sometimes used in the text when the subject of discussion is self-explanatory.

 

10. Dabar shehu shanuy (repeated expression): Repitition implies a special meaning.

 

11. Siddur she-nehlak: Where in the text a clause or sentence not logically divisible is divided by the punctuation, the proper order and the division of the verses must be restored according to the logical connection.

 

12. Anything introduced as a comparison to illustrate and explain something else itself receives in this way a better explanation and elucidation.

 

13. When the general is followed by the particular, the latter is specific to the former and merely defines it more exactly. (compare with Hillel #5)

 

14. Something important is compared with something unimportant to elucidate it and render it more readily intelligible.

 

15. When two Biblical passages contradict each other the contradiction in question must be solved by reference to a third passage.

 

16. Dabar meyuhad bi-mekomo: An expression which occurs in only one passage can be explained only by the context. This must have been the original meaning of the rule, although another explanation is given in the examples cited in the baraita.

 

17. A point which is not clearly explained in the main passage may be better elucidated in another passage.

 

18. A statement with regard to a part may imply the whole.

 

19. A statement concerning one thing may hold good with regard to another as well.

 

20. A stetment concerning one thing may apply only to something else.

 

21. If one object is compared to two other objects the best part of both the latter forms the tertium quid of comparison.

 

22. A passage may be supplemented and explained by a parallel passage.

 

23. A passage serves to elucidate and supplement its parallel passage.

 

24. When the specific implied in the general is especially excepted from the general, it serves to emphasize some property characterizing the specific.

 

25. The specific implied in the general is frequently excepted from the general to elucidate some other specific property, and to develop some special teaching concerning it.

 

26. Mashal (parable).

 

27. Mi-ma’al: Interpretation through the preceding.

 

28. Mi-neged: Interpretation through the opposite.

 

29. Gematria: Interpretation according to the numerical value of the letters.

 

30. Notarikon: Interpretation by dividing a word into two or more parts.

 

31. Postposition of the precedent. Many phraes which follow must be regarded as properly preceding, and must be interpreted accordingly in exegesis.

 

32. May portions of the Bible refer to an earlier period than to the sections which precede them, and vice versa.

 

These thirty-two rules are united in the so-called Baraita of R. Eliezer b. Jose HaGelili. In the introduction to the Midrash ha-Gadole, where this baraita is given, it contains thirty-three rules. Rule 29 being divided into three, and rule 27 being omitted.

 

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This study was written by

Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David (Greg Killian).

Comments may be submitted to:

 

Rabbi Dr. Greg Killian

12210 Luckey Summit

San Antonio, TX 78252

 

Internet address:  gkilli@aol.com

Web page:  http://www.betemunah.org/

 

(360) 918-2905

 

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