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Rabbi Marcus: Shalom and welcome to Askmoses!
seeker: What is gematriah and how does it work?
Rabbi Marcus: Gematriah is the numerical Alef-Bet. Each Hebrew letter has a numerical value and when we calculate letters/words by their numeric value, we are using Gematriah.
seeker: How does that work?
Rabbi Marcus: The interpretations of Torah are generally divided into four categories: literal, allusion, homiletic, and secret (Kabbalistic).
Rabbi Marcus: Gematriah, is part of the “allusion” category. Basically, gematriah means that when words or phrases share numeric equivalence it is often a symptom of an inner connection between those two things.1
Rabbi Marcus: So, for example, the Divine Name Elokim is numerically equivalent (86) to the Hebrew word Hateva - which means nature - since Elokim is the Name that represents our perception of G-d as the Creator and sustainer of nature (as opposed to Y-H-V-H, which represents our perception of G-d as transcendent from nature.
seeker: Are there examples of gematriah in the Talmud?
Rabbi Marcus: Yes. For example, the Talmud uses gematriah to show that Abraham recognized G-d at age three (eikev=172...).2
For in-depth coverage of the various forms of gematriah used by the kabbalists, visit www.inner.org/gematria/gematria.php
[Ed. note: Also read "Can I come up with my own gematriah?"]
Footnotes
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Miscellaneous » Hebrew / Languages » Codes and Numbers