Illustration by Denis Shifrin

To paraphrase the first line of a popular late 1950s soul song, “Wonderful World”, by Sam Cooke, Lou Adler and Herb Alpert, "I don't know much about numerology" or, as it is known in Hebrew, gematria. But it seemed a coincidence that the sum of the 3 numerals in ESRA's 162 Chanukah issue was 9, the numbers of the candles on the Chanukiah.

Numerical equivalents are given to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet in digital ascending order from Aleph, the first letter, equivalent to 1 until Yod, the 10^th letter, equivalent to 10. From there on, the letters ascend by 10s, until Kopf, the 19^th letter which equals 100. The last three letters Resh, Shin, and Taf ascend by 100s, leaving us with Taf equal to 400.

On the simplest level it's fun to play with letter/number equivalents. They can add significance to greeting cards, wedding and barmitzvah invitations and speeches for special occasions.
For example, there is a Hebrew proverb נכנס יין יצא סוד (nichnas yayin, yatza sod) meaning, where wine enters, secrets escape. In gematria, both the word יין (wine) י =10 י =10 נ =50 , and the word sod (secret) ס=60 ו=6 ד=4 equal 70. This most common form of gematria is used in the Talmud and Midrash and is also used a great deal by the post-Talmudic commentators. By reading words and sentences as numbers, they can be compared with other words and phrases which equal the same value. Many books have been written on the subject, and today internet sites are used as aids.

However, the practice within Jewish tradition of assigning mystical meaning to words or phrases, based on their numerical values and connecting them to words of equal value, adds greater importance to gematria, raising it to a higher and infinitely more complex level. It is not a numbers game; it designates properties, forces and degrees that the soul goes through. Kabbalists use it for no other purpose.

A serious study of gematria is vast in scope and depth and worthy of a scholar's time and effort. A mere hour's perusal on the internet on the subject boggles the mind of a dabbler like me. Therefore, dear reader, I leave you with this thought: the sum of the three Hebrew letters of the first name of ESRA MAGAZINE’s tireless editor-in-chief, Merle Guttman – Mem, Resh, Lamed – is 270  מ=40 ר=200 ל=30  
2+7+0 = 9, the number of candles on the Chanukah Menorah.

The sum of “Guttman” in Hebrew is 108:  ג=3 ו=6 ט=9 מ=40 נ=50
1+0+8 =9 once again, the number of candles on the Chanukah Menorah.
9+9 = 18, which in Hebrew is “chai”  ח = 8 + י = 10 meaning life.

ESRA's Hebrew equivalent is עזרה  which in gematria  is 282.  ע=70 ז=7 ר=200 ה=5
2+8+2=12, which represents the months of the year. 

In summation, let it be noted that our Merle Guttman gives life to ESRA throughout the year.

Editor’s Note: I feel very humbled by your comments about me Judy, thank you.