Various numbers play a significant role in Jewish texts or practice. Some such numbers were used as mnemonics to help remember concepts, while other numbers were considered to have intrinsic significance or allusive meaning. The song Echad Mi Yodea ("who knows one?"), sung at the Passover Seder, is known for recounting a religious concept or practice associated with each of the first 13 numbers.

In Jewish History

In Jewish historical study, numbers were believed to be a means for understanding the divine. This marriage between the symbolic and the physical found its pinnacle in the creation of the Tabernacle. The numerical dimensions of the temple are a "microcosm of creation ... that God used to create the Olamot-Universes." In the thought system of Maharal, each number has a consistent philosophical meaning: 1 - unity. 2 - dualism and multiplicity. 3 - the unity between two extremes. 4 - multiplicity in two directions, like the cardinal directions. 5 - the center point which unifies those four extremes. 6 - multiplicity in three dimensions. 7 - the center point which unifies all of nature, as with Shabbat. 8 - the supernatural realm which feeds nature, and the striving of man for a connection with the supernatural. 9 - the most complete multiplicity, including division between the natural and supernatural. 10 - the final unification between natural and supernatural.

1

Echad Mi Yodea begins with the line "One is Hashem, in the heavens and the earth - אחד אלוהינו שבשמיים ובארץ." The monotheistic nature of normative Judaism, referenced also as the "oneness of God," is a common theme in Jewish liturgy—such as the central prayer—as well as Rabbinic literature. Maimonides writes in the 13 Principles of Faith that "God, the Cause of all, is one. This does not mean one as in one of a pair, nor one like a species (which encompasses many individuals), nor one as in an object that is made up of many elements, nor as a single simple object that is infinitely divisible. Rather, God is a unity, unlike any other possible unity."

2

Two "defines the concept of evenness," and can represent God's relationship with humanity or the people Israel. It is also linked to the two tablets of the covenant (such as in Echad Mi Yodea) and the two inclinations; the yetzer hara and yetzer hatov. On Shabbat, it's traditional to light two candles; one to represent keeping (שמור) the Sabbath, and the other to represent remembering (זכור) it. There are several common re-interpretations of this custom. The two candles may also represent husband and wife, the second soul received on Shabbat, or the division between light and dark in the creation story.

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

18

19

20

22

24

26

28

30

33

36

40

42

50

54

60

70

86

130

137

See Gen. 25:17, Ex. 6:16 and 6:20.

176

248

314

318

365

374

400

613

620