I am excited to report that I have just past the half way point towards my fundraising goal. I really appreciate the support of my family and friends. I know this is a tough economic time and you have all gone above and beyond my expectations. I just hope I don’t let you down when I run the race.
I titled this blog “Why Eighteen?” because I noticed that many of my donations have been in multiples of the number 18. I think most of you know that I am Jewish. In Judaism, the number 18 has a significant meaning. The Hebrew word for "life" is חי (chai), which has a numerical value of 18. Consequently, the custom has arisen in Jewish circles to give donations and monetary gifts in multiples of 18 as an expression of blessing for long life. How appropriate to give a gift that expresses a blessing for long life especially to those who are fighting cancer.
I want to expand a little on what we as Jews learn from the number 18, or Chai.
From the website http://www.inner.org/responsa/responsa.htm
“Kabbalah teaches that 18 corresponds to the power of ratzon, ("will"), in the soul. This is the third and lowest head of the keter. The commandments of the Torah are the will of G-d. When a person performs a commandment, he gives
G-d, as it were, nachat ruach, "pleasure," in that he performed G-d's will. Ratzon ("will") corresponds to Arich, which is also Arichut Yamim, ("long life"). This of course, corresponds to chai, 18. The long life alluded to here is in the merit of the commandments that the person performs.”
I consider that my running of the Boston Marathon as a member of the Dana-Farber team as performing a mitzvah. But, all of you who have given generously to this cause are also performing a mitzvah. I am hoping that this community effort will give G-d nachat ruach. I know that I will enjoy every step of the route thanks to you.
The other interesting number in this effort is the number 26. According to the website http://kabbalahcode.com/, the number 26 is a fundamental number of the universe. Here is what they had to say:
“Kabbalah is in agreement with science. Take the numbers, 26 and 137, which are said to be the fundamental numbers of the universe. Richard Feynman, recognized as our foremost authority on the subject of creation, a brilliant physicist, and Nobel Laureate, is quoted as saying that physicists ought to remind themselves of how much they don’t know by putting a sign on the walls of their offices with the number, 137. Feynman stated, "It is one of the greatest mysteries of physics, a magic number that comes to us with no understanding by man. You might say the "hand of God" wrote that number and we don’t know how He pushed the pencil." Werner Heisenberg, another giant in the world of physics said that all the problems of quantum theory would disappear only when 137 was explained. The book of Genesis says God told Moses that He has revealed Himself under other names but that His true essence is the number of the four letters YHVH which translates into English as Yahweh or Jehovah. It is used by many Christian sects as the name of God. The number of YHVH is 26. Yud = 10, Hay = 5, and a Vav = 6, for a total of 26. In English, G is the seventh letter of the alphabet, O is fifteenth, and D is fourth. 7 + 15 + 4 equals 26. Kabbalah teaches God is 26. Neils Bohr, discovered that when electrons absorbed energy they jumped to higher orbits and that these jumps occur at very specific distances from the nucleus. He created a chart showing the maximum number of electrons possible in each orbit was 2, 8, 18, 32, and 50. On his death bed he confessed that he derived these numbers from the number 26. And physicists using Dimensional Analysis have shown that the minimum number of dimensions in our universe is 26.”
Think about it. The fact that the marathon course is 26 miles (I am of course ignoring the 0.2 of a mile) is a way to connect at a higher level. In a sense, we are running G-d’s route. We are linking ourselves to G-d and our greater community through running a marathon. I know most of us run in solitude. When I am out on the road in the early morning, I sometimes think of it as a meditative experience. It is a time where in that quiet you can hear G-d’s voice and you are at one with the universe. This must be why I enjoy the training for and running a marathon. I hope you too will see the greater connection between the marathon distance and G-d.
Here is how my training went this week:
Nov. 2 – 8.27 miles (1:13:03, 8:50 pace)
I titled this blog “Why Eighteen?” because I noticed that many of my donations have been in multiples of the number 18. I think most of you know that I am Jewish. In Judaism, the number 18 has a significant meaning. The Hebrew word for "life" is חי (chai), which has a numerical value of 18. Consequently, the custom has arisen in Jewish circles to give donations and monetary gifts in multiples of 18 as an expression of blessing for long life. How appropriate to give a gift that expresses a blessing for long life especially to those who are fighting cancer.
I want to expand a little on what we as Jews learn from the number 18, or Chai.
From the website http://www.inner.org/responsa/responsa.htm
“Kabbalah teaches that 18 corresponds to the power of ratzon, ("will"), in the soul. This is the third and lowest head of the keter. The commandments of the Torah are the will of G-d. When a person performs a commandment, he gives
G-d, as it were, nachat ruach, "pleasure," in that he performed G-d's will. Ratzon ("will") corresponds to Arich, which is also Arichut Yamim, ("long life"). This of course, corresponds to chai, 18. The long life alluded to here is in the merit of the commandments that the person performs.”
I consider that my running of the Boston Marathon as a member of the Dana-Farber team as performing a mitzvah. But, all of you who have given generously to this cause are also performing a mitzvah. I am hoping that this community effort will give G-d nachat ruach. I know that I will enjoy every step of the route thanks to you.
The other interesting number in this effort is the number 26. According to the website http://kabbalahcode.com/, the number 26 is a fundamental number of the universe. Here is what they had to say:
“Kabbalah is in agreement with science. Take the numbers, 26 and 137, which are said to be the fundamental numbers of the universe. Richard Feynman, recognized as our foremost authority on the subject of creation, a brilliant physicist, and Nobel Laureate, is quoted as saying that physicists ought to remind themselves of how much they don’t know by putting a sign on the walls of their offices with the number, 137. Feynman stated, "It is one of the greatest mysteries of physics, a magic number that comes to us with no understanding by man. You might say the "hand of God" wrote that number and we don’t know how He pushed the pencil." Werner Heisenberg, another giant in the world of physics said that all the problems of quantum theory would disappear only when 137 was explained. The book of Genesis says God told Moses that He has revealed Himself under other names but that His true essence is the number of the four letters YHVH which translates into English as Yahweh or Jehovah. It is used by many Christian sects as the name of God. The number of YHVH is 26. Yud = 10, Hay = 5, and a Vav = 6, for a total of 26. In English, G is the seventh letter of the alphabet, O is fifteenth, and D is fourth. 7 + 15 + 4 equals 26. Kabbalah teaches God is 26. Neils Bohr, discovered that when electrons absorbed energy they jumped to higher orbits and that these jumps occur at very specific distances from the nucleus. He created a chart showing the maximum number of electrons possible in each orbit was 2, 8, 18, 32, and 50. On his death bed he confessed that he derived these numbers from the number 26. And physicists using Dimensional Analysis have shown that the minimum number of dimensions in our universe is 26.”
Think about it. The fact that the marathon course is 26 miles (I am of course ignoring the 0.2 of a mile) is a way to connect at a higher level. In a sense, we are running G-d’s route. We are linking ourselves to G-d and our greater community through running a marathon. I know most of us run in solitude. When I am out on the road in the early morning, I sometimes think of it as a meditative experience. It is a time where in that quiet you can hear G-d’s voice and you are at one with the universe. This must be why I enjoy the training for and running a marathon. I hope you too will see the greater connection between the marathon distance and G-d.
Here is how my training went this week:
Nov. 2 – 8.27 miles (1:13:03, 8:50 pace)
Nov. 3 -- 6.00 miles (55:36, 9:15 pace)
Nov. 4 -- 3.00 miles (25:10, 8:23 pace) -- Speedwork
Nov. 6 -- 6.00 miles (56:57, 9:29 pace)
Nov. 7 -- 6.00 miles (53:19, 8:53 pace)
Nov. 8 -- 6.20 miles (54:57, 8:52 pace)
Total Miles: 35.47 miles
YTD Miles: 785.01 miles
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