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Chai ( he, ืึทื "living" ') figures prominently in modern
What Does the Chai Symbol Signify for Jews?
ThoughtCo. (accessed March 9, 2018). According to 16th century Greek rabbi Shlomo Hacohen Soloniki, in his commentary on the
Jewish culture
Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not a faith-based religion, but an orthoprax and ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practice, and identity. Jewi ...
; the Hebrew letters of the word are often used as a visual symbol.
History
According to '' The Jewish Daily Forward'', its use as an amulet originates in 18th century Eastern Europe. Chai as a symbol goes back tomedieval Spain
Spain in the Middle Ages is a period in the History of Spain that began in the 5th Century following the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and ended with the beginning of the Early modern period in 1492.
The history of Spain is marked by waves ...
. Letters as symbols in Jewish culture
Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not a faith-based religion, but an orthoprax and ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practice, and identity. Jewi ...
go back to the earliest Jewish roots, the Talmud states that the world was created from Hebrew letters which form verses of the Torah. In medieval Kabbalah, Chai is the lowest (closest to the physical plane) emanation of God.Pelaia, Ariela.What Does the Chai Symbol Signify for Jews?
ThoughtCo. (accessed March 9, 2018). According to 16th century Greek rabbi Shlomo Hacohen Soloniki, in his commentary on the
Zohar
The ''Zohar'' ( he, , ''Zลhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five ...
, Chai as a symbol has its linkage in the Kabbalah texts to God's attribute of 'Ratzon', or motivation, will, muse. The Jewish commentaries give an especially long treatment to certain verses in the Torah with the word as their central theme. Three examples are Leviticus 18:5 'Chai Bahem', 'and you shall live by his faith
His or HIS may refer to:
Computing
* Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company
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Education
* Hangzhou International School, in ...
(as opposed to just doing it), this is part of the section dealing with the legacy of Moses Our Teacher following his death. Deuteronomy 30:15 "Verily, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil, in that I command thee this day to love the thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances; then thou shalt live." There is nary an ancient Jewish commentator who does not comment on that verse. The Shema prayer as well speaks of the importance of Chai, to live and walk in the Jewish cultural lifestyle.
Two common Jewish names used since Talmudic times, are based on this symbol, Chaya feminine, Chayim masculine. The Jewish toast (on alcoholic beverages such as wine) is l'chaim, 'to life'.
On a spiritual (and historical) level, chai stands for being alive in front of God as opposed to being (spiritually) dead. This is derived from Tenach
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Hebrew alphabet โ Chet () and Yod (), forming the word "chai", meaning "alive", or "living". The most common spelling in Latin script is "Chai", but the word is occasionally also spelled "Hai". The usual modern pronunciation of this word is , while a transcription of the
BBC recording
from April 20, 1945 of Jewish survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp five days after their liberation. This was the first Sabbath ceremony openly conducted on German soil since the beginning of the war. With people still dying around them, the survivors sang what would become the Israeli national anthem, " Hatikvah". At the end of "Hatikvah", British Army Chaplain Leslie Hardman shouts out, ''Am Yisrael Chai!'' ("The people of Israel is alive!") In the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, which was held in Germany four decades after Shoah, Israel was represented with the song " Chai", performed by Ofra Haza, which includes the line ''Am Yisra'el chai''. Several Jewish radio stations have the word in their names, including Kol Chai (Israel), Radio Jai (Argentina), and ChaiFM (South Africa).
Elvis Presley wore a chai necklace while performing toward the end of his life. Baseball star Rod Carew wore a chai necklace during his playing days; his first wife and daughters were Jewish, even though Carew himself never formally converted to Judaism. Canadian rapper Drake, himself Jewish, wore a chai necklace on the cover of ''Vibe'' magazine in 2010.
'' Hebrew alphabet โ Chet () and Yod (), forming the word "chai", meaning "alive", or "living". The most common spelling in Latin script is "Chai", but the word is occasionally also spelled "Hai". The usual modern pronunciation of this word is , while a transcription of the
Biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
and Mishnaic pronunciation would have likely been (with a pharyngeal consonant
A pharyngeal consonant is a consonant that is articulated primarily in the pharynx. Some phoneticians distinguish upper pharyngeal consonants, or "high" pharyngeals, pronounced by retracting the root of the tongue in the mid to upper pharynx, ...
).
In Hebrew, the related word ''chaya'' () means "living thing" or "animal", and is derived from the Hebrew word ''chai'' (), meaning "life".
Numerology
There have been various mysticalnumerological
Numerology (also known as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, of the letters ...
speculations about the fact that, according to the system of gematria, the letters of ''chai'' add up to 18 (see "Lamedvavniks" etc.). For this reason, 18 is a spiritual number in Judaism, and many Jews give gifts of money in multiples of 18 as a result.
In Jewish culture
The Chai symbol can be worn by Jews as a medallion around the neck, similarly to other Jewish symbols, such as theStar of David
The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles.
A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...
and the Hamsa.
Jews often give gifts and donations in multiples of 18, which is called "giving chai". Mailings from Jewish charities usually suggest the amounts to give in multiples of chai (18, 36, 54 dollars, etc.) rather than the usual multiples of 25.
It appears in the slogan "''!''" (, "The people of Israel live!").
It is heard in BBC recording
from April 20, 1945 of Jewish survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp five days after their liberation. This was the first Sabbath ceremony openly conducted on German soil since the beginning of the war. With people still dying around them, the survivors sang what would become the Israeli national anthem, " Hatikvah". At the end of "Hatikvah", British Army Chaplain Leslie Hardman shouts out, ''Am Yisrael Chai!'' ("The people of Israel is alive!") In the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, which was held in Germany four decades after Shoah, Israel was represented with the song " Chai", performed by Ofra Haza, which includes the line ''Am Yisra'el chai''. Several Jewish radio stations have the word in their names, including Kol Chai (Israel), Radio Jai (Argentina), and ChaiFM (South Africa).
Chai jewelry
Elvis Presley wore a chai necklace while performing toward the end of his life. Baseball star Rod Carew wore a chai necklace during his playing days; his first wife and daughters were Jewish, even though Carew himself never formally converted to Judaism. Canadian rapper Drake, himself Jewish, wore a chai necklace on the cover of ''Vibe'' magazine in 2010.
See also
*Culture of Israel
The roots of the culture of Israel developed long before modern Israel's independence in 1948, and traces back to ancient Israel ( 1000 BCE). It reflects Jewish culture, Jewish history in the diaspora, the ideology of the Zionist movement that de ...
* Hamsa
* Hayyi Rabbi
* Jewish ceremonial art
References
{{commons category, ืื Symbols Jewish symbols he:ืื