PARSHA MATH

THE MERIT OF BALAK - FORTY TWO

(Nazir 23a) Rav Yehudah in the name of Rav teaches that a person should always engage in the study of
Torah and the fulfillment of Mitzvos, even when his motives are insincere ("she'Lo Lishmah"), because
through the act of performing the Mitzvos with insincere motives, he eventually will perform them with
sincere motives ("Lishmah"). This concept is derived from the conduct of Balak, who offered 42 sacrifices to
HaShem with intent to endear HaShem to help him destroy the Jewish people. In return for his Mitzvah
"she'Lo Lishmah," Balak merited to have Ruth among his descendants
(dafyomi.co.il) What is the connection between Balak's 42 sacrifices and the reward he received, the
privilege of being the forebear of David ha'Melech, the greatest king of Yisrael?
The number of Balak's sacrifices (42), is accounted for in Balak's reward. Balak's 42 sacrifices were offered
at three different locations and times, and each occasion involved fourteen sacrifices (see Bamidbar 23:1,
23:14, 23:29). Fourteen is the Gematriya of the name "David"!
The years of David's life may be divided into three periods: before he was anointed as king, the seven years
he ruled in Chevron only over the tribe of Yehudah, and the 33 years he ruled in Yerushalayim over the
united kingdom of Yisrael. Perhaps the three sets of sacrifices (fourteen in each set) offered by Balak
corresponded to the three stages in the development of David ha'Melech's kingship.
Further, the prophet relates (Shmuel I 13:1) that Shaul ha'Melech, who ruled over Yisrael for two years
before David ha'Melech was anointed, sinned against HaShem in the first year of his reign (according to
Rashi's interpretation of the verse). According to Seder Olam (ch. 13), it was at that point that the prophet
Shmuel went to anoint David as king of Yisrael (see Shmuel I, ch. 16). Accordingly, David was anointed as
king for two years before he "officially" ascended to the throne at Chevron. When those two years are added
to the total length of David ha'Melech’s reign, it emerges that David ha'Melech was king of Yisrael for a total
of exactly 42 years! This is the connection between Balak's acts (his sacrifice of 42 animals) and his reward
(his descendant was anointed as king of Yisrael for 42 years).

Circle which items are connected to the Number 42

Journeys in the Desert
Cities of Refuge in Eretz Yisrael
Cities of the Leviim in Eretz Yisrael
‫( אמא‬mother)
‫( יוכבד‬Moshe’s mother)
‫( אביגיל‬One of Dovid’s wives)
‫( 'יד ה‬Hand of G-d)
‫( מה‬What)
‫( לבי‬My heart)
‫דל‬ (Poor person)
‫בם‬ (in them like “speak in them”)
‫( יחידי‬my unique one)
‫( כבודי‬my honored one)
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 PARSHA MATH

NOTES FOR TEACHER OR PARENT

Age group – 12 years and up
Objective of this lesson:
Appreciate math in the Parsha
Introduction to one of the names of HaShem

42 letter name of G-d

‫יו"ד ה ו"ו ה‬

acronym of a prayer called 'Ana beCoah' (so called after the first two words of the prayer),
attributed to Rabbi Nehunya Ben Hakana
Attributions to the 42 Letters Name of God
‫אב"ג‬ ‫קר"ע‬ ‫נג"ד‬ ‫חק"ב‬ ‫יג"ל‬ ‫שק"ו‬
Name ‫בט"ר צת"ג‬
‫ית"ץ‬ ‫שט"ן‬ ‫יכ"ש‬ ‫טנ"ע‬ ‫פז"ק‬ ‫צי"ת‬
Double
Beith Gimmel Daleth Kaph Peh Resh Tav
letter
Planet Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon
Day Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Shabbos
Right Right
Openings Left eye Right ear Left ear Left nostril Mouth
eye nostril
Life vs Peace vs Wisdom Beauty vs Richness Seed vs Government
Permutation
Death War vs Folly Ugliness vs Poverty Desolation vs Slavery
Sephirah Chesed Geburah Tiphereth Netzach Hod Yesod Malkuth

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov attempted to capture the secret of the 42-letter name in his fifth story, “The
Prince of Precious Stones”
G-d’s Name is permuted on the staff in 42 ways (Zohar 2:260a)

Elokah = 42 (2 times 21, the value of God's Name Ekyeh which appears as a pair in God's words to Moses:
"Ekyeh asher Ekyeh"). As the world was created with the power of God's 42 letter Name, the Name Elokah
implies the power of creation. The Name Kel in at-bash = 420 = 10 times Elokah.

One of the secrets of 42 in Kabbalah in relation to the creation of the universe is that the Divine act of
creation begins with God's saying yehi ("let there be...") = 25, and concludes with God's seeing His creation
to be tov ("good") = 17. 25 (the beginning of the creative process) plus 17 (the conclusion of the creative
process) = 42 (the all-inclusive power of creation).

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 PARSHA MATH
MATHTOID
The Catalan numbers (1, 2, 5, 14, 42, 132, 429, 1430, 4862, 16796, 58786, 208012, 742900, 2674440,
9694845, ...), named after Eugène Charles Catalan (1814-1894), arise in a number of problems in
combinatorics. They can be computed using this formula:

Among other things, the Catalan numbers describe

o the number of ways a polygon with n+2 sides can be cut into n triangles;
o the number of ways in which parentheses can be placed in a sequence of numbers to be multiplied,
two at a time;
o the number of planar binary trees with n+1 leaves; and
o the number of paths of length 2n through an n-by-n grid that do not rise above the main diagonal.

Polygon diagrams
(code hidden for your protection)

4 sides, 2 ways:

5 sides, 5 ways:

6 sides, 14 ways:

7 sides, 42 ways:

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