Genesis 2:7: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Remember the song from Fiddler on The Roof? LaChaim. (la – to, chaim – life). What were they celebrating? They were, of course, celebrating life. However, they were celebrating a little more than we gentiles realize. The word for life, as used in Genesis 2:7, is also chaim which ends with im. This is a grammatical indicator of plurality. The sages teach that we are not granted just one life, but two and that our life must always be lived with the awareness that the grave is not our end, but merely the second beginning. The Mishna teachers: “know whence you came and to where you are going and before Whom you are destined to give a final accounting (Pirkei Avot 3:1).
The sages also teach that when God created the world He affirmed its innate goodness by saying: “it is good” (tov – in harmony with God) or “it is in harmony with Me.” Yet when He concluded His creation he said it was not good or not in harmony with Him for man to be alone. Hence he did not create life as chi but as chaim (plural). Life was meant to be shared with two living as one. Thus, whosoever finds a wife finds a good thing (finds someone who will bring him in harmony with God).
The sages teach that the two Yods located between the Cheth and the Mem in Chaim when combined forms the name of God. When we involve our lives with God (Cheth), it will end in the revelation of His hidden knowledge (Mem). In English the central letters for life is if. When we live a life without God we are faced with the big ifs.” But the Hebrew word for life teaches that if we involve ourselves with God (Cheth) the big if is removed from the center of our life and replaced with the double Yod – God. When God is central to our lives, doubt and despair are replaced by confidence and divine comfort.
The numerical value of life is 68: (Cheth = 8, Double Yod = 10+10 = 20, and Mem = 40). His children (banayv) has a numerical value of 68 and he built (vayiven) has a numerical value of 68. Hence the plural word chaim is also telling us that man lives on after death through his children and what he has built.
Solomon taught in Proverbs 13:14: “The law of the wise is the fountain of life.” The word for wisdom is: Chet – involvement with God. The numerical value is 8. Kap – filling one’s heart, has a numerical value which equals 20, and Mem – the secrets of God, has a numerical value of 40. Hence the one who makes his personal law to be wisdom or who involves himself with God to fill his heart with God’s secrets has found the fountain of chaim (life). The numerical value of wisdom is 68 and the numerical value of life is also 68.
Finally God breathed (nephesh) life (chaim) into man. God’s Spirit brought life into man and man became a living (chi) Nephesh (spirit). But soft, this second use of life (chi) is singular. Our life becomes one life with God. God’s life is eternal and if we have our lives and spirit as one with him, then our life and Spirit are meant to be eternally joined Him. The enemy made quick work of that unity in the Garden of Eden. But Jesus restored that unity 2,000 years ago on a cross and by simple belief in him, that unity can be restored. However, God gave man a free will, so must choose to rejoin our lives and spirit with Him. A simple choice really, but unfortunately for most in this world, that choice is never made.
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