Parsha Math Notes for Teacher or Parent
Parsha Pages Youth | July 08, 2025
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Parsha Math Notes for Teacher or Parent

Parsha Pages Youth | December 10, 2025

PARSHA MATH
NOTES FOR TEACHER OR PARENT

42-letter name of G-d

יו"ד ה ו"ו ה
Acronym of a prayer called 'Ana beKoach' אנא בכח (so called after the first two words of the prayer), attributed to Rabbi Nehunya Ben Hakana.

Attributions to the 42-Letter Name of God

Nameאב"גית"ץקר"עשט"ןנג"דיכ"שבט"ר צת"גחק"בטנ"עיג"לפז"קשק"וצי"תDouble letterBeisGimmelDaletKafPehReshTavPlanetSaturnJupiterMarsSunVenusMercuryMoonDaySundayMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridayShabbosOpeningsRight eyeLeft eyeRight earLeft earRight nostrilLeft nostrilMouthPermutationLife vs DeathPeace vs WarWisdom vs FollyBeauty vs UglinessRichness vs PovertySeed vs DesolationGovernment vs SlaverySephirahChesedGevurahTipheresNetzachHodYesodMalchus

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).

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

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

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

Polygon diagrams

4 sides, 2 ways:

5 sides, 5 ways:

6 sides, 14 ways:

7 sides, 42 ways:

PARSHA MATH
NOTES FOR TEACHER OR PARENT

42-letter name of G-d

יו"ד ה ו"ו ה
Acronym of a prayer called 'Ana beKoach' אנא בכח (so called after the first two words of the prayer), attributed to Rabbi Nehunya Ben Hakana.

Attributions to the 42-Letter Name of God

Nameאב"גית"ץקר"עשט"ןנג"דיכ"שבט"ר צת"גחק"בטנ"עיג"לפז"קשק"וצי"תDouble letterBeisGimmelDaletKafPehReshTavPlanetSaturnJupiterMarsSunVenusMercuryMoonDaySundayMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridayShabbosOpeningsRight eyeLeft eyeRight earLeft earRight nostrilLeft nostrilMouthPermutationLife vs DeathPeace vs WarWisdom vs FollyBeauty vs UglinessRichness vs PovertySeed vs DesolationGovernment vs SlaverySephirahChesedGevurahTipheresNetzachHodYesodMalchus

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).

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

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

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

Polygon diagrams

4 sides, 2 ways:

5 sides, 5 ways:

6 sides, 14 ways:

7 sides, 42 ways:

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Parsha Pages Youth | July 08, 2025