.gif)
Chai (symbol)
Encyclopedia
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
and word that figures prominently in Jewish culture. It consists of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet
Hebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet , known variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script, block script, or more historically, the Assyrian script, is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic. There have been two...
Chet
Heth (letter)
' or ' is the reconstructed name of the eighth letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, continued in descended Semitic alphabets as Phoenician , Syriac , Hebrew ḥēth , Arabic , and Berber .Heth originally represented a voiceless fricative, either pharyngeal , or...
(ח) and Yod
Yodh
Yodh is the tenth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Yud , Syriac and Arabic...
(י).
The Hebrew word "living" is related to the term for "life", chaim; ḥayyim
Chayyim
Chayyim , also transcribed as Haim, Hayim, Haymi, Chaim is a name of Hebrew origin; It comes from a word meaning "life". Its first usage can be traced to Middle Ages. It is a popular name amongst Jewish people. The feminine form for this name is Chaya. "Chai" is the Hebrew word for "life"...
.
It appears in the slogan "`am yisrael chai!" .
Spelling and pronunciation
The most common spelling is "Chai", but the word is occasionally also spelled "Hai". The usual modern pronunciation of this word is xai, while a transcription of the BiblicalBiblical Hebrew language
Biblical Hebrew , also called Classical Hebrew , is the archaic form of the Hebrew language, a Canaanite Semitic language spoken in the area known as Canaan between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Biblical Hebrew is attested from about the 10th century BCE, and persisted through...
and Mishnaic
Mishnaic Hebrew language
The term Mishnaic Hebrew refers to the Hebrew dialects found in the Talmud, excepting quotations from the Hebrew Bible. The dialects can be further sub-divided into Mishnaic Hebrew , which was a spoken language, and Amoraic Hebrew , which was a literary...
pronunciation would have likely been [ħai] (with a pharyngeal consonant
Pharyngeal consonant
A pharyngeal consonant is a type of consonant which is articulated with the root of the tongue against the pharynx.-Pharyngeal consonants in the IPA:Pharyngeal consonants in the International Phonetic Alphabet :...
).
Numerological associations
There have been various mystical numerological speculations about the fact that, according to the system of gematriaGematria
Gematria or gimatria is a system of assigning numerical value to a word or phrase, in the belief that words or phrases with identical numerical values bear some relation to each other, or bear some relation to the number itself as it may apply to a person's age, the calendar year, or the like...
, the letters of chai add up to 18 (see "Lamedvavniks" etc.). For this reason, 18
18 (number)
18 is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19.In speech, the numbers 18 and 80 are sometimes confused. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 18 vs 80 . However, in dates such as 1864, or when contrasting numbers in the teens, such as 17, 18, 19, the stress...
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 is often worn by Jews as a medallion around the neck (along with the Star of DavidStar of David
The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...
(Magen David), and the Hamsa
Hamsa
Hamsa or Khamsa can refer to:*Arabic "five, quintet"** Ḫamsa, a Near Eastern symbol often used as a protective amulet** a commonly used alternative name for the Panj Ganj or Quinary, ie quintet of Nizami's first five great epics*Sanskrit ...
).
In Hebrew, the related word chaya means "living thing" or "animal", and is derived from the Hebrew word chai (חי), meaning "life".
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 or 100.
Chai is a popular root word in Hebrew names. Chaya, derived from chai is a popular female name in Hebrew, and Chaim is the very popular male version. The biblical Eve
Eve
Eve is the first woman created by God in the Book of Genesis.Eve may also refer to:-People:*Eve , a common given name and surname*Eve , American recording artist and actress-Places:...
's name is חַוָּה ("Chava") in Hebrew, also derived from the same root
Triliteral
The roots of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or "radicals"...
as chai.
Among all Jews, both religious and secular, the toast לחיים ("l´chaim"), which means "to life", is frequently used when celebrating something, such as one of the high holidays, birthdays, weddings etc.
See also the article about "Etz Chaim
Etz Chaim
Etz Chaim Center for Jewish Learning is an Orthodox Jewish organization designed to reach out to secular and non-Orthodox Jews in the hopes of bring them into the Baal teshuva Movement . It is under the direction of...
", meaning "tree of life" for more related information.
Popular culture references
Character Andy Botwin from hit Showtime program, WeedsWeeds (TV series)
Weeds is an American television comedy created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. The central character is Nancy Botwin , a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a...
, has been known to sport a "Chai" achiever t-shirt.
Jewish poker pro Mike Matusow
Mike Matusow
Michael Matusow is an American professional poker player, residing in Henderson, Nevada. Matusow's nickname of "The Mouth" reflects his reputation for trash-talking at the poker table...
can usually be seen wearing a gold Chai necklace. Some non-Jews have also adopted the symbol. Former Baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
star Wade Boggs
Wade Boggs
Wade Anthony Boggs is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He spent his 18-year baseball career primarily with the Boston Red Sox, but also played for the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays...
drew a Chai in the dirt before each at-bat. Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
wore a Chai necklace while performing toward the end of his life.
In the music video for his single Throw it in the Bag
Throw It in the Bag
"Throw It in the Bag" is the first single from Fabolous' album Loso's Way. The song features The-Dream. The song leaked in March, and it was initially not supposed to be the lead single, but after the leak, Fabolous changed his mind because of the positive response he got from fans on...
, Fabolous
Fabolous
John David Jackson , better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper of African American and Dominican descent. He grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Part of his early popularity arose from his hit single "Can't Deny It" in 2001, from his debut...
can be seen wearing a gold Chai necklace.
In American Dad, Season 5, episode 7, one side character (Norman) appears wearing a t-shirt which says "Get חַי".
West coast electronic bass music producer GoldRush (http://soundcloud.com/GoldRush) wears a gold Chai necklace at all times, on and off stage.
External links
- Aish: Am Yisrael Chai -- The Eternal Nation: (MP3 file) - A vocal recording by Jewish singer, Sam GlaserSam GlaserSam Glaser is a popular composer, performer and interpreter of Jewish music. Referred to as one of the top ten Jewish artists in the United States by Moment Magazine, he holds a global fifty-city music tour culminating in Israel every year....
of the traditional Jewish song. - 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, singing what would become the Israeli national anthem, HatikvahHatikvah"Hatikvah" is the national anthem of Israel. The anthem was written by Naphtali Herz Imber, a secular Galician Jew from Zolochiv , who moved to the Land of Israel in the early 1880s....
. At the end of HatikvahHatikvah"Hatikvah" is the national anthem of Israel. The anthem was written by Naphtali Herz Imber, a secular Galician Jew from Zolochiv , who moved to the Land of Israel in the early 1880s....
, a man shouts out, "Am Yisrael Chai, The children of Israel still living!."