who knows forty-nine?

and of course, this is what this counting has been all about - 49 days of the omer. seven weeks of seven days between pesach, the festival of freedom from the narrow places, to Shavuot. the festival of being open and receiving Torah, wisdom, commitment to a relationship of a life of constructing and creating meaning.... we are here. we have travelled through the weeks of ever increasing complexity.

and 49 is the number of days and nights that Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, spent meditating. 

This counting, like previous years, has ended up in a completely different place than where I thought it would go. I thought I might end up going 3D as the numbers got too big to go around a circle. But they never got too big to go around the circle. The circle got slightly bigger... (fyi these drawings are in 2 5 x 5" sketchbooks. each circle is approx 10cm diameter. They were drawn with a H pencil, then painted with water-colour. My starting point was just to plot the numbers and find how they resonate, or not, within jewish tradition and general culture. And to make pretty patterns with a compass and ruler. Which is very enjoyable, and as the patterns got more complex, they became quite meditative and calming to paint. I really like how this series developed, and find the earlier ones crude and want to go back and redo them. I won't of course - that would belie the transformation that occurred during these 49 days. and I do need to give my eyes a bit of a rest. definitely had eye-strain during the last week.

so thank you to everyone who has followed these drawings, and supported yet another crazy drawing-a-day project. 

chag samech

who knows forty-eight?

no. of Levite cities
48 male prophets
48 paths of wisdom to acquire Torah


earlier today Malka Shindler died. She was a young woman who was one of the office admin at the London School of Jewish Studies, where my husband works and I sometimes teach. Malka was always so lovely, super organised and efficient, and extremely helpful and friendly to all. Despite knowing how ill she had been, her death comes as a horrible shock. And I find it hard to understand that I will not see her again.  I would like to dedicate this counting in memory of Malka - may her memory be for a blessing. 

who knows forty-seven?

47 is an in-joke in Star Trek, popping up in most episodes. it came from one of the writers who was taught by Prof Donald Bentley at Pomona College, California, as a joke mathematical proof that all numbers are to equal 47. 47 has now been taken up by the film director JJ Abrams and used in many of his works.

who knows forty-six?

no. of human chromosomes

&

Phillip Seymour Hoffamn was 46 when he died

who knows forty-five?

45 pillars in the House of the Forest of Lebanon, which Solomon built as part of the Temple, and his Palace. this is where he sat and judged cases.
no. of years Joshua lived after first going to land of Israel to spy it out, and then finally conquering it.

&

45's, singles, the vinyl record needs to be played at 45r.p.m.

who knows forty-four?

no. of candles used on chanukah (including shamesh)

44 is a happy number.  4² + 4² + 32, 3² + 2² = 13, 1² + 3² = 10, 1² + 0² = 1

F. Scott Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday, Jackson Pollock and Baruch Spinoza all died aged 44.

and in bingo, the number forty-four is known as 'droopy drawers' - which makes me very happy.

who knows forty-three?

there is a motorcycle club called Doof Clenas Motorcycle Collective, who ride their Harleys on Highway 43's. To become a member, you need to post a photo of yourself with motorbike next to a highway 43 sign. (the D = 4 and the C = 3) 

there is no M43 motorway in the UK

(I am not making any of this up. but just in case you don't believe me, here's their website)

who knows forty-two?

42 children were mauled to death by the bears miraculously created by Elisha when they jeered at him "Go away baldy!"
no. of Ahaziah's men who Yehu killed when he was getting rid of Ba'al worship and the House of Ahab in the Northern Kingdom
42 name of God, as mentioned in the Talmud and kabbalah
the Gutenberg Bible has 42 lines per page
Lewis Carroll has 42 illustrations in Alice in Wonderland, and the number 42 is encoded throughout
angle, when rounded to whole number, that a rainbow appears

&

of course, the answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe & Everything

who knows forty-one?

Rehovam, son of Shlomo, was 41 when he began to reign as king. and began his reign by setting harsh taxes and giving reason for the people to leave and form the Northern Kingdom of israel and follow Yerovam ben Navat
Asa reigned for 41 years in Judah
Jerovam ben Yoash, reigned for 41 years in Northern Kingdom of Israel

&

symphony no.41 was the last symphony of Mozart

who knows forty?

forty is very biblical... lots of forty, because 40 = a lot. It is a complete unit, significant and ordered. (unlike the chaotic & grotesque 60...)

days & nights of rain/water falling & rising in the Flood
age Moshe left Egypt, then 40 years with Yitro, then led the Israelits for 40 years
no of days Moshe was up Mt Sinai to receive the first set of tablet, theat he then smashed, then spent another 40 days up Mt Sinai praying for the people to be forgiven, and then went up for another  40 days to receive the second set of tablets.
Saul, David and Shlomo all reigned for 40 years
40 se'ahs in a mikvah
R. Akiva was 40 when he started to study Torah

&

no of weeks of human pregnancy

who knows thirty-nine?

no. of main categories of work that is prohibited on Shabbat, derived from 39 types of work that went into building the Mishkan.
King Asa, king of Judah, suffered from a foot disease when he was 39 but did not turn to God but to healers.
actual number of lashes stuck when the Sanhedrin sentenced someone with the punishment of 40 lashes

&

similar thing is found in Ancient Rome. The citizens would hit their slaves 39 times, calling it forty save one.
The 39 Steps, novel by John Buchan, film by Alfred Hitchcock. And the number of stairs in my house. which is very pleasing, if slightly tiring when climbing up to my studio at the top of the house.
Neither Cleopatra, Amelia Earhart, Che Guevara, Dylan Thomas, Martin Luther King Jr nor Malcom X saw their 40th birthdays, all dying, or disappearing, aged 39.

who knows thirty-eight?

no. of years the ancient Israelites travelled from Kadesh Barnea to crossing the Zered wadi. During which time all the men of military age who had left Egypt died in the wilderness.

&

Carravaggio and Charlotte Bronte died aged 38.
(as did Louis XVI of France, he was executed)

who knows thirty-seven?

normal human body temp is 37°C
no. of plays by Shakespeare

&

a tv channel reserved for radioastronomy in the US

who knows thirty-six?

 

Lammed-Vavniks - the hidden righteous on whom the world's existence depends

&

in a Maori legend 36 gods made the first human and then the god Tanei breathed life
it is the first number tht is both square and triangular
no. of inches in a yard
atomic number of krypton

who knows thirty-five?

Yehoshaphat was 35 when he began his reign in Judah.
height in cubits of the 2 pillars Shlomo erected in the Temple - Jachin & Boaz

&

35mm film used for basic analog photography and motion pictures
min age for candidates for American Presidency

who knows thirty-four?

the answer is... not many people know 34...  nothing really from any jewish stuff about 34 - although happy to be informed otherwise

there are 34 islands in the Mediterranean
at the start of the American Civil War there were 34 states in the US

&

Rule 34  "it if exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions." - rule that there is internet porn for every conceivable topic. I am now awkwardly wondering if there is omer-counting porn... best not think about that too much. 

who knows thirty-three?

no. of years David reigned over Israel and Judah in Jerusalem
no. of vertebrae in the human spine, that carry 33 pairs of nerves
record speed 33⅓ rpm

&

33rd day of the Omer - Lag B'Omer, the yaherzeit of Shimon bar Yochai, and on page Shabbat 33 in the Talmud Bavli is the story of Shimon bar Yochai in the cave, after the Monty Python bit - "what have the Romans ever done for us"

who knows thirty-two?

Yehoram b. Yehoshaphat was 32 when he became king in Judah
in kabbalah there are 32 paths of wisdom
no. of teeth, including wisdom teeth, in adult human

&

no. earth diameters to reach the moon. (and Geometry means Earth measurement)

who knows thirty-one?

Yoshiayhu reigned for 31 years in Jerusalem. He was possibly the greatest king, the ideal, but his campaign to lead the people into returning to God failed, the people were exiled anyway, and the Temple was destroyed. We still say a kinah mourning him on Tisha B'Av.
planes of existence in Buddhism
31 Songs - book by Nick Hornby writing about his favourite pop songs
max no of days in a month

&

apparently it is Turkish slang for male masturbation

who knows thirty?

Joseph was 30 when he met Pharaoh
David was 30 when he became king
Yair, a judge in ancient Israel, had 30 sons, who rode 30 asses, and had 30 cities
and Ibzan, another judge, had 30 sons, 30 daughters, and 30 daughters-in-law (and maybe 30 sons-in-law, the book of Judges doesn't say. Just that his daughters were sent away....)
Samson's parent brought him 30 companions, to whom he set a riddle with a wager of 30 sheets and 30 changes of clothing. Later Samson kills 30 men in Ashkelon.
height in cubits of the Temple
circumference in cubits of the molten sea of Solomon that was in the Temple
30 days Daniel's petition before being thrown into the lions' den
total number of major and minor keys in western tonal music
&
no. of tracks on The White Album

a 30 sided polygon is a triacontagon

who knows twenty-nine?

Hezkiyahu reigned for 29 years as king of Judah.
as did Amaziah b. Yoash.

&

29 is the 10th prime number
and the sum of 2² + 3² + 4²
Saturn takes 29 years to orbit the sun
no. of days in February in a leap year
no. of letters in the Turkish, Finnish, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian alphabets
Chattanaga Choo Choo departed from track 29
and the song, $29 by Tom Waits

(it is now the 5th week of the omer, hence the pentagram within the icosikaienneagon (which at this size looks more like a circle, but is a 29 sided polygon) As these drawings are so small, I decided not to draw a lines that link all the points to each other, but chose the ones that form pentagrams. and then the beginnings of a smaller inner icosikaienneagon. because it looked nice and I wanted to....)

who knows twenty-eight?

28 year solar cycle that is marked by a ritual every 28 years - Birchat Hachama, blessing of the sun

&

Yehu was 28 when he began to reign in the Northern Kingdom of Israel
date in Iyar of Yom Yerusalyim
no. of dominos in standard set
28 sided polygon is an icosikaioctagon

who knows twenty-seven?

no. of letters of the aleph-bet if count the final letters (22 + 5)

&

date in Nisan of Yom HaShoah
perfect cube 3x3x3
no. of bones in the human hand
the 27 club, pop musicians who have died at age 27

who knows twenty-six?

God gave the Torah in the 26th generation since creation of Adam & Eve

&

no. of letters in the english alphabet

who knows twenty-five?

age the Levites serve in the Temple
measurement in cubits of various items in Ezekiel's vision of the Temple
no. of years King Jehoshaphat reigned in Judah
date in Kislev of Chanukah
&
the M25 - motorway ring road around London. the road to hell.

who knows twenty-four?

no. of books in the Tanach
types of gifts/tithes given to the priests
24 years Ba'asha b. Ahijah reigned in the Northern Kingdom of Israel
no. of bulls offered when the altar in the mishkan was dedicated
hours in the day
TV show 24 - in each episode (which isn't really a full hour) no one needed the toilet or had to charge their mobile phone.
24 carat gold = 100% pure gold

&

the number of blackbirds baked in a pie

who knows twenty-three?

no. of judges in a bet din needed for a trial that has capital punishment

& 23 Enigma - most incidents and events are connected to the no.23. although this is also an example of looking for patterns. William Burroughs '23 Sikdoo'
in The Big Lebowski the main characters deliberately choose lane 23 to bowl.
the birthday paradox. In a random group of at least 23 people, there is more than a 50% chance that two people will have the same birthday.
human sex cells have 23 chromosomes, other human cells have 46, arranged in 23 pairs

who knows twenty-two?

22 letters of the aleph-bet, the hebrew alphabet

&

no. of verses in each chapter of the book of Eichah (apart from chapter 3 which has 66 verses, 3 x 22)
no. of years Yosef and Ya'acov were separated
date in Nisan of the last day of Pesach, and in Tishrei and the last day of Succot.
22 paths between the Sephirot
22 ÷ 7 = π (approx.)
tarot decks have 22 cards
Catch-22
and in bingo twenty-two is called Two Little Ducks

we are now in the fourth week of the omer, hence the quadrilateral. not a square, that doesn't fit into an icosadigon (22 sided polygon). but 22 barley grains do very neatly form the perimeter of a rectangle within the icosadigon, with a grain on a different intersection of points.

who knows twenty-one?

21 is a card game, called blackjack or pontoon, highest score/ target is 21
a Fibonacci number
the current century
profile 21 is the exemption from Israeli military service

&

21grams is the weight of the soul

who knows twenty?

no. of years that Ya'acov worked for Laban

&

min age for the census, and to fight
min age for Levite to serve in the Temple
Samson led the Israelites as a judge for 20 years
and length of reign of Pekah, king of Northern Kingdom of Israel,
age Ahaz became king in Judah
no. of years the ark was with the Philistines
height in cubits of doorway in the temple, which extends to height of a beam to enclose an alleyway into an eruv, making it a shared private space and able to carry within it
and the max height of a succah roof.
20/20 vision is to have normal vision at 20 feet away from the object
and a score = 20

who knows nineteen?

19 is the actual number of brachot in the Shemonei Esrei

19 Princelet Street in Spitlefields, East End of London. At one point it was synagogue. it is now a museum, exhibit about immigration to London. It is one of the most fascinating places in London, but is very rarely open. 
average age of soldier in Vietnam -  a fact we know thanks to Paul Hardcastle's hit 19. 
19th Nervous Breakdown - the Rolling Stones 
talking nineteen to the dozen

a nineteen sided polygon is called an Enneadecagon

who knows eighteen?

eighteen is written yod + het, 10 +8. if the letters are reversed then it spells Chai - Life. 18 is seen as a 'lucky' number and charity donations are often given in multiples of 18 to give the recipeient a long life.

&

the Amidah is called the Shemonei Esrei, as it was originally composed of 18 blessings
no. of minutes max for matzah to still be considered kosher for pesach
no. of minutes before sunset that can light candles for shabbat
date in Iyar of Lag B'Omer
no. of different materials used for the Mishkan
max no. of wives a king is allowed to have
in Pirkei Avot age to get married

& in most countries 18 is the age one can vote.

who knows seventeen?

17th of tammuz is a fast day, one of the days marking the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. (it is also my hebrew birthday. happy days...)

Jacob lived in Egypt for 17 years

&

"she was just 17, you know what I mean" - at 12 I wasn't really sure, but Just-17 gave me a rough idea. Just-17 - teen magazine that was launched in 1983, when I was 12. it was essential reading.
min driving age in the UK
in Italian culture, 17 is an unlucky number. fear of the no. 17 is called heptadecaphobia. or however that translates in Italian.

a 17 sided polygon is called a heptadecagon

who knows sixteen?

the number sixteen, like fifteen, when written in hebrew is a name of God. so it is written tet + zayin, 9+7 instead of yod + vav 10 + 6

&

ounces in a pound
age of consent
sweet sixteen
min age can join the army in the UK
in chess, each player has 16 pieces
16 personality types in Myers-Briggs
16 used for measuring as it involves just repeatedly halving.

who knows fifteen?

fifteen is one of the numbers that is a name of God in hebrew and so is not written as yod + heh (10 + 5) but tet + vav (9 + 6)

&

15th is middle of the lunar month - full moon - lots of festivals in the hebrew calendar
15th of Nisan is Pesach
15th of Av is Tu B'Av -
15th of Tishrei is Succot
15th of Shevat is Tu B'Shevat - New Year for Trees
15th of Adar is Shushan Purim
15 steps in the Temple
15 Shir Hamalot - song of ascents - in the book of Psalms
Latin America: age a girl becomes mature - quinceanera

a 15 sided polygon is called a Pentadecagon

(day 15 is the beginning of the 3rd week of the omer - hence the triangle. The first week was like day 1, the barley was arranged in a circle. The second week was like day 2 - a line. So this week is like day 3, a triangle)

who knows fourteen?

(the echud me yodea - who knows one - song is over, now we are on our own...)

14 are the parts to the pesach seder (the song may have finished but we haven't left the seder)

&

chapters in Rambam's Mishna Torah
date in Adar of Purim
date in Nissan of the fast of the first-born
no. of days (& nights) in a fortnight
pounds in a stone
lines in a sonnet
encoded within Bach's music
and the number of stations of the cross

a 14 sided polygon is called a Tetradecagon or Tetrakaidecagon. and I am wondering just how many more polygons I can draw in this size before it basically becomes a filled in circle.

(apologise for the image quality - had to use phone to take this pic. will scan it in properly tomorrow)

who knows thirteen?

thirteen are the attributes of God

&

Rambam's principles of faith
the real number of tribes of Israel: Reuben, Judah, Shimon, Levi, Dan, Naftali, Asher, Gad, Issachar, Zevulun, Ephrim, Menasseh & Binyamin
number of bulls offering on the first day of Succot
number of months in a leap year in the hebrew calendar
13th Adar - fast of Esther
13 petal rose - book by R. Adin Steinsalz about kabbalah - from the zohar, Israel is like a 13 petal rose
age a boy becomes Bar Mitzvah
last verse of the song "who knows one...."
Shlomo took 13 years to build his palace (the temple only took 7.5 years...)
13 Archimedean polyhedra
locusts apparently swarm every 13 years
unlucky number
Friday the 13th
fear of 13 is called triskaidekaphobia

if 12 is a complete complex unit, then 13 takes it one step beyond the ordinary

who knows twelve?

twelve are the tribes of Israel

&

sons of Jacob
loaves of showbread on the shulchan
stones on the Hoshen, high priest's breastplate
no of stones Eliyahu used to make the altar for God at Carmel
age a girl becomes Bat Mitzvah
no of springs of water in the wilderness after marah
months of the year, signs of the Zodiac
hours of the daytime, and hours of night
dozen
12 inches to a foot
humans have 12 cranial nerves and 12 ribs
a Force 12 wind is a hurricane
Heracles had 12 labours
Odin had 12 sons
King Arthur had 12 knights around the round table (including himself)
Jesus had 12 apostles
Christmas has 12 days
12 Angry men
12 step programme in AA
and 12 points is the maximum score in the voting in the Eurovision Song Contest

twelve is a complete complex unit

who knows eleven?

eleven are the stars in Joseph's dream

&

Apollo 11 - space mission of the first humans on the moon
7:11 ratio of the Great Pyramid
3:11 ratio of the moon to the earth - squaring the circle

there is something not of this world about the number 11

a Hendecagon (11 sided polygon) cannot be constructed using a compass and straight edge - unlike all the polygons so far. so this is the first drawing that was a bit of guess work and a lot of trial and error.

who knows ten?

ten are the ten commandments

&

ten utterances of creation - the sephirot,

generations from Adam to Noah, and from Noah to Abraham

Abraham's tests & numbers of times Israelites tested God in the wilderness

ten plagues

ten days of repentance, leading to Yom Kippur on the 10th

minyan - quorate for prayer

ten martyrs mentioned on Yom Kippur

tribes of the Northern Kingdom, that become the lost tribes

tithing of procedure

no. of fingers on hands - base 10 counting system, decimal system

10 Downing Street

who knows nine?

nine are the months before a baby is born...

&

the nine days of mourning leading up to the 9th Av that commemorates destruction
nine muses
nine circles of Dante's hell
cloud nine (highest level of cloud)
nine lives of a cat
and K9 - Dr Who's robot dog
in base 10, the digits of all multiples of 9 eventually sum to 9 - (I still remember learning that in school and thinking it was magic)

artistic creativity, heaven & hell, birth & destruction, cats &

dogs. all in a magic prime number

who knows eight?

are the days to a brit milah
&
8th day the mishkan was dedicated
8 days of chanukah
garments of the High Priest
Shemini Azeret - 8th Day of Assembly, conclusion of Succot
Josiah, Yoshiayhu - the perfect king, was 8 when he become king
spiders, octopus
8 x 8 squares on a chessboard
octave
byte = 8 bits (binary pairs)
Super-8 film
After Eights
Terry Pratchett's Discworld

who knows seven?

days of the week

&

days of creation
no. of each kosher animal on the ark
seven species in the land of Israel: grapes, figs, dates, pomegranates, olives, wheat, barley
seven prophetess: Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah, Esther
seven sisters
visitors on Succot: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David
colours in the spectrum (according to Newton - there are only 6 really)
seven seas & seven continents
James Bond 007
seven Endless: Destiny, Dream, Death, Despair, Destruction, Desire, Delirium

who knows six?

six are the orders of the mishna

&

star of david
cities of refuge
6-day war
legs of an insect
crystal structures: snowflake, carbon, graphite, quartz
honeycomb
six degrees of seperation
smallest perfect number
sixth sense
six-pack

who knows five?

five are the books of the Torah

&

the number of kings that Abraham fought
no. of clothes that Joseph gave to Benjamin
dimensions of the altar (its length and width)
no. of rabbis in Bnei Brak in the hagaddah
the senses: sight, sound, taste, smell, touch
limbs of the body: 2 arms, 2 legs + 1 head
the golden section
no. of platonic solids:
pentatonic scale

who knows four?

four are the mothers: Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel

&

Jacob's women (Leah, Rachel, Bilhah & Zilpah), mothers of the children of Israel
rivers from Eden
exiles: Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Rome
beasts on the heavenly chariot in Ezekiel's vision
Pesach: cups, sons, questions
the no. of rabbis who entered the Pardes, & the 4 levels of PaRDeS, layers of textual analysis
types of death penalty: by stoning, by burning, by strangulation, by sword,
no. of regular priest's clothes
no. of sections of the Tur, a fundamental Jewish legal code
elements of physical world: earth, air, fire, water
seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter
points of the compass: north, east, south, west
particles of matter: protons, neutrons, electrons, neutrinos

four is making things real, and setting the boundaries and catergories for reality.

who knows three?

three are the fathers - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

&

myth of the creation of human: Adam + Eve + Lilith
meals on Shabbat,
categories of judgement on Rosh Hashana: Life, Death and In-between

& the Temples: the 1st, 2nd that were destroyed and the one-to-come-(maybe)

no. of days journey to somewhere significant: Abraham + Isaac to the Akedah, and time it takes to walk the length of Nineveh
leadership archetypes of ancient Israel: kings, prophets & priests
hierarchy within the people: Cohenim (Priests), Levites, and Israelites
no. of hours to wait after eating meat before eating milk (if you are british)
& no. of matzot on the seder plate

3 introduces complexity, it is more than the simple choice of either/or

who knows two?

two is the heaven & the earth

&

sun & moon
male & female
Jacob & Esau
Leah & Rachel
Hillel & Shammai
R. Yochanan & Resh Lakish

black & white

2 dots make a line, but I did not know if it was a horizontal line, implying equality, or a vertical line, implying hierarchy. There is a tension within a relationship of two, they oppose, one can dominate the other - oscillating between the horizontal and the vertical modes, hence the diagonal line.

who knows one?

one is God (.. had to be really... )

but one is also me. and you... and you... and all the unique souls out there.. we are all one too

who knows...

here's the plan: each day of the omer I draw grains of barley that correspond to that day, and play about with the meanings of that number and shapes they make. eg on the 3rd day, I'll draw 3 grains of barley, that will give me a triangle. and list the three's that pop up in torah - 3 day journeys, 3 fathers, no. of meals on shabbat etc.

it will probably get a little daft with some of the numbers, and arbitrary. Like the other omer counting drawings of previous years, I have no idea how this will go or what it will reveal. I certainly don't have the time to do this, I struggle keeping up with the daf yomi drawings. But it is an idea that won't leave me alone and I just want to explore this. I have long been fascinated with geometry and the poetry of the numbers in Torah. 

so: who knows one? the omer count begins tuesday night 15th april 2014. hopefully I will be able to cue up this first drawing to post that night. if not I'll post it and day 2 on wed eve. no promises to be able to go all the way through the omer this year, let's see...