Last Friday night was a beautiful full moon. And it was Friday the 13th. Are you scared? I addressed it fully as part of my Friday night sermon. Our Friday night service starts on page 13 in our book. With words of welcome to the Shabbat angels…Shalom Aleichem, we bid them. Shalom Aleichem to you as well.
For some reason, 13 became associated with being unlucky. Why is that? Perhaps, it is from the Mayans who thought that the 13th Baktun on their calendar was superstitiously feared as a harbinger of some apocalypse. That might be why office buildings and hotels skip the 13th floor. It might be because of the Last Supper, where there were 13 people gathered around the table, Jesus and his 12 apostles. Judas, the 13th to be seated is the one who “betrayed” Jesus making that him the unlucky one. Or on Friday the 13th in October 1307, King Philip the IV of France ordered the arrest of the Knights Templar. Or in a year with 13 full moons instead of 12 the Christian monks had a hard time designing the calendar appropriately.
But in Judaism, it is quite the opposite. It is actually a lucky number. Or at least as one source said, a “spiritually significant one.”
13 is the age of responsibility. The age of being responsible for the commandments, the mitzvot, celebrated with a Bar Mitzvah. We learn this from Pirke Avot 5:21.
Abraham entered into 13 covenants with G-d with Brit Milah, the covenant of circumcision. We know this from the repetition of the word “brit” when G-d commands Abraham 13 times. (Genesis 17:1-21 and Berachot 49a)
There are 13 rules of hermeneutics, the principles by which the rabbi interpret the Torah.
There were 13 shofrot, shofar shaped tzedakah boxes in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. (Mishnah Shkalim 6:1) And while we only prostrate now on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, in the Temple period there were 13 prostrations as part of the Temple service.
In the Messianic era, the Land of Israel will be divided into 13 tribal sections instead of the original 12 during Joshua’s day. (Talmud, Bava Batra 122a)
Maimonides formulated 13 principles of faith in his commentary of the Mishnah, Sanhedrin chapter 10). I have often thought this was in response to the Christian Nicene Creed recited as part of a Catholic Mass. (But I haven’t gotten around to writing that academic paper!). However it is included in traditional siddur as part of the daily service and you will recognize it when we sing Yigdal at the end of the service if you read the English.
For those of you who love Jewish math, Gematria. Ahava, love and echad, one both equal 13.
In the Kabbalah, Jewish mystical tradition, 13 represents the ability of the Jewish people to rise about the 12 signs of the Zodiac, and the influence of the Cosmos.
Rabbi Adin Steinsalz, the leading modern expert on the Talmud with a masterful translation of his own, wrote a book, the Thirteen Petalled Rose. The title comes from the opening of the Zohar, also a text of Jewish mysticism, comparing the Jewish people to the rose which has….13 petals!
However, at this season of teshuvah, returning and repair, perhaps the luckiest 13 of all, is the 13 Attributes of the Divine. These attributes which are what Moses heard on Mount Sinai, after he smashed the 10 Commandments, and after he went back up to receive a second set, are the very words that we learn help us ask for forgiveness, for selichot. They are repeated over and over again. You guessed it, 13 times during Ma’ariv and Ne’ilah, the evening and then the final service of Yom Kippur. They remind us, and G-d that G-d is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and patient, full of lovingkindness and truth, extending that love to the 1000th generation (that would include us!) and is forgiving of transgression, iniquity and sin. Just the anecdote we need!
The 13 Attributes I think I know a lot about. It was part of my Bat Mitzvah portion. The verse, Exodus 34:6-7 is why I became a rabbi. I wrote my rabbinic thesis on it and then a book, Climbing Toward Yom Kippur. Every time I think I can’t learn anything more about this topic, I do! I, too, am a life long learner.
While I have oft thought about the number 13 in Judaism and even was given a surprise party for my 13th birthday based on the number 13 and the usual superstitions, I didn’t have this full list. Credit goes to the Torchweb for adding to my knowledge. https://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=226
May this be a Selichot season full of all 13 Attributes of Divine Mercy, Compassion, Love and Forgiveness.