The Number 42 — the Name Mem-Bet and Ana BeKoach

The number 42 in Judaism is sacred; it is the matrix of the Creation of the world and its Tikkun—rectification.

The Number 42 in “Mem-Bet”

When the great Rashi wrote his commentary on the Talmud, in Masechet Sukkah, he wrote about the Name Mem-Bet that he did not know what this Name was, and that the laws governing the writing and correct pronunciation of this holy Name could be transmitted only orally—from one righteous Torah scholar to another, those who are “beloved both above and below.” (Kiddushin 71a, Rashi) Rabbi Chaim Vital relates in one of his manuscripts that, after the death of the great Rashi, Rashi appeared in a dream to his grandson, Rashbam. Rashbam saw his grandfather standing at the gates of Gan Eden, where he was not being allowed to enter. The astonished grandson asked him what was happening, and Rashi explained that in Masechet Sukkah he had been required to explain the Name Mem-Bet, but had not done so. Therefore, he was not being admitted to Gan Eden. Rashi asked his grandson to write about this Name and explain it to him. Rashbam fulfilled his grandfather’s request. According to the tradition of Rashi’s other grandson, Rabbeinu Tam, this Name is composed of the first 42 letters of the Torah: the first 28 letters of the first verse (Bereishit 1:1), beginning with the letter “bet” in the word “Bereishit,” and the first 14 letters of the second verse (ibid. 1:2), ending with the letter in the word “va-vohu”—“it became material.” (Tosafot on Chagigah 11b, “Ein Dorshin”) It was through the power of this concealed Name that the reality of this world was created. (Mi-Maamakim, Bamidbar, Masei 7b, pp. 468–470) The Zohar HaKadosh gives special attention to the Name “Mem-Bet”—42. Whenever a person must rise to the next spiritual or material level, it is precisely the 42-letter Name that elevates him there.  

The 42 Encampments in the Wilderness

The Torah portion of Masei describes the 42 encampments in the wilderness. The great Ramban taught that reading this Torah passage with concentration, in which the 42 journeys through the wilderness are listed, is a great segula that protects against danger—for this list encodes the 42-letter Name, “Mem-Bet.” If, during epidemics or other calamities, a person reads this passage day after day, carefully pronouncing every word and every letter, he is promised that neither he nor the place where he is situated will suffer any harm. (“Ateret HaChaim,” 29; Mi-Maamakim, Bamidbar, Masei 74, p. 459)  

The Number 42 in Ana BeKoach

“Ana BeKoach” is a well-known Kabbalistic prayer composed by Rabbi Nechunya ben HaKanah, whose student was Rabbi Yishmael Kohen Gadol, the one who blessed the Almighty Himself. He was also the author of the famous Kabbalistic work “Bahir” (“Radiance”), which was written before the Zohar HaKadosh. The prayer “Ana BeKoach” consists of 7 verses, each containing 6 words—making a total of 42. The initial letters of all the verses of the prayer form the 42-letter Name of Ha-Shem. Each verse corresponds to one day of the week. Therefore, upon completing the prayer “Ana BeKoach”, we return to the verse corresponding to the day on which the prayer is being recited and repeat it three times. During Kabbalat Shabbat, for example, we recite “Ana BeKoach” in order to accept the holiness of Shabbat—an extraordinary spiritual ascent. During Kriat Shema al ha-Mitah, we recite this prayer because at night the soul ascends to the lofty levels of Shamayim, and we require protection. After the prayer “Pitum HaKetoret,” before one of the most important prayers in the Korbanot section—“Eizehu Mekoman”—we recite this Name because we are ascending to a higher level. Rabbi Yechiel Avraham Bar-Lev HaLevi, in his book “Yedid Nefesh,” in which he collected commentaries on the Zohar HaKadosh by such Torah giants as Rabbi Avraham Azulai, Rabbi Eliezer Tzvi Safrin of Komarno, the Vilna Gaon, and the Ben Ish Chai, explains that it was through the Name “Mem-Bet” that the Almighty created the world, and it is therefore encoded in the first 42 letters of Sefer Bereishit. The Name “Ana BeKoach”, by contrast, serves to rectify the world. For this reason, the Name “Mem-Bet” from Bereishit is secretly transmitted to only a select few, whereas the 42-letter Name from “Ana BeKoach” is available to everyone, since every person is charged with the responsibility of rectifying the world.  

The Secrets of the Final Redemption

Rabbeinu Bachya adds that the list of the 42 journeys contains secrets connected with the Final Redemption at the end of days. For, as the prophets foretold, the Final Redemption will in many ways parallel the Exodus from Egypt. Just as the Children of Israel wandered through the Sinai Wilderness for forty years, before the coming of Mashiach they will wander through the “wilderness of the nations,” as it is written (Ezekiel 20:34–38): “And I will bring you out from the nations and gather you from the lands in which you are scattered ... and I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and there I will contend with you ... as I contended with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt ... And I will make you pass under the rod, and bring you into the covenant, and purge from among you the rebels and those who transgress against Me—from the land of their sojourn I will bring them out, but they will not enter the Land of Israel; and you shall know that I am G-d.” (Rabbi Bachya on Bamidbar 33:2) Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin taught that the 42 encampments in the wilderness correspond to Ha-Shem’s 42-letter Name—“Ana BeKoach”—and that each letter is a step upward. Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli (may Ha-Shem avenge his blood) taught that every person passes through 42 Masaot (encampments) in the course of his life. If a person does not complete all the rectifications associated with the encampments that he is meant to experience during his lifetime, he will have to return to this world in a new gilgul in order to complete them. However, through the power of reading these 42 Masaot, a person merits all the rectifications he is required to make, is purified through them, and achieves his own personal ascent.  

42 Days—21 Days of Bein HaMetzarim and 21 Days from Rosh Hashanah to Hoshana Rabbah

The Maggid of Kozhnitz says that during the 21 days of Bein HaMetzarim, the Name “Mem-Bet”—the 42-letter Name—is activated. Why? Because we have 21 days now and 21 days between Rosh Hashanah and Hoshana Rabbah. Together, they make 42. During these days, the power of “Ana BeKoach” is especially manifest.  

The 42 Youths and Elisha HaNavi

It is known that when the prophet Elisha went toward Beit-El and was ascending along the road, young men came out of the city and began mocking him, shouting: “Go up, baldhead! Go up, baldhead!” He turned around, saw them, and cursed them in the Name of G-d. Immediately, two bears came out of the forest and mauled 42 of the boys. Elisha HaNavi cursed them with the Name “Mem-Bet.” How could this be, since this is the Name of ascent? The Sages explain Elisha HaNavi’s conduct as follows: “naarim ketanim” (“young lads”) does not refer here to their age, but indicates that they were “ne'urim”—those who had cast off the yoke of the commandments (from the root na'er, “to shake off”)—and “ketanim”—people of little faith. Alternatively, they were either simply mocking Elisha’s baldness, or were angry that he had made the water in their area fit to drink. By doing so, he had deprived the young men of their livelihood—this was the “baldness,” as they had brought drinking water from afar and sold it. The Sages say that a double miracle occurred: there had been neither a forest nor wild animals there, yet two bears appeared and mauled 42 youths. The 42 youths allude to the fact that Elisha cursed them with the 42-letter Name, “Mem-Bet,” and 42 boys suffered as a result. The Mekubalim explain that the number 42 here corresponds to the 42 victims of Balak, king of Moab. The Sages also explain that these were 42 souls conceived on Yom Kippur.  

Kaddish and the Number 42

The Arizal, may his merit protect us, teaches in “Shaar HaKavanot” that Kaddish is also recited for the purpose of ascent—“aliyat neshamah” (the elevation of the soul) of the deceased. In Kaddish there are 7 consecutive words beginning with the letter “vav”: וישתבח ויתפאר ויתרֹמם ויתנשא ויתהדר ויתעלה ויתהלל “Ve-yishtabach, ve-yitpa'ar, ve-yitromam, ve-yitnase, ve-yithadar, ve-yitaleh, ve-yithalal” (“may He be glorified, exalted, elevated, praised, magnified”)—each of these 7 words contains 6 letters, and all begin with the letter “vav,” whose gematria is also 6. Multiplying 6 by 7 gives 42, just as the prayer “Ana BeKoach” consists of 7 lines, each containing 6 words—for a total of 42.  

The Prayer Ana Be-Koach

אָנָּא בְּכֹחַ גְּדֻלַּת יְמִינְךָ תַּתִּיר צְרוּרָה. קַבֵּל רִנַּת עַמְּךָ שַׂגְּבֵנוּ טַהֲרֵנוּ נוֹרָא. נָא גִבּוֹר דּוֹרְשֵׁי יִחוּדְךָ כְּבָבַת שָׁמְרֵם. בָּרְכֵם טַהֲרֵם רַחֲמֵי צִדְקָתְךָ תָּמִיד גָּמְלֵם. חֲסִין קָדוֹשׁ בְּרוֹב טוּבְךָ נַהֵל עֲדָתֶךָ. יָחִיד גֵּאֶה לְעַמְּךָ פְּנֵה זוֹכְרֵי קְדֻשָּׁתֶךָ. שַׁוְעָתֵנוּ קַבֵּל וּשְׁמַע צַעֲקָתֵנוּ יוֹדֵעַ תַּעֲלוּמוֹת. בלחש: בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד:  

1. Ana Be-Koach Gedulat Yemincha Tatir Tzerurah (אב׳׳ג ית׳׳ץ)
2. Kabel Rinat Amcha Sagveinu Taharenu Nora (קר׳׳ע שט׳׳ן)
3. Na Gibor Dorshei Yichudcha Kevavat Shomrem (נג׳׳ד יכ׳׳ש)
4. Barchem Taharem Rachamei Tzidkatcha Tamid Gomlem (בט׳׳ר צת׳׳ג)
5. Chasin Kadosh Berov Tuvcha Nahel Adatecha (חק׳׳ב טנ׳׳ע)
6. Yachid Geh Leamecha Pneh Zochrei Kedushatecha (יג׳׳ל פז׳׳ק)
7. Shavatenu Kabel Ushma Tzaakateinu Yodea Taalumot (שק׳׳ו צי׳׳ת)

         [Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto LeOlam VaEd].   Translation We beseech You: by the great power of Your right hand, release the bound. Accept the prayer of Your people; strengthen and purify us, O Awesome One. We beseech You, Almighty: protect those who proclaim Your unity as the apple of Your eye. Bless them, purify them, show them the mercy of Your righteousness, and always bestow it upon them. Mighty and Holy One, in Your abundant goodness, guide Your congregation. One and Exalted One, turn to Your people, who remember Your holiness. Accept our supplication and hear our cry, You who know all hidden things. [Blessed is the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever.]  

“Pidyon Nefesh” with the Name “Mem-Bet” according to Rabbi Nachman of Breslov

“By the merit of Rabbi Nachman ben Feiga—Na—Nach—Nachma—Nachman—MeUman—may his merit protect us and all Israel: Maot ve'et yaqum amar beragleihem. Tzedek ikra'egu lereגלו. Tzedek malchuta kadisha. Dina demalchuta dina. Shoresh hadinim Binah. Ani Binah leGevurah. Ein hadin nimtak ela beshorsho. Shelosha yadayim be-Binah. Yad haGedolah, yad haChazakah, yad haRamamah. Gimel (shalosh) pe'amim yad gematria Shem “Mem-Bet.” “Mem-Bet” shebe-Yetzirah, Shem shel Ana BeKoach מ׳׳ב מ׳׳ב shebe-Briyah, shtei pe'amim אקי׳׳ק (Akik) מ׳׳ב shebe-Atzilut הוי׳׳ה (Avayah) pashut. Bimluo u-milui de-milui: Yehi ratzon milfanecha she-yimtekו hadinim ve-haGevurot haKashot me'al (name and mother’s name) al yedei pele Elyon, shehu chasadim gedolim ve-rachamim gemurim u-peshutim, she-ein bo shum taarovet din klal. Amen.” (May it be Your will to sweeten the judgments and lessen the severity of judgment concerning (name and mother’s name), through the Supreme Miracle, which consists of the greatest kindness and complete, simple mercy, entirely free of any admixture of judgment. )   The 42 Encampments in the Wilderness—The Segula of Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli 42 Encampments in the Wilderness — the Segula of Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropol   Sefer Devarim—The 42 Stages of Every Jew and Hand Tefillin Sefer Devarim – The 42 Stages of Every Jew and the Hand Tefillin     (Compiled by the site from sacred Jewish sources; from the collection “The General Rectification Revealed by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov”)