10 | MARCH 31 • 2022 

student corner
Just Call Me 42 
W

hen I was 6 years 
old, a random 
act of strangeness 
changed my life. It all started 
when my dad picked me up 
from gymnastics 
practice. I got 
in his car and 
randomly said to 
him, “From now 
on, call me 42.
” 
My dad was 
beyond confused 
and still, to this 
day, we’re perplexed as to where 
it came from. Nevertheless, ever 
since that car ride, the number 
42 has become my number. 
It appears everywhere for me, 
following me around wherever 
I go. Whether on a receipt or on 
a clock, I find great comfort in 
spotting this number in many 
aspects of my life. 
Until recently, I did not think 
of 42 as having any significant 
meaning, other than being 
lucky for me. That changed a 
few weeks ago when I came 
across an article from The Times 
of Israel titled “Forty -Two 

Journeys to the Answer to the 
Ultimate Question of Life, the 
Universe and Everything.
” This 
article revealed to its readers 
the vast and powerful connec-
tions that the number 42 has to 
Judaism, and more specifically, 
to Kabbalistic tradition. 
For instance, in the Torah 
portion Massei, (Numbers 
33-35), the 42 locations that 
the Children of Israel camped 
at after the Exodus from Egypt 
are illustrated. Rabbi Israel Baal 
Shem Tov, a Jewish mystic from 
Poland who is regarded as the 
founder of Hasidic Judaism, 
interpreted this by explaining 
that “The forty-two ‘stations’ 
from Egypt to the Promised 
Land are replayed in the life of 
every individual Jew, as his soul 
journeys from its descent to 
Earth at birth to its return to its 
Source.
” 
Not only is the number 42 
embedded in the lives of all 
Jews, but according to the 
Zohar Chadash — a Kabbalistic 
book — G-d brought the Jews 
out of Egypt with the mystery of 

his 42-letter name, just like how 
heaven and Earth were created. 
The universe was created with 
this specific name of G-d, and 
it just happens to be the signifi-
cant ineffable 42-lettered name. 
Another instance of 42 in 
Judaism appears in the well-
known prayer, Ana BeKoach. 
This prayer, dating back to 
the first century, was created 
by a Kabalistic rabbi — Rabbi 
Nehonia. Ana BeKoach is com-
posed of seven lines, each hav-
ing six words, totaling 42 words 
in the prayer. When taking each 
first letter of every word, the 
result is a 42-letter name, which 
is said, by Kabalistic scholars, to 
be the essence of the creation, 

and the name of G-d. For these 
reasons, and many others, Ana 
BeKoach is regarded in the mys-
tical tradition as no less than “a 
portal to the power of creation 
itself and to creation’s source.
” 
Coming across all of these 
connections and interrelations 
between my lucky number and 
my religion was enlightening 
and substantiated my realization 
that there had to be a bigger 
reason as to why I embraced 
this number at such a young 
age. Maybe it was not so ran-
dom after all. 

Aliyah Lofman is a junior at Frankel 

Jewish Academy.

Aliyah 
Lofman

PURELY COMMENTARY

I just watched and listened to 
Zelensky speaking to Congress 
on March 16, which included 
the incredibly powerful video 
which showed some of the hor-
rors that Putin’s Russian army 
has inflicted on Ukraine and 
its people. I am relieved that 
the U.S., NATO, and so many 
countries have banded together 
to give money and weapons 
to Ukraine as well as inflicting 
strong economic sanctions 
on Russia. Still, I can’t help 
thinking about Schindler’s List, 

the horrors of the Holocaust, 
and remembering Schindler’s 
memorable line, “I didn’t do 
enough!” 
We sit back in our comfort-
able homes in the United States, 
watching calamities night after 
night on our TV screens and 
feel awful and futile in the face 
of such devastation. It is great 
that democracies have come 
together, and that Democrats 
and Republicans are mostly 
united against Putin. But when 
a heroic and desperate Zelensky 
admits that “today, my age 
stopped when the hearts of 
more than 100 children stopped 
beating. I see no sense in life 

if it cannot stop the deaths,
” 
my heart and millions of oth-
ers virtually stopped for a few 
moments as well. 
It is commendable that every 
U.S. senator voted to condemn 
Putin as a “war criminal.
” But 
if the words from the Talmud, 
“Whoever saves one life, saves 
the world entire,
” are even 
vaguely true, then we, even 
after all of our donations and 
thoughts and prayers, must still 
accept the truth that we didn’t 
do enough. 
We didn’t do enough. 

— Arnie Goldman

Farmington Hills

CORRECTIONS
• Despite reports in the March 
10 JN, the rocket that damaged 
the Kyiv TV tower in Ukraine 
did not, in fact, harm the Babyn 
Yar memorial, located in an 
adjacent area, according to a 
veteran Israeli journalist, Ron 
Ben Yishai, who toured the site 
and saw no signs of damage. 

• In “
A Lone Soldier’s Story” 
(page 22, March 17), Joseph 
Icikson’s age and rank were 
incorrect. Joseph Icikson is 22 
and an active soldier in the 
IDF. Also, Icikson was drafted 
into the IDF; he did not vol-
unteer.

letters

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