Jewish Lucky #18

Title: Lucky #18 in Judaism

General Information about Item:

Informant Data:

Jonah Deykin was born on October 17, 1996 in Boston, Massachusetts. Both of his parents grew up in the United States as Jewish Americans and are currently employed as physicians. Jonah’s parents and sister still live in Boston, while he attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Jonah is a member of the Beta Alpha Omega Fraternity and is majoring in economics with the goal of working in finance after graduation in 2019.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: Since Jonah is currently on his off-term at Dartmouth College, I had to interview him over Skype. The lucky number that Jonah discussed with me was the number 18. He originally learned the folklore behind this number from his family and their Jewish religious background.
Social Context: He remembered that the first time he encountered 18 as being a lucky number was when he was attending Hebrew school in fourth-grade where he was taught the importance of this number. He has also encountered this number on numerous occasions such as his bar mitzvah. Although Jonah typically doesn’t believe in lucky or unlucky numbers, he sees 18 as one number that will be lucky for him the rest of his life, based on his religious background.

Item:

According to Jonah, in Hebrew numerology, 18 is the value of the letters that make up the word “life,” so people often give gifts in denominations that are multiples of 18 or charitable donations in similar amounts. For example, he received many gifts of money for his bar mitzvah in multiples of 18.

Informants Comments:

For example, Jonah said he received many gifts of money for his bar mitzvah in multiples of 18.

Collectors Name: John Lazor-Hanover, NH

Tags/Keywords:

Dartmouth Folklore Archive