Friday, June 18, 2010

L'Chaim -- To Life!

In Judaism, the number 18 possesses tremendous significance.

According to Gematria (the practice of assigning numerical values to Hebrew letters) the two letters to your right, when added together, total the number 18. These two letters, when placed next to each other as seen in the picture, form the word chai [HIE] ... and chai means "life." (Note: Say the "h" sound way, way back in your throat ... it's actually a sorta "coughing up a hairball" sound, rather than just a breathy one. But I digress ....)

Thus, in Judaism bestowing anything in the amount of 18 is considered to be life-giving.

It is traditional for Jews to give gifts in multiples of 18 (i.e.: $18 as a birthday gift, or an $1800 donation to one's favorite charity) because the number is deeply invested with good. And so, as I've watched with pride and joy as the number of my beloved followers increases each day -- officially reaching 180 yesterday, an abundance of chai!!! -- it occurred to me that I should celebrate by offering a present.

I'm not going to make this complicated -- you don't have to "like" 843 of my friends on Facebook and change your profile picture to a photo of my dog, or visit an office supply website and tell me which size of paper clips you like best. You don't have to tweet a haiku about my pedicure every 22 minutes, or write an original screenplay about the contents of my refrigerator and then post your movie on YouTube. You don't have to wash Jeremy's car and rotate the tires for extra brownie points. There are no (well, almost no!) hoops to jump through because this is not about promoting me, but rather about thanking YOU.

What can you win, perchance? I debated that for awhile. It would have to be small-ish and lightweight, in order to not cost me a week's grocery money to ship it. It would have to be unique and pretty, rather than some ol' bottle of Metamucil that you could buy for yourself at the drug store. It would have to be useful 'cause I hate the Sisyphian task of dusting, and so any item that demands to be dusted has to earn its keep. So, what did I decide upon ...?

This very pretty glass dish which I really like so much. I want to send it to a good home, invested with chai.


It's about 9-1/2" x 4-1/2", so I could see this being used to serve small things like nuts or pretzels at a game of Mah Jong. Perhaps line up rows of Oreos at an informal party? Hey, maybe use it for something other than food ... gasp! Place your jewelry into it at night, or use it as a dish for little decorative soaps. Use it to hold a few candles -- that would be really pretty! The choice is yours, if you are the lucky winner.


And so, how do you become the lucky winner, you ask??? As I said before, it's very easy to enter the lottery:

1. Please be an official follower rather than a fair-weather friend. The whole point of the gift-giving is to thank my followers for helping my blog and my audience to grow.

2. Please leave a comment on this post telling me that you'd like dibs on winning the dish. I won't presume that every one of my following friends might be willing to swan dive into an itty-bitty bucket of water for the privilege of owning it, and I wouldn't want to send it to someone who doesn't really care about it. So only those who indicate interest will be included in the lottery. And you only need to comment once, rather than 53 times for extra chances; then everyone has an equal shot.

3. The entry period begins today when the post goes up and will end one week later on Friday, June 25 at 9 p.m. EDT.

4. The winner will be selected using
Random.org on Friday night, June 25 after the deadline for entries has passed.

5. Please be sure that your email address is either in your comment or in your profile, so that I have an easy way to contact you and let you know you've won.

6. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the congratulatory email I will send notifying her/him of having been selected, or else a runner-up will get a chance to claim the prize.

7. With apologies to those who don't live within the designated area, for the sake of postage costs I am limiting this to those living in the contiguous 48 states.

I think that's it. If I've forgotten anything important with regard to information about the dish or something I should have included in the rules, please feel free to let me know. Jeremy will happily tell you that my brain is a sieve, so I know there's a chance that I missed a critical detail in my zeal to say "thank you" to all of you for your encouragement and kindness and support ... :)

To each and every one of you, a hearty "Todah Rabbah" ([toh-DAH rah-BAH] = "Thank you") and "L'chaim!!!" [luh-HIE-im] ... "To life!"


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24 comments:

Karen Mortensen said...

I am now following you too. Very interesting post. I love the dish. I would like to win it to give it to my mother.

Betty Manousos said...

Happy FF!
I'm now following you from FF!
Have a great weekend!
B

Mamarazzi said...

the dish is GORGEOUS...I am sure it will find the perfect home.

very interesting post too btw. thanks for that, i feel enlightened.

Andrea Kruse said...

Thanks for the follow and I am here to gladly follow you back! Happy Friday.

Doreen McGettigan said...

A very interesting post. I love the meaning for the dish..and today is the 18th of June. I am a new follower and visiting from FF. Like you I value my followers and truly appreciate their time..the peanut butter pie photo is making me a little crazy..so at 2:30am I am going to go raid my kitchen and see if I can find something that compares..
doreenmcgettigan.blogspot.com/They say everyone has a story..

Jamie @ True Confessions of a Frugal Wanna Be said...

I'm a new follower from Friendly Friday! Have a great weekend!

Rachel (Diary of a Recovering Chocoholic) said...

Enter me please. That dish would look very lovely with candles in it- what a great idea.

rachel.beasley@converse.edu

Congrats on reaching 180 followers!

Cranberry Morning said...

Congratulations on 180! I'm cranky cuz I got a REALLY REALLY bad haircut, and your post today made me laugh - starting with the 'coughing up a hairball' bit. Thanks.

The dish looks lovely, but I'm trying to downsize, so I'll pass on that opportunity. :-)

mle said...

Congrats on achieving this milestone! new follower from >40! happy friday : ) would love to be considered for the dish... emguntz@gmail.com

I am Harriet said...

Hi there.
Stopping by from Friday-Follow to say hello.
Thanks for playing.
Have a great day!

http://harrietandfriends.com/2010/06/5-advertising-just-another-manic-friday-followers/

TeacherPatti said...

I still have a dish that you left here at the holiday cookie exchange. I love it but I will get it back to you, I promise :)

shelley said...

hey hey,
happy friday! congrats on the 180 but i'm now following so you are over that lol... thanks for stopping by this morning! love chatting w/new friends especially those as neurotic about throwing parties as me! lol have a wonderful weekend!
hugs,
shelley
http://im-stillstanding.com

Elana Kahn said...

I would definitely love to win the dish! (But don't forget that I keep Shabbos, so if I'm the lucky winner I wouldn't be able to respond to your email until at least Motzaei Shabbos...)

Candace said...

Hi! I found you through Over 40 and I'm now your newest follower! I see that we are in attendance of a few of the same parties today. Yay! I really enjoyed your post and would love a chance at winning the beautiful dish! I look forward to getting to know you as I follow along every day.

Have a great weekend! Candace~♥

Bring Pretty Back said...

I'm a follower! Love the dish!
Thank you 18 times!
Have a pretty day!
Kristin

Kuppy said...

Happy Friday Mary!!
Just wanted to come by and say that this dish is honest to goodness beautiful, cheery, and eclectic! I just love things like this! You know, this would suit my bathroom counter so divine, or maybe even something to hold candies or homemade caramels, or... sorry, haha. Too long. Anywho, I hope you have a most wondrous day! Kristin

http://www.kuppykakesbykristin.blogpsot.com

Beth Zimmerman said...

I would love to win that very pretty little dish! :) But shouldn't we tweet a haiku about your pedicure every 18 minutes? LOL! And you've already grown to 192! Yowzers!

Robin said...

Well, I am officially calling dibs on the dish. As for my email addy, it is posted every Thursday on my HERE'S TO YOU THURSDAY blog. I don't keep it in my sidebar b/c I really only want my actual readers to access it. So, I am crossing everything and hoping that Random.org looks favorably upon me:-) BTW, awesome choice for a giveaway and congrats for the reason! Very interesting info about the meaning behind 18.

Candace said...

Thanks so much for stopping by to see me while I was away and for following! Have a great weekend! Candace~♥

Sey said...

Happy Friday Follow.....I am your 193rd follower.

Hope you could visit once you get the chance.

http://roselledavid.blogspot.com/

Pumpkin Tart said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog, I'm your newest follower!

Unknown said...

Hi, I following you via Friday Follow Me, come by anytime and visit.
Geri

Single and Sane said...

Oh, I'm claiming dibs! Did anyone else say dibs? I think I win.

I had never heard about the number 18 in the Jewish tradition. Interesting post!

Rachel (Diary of a Recovering Chocoholic) said...

PS: It just clicked that I am getting married on the 18th of December, so its nice to know that 18 is a special number


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