On how to spell ישראל אריה ליב
Based on the name of Yisroel Aryeh Leib Schneerson O.B.M.
Biography
The youngest brother of the seventh (7th) Lubavitcher Rebbe, R’ Yisroel Arye Leib, known as Leibel, was born to his parents Rabbi Levi Yitzĉok and Ĉana Schneerson on the twenty-first (21st) of Iyar, in the year 5666, on the fourth (4th) day of the week [May 16, 1906]. He lived until the thirteenth (13th) of Iyar, in the year 5712, on the fifth (5th) day of the week [May 8, 1952].
Early Life and Prodigious Intellect
Born in 1906 in Nikolaev (in present-day Ukraine) to Rabbi Levi Yitzĉok and Rebbetzin Ĉana Schneerson, Yisrael Aryeh Leib—affectionately known as Leibel—was recognized early on as an illui (a Torah prodigy). Growing up in Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro), he possessed an eidetic memory and an insatiable intellectual curiosity. While he deeply internalized the complex Ĉassidic philosophy taught by his father, his mind also gravitated toward secular sciences, teaching himself advanced mathematics and physics.
The Divergent Path
Unlike his older brother who followed a more traditional trajectory of rabbinic leadership, Yisrael Aryeh Leib sought a different path. In the 1920s, as the Soviet Union cracked down on religious life, he moved to Leningrad, immersing himself in academic circles. During this time, he often used the surname “Mark” to protect his family from Soviet authorities and to distance himself from his famous rabbinic lineage while moving through secular society.
Life in the Holy Land
In 1931, escaping the tightening grip of the Iron Curtain, he emigrated to Mandatory Palestine and settled in Tel Aviv. He married Genya Roitman, and together they had a daughter, Dalya. In Israel, he lived modestly, working as a clerk and a librarian. However, his true life’s work happened after hours; he spent his nights fiercely engaged in complex mathematical and physical equations, frequently corresponding with some of the leading academic minds in the country.
England and Academic Pursuits
Driven by a desire to formalize his research, he moved to England in 1950 to join the Department of Theoretical Physics at the University of Liverpool. He threw himself into his academic work, hoping to complete his doctoral studies and publish his findings.
Tragic Passing and Legacy
Tragically, his life was cut short. In May 1952, at the age of 46, he suffered a fatal heart attack in Liverpool.
His passing occurred just over a year after his brother had officially assumed leadership of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. The Rebbe was deeply affected by the loss. He personally arranged for Yisrael Aryeh Leib’s body to be transported to Israel, where he was buried in the ancient cemetery of Safed (Tzfat).
Decades later, the Rebbe ensured that his brother’s intellectual legacy was not lost. He arranged for leading academics to review Yisrael Aryeh Leib’s surviving manuscripts. They found brilliant, highly original approaches to complex topological problems. His notes were compiled, translated into Hebrew, and published as a mathematical treatise titled Tachunim be-Matematika (Fractions in Mathematics), ensuring his synthesis of Ĉassidic depth and mathematical brilliance lived on.
Eulogizing what’s in a name
The Lubavitcher Rebbe spoke several times about his brother, focusing on his name, and the teachings inherent in the name.
Yisrael (ישראל): The Transcendent Soul
The name Yisrael represents the absolute highest level of the Jewish soul.
- Li Rosh (“I am the Head”): In Ĉassidic thought, the letters of Yisrael can be rearranged to spell לי ראש. This signifies that the core of the soul is elevated above the natural world and is directly connected to the Divine intellect.
- Mastery Over Nature: Unlike the name Yaakov, which represents struggling with the physical world (from the root ekev, the heel), Yisrael means “you have struggled with angels and men and have prevailed.” It represents mastery, transcendence, and the unbreakable bond with Torah.
Aryeh (אריה): Strength in Holiness
Aryeh is the Hebrew word for lion.
- The King of Beasts: In the prophet Ezekiel’s vision of the Divine Chariot (Merkavah), the lion represents the supreme strength of holiness on the right side (attributes of kindness and expansion).
- Holy Audacity: It embodies the mandate from Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers): “Be strong as a lion to do the will of your Father in Heaven.” Because Aryeh is in Lashon Hakodesh (the Holy Tongue), it represents utilizing fierce, unyielding strength specifically within the realm of Torah, mitzvot, and spiritual pursuits.
Leib (ליב): Elevating the Mundane
Leib is the Yiddish translation of lion.
- The Language of the Everyday: While Hebrew is the language of prayer and study, Yiddish is a secular language traditionally used for business, the marketplace, and daily physical life (the realm of chulin).
- Transforming the Secular: The Rebbe explained that repeating the concept of the lion in Yiddish means taking the supreme, holy strength of the Aryeh and translating it directly into the mundane world. It is not enough to be a “lion” in the synagogue or the study hall; one must be a “lion” in the secular marketplace, maintaining one’s spiritual integrity and transforming the everyday world into a dwelling place for the Divine.
The Complete Synthesis
When combined, Yisrael Aryeh Leib becomes a unified mission statement.
It begins with the transcendent, untouchable essence of the soul (Yisrael). That soul manifests an unapologetic, fierce strength in matters of holiness (Aryeh). Finally, that holy strength does not remain isolated in the spiritual realms but is drawn all the way down into the secular, physical reality to elevate it (Leib).
For Reb Yisrael Aryeh Leib, who spent his life carrying his profound Chassidic intellect deep into the secular academic worlds of theoretical physics and mathematics, his name was an exact blueprint of his life’s work.
How to Spell “Leib”
Interestingly, the name לייב which means Lion in Yiddish, has the double letters יי in the center are written in place of the Tzeirei vowel in Yiddish. When written in Yiddish with a single letter י, the represents the vowel Ĉirik [pronounced Lēb] which means Love. And yet, while the Lubavitcher Rebbe consistently explained the name to be the Yiddish translation of ‘Lion’, in spelling, the name was only spelled with one (1) י. This is clearly visible on the gravestone in the Tzefas cemetery.
Fascinatingly, this name is discussed in the Shulĉan Aruĉ[i] concerning the laws of divorce:
If the second name is one which is derived from a Hebrew name, for example: Yehuda Leon [Lion], we write יהודה דמתקרי ליאון – Yehuda, who is named ‘Leon’. But if the name is not somewhat similar to the Hebrew name, then we use the term המכונה – who is nicknamed.
Rama’s Notes: The meaning of his words: Leon means Lion, and Yehuda is named for that, as in the verse[ii] גור אריה יהודה. Therefore, we should be writing יהודה דמתקרי ליב – Yehuda who is named ‘Lion’. However, there are those who say that so long as the two names are in the Holy Language, we use the term דמתקרי, but if one is in the common tongue, we use the term המכונה.[iii] And there is no difference if the name is a derivative or not. And therefore, we write יהודה המכונה ליב. And the same applies to anything similar.
There is an appendix to this section of Shulĉan Aruĉ called שמות האנשים which was authored by the Beis Shmuel, which is a listing of the accurate and accepted methods on how to spell various Jewish names. There the name ליב is mentioned, and the source for the ruling by the Beis Shmuel is this section of the Shulĉan Aruĉ.
In contrast, the name ליב for women, as discussed later in the same chapter of Shulĉan Aruĉ is also spelled the same, even though it is pronounced differently, as in the expanded name ליבא. The difference is that the male name ליב – Lion is derived from the Germanic at the time (like the Swabian/Bavarian dialects), while the name ליב – heart is derived from the Aramaic.
This explains why the Rebbe’s father was always careful to add המכונה לייבל – because, according to the Shulĉan Aruĉ, there is a requirement to use the term המכונה for a name derived from the local language which is not similar phonetically to the Hebrew.
By implication, the modern grammatical rule of spelling in Yiddish with the double letters יי in the center is just that – a modern introduction to ensure accurate pronunciation, which spelling is different from that used in the times of the Shulĉan Aruĉ and prior.
Given the exactitude of the Rebbe’s father, and his proclivity in explaining the Kabbalistic significance of names and their Gematria, we must conclude that Reb Levik’s decision to name his child ישראל אריה ליב was deliberate – especially considering the choice to call him by his ‘nickname’ Leibel – in line with the ruling of the Shulĉan Aruĉ.
Mathing the Math
When we spell ישראל אריה ליב with only a single letter י in the third name, the Gematria results in seven hundred and ninety-nine (799) exactly [10+300+200+1+30 + 1+200+10+5 + 30+10+2].
One of the interesting things about 799 was explained by the mathematician Erich Friedman: 799 is the smallest number whose sum of digits is a composite number, yet whose sum of digits cubed results in a prime number:
- The Composite Sum: 7 + 9 + 9 = 25 (a composite number).
- The Prime Cube:73 + 93 + 93 = 343 + 729 + 729 = 1801 (a prime number).
The Ĉassidic Synthesis: Elevating the Composite
In Kabbalistic and Ĉassidic thought, numbers are not merely quantities; they represent qualitative states of spiritual reality.
The Composite (Multiplicity)
- A composite number, a concept of something derived from multiple factors [as opposed to being derived from unity], represents the realm of פירוד – multiplicity, fragmentation, and the natural physical world. The sum of 799’s digits [the Composite Number twenty-five (25)] roots the number 799 in this state of multiplicity – the five (5) גבורות multiplied by the five (5) חסדים = twenty-five (25).
The Cube (Expansion into Physicality)
- Cubing a number represents the expansion of a cohesive concept into a three-dimensional physical space. In Jewish mysticism, the cube holds significance regarding physical completion, mirroring the spatial orientation of the physical world.
The Prime (Oneness)
- A prime number is indivisible. It represents אחדות – the unity which is a hallmark of divinity – the indivisible essence of the soul – יחידה לייחדך.
When the “composite” digits of 7,9,9 are expanded to their three-dimensional expression (cubed), they synthesize to produce an indivisible prime (1801). This mathematical expression is the ultimate [because it is the first such number] metaphor for the concept of taking something separated and elevating it to the unity of the divine, commonly known as בירורי הניצוצות – elevating the sparks. It is the fundamental Ĉassidic mandate to take the fragmented, multifaceted elements of the mundane world and elevate them until their underlying divine unity is revealed.
This mirrors the life and legacy of Reb Yisrael Aryeh Leib himself. As a master of both esoteric Ĉassidus and the highly “composite” secular sciences of advanced mathematics and theoretical physics, his life’s work was bridging these realms—taking the complex multiplicity of the academic world and uncovering the indivisible Prime of Divine truth within it.
Breaking down the Math
In mathematics, the prime factors of a composite number act as its fundamental DNA – the indivisible building blocks that create the whole. The prime factors of 799, the Gematria of ישראל אריה ליב, are [other than the Prime Factors] the numbers 17 and 47. When we consider these factors are the numerical building blocks of his name, those numbers must also have Kabbalistic significance.
the Essence of Goodness – טוב
- In Hebrew, seventeen (17) is the numerical value of the word טוב, meaning “Good” or “Beneficial”:
In Ĉassidic thought, טוב represents the hidden Divine spark within all of creation.[iv] In the Genesis narrative of Creation, God repeatedly looks at the physical world and declares that it is “good”. Therefore, the number seventeen (17) represents the foundational goodness that exists even within the lowest, most complex realms of physicality.
the Supreme Unification – יחוד
In Kabbalah, the number forty-seven (47) is significant as the sum of two of the Names of G-d, representing a powerful unification (יחוד):
- הויה – the Tetragrammaton, naming G-d’s infinite, transcendent, and eternal nature (Gematria = 26).
- אהי-ה – the name is translated as “I Will Be” (revealed to Moses at the Burning Bush), representing absolute, underlying existence and the source of creation (Gematria = 21).
- Total: 26 + 21 = 47
The numerical union of these two Names – 26 and 21 – signifies the bridging of the unknowable, transcendent Divine essence (הויה) with the immanent, life-giving force that brings reality into existence (אהי-ה).
The Synthesis: 17 × 47 = 799
In Jewish mysticism, mathematical multiplication is not just scaling a number; it represents two concepts inter-including and fully integrating with and being realized by one another. The connection between 17 and 47 is not arbitrary. טוב on its own, 17, ‘is good’, but that goodness has no recipient. When you add the statement כי טוב, the implication is that the goodness is related to the result of something else ‘because it is good’.
Furthermore, the difference between טוב and כי טוב is thirty (30) the Gematria of יהודה – the concept of acclamation and praise to G-d in acknowledgement of the good he has performed. And it is represented by the letter ל – the teacher. Good that is not taught and explained and appreciated to the point of acknowledgment is a hidden good, and that type of good is lacking in the characteristic of beneficence. Proper G-d is טוב לשמים וטוב לבריות – Good from the perspective of Heaven, and good for the creatures.
When you fully realize (e.g. multiply) the 17 (טוב) by 47 (the יחוד הויה ואהי-ה), the resulting product is 799.
This tells us something beautiful about the state of multiplicity (the composite 799) and the legacy of Reb Yisrael Aryeh Leib. It reveals that the complex, multifaceted secular world is not inherently devoid of holiness. When you break it down to its absolute core factors, it is built entirely out of the integration of Divine Goodness (17) and Supreme Unification (47).
Reb Yisrael Aryeh Leib’s life mirrored this equation. By delving into the complex composite of secular mathematics and physics, he was not leaving the realm of holiness. Rather, he was interacting directly with its prime factors—uncovering the inherent טוב and Divine Unity woven into the very fabric of the universe.
[i] Shulĉan Aruĉ Even HaEzer 129:16
[ii] Beraishis 49:9
[iii] See הגהות מיימני, SMK and Kol Bo.
[iv] See Gem. Ĉagiga 12a based on the verse וירא אלקים את האור כי טוב. See also Eitz Ĉaim Sha’ar 18 & 39