Chamisha - mi yodeya?

Question

Who knows five?

Please cite/link your sources, if possible. In about a day, I will:

Upvote all interesting answers.
Accept the best answer.
Go on to the next number.

Previous: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/446/arbaa-mi-yodeya — Isaac Moses, Apr 24 '17 at 14:44
Next: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/489/shisha-mi-yodeya — Isaac Moses, Apr 24 '17 at 14:45

score 14 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 21 '10 at 02:13

14

Five are the species of animals and birds that can be brought as sacrifices.

answered Mar 21 '10 at 02:13

Alex

90,513
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score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 21 '10 at 05:03

12

Five are the books of T'hilim.

answered Mar 21 '10 at 05:03

WAF

23,730
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46
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Related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/22856. – msh210 Dec 18 '12 at 15:46

score 12 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 22 '10 at 01:57

12

The number of aliyot given during Torah reading on yom tov.

answered Mar 22 '10 at 01:57

Bas613

3,069
21
30

score 11 · Answer 4 · answered May 07 '12 at 23:08

11

Five are...

The daughters of Tzelafchad
Words in the most common pasuk in Torah ("Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor")

answered May 07 '12 at 23:08

HodofHod

21,056
5
91
156

score 10 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 22 '10 at 13:53

10

The number of tefillot on Yom Kippur

answered Mar 22 '10 at 13:53

Chanoch

10,886
1
28
56

score 9 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 22 '10 at 13:59

9

The age to start learning miqra (according to the mishna in avot)

answered Mar 22 '10 at 13:59

Chanoch

10,886
1
28
56

score 8 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 21 '10 at 14:43

8

Five are the chapters of the Mishna - of Fathers.

answered Mar 21 '10 at 14:43

Isaac Moses

48,026
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It's actually 6... – M. Broder Sep 01 '16 at 13:29
2

@M.Broder Avot consists of five chapters of Mishna and one tacked-on chapter of Baraita. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirkei_Avot#Structure_of_the_work – Isaac Moses Sep 01 '16 at 13:35

score 7 · Answer 8 · answered May 08 '12 at 01:12

7

Five are the books normally considered m'gilos: Rus, Koheles, Shir Hashirim, Echa, and Ester.

answered May 08 '12 at 01:12

msh210

73,729
12
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359

score 7 · Answer 9 · answered Jan 27 '14 at 20:02

7

5 are the amount of children of Yaakov who either did or didn't need an extra blessing (I'm not unsure, it's a machlokes).

answered Jan 27 '14 at 20:02

Y e z

58,536
3
109
249

Rashi on gen 47:2 – Baby Seal Jan 27 '14 at 20:12

score 7 · Answer 10 · answered Jan 18 '11 at 04:47

7

Each of the tablets Moshe brought down from Shamayim had 5 of the Aseres HaDibros inscribed

answered Jan 18 '11 at 04:47

Gershon Gold

139,471
12
231
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2

...according to some. +1. – msh210 May 08 '12 at 01:13

score 6 · Answer 11 · answered Jan 27 '14 at 17:09

6

There are 5 grains that one has to take Challa from. (Challa 1:1)

answered Jan 27 '14 at 17:09

Gershon Gold

139,471
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231
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score 6 · Answer 12 · answered Jan 27 '14 at 20:10

6

Five are the number of kings in the House of Jehu, the longest dynasty of the Northern Kingdom: Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam, and Zecharia.

answered Jan 27 '14 at 20:10

Baby Seal

8,240
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kouty · Answer 13 · 2016-12-20T07:29:49.657

Five prutot and five fifths as enumerated in Mishna BM 4, 7-8:

(חמש פרוטות הן) A perutah was specified in five instances:

(ההודיה בשווה פרוטה) Admission must be [at least] the equivalent of a perutah.
(והאישה מתקדשת בשווה פרוטה) A woman is betrothed by the value of a perutah.
(והנהנה בשווה פרוטה מן ההקדש, מעל) He who benefits from hekdesh to the value of a perutah is liable to a trespass offering.
(והמוצא שווה פרוטה, חייב להכריז) He who finds [an article] worth a perutah is bound to proclaim it.
(והגוזל את חברו שווה פרוטה, ונשבע לו--יוליכנו אחריו, אפילו למדיי) He who robs his neighbour of the value of a perutah and swears [falsely] to him [concerning it], must follow him to return it even as far as media.

ד,ח : . . . . .‏

(חמישה חומשין הן) [the addition of] a fifth [to the principal] is prescribed in five cases:

(האוכל תרומה, ותרומת מעשר, ותרומת מעשר של דמאי, והחלה, והביכורים--מוסיף חומש) One who eats terumah, the terumah of the tithe, the terumah of the tithe of demai, hallah, and the first fruits, must add a fifth.
(הפודה נטע רבעי, ומעשר שני שלו--מוסיף חומש) He who redeems the fourth year planting and his own second tithe adds a fifth.
(הפודה את הקדשו, מוסיף חומש) He who redeems his sacred objects adds a fifth.
(והנהנה בשווה פרוטה מן ההקדש, מוסיף חומש) He who benefits from hekdesh to the value of a perutah adds a fifth.
(והגוזל את חברו שווה פרוטה, ונשבע לו מוסיף חומש) And he who robs his neighbour of a perutah's worth and swears [falsely] to him [concerning it] must add a fifth.

You can see that 2 items are common to the both lists.

score 4 · Answer 14 · answered Dec 19 '16 at 18:53

4

Five books of the Torah (obviously)...

answered Dec 19 '16 at 18:53

ezra

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1

though some have other counts, like 7 – Double AA Dec 19 '16 at 18:53
yes but it is commonly accepted that it is five – ezra Dec 19 '16 at 18:54

msh210 · Answer 15 · 2016-12-19T22:35:09.410

3

Five are the uninterrupted sequences of days of mikra kodesh: Pesach, Shavuos, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kipur, and Sukos-Sh'mini Atzeres. Presumably for this reason, many machzor (holiday prayer book) sets have five volumes.

edited Dec 19 '16 at 22:35

answered Dec 19 '16 at 22:27

msh210

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score 3 · Answer 16 · edited Jan 14 '18 at 16:43

3

According to the Rambam (Mishnah Torah Hilchos Tefillah Uvirchos Kohanim 4:1) five are the requisites that without which hinder the proper recital of the service even when its due time has arrived.

They are:

Cleansing the hands
Covering the body
Assurance as to the cleanliness of the place where the prayers are recited
Removal of distractions
Concentration of the mind

edited Jan 14 '18 at 16:43

mbloch

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answered Jan 14 '18 at 15:49

joty

31
3

score 2 · Answer 17 · answered May 01 '19 at 00:20

I think there are five types of manifestations of speech proper: אמר. דבר, הגיד, ספר, ניב, As best as I can figure, amar comes from the hanhaga of chesed, davar from the hanhaga of din, sipur from the sefirot, higid is the révélation, and niv is the prophecy. I find it amazing that there are 5 types of speech which sustain the world and 5 motza of articulation: dental, linguals, palatals, labial, gutterals. That last one is from sefer yetzirah.

score 2 · Answer 18 · answered Apr 29 '18 at 08:36

2

FIVE is the number of different women in Tenach who had the name MAACHOH - מעכה

This is the most common women's name in Tanach.

answered Apr 29 '18 at 08:36

RibbisRabbiAndMore

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score 2 · Answer 19 · edited Apr 30 '18 at 17:23

2

נפש - רוח - נשמה - חיה - יחידה

these are Kabalistic terms which refer to the 5 subdivisions of the soul.

edited Apr 30 '18 at 17:23

msh210

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answered Apr 30 '18 at 13:16

RibbisRabbiAndMore

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score 2 · Answer 20 · edited Apr 30 '18 at 17:39

אלו דברים שאין להם שיעור - הפאה - והביכורים - והראיון - וגמילות חסדים - ותלמוד תורה

[פאה פרק א משנה א] (Peah 1:1)

(translation from sefaria with slight presentation adjustments)

These are the [five] things that have no measure

Peah [corner of the field which, while harvesting, must be left for the poor]
Bikurim [First-fruits that must be brought to the Temple and given to the priest]
the appearance-sacrifice [brought to the Temple on Pilgrimage Festivals]
acts of kindness, and
the study of the Torah.

score 1 · Answer 21 · answered Dec 20 '16 at 06:51

chumshei torah... perhaps also the luchot habrit consisted of 2 sets made of 5: Rabbi Chanina ben Gamaliel said: "How were the Ten Commandments given? Five on one tablet and five on the other."

Also the gematria of the letter ה

The Hebrew word for the number five is חמש - chamesh. Another set of words that would seem to have the same root are chamush חמוש - armed and tachmoshet תחמושת - ammunition. Is there a connection between them?

The earliest source that might provide an answer is Shmot 13:18 - וַחֲמֻשִׁים עָלוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם. "Bnei Yisrael went up, chamushim, from the land of Egypt". Most translators and commentaries explain chamushim here as meaning "armed". (There are some exceptions. The Septuagint translates chamushim as "the fifth generation", despite translating chamushim in Yehoshua 1:14 as "armed". Apparently the unusual translation is due to the difficulty explaining the source of the armaments. And as far as the midrash that Rashi quotes, that only one fifth of Bnei Yisrael left Egypt, it is appropriate to quote Ibn Ezra's response: "We have enough trouble explaining to the Arab scholars how 55 males could have 600,000 males over the age of 20 within 210 years - and there's even more when you include women and children!")

So is there a connection between the two meanings of חמש? Klein believes that there may be. In his entry for חמוש, he writes:

Of uncertain origin. It is possibly related to חמשה (= five), and refers to the division of the army into five parts: van, body, rear and two wings. Hence related to Arab. hamis (= army; properly 'army divided into five parts') from hams (= five.)

Steinberg, in his Milon HaTanach, says that חמש in Arabic means "collection and connection", and this is the source of the number chamesh, which means "clenching of the five fingers". He gives examples from other languages where the same word means hand and five, for example piast' and piat' in Russian. He therefore explains the meaning of chamush as armed, because the soldiers are gathered and collected together. (We saw something similar in our explanation of the connection between lechem and milchama.)

score 1 · Answer 22 · answered Jan 14 '18 at 22:40

1

Five are the gates leading into Har haBayit: Two Huldah gates, Kiponos, Tadi, and Mizrahi.

(Middot 1:3)

answered Jan 14 '18 at 22:40

https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/148175/jewish/The-Number-of-Gates-to-the-Courtyard-of-the-Bais-Hamikdash.htm this is a machlokes – Kfir May 04 '19 at 00:53
@KfirShlomo That article is talking about the gates to the Azara (see: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/88607/13937), the courtyard, but I am talking about the gates to Har haBayit, the Temple Mount. As far as I know, there is no disagreement about the number of gates to Har haBayit. – May 05 '19 at 05:37
Oh well then five are the gates that were required to be guarded by Leviyim – Kfir May 06 '19 at 19:31
@KfirShlomo Are any other gates even mentioned? – May 07 '19 at 20:03
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1007198/jewish/Beit-Habechirah-Chapter-5.htm https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1007193/jewish/Beit-Habechirah-Chapter-8.htm Perhaps here or there. – Kfir May 08 '19 at 19:24
@KfirShlomo I don't see anything there or there about additional gates to the Temple Mount. Certainly the Leviim guarded at places other than the 5 gates, but that doesn't imply there are other gates. – May 09 '19 at 20:36

score 1 · Answer 23 · answered Apr 29 '18 at 07:42

1

5 is the maximum amount of consecutive days possible on which the Torah is read without previously having said Hallel on that day.

In a year which Rosh Hashanah falls on Thursday and Friday, We read the Torah on 5 consecutive non-hallel days:

Thurday-Friday= Rosh Hashanah

Shabbos= Parshas Hashavua (weekly Torah reading)

Sunday= Fast of [Tzom] Gedalia Monday = regular weekday Torah reading

answered Apr 29 '18 at 07:42

RibbisRabbiAndMore

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I guess you're not including the n'siim in _Nisan_…. – msh210 Apr 30 '18 at 16:18

score 1 · Answer 24 · answered May 01 '18 at 07:01

1

5 are the Olamot Elyonit(Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, beriya, yetzirah, asiya) in accordance to Rabbi Aryeh kaplan's innerspace

answered May 01 '18 at 07:01

Rh Haokip

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score 0 · Answer 25 · answered Aug 27 '20 at 12:13

Sotah 10a:

ת"ר חמשה נבראו מעין דוגמא של מעלה וכולן לקו בהן שמשון בכחו שאול בצוארו אבשלום בשערו צדקיה בעיניו אסא ברגליו

§ The Sages taught in a baraita: Five individuals were created with a characteristic that is akin to a representation of the One on High, and they were all stricken by that characteristic. Samson was glorified in his strength, Saul in his neck (see I Samuel 9:2), Absalom in his hair, Zedekiah in his eyes, and Asa in his feet. (Sefaria translation & notation)

score 0 · Answer 26 · answered Oct 15 '23 at 02:43

0

FIVE is the amount of Perakim in Mesechta Succah!

answered Oct 15 '23 at 02:43

Shalom L'olam

468
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score 0 · Answer 27 · answered Oct 15 '23 at 02:44

0

FIVE is the amount of Perakim in Mesechta Beitzah!

answered Oct 15 '23 at 02:44

Shalom L'olam

468
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score 0 · Answer 28 · answered Dec 19 '16 at 17:19

0

During Kaddish Derabbanan, the phrase, ואמרו אמן is said 5 times.

It's probably "coincidence" but it's interesting to note that learning Torah is considered the "most important" mitzvah of all. Kaddish Derabanan is said after learning Torah. Numerical of 5 is letter ה which is a reference / allusion to G-d's name.

answered Dec 19 '16 at 17:19

DanF

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How many times is it said in Kaddish Titkabbel? Also 5. Why is this so significant? – Double AA Dec 19 '16 at 17:29
Note in some versions of Kaddish Te'anu ואמרו אמן is said 6 times (in others the 6th is replaced with ונאמר אמן which isn't that different). – Double AA Dec 19 '16 at 17:46
@DoubleAA I think that' another answer!!! – Joshua Pearl Feb 10 '18 at 20:53
@joshua I think neither is!!! – Double AA Feb 10 '18 at 23:32

score 0 · Answer 29 · edited Apr 30 '18 at 17:24

0

דומם - צומח - חי - מדבר - ישראל

see Source for Categorization of Matter

edited Apr 30 '18 at 17:24

msh210

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answered Apr 30 '18 at 13:14

RibbisRabbiAndMore

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Chamisha - mi yodeya?

Who knows five?

29 Answers29

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