Chai (symbol)

[2] According to 16th century Greek rabbi Shlomo Hacohen Soloniki, in his commentary on the Zohar, Chai as a symbol has its linkage in the Kabbalah texts to God's attribute of 'Ratzon', or motivation, will, muse.

[4] Two common Jewish names used since Talmudic times, are based on this symbol, Chaya feminine, Chayim masculine.

There have been various mystical numerological reflections about the fact that, according to the system of gematria, the Hebrew letters of chai (חַי) add up to 18[2] (see Lamedvavniks etc.).

Mailings from Jewish charities usually suggest the amounts to give in multiples of chai (18, 36, 54 dollars, etc.)

[5] It is heard in a BBC recording from April 20, 1945 of Jewish survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp five days after their liberation.

Canadian rapper Drake, himself Jewish,[8] wore a chai necklace on the cover of Vibe magazine in 2010.