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Who knows forty-four?


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5 Answers 5

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44 Candles (or little oil capsules) in a box for Hannukah.

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Including shamashes. –  Shalom May 30 '10 at 14:54
that is why I was m'dayak on "in a box" as opposed to "for a week of lighting" –  Jeremy May 30 '10 at 16:18
Checkmark for classic 44-ness. –  Isaac Moses Jun 1 '10 at 4:43
these classic answers are getting harder to come by, for sure. –  Jeremy Jun 1 '10 at 13:24

44 are the years (2884-2928) that the Mishkan stood in Giveon. (Zevachim 118b-119a; Yerushalmi, Megillah 1:12)

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44 is גאם, the Greek letter gamma (Γ). Chazal use it often when describing a shape of two perpendicular lines. Such as:

  • The path taken through Israel by the spies (Rashi to Numbers 13:21)
  • Describing the shape of 2 sukkah walls (Rashi Sukah 7a s.v. shtai defanos)
  • Which barrels of wine in your cellar you need to check for Chametz, according to R' Yochanan (Pesachim 8b). Note that this one is 3-D.

Some instances have the spelling as just גם (which would have worked for yesterday), but it looks like the spelling with the aleph is more standard. Also works well as in modern Hebrew they call the letter gimmel-mem-aleph, but same Gematria.

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44 days of rain in Jerusalem in an average year

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44 days to walk from Baltimore, MD to St. Louis, MO, assuming an average pace of 19 miles per day. I'll start looking for good hiking trails...

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The Talmudic terminology מהלך יום, "a day's walk", is 40 "mil", between 22--30 miles. IIRC the discussion about how far away one could be from the Temple on Passover afternoon and still make it in time assumes a similar pace. –  Shalom May 28 '10 at 13:59
Yet when doing multiple days in a row, one must carry significantly more equipment, thus slowing the pace. I have walked 26 miles in one day, but never hiked more than 18. –  Jeremy May 28 '10 at 14:20

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