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Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz
The number 40 appears again and again throughout the Torah: Moshe spent three separate periods of 40 days on Mount Sinai; the Jewish people wandered in the Wilderness for 40 years; the minimum measure required for a mikveh (special pool used for ritual immersion) is 40 se’ah (each se’ah is roughly 7 to 9 dry quarts), and more. This surely cannot be coincidence. What is the significance of the number 40?
Rabbi Chaim Mintz responds:
Forty Represents Creation and Transformation
It certainly is no coincidence. The Rabbis (Berachot 60a) teach that the basic formation of a fetus takes place over 40 days. Thus, the number forty represents the process of creation or transformation into a new state of existence.
Why Did the Great Flood Last 40 Days?
Based on this, Rashi (Bereishit 7:4, quoting the Midrash) explains why the Great Flood lasted 40 days. Because the generation of the Flood corrupted the process of human creation through forbidden relations, Hashem (God) brought the flood for 40 days, symbolically reversing that process.
Why Does a Mikveh Require 40 Se’ah?
This explains why a mikveh must contain a minimum of 40 se’ah. As discussed elsewhere (Ask the Rabbi, Volume 2, “The Mystical Power of a Mikveh”), immersion in a mikveh represents rebirth, so the 40 se’ah symbolize the emergence of a person into a renewed state of existence.
Just as forty represents the process of physical development, it also represents the process of intellectual and spiritual development.
Forty Years of Spiritual Development
After 40 years in the Wilderness, Moshe told the Jewish people that although they had witnessed the many miracles that Hashem had performed for them, “Hashem has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, or ears to hear until this day” (Devarim 29:3). Only after these 40 years did they develop the ability to fully internalize these lessons, and acquire the emunah (faith) and spiritual resolve necessary to enter the Land of Israel.
Indeed, the Talmud (Avodah Zarah 5b) derives from this pasuk that a student does not fully grasp the words of his teacher until after 40 years. Similarly, the mishnah (Avot 5:21) states that a person does not attain the trait of binah — the ability to deeply understand, analyze, and fully appreciate the implications of what one has learned — until he is 40 years old.
Moshe’s First 40 Days: Receiving the Torah
This is why Moshe remained on Mount Sinai for 40 days receiving the Torah. Those 40 days represented 40 levels in his acquisition and mastery of Torah, with each day building upon the previous one until he reached a complete understanding of the Torah taught to him by Hashem.
Moshe’s Second 40 Days: Prayer and Forgiveness
The second set of 40 days were spent by Moshe praying for forgiveness after the sin of the Golden Calf. These days paralleled the 40 days during which he received and mastered the Torah. As Nefesh HaChaim (4:26) explains, the power of one’s prayer is tied to his connection to Torah, citing the Zohar’s teaching that, “One who desires that Hashem accept his prayers should engage in Torah study.” The deeper one’s connection to Torah, the greater the power of his prayer and the likelihood that it will be accepted.
Each day Moshe prayed represented an ascending level of prayer, drawing from the corresponding level of Torah that he had attained. On the fortieth day, when this process was complete, his prayers were accepted, and Hashem declared that He would not wipe out the Jewish people.
The Segulah of Praying for 40 Days
From here the Midrash (Devarim Rabbah 2:17) learns that sometimes it takes 40 days of prayer to be answered. Indeed, many cite this as the source for the well-known segulah of praying at the Kotel HaMaaravi (Western Wall) for 40 consecutive days.
Moshe’s Third 40 Days: Rebuilding the Relationship
Moshe then ascended for a third forty-day period, beginning on Rosh Chodesh Elul, to receive the new luchot and rebuild the bond between Hashem and the Jewish people. These 40 days were a period of rebirth, through which the Jewish people and their relationship with Hashem returned, day by day, to the level that had been established during the first 40 days, before the sin of the Golden Calf. This process culminated on Yom Kippur, when Hashem, in His great rachamim (mercy) and chessed (kindness), fully forgave the Jewish people.
Torah, Prayer, and Kindness
These three periods correspond to the three pillars upon which the world stands: Torah, avodah (prayer) and gemilut chassadim (Avot 1:2).
The 40 Days From Elul Through Yom Kippur
The 40 days from the beginning of Elul until Yom Kippur remain an auspicious time for us to rebuild our relationship with Hashem through teshuvah, tefillah, and Torah — as hinted by the name אלול, an acronym for אני לדודי ודודי לי — I am for my Beloved, and my Beloved is for me.
In Short
Forty represents the process of creation and development in the physical, intellectual, and spiritual realms.
Written by Rabbi Aaron Shapiro
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