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[[Image:Hebrew_Chai_Symbol.svg|right|thumb|200px|The Hebrew "Chai" symbol of Judaism.]]
In Judaism, the '''Chai symbol''' consists of the letters of the [[Hebrew alphabet]] [[Heth (letter)|Het]] (ח) and [[Yodh|Yod]] (י). In the [[Hebrew language]], the word ''chai'' (חי) spelled by these two letters means "living", and is related to the word for "life", [[L'chayim|''chaim'']], and also appears in the slogan ''am yisrael chai!'' (!עם ישראל חי, "The people of Israel lives!", referring to all Jews). There have been various mystical numerological speculations about the fact that according to the system of [[gematria]], the letters of ''chai'' add up to 18 (see [[Tetragrammaton#Jewish use of the word|"Jewish use of the Tetragrammaton"]] and [[Tzadikim Nistarim#Lamedvavnik.2Fs|"Lamedvavniks"]]). For this reason, 18 is a lucky number in Judaism, and many Jews give gifts of money in multiples of 18 as a result.
The Chai symbol is often worn by Jews as a medallion around the neck (along with the [[Magen David]] or Star of David and the [[Khamsa|Chamesh]]).
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