In this week’s parsha, Yitzhak and his family settle for some time in Gerar, a city along the southern coast of Eretz Yisrael. The pasukim (Bereishit 26:12-13) say that Yitzhak had a crop which was 100 times as much as he planted. Also, he kept getting greater and greater. The pasuk contains the word gadol (that is, great) three times. What does that mean? It could mean different things but let’s say it is all related to 100 times.
There are two ways Yitzhak’s crop could have grown by hundreds. One way is adding 100 three times in a row. Another is multiplying by 100 three times in a row. Try to answer these two questions about Yitzhak getting great after starting with a crop of 100.
- How many times a crop would Yitzhak have gotten from adding 100 more three times in a row?
- How many times a crop would Yitzhak have gotten from multiplying by 100 more three times in a row?
Solution
- The first possibility is to start with 100 and add another 100 three times. That’s
100+100+100+100 = 400.
- The second possibility is to start with 100 and multiply by 100 three times. We can calculate that in steps:
100 x 100 x 100 x 100
10,000 x 100 x 100
1,000,000 x 100
100,000,000
We can also think of this as putting two zeros at the end three times in a row. That’s a big deal between multiplying by 100 three times and adding it three times! May your blessings also be multiplied. Shabbat Shalom.
Ari Blinder is a math educator living in Highland Park and the owner of Math for the Masses, an innovative math tutoring and consulting company. For more information, visit www.math4masses.com. Ari can be reached at [email protected].
