# Bar Mitzvah gift of money

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bar-mitzvah-gift-of-money/295713>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 22, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bar-mitzvah-gift-of-money/295713 "2005-03-22T14:33:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bar-mitzvah-gift-of-money/295713/1 "2005-03-22T14:33:02Z")

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Someone just told me something I had never heard of before. He says that if you give money for a Bar Mitzvah gift it should be in multiples of either 7 or 9 (he couldn’t remember.) Has anyone else ever heard of this?

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**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bar-mitzvah-gift-of-money/295713/2 "2005-03-22T14:50:27Z")

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> [@dauerbach](#):
>
> Someone just told me something I had never heard of before. He says that if you give money for a Bar Mitzvah gift it should be in multiples of either 7 or 9 (he couldn’t remember.) Has anyone else ever heard of this?

Never heard of it. Usually gifts are given in increments of 18 (the numerical value of _chai_ (“life”).

However, that’s simply a custom and one is not “bound” by it in any way. Give whatever you feel like.

Zev Steinhardt