At last our thread is of age and can now join in with what we've been talking about for the last 5000+ entries.
The Hebrew word for "life" is חי (chai), which has a numerical value of 18. Consequently, the custom has arisen in Jewish circles to give donations and monetary gifts in multiples of 18 as an expression of blessing for long life.
In Judaism, in the Talmud; Pirkei Avot (5:25), Rabbi Yehudah ben Teime gives the age of 18 as the appropriate age to get married ("Ben shmonah esra lechupah", at eighteen years old to the Chupah (marriage canopy)). (See Coming of age, Age of majority).
Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22 was originally named Catch-18 because of the Hebrew meaning of the number, but was amended to the published title to avoid confusion with another war novel, Mila 18.[1]
There are 18 chapters in the Bhagavad Gita, which is contained in the Mahabharata, which has 18 books. The Kurukshetra War which the epic depicts, is between 18 armies (11 on the Kuru side, 7 on the Pandava),
In Chinese tradition, the number 18, normally 十八 (shí bā), can also be read as 幺八 (yāo bā), which sounds like 要发 (yào fā), meaning that one is going to prosper. Thus, building floors numbered "18" are often very expensive in China
Eighteen is also the age in many countries at which a person may appear in a pornographic video, or express legal consent to sexual relations with another.
In addition, eighteen year-olds in the United States have the right to bear arms, own property, marry without parental consent, get an abortion, donate their body to science, and serve on a jury. With these new privileges come responsibility: eighteen year-olds are tried as adults in court.
In the Chinese mythos, Hell has 18 levels
related discussion: to eat so. out #17