page_title: Chai (symbol)
section_title: In Jewish culture
hierarchical_section_title: Chai (symbol) / In Jewish culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Medals at the Maccabiah games 2009, with slogan "עם ישראל חי" (Am Israel Chai: "The people of Israel lives!", referring to all Jews)
context_page_description: Chai figures prominently in modern Jewish culture; the Hebrew letters of the word are often used as a visual symbol.
context_section_description: The Chai symbol can be worn by Jews as a medallion around the neck, similarly to other Jewish symbols, such as the Star of David and the Hamsa.
  Jews often give gifts and donations in multiples of 18, which is called "giving chai". Mailings from Jewish charities usually suggest the amounts to give in multiples of chai (18, 36, 54 dollars, etc.) rather than the usual multiples of 25.
  It appears in the slogan "ʿam yisraʾel ḥay!" (עַם יִשְרָאֵל חַי‎, "The people of Israel lives!").
  It is heard in a BBC recording from April 20, 1945 of Jewish survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp five days after their liberation. This was the first Sabbath ceremony openly conducted on German soil since the beginning of the war. With people still dying around them, the survivors sang what would become the Israeli national anthem, "Hatikvah". At the end of "Hatikvah", British Army Chaplain Leslie Hardman shouts out, Am Yisrael Chai! ("The people of Israel is alive!")
  In the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, which was held in Germany four decades after Shoah, Israel was represented with the song "Chai", performed by Ofra Haza, which includes the line Am Yisra'el chai.
  Several Jewish radio stations have the word in their names, including Kol Chai (Israel), Radio Jai (Argentina), and ChaiFM (South Africa).
caption: Maccabia medals with Chai symbol
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