[Avodah] Abra(ha)m Received an A+ / Gematria

[Joshua Meisner]

R' Zev Sero wrote:

 There's no natural law that implies 100 as
> a universal divisor, it's just something people started doing, because
> it makes calculations easy given the Indian numeric system that we use
> today.  I know of no source in the Torah or TSBP for such a convention,
> and I don't believe that one existed in those days, among either Jews
> or goyim.
>
> Nor can I think of anywhere where 100 is used to imply completeness.
> On the contrary, we have other numbers that are used to mean shleimus,
> especially 60.
>

Being that the original discussion was based on a gematria, it's worthwhile
to note that that gematria utilizes a base-10 system in which units of 10
represent levels of completion, i.e., (10^0)x, (10^1)x, and (10^2)x.  For
argument's sake, one could as easily conceive a base-7 gematria system in
which the values are 1,2...7,14,21...49, 98, etc.  This being the case, if
one doesn't have a problem darshening one's own gematria, one shouldn't have
a problem with adopting the base-10 convention, either.

Given RZS' observation that powers of 10 are nowhere else used to imply
completeness, though,  it is quite curious that the system of gematria
should be set up in this fashion.  Why is this the case?

- Josh
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