Hebrew Letters- Holy Language

• Is there a special meaning to the order of the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet?
• Is there an underlying principle for the letters names?
• Is there a basis for the shape of the letters?
• What is the definition of a plain letter as opposed to a bent letter?

"Begin your education by learning the ABC”

Every first time parent knows to apply this to his child.  It appears that the letters of the alphabet and their given names contain certain hints.

The gemora in the Tractate Shabbat page 24: brings a story in Aramaic, translated thus:  little children came to the beit midrash today and said things that even in the days of Joshua were not said. (Here one can enter into the leg of the gimmel.)

Aleph bet- aleph bina (wisdom), in other words the letter aleph and the letter bet combined ”sound” like (lamed bina) learn wisdom.  Aleph in Hebrew is from the root word for training, or Ulpan (a place of learning) and bet is the letter that begins the word bina (wisdom).

Hence, the first thing that we learn here is the order of the letters in Hebrew, and this in itself teaches us knowledge.  “It’s as easy as a, b, c”. And, what comes next?

Gimel dalet-  What do these symbolize?  And the story continues, "gemul dalim."  Here too the names of the letters and the combination of the two in this order remind us of our responsibility to do chesed (good deeds) for people less fortunate.  We can see that the Hebrew letters themselves, and their order in the alphabet, already hint at our basic values, learn and acquire knowledge, and do chesed.

This is indeed fascinating, but what does all this have to do with writing a sefer Torah and tefillin and mezuzot?

The gemora continues there with the story about some young children,

” Mai taamah pshutah keraaya degimmel legabai dalet (Why is the leg of the gimel extended to the dalet?) Because this is the way of gemilut chasadim.  To run after the less fortunate.  This, therefore, is the reason that the sofer writes the letter gimel with its left leg pointed slightly upwards, as an illustration of running legs”.

The gemora continues to explain, “Mai taama pshuta raglo shel hadalet [backwards and in towards the gimel]?  In order to allow the gomel (person doing the good deed) to reach the dal (poor) with ease, and secrecy” and here to the conclusion as applies to the sofer STAM: the letter dalet must be written so that the leg leans slightly to the right.

And why does the dalet have a backward heel at the upper right hand side?  The gemora continues, this allows giving tzedakah (charity) secretly to the poor (“to put a basket on the heel”), in the rear, so as not to embarrass the poor.  In other words, matan beseter (giving charity discreetly).

It continues, the letters heh and vav, these are the name of the Kodosh Baruch Hu (the Almighty), who promises that if we do aleph bet gimel and dalet, then we will be automatically rewarded with zayin chet tet yud- the initials of the following words Zan otcha (he will feed you), chan otcha (he will grace you), meiTiv lecha (do good for you), will give you a Yerusha (inheritance), and will tie a Keter (chof) a crown on you in oLam (lamed) haba (the world to come).

Mem petucha (open) and samech segura (closed).  These stand for an open ended article and a closed article.  In other words, we must accept that there are things that we cannot understand.

A kefufa (bent) nun and a pshuta (extended) nun an ally and a subordinate.  Pshuta means it extends its leg downward.  There are subordinates and there are allies.

Samech and ayin- smoch aniyim (to protect the poor)- again; the value of gemilut chashadim (good deeds)

Peh kefufa or peh pshuta- an open peh (mouth) and a closed one, important to remember at times.

Tzaddik ( a righteous man) kafuf and tzaddik pashut, there are both kinds.

What is an extended letter?  The letter at the end of a word, but our sources do not mention “ot sofit” (the last letter of the word). 

There was a time before the decision was made whether these letters should be at the end of a word or in the middle, and the terms  “kefufa” and “pshuta” were chosen, a term that determines the shape of the letter, not its position in the word.

Pshuta therefore means extended with its foot bent such as the difference between the shape of a chof and a chof sofit.

One can find in the Neviim (books of the Prophets) similar usage.  For instance, in the book of Isaiah it says, “lemarbe hamisra”- mem sofit (stuma) in the middle of the word.  There is one place in the Tanach (Bible) where all the letters of the aleph beit appear in one verse, including the extended letters/ sofit (end letters).  In the book of Tzefaniya in chapter 3 verse 8, Therefore wait for me,"        declares the L-rd, "for the day I will stand up to testify.  I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them— all my fierce anger.  The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.”

And now back to the matter of writing the sefer Torah, tefillin, and mezuzot.  The halacha (Jewish law) is that the leg of the nun sofit must be shorter than the leg of the chof sofit, because the length of the leg must be relative to the width of the base of the “bent” letter, and, evidently, the base of the nun is shorter.  In the halacha the wording is as follows, “hafshata shel moshava”, in other words the base of the letter is extended from the angle into a straight line.

• Is there special significance in the order of letters of the Hebrew Alphabet?
  
• Is there an underlying principle for the letters’ names?
  
• Is there a basis for the shape of the letters?
  
• What is the definition of a plain letter as opposed to a “bent” letter?

“It’s as easy as ABC.” Every beginning parent says this to his child. It appears that there are hints in the letters of the Hebrew alphabet and their given names.

The gemora Shabbat tractate page kuf dalet tells  this story in Aramaic, freely translated as follows: 

Little children came to the beit midrash today and said things that even in the days of Joshua were not said…

Aleph, Bet +/= aleph bina (wisdom), in other words the letter aleph and the letter bet together “sound” like lamed bina, learn wisdom.  Aleph in Hebrew is from the root word for training, or Ulpan (a place of learning) and bet is the letter that begins the word bina (wisdom). Hence, the first thing that we learn about the alphabet is that there is an underlying principle dictating the order of the letters in Hebrew, and this in itself is knowledge.  “It’s as easy as a, b, c…”  Next?..

Gimel, Dalet. And the story continues, “gemul dalim”, the next two letters in the Hebrew alphabet.  Here too, there is a motive for the names of the letters and the combination of the two in this order.  These are the first initials of the phrase “gemul dalim” (give to the needy), which remind us of our responsibility to do chesed (good deeds) for people less fortunate.  We can see that the Hebrew letters themselves, and their order in the alphabet, already hint at our basic values: to learn and acquire knowledge, and to do chesed.

This is indeed fascinating, but what does all this have to do with writing a sefer Torah and tefillin and mezuzot?

The gemora continues there with the story about the young children.  The question is asked, ” Mai taamah pshutah keraaya degimmel legabai dalet? (Why is the leg of the gimel extended to the dalet?)  This is the manner of gemilut chasadim, to run after the less fortunate.  This, therefore, is the reason the sofer writes the letter gimel with its left leg pointed slightly upwards, as an illustration of running legs…

The explanation follows, “Mai taama pshuta raglo shel hadalet? [backwards and in towards the gimel].  In order to allow the gomel (person doing the good deed) to reach the dal (needy) with ease, and discretion… and from here, the conclusion as it applies to the sofer STAM: the letter dalet must be written so that the leg leans slightly to the right.

And why does the dalet have a backward heel at the upper right hand side?  The gemora continues, this teaches the giving of tzedakah (charity) secretly to the poor (“to put a basket on the heel”), in the rear, so as not to embarrass the recipient… in other words, matan beseter (giving charity discreetly).

The alphabet continues with the letters heh and vav, these are the name of the Kodosh Baruch Hu (the Almighty), who promises that if we do aleph bet gimel and dalet then our automatic reward will be zayin chet tet yud- the initials of the following words Zan otcha (he will feed you), Chan otcha (he will grace you), meiTiv lecha (do good for you), will give you a Yerusha (inheritance), and will tie a Keter (chof) a crown on you in oLam (lamed) haba (the world to come).

Mem petucha (open) and Samech segura (closed).  These stand for an open ended article and a closed article.  In other words, we must accept that there are things that we cannot understand.

A kefufa (bent) Nun and a pshuta (extended) Nun- an ally and a subordinate.  Pshuta means it extends its leg downward.  There are subordinates and there are allies in real life.

Samech and Ayin- smoch aniyim (to protect the poor) once again; the value of gemilut chashadim (good deeds)

A Peh kefufa or Peh pshuta- an open peh (mouth) and a closed one- an important guideline to keep in mind.

Tzaddik ( a righteous man) kafuf and tzaddik pashut, it takes both kinds…

What is an extended letter?  It is found at the end of a word.  But our sources do not mention “ot sofit” (the last letter of the word).

There was a time before the decision of whether these letters should be at the end of a word or in the middle, and the terms  “kefufa” and “pshuta” were chosen to describe them.  These are terms that determine the shape of the letter, not its position in the word.

Pshuta therefore means extended, its foot bent, such as the difference between the shapes of a chof and a chof sofit.

One can find in the Neviim (books of the Prophets) similar usage.  For instance, in the book of Isaiah it says, “lemarbe hamisra”- mem sofit (stuma) in the middle of the word.  There is one place in the Tanach (Bible) where all the letters of the aleph bet appear in one verse, including the extended sofit letters (end letters).  In the book of Tzefaniya in chapter 3 verse 8, ìëï çëå ìé ðàí ä' ìéåí ÷åîé ìòã ëé îùôèé ìàñó âåéí ì÷áöé îîìëåú ìùôê òìéäí æòîé ëì çøåï àôé ëé áàù ÷ðàúé úàëì ëì äàøõ"

“Therefore wait ye for Me, saith HaShem, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them Mine indignation, even all My fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy.”

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And now back to the matter of writing the sefer Torah tefillin and mezuzot.  The halacha (Jewish law) is that the leg of the nun sofit must be shorter than the leg of the chof sofit, because the length of the leg must be relative to the width of the base of the “bent” letter, and the base of the nun is shorter.  The wording in the halacha is as follows, “hafshata shel moshava”, in other words the base of the letter is extended from the angle

into a straight line.

For more midrashim (tales) about the aleph beis see

                                                                    The Gimmel's Leg".

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