Rabbi Yizhak of Vorki was asked: "Why on the Day of Atonement is the list of confession of sins arranged in alphabetical order?" He replied: "If it were otherwise, we should not know when to stop beating our breasts. For there is no end to sin, and no end to the awareness of sin, but there IS an end to the alphabet."[1]

There is an end to the alphabet, but there is barely an end to what can be said about the alphabet, so central is it to Jewish culture. This month's edition of JHOM includes the following articles focusing on the Hebrew letter:

All about the ancient alphabet
Why the Psalmist omitted the vav (and concluded with peh)
Alphabet inscriptions on ancient Jewish graves and their meaning
How Jewish children were taught the Hebrew alphabet in rabbinic times
Gematria: the numerical value of words and the meanings they reveal
Hebrew letters in Jewish art: an introduction
The art of Hebrew micrography - minute writing in shapes
Yiddish alphabet songs sung by the young and the poor
The most popular of Yiddish songs -- "Der alef-beyz" (aka "Oyfn pripetshok)
The Tale of the Scribe: an excerpt from the short story by S.Y. Agnon
Hebrew rootword lesson - Aleph - vav - tat

We also share with you a special expanded Purim section in the Calendar section of Adar. We have designed some beautiful electronic greeting cards which you can send to your friends at no charge, in honor of Purim.

Happy Purim to all our readers.

The Editor.

[1] From Tales of the Hasidim, Martin Buber, Shocken Books 1991 [back]

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