Questions tagged [aleph-bet-letters]
Questions about the Hebrew letters, or aleph-bet.
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Is the winding פ in this sefer torah kosher?
Leaving aside all other issues with the text as displayed, are the pehs acceptable, or do they actually need an inverted vav on the inside (instead of these whirls)?
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Complete list of verses corresponding to people's names?
There is a custom to say a verse corresponding to ones name at the end of the Amidah, as a Segulah not to forget his name on the day of Judgement. There are several sources for this practice, ...
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Which alphabet were the original Torah scrolls in?
I've assumed that the Torah scrolls we read today as the same that Moses wrote. I always assumed it's been the same alphabet.
However lately I came across documents explaining the evolution of the ...
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Different Size Letters in the Torah
I've often wondered if someone has compiled anything about the "special letters" in the Torah: All the letters that are either big or small. Together, do they read as something special? One or more ...
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How could the numerals יה and יו be used irreverently?
I was told that in the sequence of numerals with Hebrew letters, the numbers 15 and 16 are rendered with טו and טז instead of יה and יו to prevent the tetragrammaton from being formed irreverently.
...
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How many words are there in Tanach?
How many letters are in the Torah?
How many words are in the Torah?
How many verses are in the Torah?
How many chapters are in the Torah?
How many letters, words, verses, and chapters are in every ...
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Relationship between Samekh and Sin
What is the relationship between the letters samekh and sin? Did they ever have distinct sounds? Why do they exist as separate letters?
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Psalm 145: Which Person?
Psalm 145 makes up the bulk of the oft recited prayer known as Ashrei. It is an alphabetic acrostic (missing the letter nun) about the greatness of God.
The verses beginning with Alef, Bet, Dalet, Heh,...
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How do you extend the sound of a daleth in Shema?
How does one extend the sound of the daleth in the echod of the shema as prescribed in OC 61 (6)?. The letter as we say it does not seem to allow extension. See Dalet (Wikipedia) which defines it as a ...
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Can Holiness Be Retroactively Withdrawn?
Without getting into the debate of Ashurith (Modern Hebrew) vs K'thav Ivri (Paleo Hebrew), let's just say for the sake of argument that Paleo Hebrew was the original Hebrew. It is known that the ...
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What is the reason for "stretched" letters in the Torah?
I noticed that in many Sifrei Torah, Sofrim prefer to "stretch" certain letters. It seems that these letters are stretched to end a line if there wouldn't be enough space to start a new word. That's ...
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Why is the hey in Elo-* replaced with a kuf?
As we know when we write Hashem's name, we replace the hey with a kuf. Why davka a kuf? For example: Elokai, Elokeinu, Elokah, or "Yud-Key-Vav-Key". And in "Yud-key-vav-key", why is it pronounced ...
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Are there any letters that do not have a distinct pronunciation?
Are there any two letters which do not have a distinction between their pronunciation in any tradition of pronunciation? To ask the inverse, is there at least one tradition of pronunciation for each ...
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The almost-alphabetic acrostic Al Chet
The Al Chet that we say four times on Yom Kippur - the long list of sins that we list and ask to be forgiven for - is a double-acrostic (in nusach Ashkenaz). Each letter is represented twice in a row ...
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ד mi yodeya (the pronunciation)?
The gemara (Brachoth 13b) records that one is supposed to draw out the ד of "אחד" in the first verse of the Shema:
.תניא: סומכוס אומר: כל המאריך באחד מאריכין לו ימיו ושנותיו
אמר רב אחא בר ...
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Why does the Hebrew alphabet not have letters representing vowels?
The Hebrew alphabet is actually an abjad rather than a "true" Western-style alphabet, in that every letter represents a consonant, and vowels, if they're indicated at all, require diacritics.
This ...
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Aleph with a Dagesh
In four places in Tanakh, our text has an aleph with a dagesh: Gen 43:26, Lev 23:17, Job 33:21, and Ezra 8:18. What is the significance of this, and for the first two examples, how would you indicate ...
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Does one choose one or two pesukim for names?
What posuk does one choose at the end of shmonei esrei if one has two names? do you use two pesukim? or take the posuk that starts with the first initial of the first name and ends with the last ...
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What is the significance of the two letter shins (ש) on tefillin?
What is the significance of the two letter shins (ש) on tefillin?
One side of tefillin has a regular shin (ש) and the second has four-prongs.
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Why is one permutation of the name of God backwards?
If you spell out each letter that makes up the name of God, then add up the gematria (numerical value) of each letter of each fully spelled out letter you get various values. The value depends on how ...
user2110
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What's the significance of בי״ה שמ״ו סימן, espcially on Dt. 31:28?
In most sifre Tora (Torah scrolls), 240 columns of text each start with the letter vav (ו), and five do not. The first of those five exceptional columns, of course, is the first column of the Torah, ...
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Why does ולירושלים start with a Vav?
This extra Vav seems to be the adopted Nusach of choice for all Ashkenazim (Edot Mizrach and Aram Sova do not; their beracha begins differently). I can only imagine there are earlier girsaot without ...
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Tehilim HaChida - in the order of the Aleph Bais
I recently came across the Tehilim HaChida which is the entire Tehilim with the Pesukim rearranged in the order of the Aleph Bais by first letter. From the introduction it seems like it is a special ...
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Why do older Anglo Ashkenaz texts transliterate ת as "th" and how was it pronounced?
Many older (19th and 20th century) Anglo Ashkenaz seforim translate ת (without a dagesh) as "th" - resulting in transliterations like "Sukkoth", "haftaroth", "mishnayoth" - when the general Ashkenazi ...
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Interchangeable usage of Hebrew letters (such as Beis and Vav, etc.)
I don't know if there is another post about this issue, but forgive me if there is.
Here is my question. I recently read somewhere that there are letters that can be interchanged for various reasons....
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Why is it "Beiz"?
I understand the Ashkenazi pronunciation of Hebrew is that the letter 'ת' with no דגש is an 's' sound.
So why do (many) Ashkenazim pronounce the name of the letter 'ב', which is normally spelled ב-י-...
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How do you pronounce the soft reish?
From the Sefer Yetzirah it seems that there is both a hard and soft letter reish (see 4th perek, Aryeh Kaplan edition). How do you pronounce the soft reish?
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Is there a Possuk in Tanach that starts with a Samech ס and ends with a Aleph א? [duplicate]
I have a relative with the name סימא and she has been unable to find a Possuk in Tanach that starts with a Samech ס and ends with a Aleph א. Is there such a Possuk? The lists that are elsewhere do not ...
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What letter is not found in Bentching [closed]
Which letter of the alef-beis isn't found in bentching and what is its significance?
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Was the Hebrew Alphabet also given with the Tablets and Law?
My research for my answer to Which alphabet were the original Torah scrolls in? gave me an idea--Since the Early Alphabetic alphabet is also called Sinaitic, and the timing seems about right, maybe ...
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Why do we use yud, yud? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Double Yud as G-ds Name
In the siddur we often do not write out the four letter name of God (yud,kay, vav, kay) but instead write yud, yud. Why do we do this? Is this a ...
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Source Midrash - why the first letter of the Tenach is a Bet
What's the source of the Midrash that talks about the reason why the letter Bet was chosen as the first letter of the Tenach and not the Alef? The reason being given in this Midrash is that it is ...
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posuk for the name "Pearl" to say in shemone esre [duplicate]
I am searching for a possuk beginning with a pei and ending with a lamed, to say in Shemona Esre, for name Pearl. I have found one in tehillim perek 7, but would love a different one if at all ...
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Understanding text variations
This past week I found a rather interesting difference in the Stone/Hertz chumash Hebrew texts. The reference is Numbers 25:12. The word shalom is translated with a broken Vav in Hertz. Stone uses ...
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Why does the Gemara use gamma to compare shapes and not reish or chaf sofit?
When talking about shapes, the Gemara often uses Greek gamma (e.g., Peshachim 8b). Why doesn't it use reish, dalet or chaf sofit instead?
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What does the /shin/ marker (like Petucha/Setuma) at the end of Torah books mean?
I've been reading about details of Torah sofrut, and after learning about the paragraph markers peh / פ (petucha) and samekh / ס (setuma), I noticed some similarly placed shin markers (mostly at the ...
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Have any of you ever heard anyone pronouncing ayin as "ng"?
I have read that historically the letter ayin was pronounced by some Dutch, Portuguese, and Italian Jews as a velar nasal consonant (ng as in sing). Reference to this can be found here, here, and here....
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Eicha - why are the Pesukim with the פ before the Pesukim with the ע?
The first 4 Perakim of Eicha are written in the order of the Aleph Bais. However in Perek 2, 3, & 4 the Pesukim for פ are written before the Pesukim with the ע. Why? And then why in Perek 1 is it ...
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If the "Nun" preceding Bamidbar (Num) 10:35 is not upside down, is the Torah still kosher?
While reading last week's parsha, I noticed that the letter "nun" immediately preceding the verse Vayehi B'nso'ah ha'aron Bamidbar 10:35 was written as regular nun (tagin on top) rather than upside ...
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How to pronounce the name of the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet?
I have heard mixed answers as to how to pronounce the letter תּ
Is it taf or tav?
(I'm referring to the halachic pronunciation not the common street way.)
Is there a difference between Ashkenazi or ...
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תעבנו, תעינו, תעתענו Why three things that begin with a ת?
The Vidui that is said during the days of Selichos, and on Yom Kippur, and by Nusach Sefard on days that Tachanun is recited, starts with Ashamnu and goes letter by letter through the Aleph Bais. At ...
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Why are Chazal asking if words are spelled with א or ע?
In Shabbos 77a-77b, Chazal ask about the spelling of a series of words, questioning whether the words are spelled with an alef - as in גראינין - or with an ayin - as in גרעינין. Wasn't ayin vocalized ...
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Learning the shapes of the letters as a Baal Koreh
I would have thought that the shapes of the letters would be a good thing for Baal Koreh to know, but I was told that since Sefrie Torah are not invalidated until they are declared as such, this would ...
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Resources for learning Hebrew from scratch?
I was raised as a Jewish identifying secular child, and it's only in my adolescence/adulthood I've really become at all observant. One of the problems is, of course, I've never had a Hebrew class! I'...
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How is there Torah about Hebrew letters if the letters are not original?
Occasionally I hear Torah that relates to the iconography of Hebrew letters, like the significance around the fact that the yud is a small point, and how the hey has two openings, allowing repentants ...
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Is a Torah that does NOT have the (rabbati) large and small letters (keti'ah) still kosher?
I have a Torah in my shul that does not have any large or small letters where required (e.g. - the 1st letter in the Torah, "Breishit", is written larger than the rest.) Is this Torah still considered ...
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Spouses in Tanach whose names start with the same letter? [closed]
This is one of those parsha sheet trivia questions: There are six couples in Tanach where the names of the spouses start with the same letter. Who are they?
I've got five of them, but I can't think ...
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I am looking for a resource that finds words with a certain root in Tanakh
I am a beginner in Hebrew and so please forgive me if my question shows profound ignorance.
I would like to pull up or list verses in the Tanakh based on them having a particular vocabulary word in ...
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Is the letter Aleph (א) also a word that means "to teach, inculcate"?
This Aish article about the meaning of the word "Adam" states the following:
The letter aleph is also a word which means to teach or inculcate. It similarly indicates leadership, as implied by ...
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What happens if a sefer torah might have a mistake?
If a sefer torah has a definite mistake, it cannot be used, and the reading must be done again from a kosher torah. (SA OC 143:4)
But what if it only might have a mistake? For example, if it's ...
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