List Books » The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet: The Sacred Letters As a Guide to Jewish Deed and Thought
Authors: Michael L. Munk, Nosson Scherman
ISBN-13: 9780899061948, ISBN-10: 089906194X
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Mesorah Publications, Limited
Date Published: January 1983
Edition: 1st ed
For more than a generation, Rabbi Michael L. Munk, as a sidelight to his busy schedule of educational and communal work, has fascinated audiences with his learned and provocative lectures on the Hebrew alphabet. In the process of opening eyes and raising eyebrows, he has convinced countless people that his contention is true: the Hebrew alphabet abounds in scholarly and mystical meaning. He has developed and proven a profound thesis. The alphabet -- if correctly understood -- is a primer for life. Ethical conduct, religious guidance, philosophical insights, all are nestled in the curls, crowns, and combinations of the Hebrew letters. This is one of those rare books that is both interesting and profound, learned and readable. The wisdom and compassion of the author is evident in those subtle ways that do not intrude on the reader, but give him the satisfaction of knowing that a rich, warm, productive lifetime of experience is flavoring the text.
Rabbi Munk was born in Berlin, the son of the illustrious chief rabbi of the Orthodox community. He was a leading battler against attempts to outlaw kosher slaughter in pre-Holocaust Germany, and pioneered in scientific research to prove the humaneness of shechitah. In London he founded the thriving Adath Yisrael Synagogue of Hendon; in America he was the founding principal of what is now the largest Orthodox girls school in the world, and he resumed his defense of pro-shechitah legislation in the nation's capital. After the war, he volunteered a year of his life to help the hapless survivors in Europe's Displaced Persons camps. A brilliant educator, author, and activist, Rabbi Munk has gained the respect and affection of thousands in a long and fruitful career
Letters of Approbation/[characters not reproducible] | 8 | |
In Memoriam | 10 | |
Author's Preface | 13 | |
Overview: Protoplasm of Creation | ||
I. | Primacy of Content | |
II. | Letters and Utterances | |
III. | World, Nations, Person | 16 |
Prologue: The All-Encompassing Aleph-Beis: From Aleph to Tav | ||
Completion | ||
Complete Blessing and Tempered Curse | ||
Consolation Amid Tragedy | ||
Confession and Total Regret | ||
Full Range of Praise | ||
Power of the Aleph-Beis | ||
The Letters and a Philosophy of Life | 33 | |
Table of Scripts and Numeric Values | 42 | |
God's Oneness and Mastery | 43 | |
Divinity (king of the letters) | ||
Might | ||
God, Torah and Israel are One | ||
Adam | ||
Abraham | ||
From Aleph to Eleph to Aluph | ||
Humility | ||
Purity in Learning | ||
Call to Teshuvah | ||
Link between Heaven and Earth | ||
Blessing and Creation; Duality and Plurality | 55 | |
Two Torahs: Written and Oral | ||
Two Tablets | ||
Commandments and Prohibitions | ||
Two Leaders: Moses and Aaron | ||
Two Genders: Adam and Eve | ||
Two Drives: Two Hearts ([characters not reproducible], free choice) | ||
Two Worlds: This World and the World to Come | ||
Reishis is Torah, Israel, Challah | ||
Understanding | ||
Differentiation | ||
Bayis (house): a focal point | ||
Holy Temple | ||
Bayis denotes Wife | ||
Hospitality | ||
Oneness and Multiplicity | ||
Kindness and Culmination | 71 | |
Three Pillars: Torah, Worship and Kind Deeds | ||
God's overflowing Chessed | ||
Torah Begins and Ends with Chessed | ||
Abraham Emulates God's Chessed | ||
Brotherly Kindness | ||
Blending of Contrasts | ||
The Three Partners | ||
Set of Three | ||
Three Divine Gifts | ||
Dimensions and Concern | 78 | |
Four Dimensions and Spiritual Stages | ||
Defining [characters not reproducible] | ||
Lesson of the Letters | ||
Discretion and Tact | ||
Charity vs. Chessed | ||
Chessed with Hand and Heart | ||
Rich and Poor Benefit Equally | ||
Wealth and Contentment of the Benefactor | ||
Divinity, Gentility and Specificity | 85 | |
This World is Imbued with the Divine | ||
Large and Small [characters not reproducible] | ||
Abram becomes Abraham | ||
Repentance and Mercy | ||
Hashem Manifested in Silence | ||
The Missing [characters not reproducible] | ||
Five Apertures (Priestly Blessing) | ||
Femininity | ||
The Weaker Arm (tefillin) | ||
Two New Songs | ||
The Definite Article | ||
Name of God | ||
Completion, Redemption and Transformation | 94 | |
Guarantor of Redemption | ||
Conjunction and Continuity | ||
Conversive Vav | ||
From Anguish to Gladness and Vice Versa | ||
The Many Meanings of Vav | ||
Complete or Defective Spellings | ||
Purim | ||
Broken Vav | ||
Spirit, Sustenance and Struggle | 104 | |
Seven is the Focal Point | ||
Sustenance and Struggle | ||
Armament: Measures of Self Defense | ||
The Seventh Day | ||
Provider of Sustenance | ||
Sabbath and Israel | ||
Sabbath and the World to Come | ||
Enjoyment on the Sabbath | ||
Transcendence, Divine Grace and Life | 112 | |
Grace | ||
Life | ||
Sin | ||
Structure and Symbolism | ||
Interchangeable Letters | ||
Goodness | 118 | |
The Objective Good | ||
Repentance | ||
Man's Goodness and Humility | ||
Diminished and Enlarged [characters not reproducible] | ||
Divorce | ||
Creation and the Metaphysical | 125 | |
Humility | ||
Inheritance of Torah | ||
Fundamental Unit (the decimal system) | ||
Allusions to God and Israel | ||
Prayer | ||
Deleted and Added [characters not reproducible] | ||
[characters not reproducible] For Emphasis | ||
As Spokesman | ||
Crowning Accomplishment | 133 | |
Three Crowns | ||
Name of Objects | ||
For Like (comparison) | ||
End [characters not reproducible]; Suffix of Possession | ||
Small [characters not reproducible] | ||
Teaching and Purpose | 138 | |
Man's Learning and Teaching | ||
Purpose and Transition | ||
God the Master Teacher | ||
Learning with Heart | ||
Great [characters not reproducible] and Small [characters not reproducible] | ||
Revealed and Concealed; Moses and Messiah | 143 | |
Omnipresent | ||
Where God Resides | ||
Teaching the Revealed | ||
Moses and the Messiah | ||
[characters not reproducible] of History | ||
Significance of 40 | ||
Faithfulness, Soul and Emergence | 151 | |
God is Faithful | ||
Serving God in Two Ways | ||
[characters not reproducible], soul, and [characters not reproducible], Candle | ||
Perpetuation | ||
Fruitfulness | ||
Downfall and Simultaneous Salvation | ||
Inverted [characters not reproducible] | ||
Support, Protection and Memory | 159 | |
Support and Enclosure | ||
Creation of the Woman | ||
[characters not reproducible] Stands for [characters not reproducible] | ||
Mathematical Devices | ||
Gematriaos | ||
[characters not reproducible] Alphabetic System | ||
Acronyms (initials) | ||
Allusions | ||
Sight and Insight | 171 | |
Reflection of the Universe | ||
Man's Personality | ||
Tempted Eye | ||
Primeval Light | ||
Eyes of God | ||
Seventy Denotes Spirituality | ||
Wine Reveals One's Innermost Self | ||
Allegorical Reflections on the Shape of [characters not reproducible] | ||
Esau | ||
Rich Man, Poor Man | ||
Support of Fellow Man | ||
Speech and Silence | 180 | |
Man's Essence | ||
A Time for Silence and a Time for Speech | ||
Consistency of Mouth and Heart | ||
Moses | ||
Crucial Words | ||
Seeing before Speaking | ||
Kabbalah | ||
Healing | ||
Righteousness and Humility | 189 | |
Righteousness: Divine and Human | ||
Roads to Righteousness | ||
Humility | ||
The Tzaddik in both Worlds | ||
Holiness and Growth Cycles | 194 | |
God's Holiness | ||
Man's Holiness | ||
Abstinence and Control | ||
Hakafah Cycles | ||
Sacrifices | ||
Monkey | ||
Choosing Between Greatness and Degradation | 199 | |
Wicked | ||
Anyone can Return | ||
Heroic Penitent | ||
Another Path to Repentance | ||
God's Receptiveness | ||
The Head | ||
Erroneously Applied to Idols | ||
The Passageway between Heaven and Earth | ||
Divine Power and Script; but also Corruption | 207 | |
Mastery and Peace | ||
Prayerful [characters not reproducible] | ||
Symbolism of its three heads | ||
The Rainbow | ||
Two Kinds of [characters not reproducible]; Two Kinds of Script | ||
Falsehood | ||
[characters not reproducible], Shin--[characters not reproducible], Sin | ||
Enlarged [characters not reproducible] | ||
Truth and Perfection | 214 | |
Distant Neighbors | ||
Truth is Life | ||
God's Seal | ||
Truth from the Start | ||
Creations Depends on Truth | ||
The Mark of Man's Final Destination | ||
Perfection | ||
Esther, the Last of the Twenty-two Saintly Women | ||
Epilogue: A Return to Origin: From Tav to Aleph | 221 | |
Universal Cycle of Return | ||
Spiritual Cycle in the Universe | ||
Faith in Providence | ||
Continuous Cycle of Generations | ||
Cycles in Religious Customs | ||
[characters not reproducible]: Celestial Order of the Holy Letters | ||
Appendix | The Ksav Ashuris Script used in Torah Scrolls | 232 |
Three Tannaitic Opinions | ||
The Solution According to Mar Zutra | ||
A Novel Solution | ||
Index: Scriptural Verses/Subject | 237 |