The Origin of Letters and Numerals According to the Sefer Yetzirah

are chiefly based on this commentary and not on the original Book of Formation original: "Sefer Yetzirah"; an ancient Jewish text focused on the mystical and linguistic foundations of the universe.. Although the Book of Formation is exceedingly hard to understand, the solution of its many difficulties is not impossible. The reason why they have remained so long an unsolved problem is partly due to a lack of knowledge of Hebrew orthography The standardized system of spelling and writing a language., on which the Book of Formation is based. In spite of the numerous works written on Hebrew orthography since the beginning of the tenth century, there is not one which may be considered as really based on the Hebrew language itself. For the Hebrew orthography which has been and is still taught, is not Hebrew but Arabic. The Hebrew grammarians Scholars who study the rules and structure of language. under Arabic influence came to believe that those rules of orthography which the Arab grammarians invented for the language of the Quran original: "Koran"; the central religious text of Islam. hold good also for the language of the Old Testament. When the Honorable Mayer Sulzberger A prominent American judge and scholar (1843–1923) who was a major supporter of Jewish cultural institutions. heard me expressing my views on Hebrew orthography, he advised me to make a study of the Book of Formation which in his opinion constitutes the earliest Hebrew grammar extant. Finding that my views on Hebrew orthography harmonized with those of the Book of Formation, I made an exhaustive study of it. After many years of study, I reached the conclusion that the Book of Formation, as the earliest Hebrew grammar, contains not only the fundamental rules of Hebrew orthography, but also an account of the origin of letters and numerals. This account it is my present purpose to set forth¹).

¹) I wish to express here my thanks to Isaac Broyde original: "J. Broyde"; a Russian-born bibliographer and scholar., Miss Henrietta Szold A prominent Jewish leader and scholar who founded Hadassah and edited many important works of the era., Prof. Henry Malter A leading scholar of medieval Jewish and Arabic philosophy., and Dr. Isaac Husik An expert on medieval Jewish philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. for many courtesies extended to me in this work, both in the arrangement of the material and in style.