There is something wrong with me?

Carla said:

Oh wow, I can't imagine being able to differentiate stick figure versions. *biting lip* Maybe I can find some sort of tutorial online for writing Hebrew...

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I'm sure you can! Just don't get hung up on forming perfectly calligraphic letter shapes...you'll develop a smoother and more natural flow of writing them as you practice. I really recommend doing a Web search for Hebrew fonts to get ideas beyond the traditional heavily-flourished versions. It's like the difference between Fraktur gothic letters and Times New Roman!

ETA: If you're practicing writing strings of letters, or writing the whole alphabet at a time, write from right to left - the letter shapes make a lot more sense that way. It takes some getting used to but since it's designed as a right to left alphabet the letters are actually easier to draw in that direction.

I hope I'm not totally taking over the thread, but I just wanted to show a really quick example of "stick-figure" Hebrew. I did the whole alphabet in pencil next to the calligraphic printed letters and it only took a minute.

Carla said:

I am working on memorizing those basics. I have a question. Do I need to get some sort of calligraphy pen to write the Hebrew letters? I can't do it with a biro (ballpoint) unless I just sort of draw them and fill them in.

What do you all use for writing Hebrew letters?

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An italic pen can do the fancy letters. I just do the manual block letters with a ball point pen or a pencil. Here's how: http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/7_handwriting.html

There is a dot (daghesh) in some of the letters. Leave them out. They're there just to show where they go if you need to use them.

I'm probably a bad teacher, but I could start some sort of informal Hebrew study group, although I would have no idea how to go about it. If there are any suggestions, I could do something. At the very least, if anyone has questions, I'll be glad to answer.

ETA: Don't take this as criticism, Tarot Orat, or at least not the mean spirited kind, but there are some discrepancies in your letters. I'd be happy to help. Later in the evening, after work, I'll post my versions, which are probably more accurate.

LRichard said:

An italic pen can do the fancy letters. I just do the manual block letters with a ball point pen or a pencil. Here's how: http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/7_handwriting.html

There is a dot (daghesh) in some of the letters. Leave them out. They're there just to show where they go if you need to use them.

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Okay, you totally win the ball-point Hebrew example demonstration!

Daghesh is mainly about how the letter is enunciated/pronounced in a whole word, so it definitely isn't necessary just for the alphabet.

closrapexa said:

I'm probably a bad teacher, but I could start some sort of informal Hebrew study group, although I would have no idea how to go about it. If there are any suggestions, I could do something. At the very least, if anyone has questions, I'll be glad to answer.

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That's a GREAT idea! Maybe in the Kabbalah/Alphabets forum?

Carla said:

I am working on memorizing those basics. I have a question. Do I need to get some sort of calligraphy pen to write the Hebrew letters? I can't do it with a biro (ballpoint) unless I just sort of draw them and fill them in.

What do you all use for writing Hebrew letters?

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You can pick up calligraphy pens up now really cheaply, when I was learning (a few years ago now) all you could get were the ink ones with interchangeable nibs but now you can get chisel tip throwaway pens. I had some lovely gold and silver ones from WHSmiths and places like the Stationery Box sell sets cheaply too.

Tarot Orat said:

That's a GREAT idea! Maybe in the Kabbalah/Alphabets forum?

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I'd be happy to, just tell me how to do it. In the meantime, I did the block letters roughly, their handwritten equivalents and the sound they make. There are some letters that in modern Hebrew sound the same, like Tet and Tau, but which were originally different (Tet was a "throaty" T). Other letters aren't single consonants, but would be though of in English as two, like Tzaddi, which is something like ts or tz. Still other letters sound the same or different depending on the diacritics (the fashion in which vowels are formed and the sounds of letters are modified) such as Samech and Shin (which, when it has an S sound, is called Sin). Ain has no English equivalent, as it is an A that comes from the throat. Same thing with Chet; it isn't really Ch, but it's the closest approximation.

Some letters have final forms (that are used when the letters appear at the end of words) but I forgot to add them. It is a very complicated language.

I lived in Canada as a child and came back to Israel with my parents when I was nine. Although I knew how to speak Hebrew, I didn't know how to write, and had no end of trouble. Believe me when I tell you I can sympathize with how hard it is learning at a (relatively) older age, and that you can ask me anything.

Tarot Orat said:

Okay, you totally win the ball-point Hebrew example demonstration!

Daghesh is mainly about how the letter is enunciated/pronounced in a whole word, so it definitely isn't necessary just for the alphabet.

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I've never seen pointed Hebrew text in an occult document, nor do I recall ever seeing a daghesh in unpointed Hebrew. I've seen a dot used for the Heh final of the Tetragrammaton. Could that be a mappiq?

LRichard said:

I've never seen pointed Hebrew text in an occult document, nor do I recall ever seeing a daghesh in unpointed Hebrew. I've seen a dot used for the Heh final of the Tetragrammaton. Could that be a mappiq?

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Yes, the mappiq is unique to the Heh when it appears at the end of the word, and turns it into a consonant, in which the h sound is pronounced. The dagesh is found in two main circumstances: in the doubles letters except Reish and denotes their hard sounds (b instead of v, p instead of f) for the letters that have them; and in any letter in the middle of words to replace a doubling of the letter (להכחיש - to deny is pronounced le-ha-ch-ch-ish, and would be spelled להככחיש were it not for the dagesh, but notice the Kaf is soft even if it is a double letter with a dagesh, but in the middle of the word different rules apply and... and...).

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There are many, many (many rules concerning the diacritics, and while they are easy to remember and read, it is very difficult to actually do it yourself correctly, and practically no one does.