The Aleph-Bet
1) The Aleph-Bet has 22 letters and five final letters. The letters are:
Block Script Numerical Name Name
Value [Sephard] [Ashkenaz]
א א 1 Aleph Aleph
בּ ב 2 Bet Bais
ב ב 2 Vet Vais
ג ג 3 Gimmel Gimmel
ד ד 4 Dalet Daled
ה ה 5 Hay Hay
ו ו 6 Vav Vov
ז ז 7 Zayin Zayin
ח ח 8 Chet Ches
ט ט 9 Tet Tes
י י 10 Yud Yud
כּ כ 20 Kaf Kof
כ כ 20 Chaf Chof
ל ל 30 Lamed Lamed
מ מ 40 Mem Mem
ם ם 40 Final Mem Final Mem
נ נ 50 Nun Nun
ן ן 50 Final Nun Final Nun
ס ס 60 Samech Samech
ע ע 70 Ayin Ayin
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2) The vowels are:
Name Sephardic Ashkenazi
pronunciation pronunciation
as in as in
Kamatz ָ a cat o cot
Patach ַ a cat a cat
Tzayray ֵ a day ay day
Segol ֶ eh pen eh pen
Sheva ְ uh done uh done
Cholam וֹ oh off oy toy
Chirik ִ ee bee ee bee
Shuruk ֻ oo do oo do
[or Koobutz]
Mlupam וּ oo do oo do
[or Shuruk]
Numerical Values
Every letter of the Aleph-Bet has a numerical value. From Aleph to Yud the values of the letters increase by ones, from 1 to 10.
From Kaf to Koof, the values of the letters increase by tens, from 10 to 100.
From Koof to Taf the values of the letters increase by hundreds, from 100 to 400.
To write the numbers using letters, simply add letters of the correct values. For example, the numbers 10-20 are written as follows:
11 = יא
12 = יב
13 = יג
14 = יד
15 = טו
16 = טז
17 = יז
18 = יח
19 = יט
20 = כ
Note: The numbers 15 and 16 are not made up by adding a ה and a י, for this would spell the name of G‑d, which we must not write unnecessarily as it may not be erased. Even in English, we hyphenate the word — G‑d.
The numbers 21 to 30 are written as follows:
21 = כא
22 = כב
23 = כג
24 = כד
25 = כה
26 = כו
27 = כז
28 = כח
29 = כט
30 = ל
With numbers over 100, simply add units:
110 = קי
248 = רמח
365 = שסה
With numbers over 400, add hundreds:
571 = תקעא. 400 + 100 + 70 + 1
With numbers over 1000, write a letter with a dash:
5751 = ה'תשנא i.e.5000 + 400 + 300 + 50 + 1
It is also possible to convert words into numbers:
ואתחנן = 515 i.e. 6 + 1 + 400 + 8 + 50 + 50
The study of numerology, i.e. the numerical equivalent of words, is called Gematria.
The Jewish Calendar
The Jewish Calendar takes into account both the solar year of 365 days and the lunar year of 354 days. The calendar works on a 19 year cycle, of which seven are leap years. This equals out the discrepancy of 11 days between the solar and lunar years. Approximately, every three years there is a leap year. The Torah does this so that the festival of Pesach is always in the Spring. The regular year has 12 months; a leap year has 13 months.
The names of the months are:
ניסן Nissan
אייר Iyar
סיון Sivan
תמוז Tamuz
אב Av
אלול Elul
תשרי Tishrei
חשון Cheshvan
כסלו Kislev
טבת Tevet
שבט Shevat
אדר Adar
אדר שני Adar Sheni [the extra month in a leap
year]
Each month has either 29 or 30 days. Although the New Year Rosh Hashanah — is in the month of Tishrei, the months are counted from Nissan as the Jews left Egypt in the month of Nissan.
The Hebrew calendar stretches back to the six days of creation. At the date of writing this book, the Hebrew year is 5773. The Torah was given to us in the Hebrew year 2448, exactly 3,325 years ago.
Dates
A Jewish date is written using the numerical values of the letters [as above], e.g.
15th Shevat = ט"ו שבט
19th Kislev = י"ט כסלו
11th Nissan = י"א ניסן
The first day of the month is called Rosh Chodesh — ראש חודש. This is abbreviated: ר"ח
The following is a list of common abbreviations:
Rosh Hashanah — ר"ה
Yomtov — יו"ט
Yom Kippur — יוה"כ
The Calendar
We will now go through each month listing the days of note in each month. [See chapter on Festivals for more detail].
Nissan
14th Fast of the Firstborn. All firstborn males must fast. It is customary to attend a
Siyum — a celebratory completion of a
tractate of the Talmud. A firstborn who attends a Siyum in the synagogue need not fast. Fathers who have firstborn sons who cannot yet fast, are required to fast in their stead.
15th Seder night. First day Pesach.
16th Second Seder. Second day Pesach. Start counting the Omer — the 49 days between Pesach and Shavuot.
17th-20th Chol Hamoed Pesach. Chol = weekday; Moed = festival. Chol Hamoed is the name for the intermediate days of the festival. They are partly weekday, partly festival.
21st & 22nd Seventh day and Acharon [last day] of Pesach.
Iyar
14th Pesach Sheni. The second Pesach. In Temple times, one who was unable to offer the Paschal Lamb on 14th Nissan, had a second chance on 14th Iyar. It’s never too late!
18th Lag B’Omer. ל = 30; ג = 3. 33rd day of the Omer.In Roman times, there lived a great Rabbi called Rabbi Akiva. He had 24,000 students. Unfortunately, a plague struck them during the Omer period and they died. However, their deaths stopped on Lag B’Omer. It is therefore a day of rejoicing. Furthermore, it is the Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the author of the Zohar — a noted book on Kabbalah, the secrets of the Torah.
Sivan
6th & 7th Festival of Shavuot. The Jews received the Torah in the year 2448.
Tamuz
17th Fast of Tamuz [see chapter on fasts]
Av
9th Fast of Av
Elul
Month of preparation for the High Holy Days.
Tishrei
1st & 2nd Rosh Hashanah
3rd Fast of Gedaliah
10th Yom Kippur
15th First Day of Sukkot
16th Second Day of Sukkot
17th-20th Chol Hamoed Sukkot
21st Hoshanah Rabbah
22nd Shemini Atzeret
23rd Simchat Torah
Cheshvan
No days of note — often this month is referred to as Mar-Cheshvan — the “bitter” Cheshvan.
Kislev
25th Chanukah, for eight days.
Tevet
10th Fast of Tevet
Shevat
15th New Year for Trees [celebrated by eating fruits with which Eretz Yisrael is blessed].
Adar
13th Fast of Esther
14th Purim
15th Shushan Purim
The Tenach
The Bible, as we know it, is split up into three sections:
תורה [Torah] Five Books of Moses
נביאים [Neviim] The Prophets
כתובים [Ketuvim] The Writings
The first letter of each of the words spell תנ"ך [Tenach].
The Torah
The Five Books of Moses are:
בראשית [Bereishit] — Genesis
The Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.
שמות [Shemot] — Exodus
Ten Plagues, Exodus from Egypt, Splitting of Reed Sea, Giving of Torah, Laws, Construction of Mishkan [Tabernacle].
ויקרא [Vayikra] — Leviticus
Laws of the Temple, Sacrifices, Priests, Purity.
במדבר [Bamidbar] — Numbers
Details of wanderings in desert, twelve spies, Korach’s rebellion, Bilam’s blessing.
דברים [Devarim] — Deuteronomy
Moses’ farewell address to the Jews, the Shema, Revision of all Torah Law.
Neviim— The Prophets
יהושע Joshua
שופטים Judges
שמואל א-ב Samuel I, II
מלכים א-ב Kings I, II
ישעיהו Isaiah
ירמיה Jeremiah
יחזקאל Ezekiel
הושע Hoshea
יואל Joel
עמוס Amos
עובדיה Ovadiah
יונה Jonah
מיכה Micah
נחום Nachum
חבקוק Chabakuk
צפניה Tzefania
חגי Chaggai
זכריה Zachariah
מלאכי Malachi
Ketuvim— The Writings
תהלים Tehillim Psalms written by King David.
משלי Proverbs Solomon’s Wisdom. Last chapter — Eishet Chayil.
איוב Job
שיר השירים Song of Songs
רות Ruth Read on Shavuot
איכה Eichah Lamentations. Written by Jeremiah; A lament over the destruction of the Temple. [Read on 9th Av]
קהלת Kohelet Ecclesiastes
אסתר Esther Read on Purim
דניאל Daniel
אזרא Ezra
נחמיה Nechemiah
דברי הימים א-ב Chronicles I & II
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