The Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit

Encore Concert Series
Presents...

* The first Hebrew sign lan-
guage was created in 1968 by
jonathon Shunary, a teacher.

* The English word "alphabet"
comes from the first two letters con-
tained in the Greek alphabet, which
are based on the first two letters of
the Hebrew alphabet, aleph and bet.

* Scholars say the first Semitic
alephbet has been around since the
time of the Exodus and was used by
various groups. Writing syles varied
greatly according to one's location.
The first known inscription using a
form of the clephbet is from 1,000
-BCE, the time of King David.

* There are several stories as to
why God chose bet, the first letter
of beresheet, ''in the beginning," to
start the Torah. One of these is that
all the letters came to God and
asked for the privilege; bet
received the honor because it starts
the word brach°, or blessing. Simi-
larly, tradition tells that Jews should
emulate the letter bet, which con-
sists of a line at the top and bot-
tom, connected by another at the
rig ht. Like the letter bet, the rabbis
said, Jews should not wonder what
is below (the underworld) or up
above (the..heavens) or before God
made the world, but rather "only
from the day that the world was
created and thereafter" - our behav-
ior in this life.

* Legend states that after Moses
returned with the Ten Command-
ments, only to find the Israelites wor-
shipping the Golden Calf, all the
letters of the tablets flew away and
disappeared.

* The Ba'al Shem Tov believed
that every Hebrew letter was much
like a human being. Those writing
texts were cautioned to give proper
attention to each letter, lest they cre-
ate something akin to a person
without an arm.

Saturday, March 6,1999 • 8:00 p.m.
West Bloomfield High School Auditorium
Members: $25 / Non-Members: $35

Carl Reiner is the creator of the famous sitcom,
The Dick Van Dyke Show, and one of the best
known comedians of all time. He has directed
such films as The Jerk and Oh sod. He will
share funny stories about his life, the business
and what he's working on now. He will sign his
book, The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000,
co-authored with Mel Brooks, after the show.
Get your tickets now!

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DOUBLETREE
GUEST SUITES -

011,0IT SOUTKIIILD

Funded in part by: Manny & Natalie Charach Endowment Fund, Haddow
Endowment for the Arts, DeRoy Testamentary Foundation, Boaz Siegel
Culture Fund, Benard L. Maas Foundation, Hiram Dorfman and David
Engelbert Trustees, and the Ray and Atara Zimmerman Philanthropic Fund.

3/5
1999

Detroit Jewish News

63