The Alphabet of Creation. an Ancient Legend From the Zohar

by (Anon).

"The Alphabet of Creation" is one of the legends from the "Sefer Ha-Zohar," or "Book of Splendor," an ancient Gnostic work written in Aramaic by a thirteenth-century Spanish scholar named Moses de Leon who presented the work, not as his own, but as mystic knowledge revealed many centuries earlier to the Rabbi Simeon Ben Yohai. The present interpretation has been rather freely adapted by Ben Shahn from the English translation of Maurice Samuel and other sources. Shahn has turned the words and letters into a kind of visual magic in which the true spirit of the wonderful is magnificently suggested. There are forty-six pictures all together, the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet and twenty-four drawings. Ben Shahn, born in Russia in 1898, became one of America’s greatest artists. He died in 1969.

Genres: Art, Judaism

Hardcover

First published November 1, 1988

Reviews

[Margaret Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book about the mystical midrash from the Zohar that tells how Bet became the first letter to create the world. Why does G-d choose the letter B--and the word Bereshit as the first word of Genesis? It is a great book for studying with adults (or kids). I have used it to tell the story of creation. And the story of the letter bet--which "bayit" also means house. It has the delightful pen and ink drawings of Ben Shahn.

[Ryan Grinas · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story about the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. A great insight into this interesting language.

[Alan Altmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful book! Accessible to young and old. A true poem of creation and an artwork!

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A children's story based on a legend from the Zohar about the Hebrew letters vying to be the first in the alphabet.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

How the Hebraic alphabet came to be. Art book.