Izzy Pludwinski’s The Beauty of the Hebrew Letter: From Sacred Scrolls to Graffiti is more than a typical coffee table art tome. Pludwinski has fashioned a historical love letter to the aleph-bet (the Hebrew alphabet) using different examples of calligraphy, religious and secular writing, and graphic design. As a Sofer STaM (a scribe of Jewish holy texts) himself, he is an excellent guide through over 2,000 years of Hebrew writing. This book contains mainly images chosen by Pludwinski as exemplars of the ways that the Hebrew aleph-bet has been used. In addition, he provides brief introductions to each section and annotations to some of the artworks.
In the preface Pludwinski informs us that “a truly beautiful letter, word, or composition, besides being the carrier of content, will possess a dynamism, an internal lifeforce” (ix). The rest of the book, comprises six sections and a lexicon of “useful terms,” proceeds to show us just that. In the six sections he takes the delighted observer through historical manuscripts, traditional calligraphy and lettering, aleph-bets and letters, innovation writing techniques that stretch boundaries, street and fine art, and sacred writing, reminding us that “beauty also has the potential for goodness” (ix).
In the first section, which explores historical manuscripts and how they have influenced modern artists, Pludwinski introduces both the paleo and modern square-type Hebrew script. Alongside images of each historical document he gives an example of a modern artist who shows the influence of that style of lettering in their work. For instance, one can see similarities between the paleo script of the Mesad Hashavyahu Ostracon Replica (1), from the 7th century BCE, and the paleo script used by Pludwinski (4) and Ilya Yakubovich (5), both of which resemble Japanese calligraphy. Some artists have been commissioned to produce fonts for Bibles and Haggadot that are inspired by historical fonts. For example, the artist Zvi Narkiss designed a font (9) for the Keter Yerushalayim Bible that is inspired by the script of the Aleppo Codex (p. 8). Not as obvious an example, but still fascinating, is the quite modern Kadim font (11), developed by Oded Ezer in 2020 and based on the Mahberet Hatigan Bible (10) from Yemen, 1400 CE.
The next section covers traditional calligraphy and lettering and draws mainly from 20th–century examples. Some examples are not on paper or parchment, like the carved lettering on the building of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak (92). Melanie Dankowicz used this style of lettering on a metal clock she built in 2012 (89), and it is also used in the blessing written on the metal gate at the synagogue at Kennedy International Airport (52). Some of the contemporary designs, such as the monograms (50) by Yaakov Stark and Joy Rosenblum, are actually more difficult to decipher as the artists clearly are experimenting and playing with the shapes and placement of the letters.
The third section, centered on the aleph-bet and individual letters, is the most playful of the book. In Pludwinski examples, it is clear the artists are simply having fun with the formal aspects of Hebrew. Josh Baum’s “Squashed Aleph-bet,” a pen and ink drawing from 2003 (124), is particularly fun to peruse and try to discover the separate letters within. The individual letters drawn by Tal Becker (126) combine thick rectangles, squares, and circles with wispy lines and small dots to make an aleph, gimmel, mem, and lamed that look like they are lazily dancing on the page to some slow-moving jazz tune. In short, they are both fun and funny.
The fourth section begins with two questions: “When is an aleph no longer an aleph? How important is legibility?” (132). Most of the selections in this section will challenge one’s Hebrew reading prowess. Like Shiri Lanzer’s work (156), with its many c-shaped brushstrokes and a few chunky shapes all growing out of the right side of the paper, it is quite hard to tell where one letter ends and another begins. “Burning Bush,” an example of micrography by Nathaniel Smith (151), has chunky letters that go in all directions and are layered as leaves, branches, and the trunk of the legendary bush, making it a challenge to see the letters individually. As a whole, though, they make an arresting image that bristles with life.
As one would imagine, the street art section has several examples of highly stylized graffiti writing. On this genre, Pludwinski writes:
What I find interesting in graffiti is that the artists seem to completely deconstruct the letters, divide them into their individual strokes, then redesign the shapes of each of the strokes in a creative and often surprising manner, and then put it all back together. This is a far cry from how traditional lettering artists approach their forms. It is sometimes hard to read the word or words (often just their tag), but the result can be exciting from a purely graphic perspective. (176)
Contrasting this with fine art in the same section makes for an interesting juxtaposition. The fine art pieces are heavily stylized and as such it can be hard to decipher because the Hebrew letters do not conform to any particular kind of block or script letter. One piece in which the letters are a bit easier to read, and which is visually striking in general, is Gabriel Wolff’s Genesis, from 2017 (209), which depicts two arms and hands reaching and pointing towards each other, echoing Michelangelo’s painting of God and Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The index fingers are almost touching. The arms and hands are made up completely of Hebrew letters written in white on a mostly black background, making for a stark contrast.
The last section of the book is about sacred writing, which is fitting, since this is the purpose for which Hebrew has been put to use for approximately 2,500 years. Pludwinski offers examples of sifrei Torah, mezuzah scrolls, and tefillin scrolls in the different styles, including Ashkenazic, Sephardic, and Chabad. These writings will look very familiar to readers of the Torah. This book allows the reader/observer to spend a lovely hour or two perusing its fascinating pages, and they will come away with an appreciation (or an even greater appreciation) for the myriad variations to be found in, as the title promises, the beauty of the Hebrew letter. One does not need to be a reader of Hebrew to partake of this enjoyment. All that is required is curiosity and a love of beauty.
Laurie Fisher is an adjunct professor at Gratz College and a doctoral student in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism at the University of Denver/Illif School of Theology.
Laurie Fisher
Date Of Review:
January 31, 2024
