Overview

Legends of the AlefBet: The Origins of the Alphabet is Professor Miriam Hoffman's epic examination of the origins of written language. At Columbia University, Professor Hoffman spent decades researching the folklore and legends of the ancient Hebrew and Yiddish alphabets. Now, utilizing and illustrating that research, she entertains and educates her readers with the amazing stories that illuminate our modern languages. Utilizing the original 1919 artistic serigraphs of master artist Ben-Tsiyon Zuckerman, as well as the colorful Alefbet of con­temporary artist Michael Muchnik-plus additional artistic and related imagery-each letter is examined through its his­tory and the literary and artistic depictions that surround it. This masterfully enlightening historical and academic work provides readers with scholarly insight into our modern lan­guages and cultures.

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Professor Miriam Hoffman earned her first Baccalaureate degree in 1957 from the Jewish Teachers Seminary in New York. She earned her second B.A. at the University of Miami and her Masters at Columbia University where she majored in Yiddish folklore and literature. As professor of Yiddish language, literature, Jewish culture, Yiddish humor, classical and minor Yiddish writers, and a course called 20th Century Yiddish Literature and Film, she taught at Columbia University from 1992 to 2015. Miriam wrote the preeminent 700-page Yiddish textbook Key to Yiddish, which includes scholarly research, conversation, folklore, folktales, songs, and literary works by the most acclaimed Yiddish writers and poets. Key to Yiddish is now taught in many universities. She is a successful Yiddish playwright and the recipient of the Israeli Tony Award for her Yiddish translation of Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys. Miriam became the founder of the Joseph Papp Yiddish Theatre when famed Broadway impresario Joseph Papp produced her Yiddish/English musical Songs of Paradise. Her plays and translations have been produced to high acclaim worldwide. Miriam has published thousands of articles as a feature writer for the Yiddish Forward since 1982. Since her retirement from Columbia, Professor Hoffman has stayed busy writing and lecturing worldwide. Visit her website at www.miriamhoffman.com

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