אַלְפָא בֵּיתָא, אָלֶף בֵּית

ביטוי (אנגלית)

alphabet/ABC

הגדרה (אנגלית)

The letters in order. Arranging verses or matters according to the order of the Hebrew alphabet.

("Whoever recites (Psalms 145) 'A Psalm of Praise of David' three times a day is assured of being a son of the World to Come. Why? ...because it is arranged in alphabetical order... Shall we say (Psalms 119) 'Blessed are those whose way is blameless,' which is set out in eightfold patterns? No, rather because it contains 'You open Your hand'"—Berakhot 4b. Also: "At first there were three alphabets: 'How she sits desolate,' 'How the Lord has clouded,' 'How is the gold dimmed,' and he added: 'I am the man,' in which every letter is triplicated"—Rashi on Jeremiah 36:32. Also: "Therefore they said (Berakhot ibid.) 'because it is in alphabetical order'—for the matter of 'alphabeta' indicates a natural sequence, not skipping, but going from aleph to tav. Therefore, in the blessing of the luminaries on weekdays and Shabbat, it is arranged alphabetically"—Meshekh Chokhmah Leviticus 26:4. Also: "I merely drew a line between the things of the first alphabet and the insights of the second alphabet, and I presented the second alphabet in small letters"—Introduction to Sefer HaMidot by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. Also: "And such verses in praise of the Torah, which King David blessed memory wrote in the alphabetic psalm in Psalms"—Chaim Sabato, Ke'af'afei Shachar, 96)