Re: Abbreviation systems (was Re: Hello everybody)

From: "John Cowan" <jcowan@...>

| Steg Belsky scripsit:
|
| > ST"M "Stam" [stam], short for (if i remember correctly) Seifer (Torah)
| > Tefillin Mezuza.
|
| Is this connected with the "stam" that means "Just because" or "That's
| the way things are"?
|
| Mother:  Yossi, why are you peeing on the sidewalk?
| Yossi:  Stam, ima.

No, this is a form of Hebrew script reserved for sacred writings, i.e. Torah
scrolls, and the _tefillin_, small scrolls with a particular passage written and
encased in a mezuzah, which is commonly affixed to doorposts of Jewish homes (in
lieu of the lamb's blood from the story of the Exodus and Psach/Passover).

It's a bold script with small decorations (forgot the name) on the tops of
letters that resemble flames, and there are metrical rules about how each letter
is written.

There is a parallel in Islam where special rules apply to copies of the Qur'an
or passages from the same, but several scripts could be used: the cursive Naskh
or Thuluth, or the "block" script Kufi which can use amazingly intricate
geometric patters and interleaving -- these can be seen in artistic depictions
of the name of Allah, for example, and also the most common phrases used by
Muslims: the _shahada_, _as-salaamu `alaikum_....

~Danny~