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The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters and a different script from English. Five letters are written in a different form if they come at the end of the word; these are known as 'final' letters. Hebrew is written from right to left and books therefore begin at the opposite end from a book written in the English Language.

The letters in the alphabet are all consonants. For many hundreds of years the language was write with no vowels; this was called unpointed Hebrew. A system of dots and dashes added to the consonants forms the vowel sounds.

Hebrew is the language in which the Torah is written; it is also used for prayer and study. Modern Hebrew is spoken in Israel today although it stopped being a language for everyday use until about a century ago. In this country many Jewish children learn Hebrew at Cheder (religion school).