Hebrew fonts?

Look I dont know what Zvika did in the past nor do I know if his computers date was correct when he created fonts in the past. I only know what he has done for me and I know that he didnt work on Shabbat in the creation of the Koren font. I have follow the principle of assuming that if he did any averos in the past, he has done tshuva now. I think Artscroll must obviously follow the same principle.

That is very correct of you. I agree with you. Lets assume everything now is hunky dory with Tzvika. But if Tzvika violated the Shabbat in creating his Hadasa for ArtScroll, his teshuva is not accepted until all of ArtScroll's books are burned. Poor Meir - his father zal would say, I told you so, Meir. Spend the extra buck and buy Shmuel's.

Im not sure I understand what you mean then. What does Koren do that is inconsistent. Can you give me an example word?

What? no he doesnt. The nikud is always in the same place below the baseline. He also puts the kamatz and shva on the chaf sofi under the baseline although modern printing always put it higher, but this was done on purpose by him because he believed that this was correct (personally I disagree, but hes dead so I cant argue with him).

I'm sorry. Everyone else does, as you yourself admit. But he was stubborn. I always put nikkud above and the taamim below. Period. Very consistant, and it works well graphically, instead of putting the kometz above except when theres a dagesh.

Trust me there is no difference if one is careful. If I tell my script to move the kamatz 20 to the right or tell my programmer to move the kamatz 20 to the right, there is no difference. In fact, I have more options with my script because I can search for a longer sequence of characters and adjust each one accordingly, something that is very tedious to do in the font.

Of course the advantage of the font is that if somebody buys Koren then the teamim will automatically sit according to the Koren system (which of course can be seen as a disadvantage) since the positioning is hard coded in, however, if I put it into a script then the positioning is in the InDesign file.

The issue really is what are you doing with the font. If you are creating one Bible in one font then why go for the extra expense of hard coding it. However, if you are selling the font....

Personally I prefer the hard coding approach since Im doing many things in the font, but many clients are setting something small, like Megillat Esther on a one-time basis. They dont want to pay to have the font hard-coded with teamim for that. Or they just want the leyning at the back of a siddur and the shema. Again, cheaper to use my script.

Aha, so you would buy a siddur that tells you to say Hallel on Yom Haatzmaut? And that the State of Israel is reshit zmichat geulatenu?

I carefully didn't say that. To Hallel on a day the Sages did not authorize is against halacha, even if one believe sincerely that G-d made a miracle in creating the State. Otherwise, we would add Hallel to every day of our prayers, because the Talmud attests to the fact it is a miracle for us each day just to wake. Since there have to rules, so no Hallel is said on Yom Azmaoot. People in Gush no loner say Hallel on Yom Kippur.

the pants off yo

my pants are pretty long :)

Well so did I for Koren. But many people out there dont have a big budget so they choose the script method which gives the same result but of course means that the positioning is coded into the InDesign file rather than into the font.

There should be no compromise. G-d made money to pay the price. I disagree with this way of thinking, which penny wise, but pound foolish.

I don't believe the result is the same, even though I believe you are a very honest and truthful person. I think this is wishful thinking, because you created it, and can not admit at this time there is something better.

I have had a productive dialog with John Hudson, and as time advances, the ability to achieve unbelievable results will become available through the font approach. Its just a matter of time, as the rabbit discovered after the finish of the turtle.

Gentlemen:
>It has no place here.

I agree. As the header says, this is the "Typography" Forum, and it should remain focused on typographic issues. Religious, political and social issues have other, more appropriate venues.

Thanks!

Neil

> However, Tzvika drew very poorly before. Look at his David Aleph, in either regular or bold

I cant comment on the font David. I didnt commission him to redraw David. His drawing of Koren is absolutely superb and we are thrilled and trust me, we are a very hard client to please.

>That might be the heter, even if there was Shabbat desecration. Its a stretch though, because the ikar is the design.

Im not sure why we are having a halakhic debate on the Adobe forum. Can we please desist this line of conversation. Its unproductive. I also dont want to discuss Zvikas, Ariehs, Mr Korens, mine or your religious observance. It has no place here.

Masterfont also has the exclusive licence to sell the Koren font, but again he isnt programming it. Arieh is.

I assume Arieh is Shomer Shabbat.