2025
Most languages are, like English, written from left to right. Hebrew, like some other languages from the Middle East (most notably Arabic) is written in the opposite direction.
No one knows for sure why this is, but scholars theorize that it has to do with the medium in which the language was originally written. Left to right languages are convenient for right-handed people writing in ink. By writing from left to right, the scribe avoids smearing what they’ve written.
By contrast, scholars believe Hebrew was initially inscribed in stone. For a right-handed person chiseling a tablet, it is most convenient to hold an awl in the left hand and strike it with a mallet held in the right, naturally progressing from right to left across a stone surface. The large blocky letters are also conducive to being rendered in simple, straight marks. By the time parchment and papyrus became the preferred media for writing, Hebrew script was already fixed.
--Why is Hebrew Written from Right to Left?
By My Jewish Learning
2011
We read it [Hebrew] from right to left, moving our head leftwards and engaging the right brain...
The right brain tends to be integrative and holistic. As in E. M. Forster’s phrase, it sees things steadily and sees them whole. It gives an overview of a situation while the left hemisphere focuses its attention on specific details.
...The right hemisphere is strong on empathy and emotion. It reads situations, atmosphere and moods. It is the locus of our social intelligence. It understands subtlety, nuance, ambiguity, irony and metaphor. It lives with the complexities the left brain tries to resolve by breaking them down into their component parts.
- p56 The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning
By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
(סא) סא) ידין בגוית מלא גויות (תהילים ק״י:ו׳) – כל הפרק הזה המתחיל שב לימיני נאמר על מב״י, וכן מרומז בראשי התיבות י׳דין ב׳גוים מ׳לא משמאל לימין כדרכה של מדת הדין מצד שמאל ושם מנחל בדרך ישתה שהיא במדת החסד, וכן מרומז בראשי התיבות מ׳נחל ב׳דרך י׳שתה מימין לשמאל כדרכה של מדת החסד מימין.
c.1798 – c.1838 CE
Hillel Rivlin
"...יָדִ֣ין בַּ֭גּוֹיִם מָלֵ֣א גְוִיּ֑וֹת"
"Yadin bagoyim Maleh giviot"
"He will judge the nations filled with corpses" (Ps. 110:6)
-The entire Psalm, beginning with “Sit on my right” was said about Mashiach ben Yosef, whose name is hinted at in the initials of the letters of the words going from left to right, just like the quality of Din starts at the left side.
It is also written in this Psalm,
"...מִ֭נַּחַל בַּדֶּ֣רֶךְ יִשְׁתֶּ֑ה"
"Minakhal baderekh Yishteh"
"from a river along the way he will drink."(Ps. 110:7)
This refers to the quality of Lovingkindness, which is hinted at in the initials of the letters from right to left, just as the quality of Lovingkindness starts at the right side.
Safed, 1548 CE
Moses Cordovero (Ramak)
Further, we will clarify this Mishna through a different explanation which the commentators have given on “five opposite five”, and it is more fitting and accepted, and it is also recognized as such in the words of Rashbi [Rabbi Shimon bar Jochai] of blessed memory in many places. And the subject [is] five from the right and five from the left, the five from the right [being] the five Sefirot whose main inclination is towards the side of Chesed (Mercy) which is the right, and they are Keter, Chochma, Gedolah [here the Sefira Chesed is called Gedolah, as not to confuse it with the side of Chesed], Netsach and Tif’eret. And the five on the left, they are the five Sefirot whose main inclination is towards the side of Din (Judgement) which is the left, and they are Binah, Gevurah, Hod, Yesod and Malkut. And if it so that the essence of Tif’eret is [being] the central axis, if this is so, its essence is [still] Chesed as is known, as it is below, opposite Chesed, and its inclination is to the right. And Binah in its aspect is connected to Din (Judgement), as it is called “Performer of mighty deeds” [Morning Service, the Blessings of the Shema], because judgements are aroused from it, as we will explain in the Gate of Essence and Conduct [Gate VIII] chapter 6. And thus on Hod, it is said “And my splendor (Hod) was turned into destruction” (Daniel 10:8), [and] “all day misery (דוה)” (Lamentations 1:13), [misery has] the characters of Hod (הוד). And Yesod also thus the essence of its inclination is to the side of Gevurah, and thus Rashbi of blessed memory clarified in the Tikkunei haZohar (Tikkun 13, page 29b) on the ninth blessing etc., and this is its citation: “And the Tsaddik [indicating Yesod] receives from the left, and the central pillar [indicating Tif'eret] receives from the right”.
חסד דרועא ימינא.
גבורה דרועא שמאלא.
תפארת גופא.
נצח והוד תרין שוקין.
ויסוד סיומא דגופא
אות ברית קדש.
מלכות פה. תורה שבע"פ קרינן ליה.
Middle-Age Spain, c.1100 – c.1400 CE
And they are called in this arrangement:
Ḥesed – right arm,
Gevurah – left arm,
Tipheret – body,
Netzaḥ and Hod – two thighs,
and Yesod – end of the body,
– sign of the holy covenant.
Malkhut – ‘mouth’ – we call it ‘Oral Torah’.
c.200 – c.1200 CE
What is the meaning of the verse (Ecclesiastes 7:14), "Also one opposite the other was made by God."? He created Desolation and placed it in Peace, and He created Chaos and placed it in Evil. Desolation is in Peace, as it is written (Job 25:2), "He makes peace in His high places." This teaches us that Michael, the prince to God's right, is water and hail, while Gabriel, the prince to God's left, is fire. The two are reconciled by the Prince of Peace. This is the meaning of the verse, "He makes peace in His high places."
c.200 BCE – c.200 CE
[God] clarified three letters from the simple ones with the secret of the three mothers—א-מ-ש—and [God] inserted them in [God's] great name, and sealed with them six directions. Five – [God] sealed Above, and turned upwards and sealed it in YH"W. Six – [God] sealed Below, and turned downwards and sealed it in YW"H. Seven – [God] sealed East, and turned forwards and sealed it in HY"W. Eight – [God] sealed West, and turned backwards and sealed it in HW"Y. Nine – [God] sealed South, and turned to the right and sealed it in WY"H. Ten – [God] sealed North, and turned to the left and sealed it in WH"Y.
c.100 BCE – c.900 CE
For from the throne of His glory and upwards His height is one hundred and eighty thousands of myriads of parasangs, and from the throne of His glory and downwards there be one hundred and eighty thousands of myriads of parasangs. His stature is two hundred and thirty and six thousands of myriads of parasangs. From the ball of the right eye to the ball of the left eye there be thirty myriads of parasangs. The width of His right eye is three myriads of parasangs and three thou sands of parasangs, and so for His left eye. And from His right arm to His left arm His width is seventy and seven myriads of parasangs, and His arms are folded upon His shoulders. His right arm – The Mover is its name, and the name of His left arm is The Follower (?) The palms of His hands are four thousands of myriads of parasangs, each one. The right palm – its name is Just, and of the left the name is Holy. Therefore He was called “God the great, the strong, and the fearful.” Said Metatron, “Thus far have I beheld the height of Jedidiah, the Master of the world. Peace.” [These revelations enable us to understand the verses in the Song of Songs 5.9 ff.] “What is thy beloved move than another beloved, O thou fairest among women?” etc. “My love is white and ruddy,” etc., all the section down to “daughters of Jerusalem.”