Judging a book by its cover? YUP!

Here’s the exception that proves the rule.

A little knowledge is good.

A little knowledge misused is embarrassing.

‘The TAV’, the book’s title, certainly a ham-handed attempt at linguistic profundity using the ultimate (22nd) letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ‘tav’ or ‘tau’, to convey a correspondence with book’s end-times theme. OOOO! ending letter, ending times…cleeever! (For the love of all that is good, do we REALLY need more post-apocalyptic or end-time drivel plugging up the used book stores?

REALLY? Do we? I submit that we do NOT.

Leaving behind (heh heh) the silliness of this book’s eschatological view, there’s a real problem of another “type” here. (again, heh heh) Take a look at the cover: “The TAV: The Final Warning.” There is actually no TAV on the cover (so, maybe there isn’t a final warning? oh well…). Here is what a Tav really looks like:

ת

UGH. I teach my students to make their Hebrew letters well, and with care, because they are letters which communicate precisely, not pictures in children’s book. What we have here on this book cover, is a ‘Heth.’ (Heth is the 8th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, SO, maybe this is the 14th to last warning?) ‘Heth’ is pronounced with that throat clearing ‘hawking’ sound – you know, the one which often precedes expectoration…). Here’s what that letter looks like:

ח

UGH, UGH, and again, I say, UGH.

Heth…ptuuuui!