page_title: Ktav Stam
section_title: Serifs (tagin)
hierarchical_section_title: Ktav Stam / Serifs (tagin)
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a sample of the Ashuri alphabet written according to the Ashkenaz custom on parchment (klaf)
context_page_description: Ketav Stam is the specific Jewish traditional writing with which Torah scrolls, phylacteries, Mezuzot and the Five Megillot are written. Stam is an acronym denoting these writings, as indicated by the gershayim punctuation mark. One who writes such articles is called a Sofer Stam. The writing is done by means of a feather, and ink onto special parchment called klaf. There exist two primary traditions in respect to the formation of the letters, Ktav HaAshkenazi and Ktav HaSefardi, however the differences between them are slight.
context_section_description: Tagin (or taggin; Hebrew and Aramaic: תגין‎, sing. תג‎, tag; also Hebrew: kether, כתר, pl. כתרים, ketherim) are the distinct crown-like serifs affixed atop the letters. If the tagin are absent, the writing is not invalidated. According to Rabbi Akiva in the Talmud, not only can one learn something from every letter in the Torah, but one can also learn something from the placement of the tagin. On the letters ג, ז, ט, נ, ע, צ, ש there are three tagin, on the letters ב, ד, ה, ח, י, ק there is one tag, and on the letters א, ו, כ, ל, מ, ס, פ, ר, ת there are none.
caption: A sample of the Ashuri alphabet (כְּתָב אַשּׁוּרִי, ktav ashurí written, with tagin according to the Ashkenaz scribal custom on parchment (קָלַף klaf)
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