The Hebrew letter Shin
Shin is the twenty-first of the 22 letters of the alef beis. It is written ש in print, in ksiva it is written as a single unbroken stroke, and its gematria value is 300. It says sh with the dot on the upper right and s with the dot on the upper left. My Ksiva Workbook teaches it on page 68.
Shin is the most searched-for letter of the alef beis, and the one children recognise first — it is on every mezuzah and every pair of tefillin. Print shin has three arms and reads clearly. Ksiva shin abandons them completely for one looping stroke, which is the moment a child discovers the two scripts are not the same alphabet drawn twice.
- Position 21 of 22
- Gematria 300
- Sound sh / s
- Ksiva strokes One
- Taught on page 68 of 82
How is Shin written?
The workbook teaches every letter the same four ways, so a child always knows what is being asked of them.
See both forms. The workbook opens the letter with Shin in print and in ksiva side by side, and marks the ksiva form with a numbered arrow showing where the stroke begins.
Trace it. A row of dotted outlines gives the whole shape. The child writes over the top of it, so the hand learns the movement before it has to remember the shape.
Finish it. Each box after that gives a little less of the letter than the one before, until the last box is empty and the child writes it unaided.
Use it in a word. The letter then appears in whole words to copy in script, built only from letters already taught, so the child is never asked to write a letter they have not met.
What is it confused with?
Shin and sin are the same letter. The dot on the upper right makes it sh; the dot on the upper left makes it s. The book teaches both forms together on one page.
How is it spelled in English?
The workbook banners this letter Shinn-Sinn, naming both of its forms on one page. You will also see it written sin, sheen. They are all the same letter.
Where it is taught
Shin is taught on page 68 of My Ksiva Workbook, an 82-page Hebrew handwriting workbook covering all 22 letters in both scripts. Every letterform on this page is taken from the book itself.