"Stroke order" in written Hebrew

Question

Is the "stroke order" in written Hebrew as strict and important as it is in, say, written Chinese or Japanese? If so, is there an ultimate reference for it? I have found several writing guides and charts showing different ways to write the same character. I would like to know if there is an officially/academically correct way to write any character, or more specifically the following characters: ש, ף, פ, ם, מ, ט, ב (in print).

Answer 1

Hi. I’m a librarian at a Jewish history library. The short answer to your question is: No. There is no stroke order or stroke direction rule in Hebrew, print or cursive. There are ways most writers form letters but there are always exceptions and some individuality in stroke order; not at all like Chinese (which I have studied).

For the very ornate “stam” script that scribes use to copy religious texts with a quill, there are very artistic, exact techniques to form letters. Those may be more standardized.