This is Makor, version2 (Jan, 2003), which typesets pointed Hebrew with 
Omega from an American keyboard.  Why use Makor? 
   * It's *easy* to enter consonants and vowels into a
     document. 
   * Makor automatically decides if a final form for a letter is
     necessary and inserts it for you.
   * Makor comes with a 40-page User Manual.
   * Makor comes with 28 fonts.
   * Makor takes care to position vowel symbols properly with
     respect to different letters.
   * Authors can typeset cantorial diacritics (trope) along with
     standard nekudot (vowels).
   * Makor also supports Yiddish (with a separate input convention) 
     and special Yiddish characters.
   * Alternative typographic conventions are supported, such as bent
     lamed and alternative placement of vowels on final-khaf's.
   * Fonts include the special characters so it's possible to
     typeset the Hebrew Bible with Makor.
   * Numbers are entered normally, and Makor takes care to typeset
     them properly within the Hebrew (that is, the numbers are 
     left-to-right even though the surrounding text is right-to-left).
   * Makor knows the traditional Hebrew numbering system, and can 
     number Biblical verses automatically. 
   * Makor understands the conventions of ArabTeX, so you can
     process ArabTeX Hebrew documents in Makor.
   * Makor understands the conventions of BHS, so you can
     process Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia in Makor.
   * There is an experimental `German' dialect of Makor, suitable for
     German-speaking users.
   * Makor typesets Old Hebrew (Paleo-Hebrew).
   * Authors and scholars can typeset using the archaic Palestinian
     or Babylonian vowel systems.
   * When you revise the document---either by changing your text or
     altering layout parameters (such as the width of a column, or
     whatever)---these changes automatically propagate into your text.
   * You can enter the columns of Hebrew tables as you type 
     (left-to-right), but Makor typesets them right-to-left.
   * Layouts of arbitrary complexity are possible.
   * All of the versatility that's part of TeX and of Omega is 
     always available to the author using this system.
Please view or print the manual mkr2man.pdf for copious examples of
Makor---including a page of Talmud, Biblical selections, and other
unusual formats---and for additional details.  (On my Win98 machine
under Acrobat5 Reader, some of the Hebrew looks distorted, but seems
to print fine.  It views and print perfectly under GhostView.)

   ---Alan Hoenig (ahoenig@suffolk.lib.ny.us)
 