Arnold Lehman contributes an opening essay on the methodology and background of Diane Samuels Luminous manuscript. In it he quotes Samuels as explaining that "arranging an alphabet in an order is an original cultural act. Repeating the alphabet represents a basic ordering and care for language that is possible to all. An Issac Luria story tells of his meeting a man whose prayers were particularly efficacious. The man could not read or write but he could recite the alphabet, so he asked God to take his letters and form them into prayers." The Sackner Archive holds this book by Samuels in which each stitched page displays this saying in a different language. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.