They call him Mr. Handwriting Guy. Every week, Yaakov Rosenthal makes his rounds to a number of New York High schools, where he sits with students and analyzes their writing—not the content of their words, but the meaning hidden beneath the way they form their letters, their margins and even the space between words.

Through unlocking the emotions and thoughts behind their handwriting, Yaakov helps the teens get in touch with themselves, their feelings and their environment. Of the 250 teens Yaakov sees every year, some come for a one-time analysis and some stay with him for years, as he helps them chart their course to adulthood.

After hearing about his work from a friend and reading his new book, Unlock: The Secret World of Teenagers, I decided to give him a call.

"I offer teens a safe environment where they can be understood and not judged."
"I offer teens a safe environment where they can be understood and not judged."

MP: Before we talk about graphology, please tell me a bit about yourself. Today, you’re a chassidic Jew living in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, but you weren’t always this way. Can you share a bit about your life’s journey, and how you got to where you are today?

Yaakov: I was born in 1950 in Albany, NY. My great-grandparents had come to the US in the 1870s and 1880s. By the time I was born, we had very little Judaism in our lives. I knew nothing about it, and whatever I did pick up made no sense to me.

I went to college at Hofstra University in Long Island and got a degree in psychology. Judaism meant so little to me that I even became a Quaker for a time. By the time I graduated in 1971, I had saved quite a bit of money from working between semesters and decided that I was ready to retire.

I started hitchhiking all across North America with nothing more than a backpack. I learned a lot about life in my travels and had some amazing experiences. Whenever I needed some more cash, I would work a bit and then continue on my way.

At one point, I got a ride from just outside Salt Lake City, Utah, to Wendover, Nevada. For the entire 80 miles of the trip, the driver spoke to me about Jesus. I was a good hitchhiker and knew to keep my mouth shut. Finally, just before he was going to drop me off, he asked what my religion was. I replied that I was Jewish. I was afraid that he would ask me more information about Judaism, because I really didn’t know much myself. All I knew were the blessings over bread and wine and nothing else. Fortunately, he didn’t say another word.

I got out of his car in a daze and got another ride with some people heading to Yosemite. I didn’t know it at that time, but it was actually Yom Kippur.

Yaakov's new book shares many practical tips and insights for anyone wishing to improve their relationship with teens.
Yaakov's new book shares many practical tips and insights for anyone wishing to improve their relationship with teens.

At Yosemite, I met a backpacker like me. We spent eight days in the woods. I would later connect the dots and discover that it had been the holiday of Sukkot.

Anyway, my new friend invited me to come to his house in Marin County, CA. While there, I read a book on Judaism that opened my eyes. For the first time in my life, I viewed Judaism as something worth exploring. This was October of 1971.

By 1974, I was studying in Penn State in State College, PA and occasionally attending Hillel. One winter Shabbat, a group of six young people from Crown Heights came to celebrate Shabbat with us. On Friday night, one of them spoke about how we spend six days a week creating, and then the seventh day is for us to remember that we ourselves are creations. That resonated with me.

They came again the next winter as well. Within a few weeks, my friends and I started celebrating Shabbat together each week. We would all pitch in to make the food and then celebrate together.

That spring, we went to spend Shavuot in Crown Heights. It was a mind-blowing experience. I met friends there who are still friends today.

From Brooklyn, I went to meet a friend and backpack in the Adirondacks. There, I saw some people taking advantage of the woods, chopping down green wood and dirtying the streams. Here I was carrying raw ingredients and making sure to leave nothing behind, and they were just destroying the forest. It was disenchanting. Suddenly, the timeless ideals of Judaism seemed much more appealing.

I hitchhiked over to Camp Shaloh, a yeshivah program in the Catskills, and asked to stay for a week. I was probably pretty disheveled-looking at that point, but they let me stay. When the summer ended, I went to Crown Heights and began studying in earnest at Hadar HaTorah, a yeshivah for men who were discovering Judaism as adults.

In 1978, I met my wife, Tzivia Chaya, and we started a family. That summer, I got my first job as a computer programming analyst, something I continued to do for a long time. Thank G‑d, our family grew, and we now have five children and nine grandchildren, and that’s pretty much my story in a nutshell.

Yaakov and Tzivia Chaya Rosenthal are proud of their five children and nine grandchildren.
Yaakov and Tzivia Chaya Rosenthal are proud of their five children and nine grandchildren.

MP: Considering your training in psychology and experience as a programmer, how did you end up in the field of graphology and become a leading teen graphologist?

Yaakov: I first learned about the field of graphology from a fellow programmer who was dabbling in it. I took a forty-week course with the great Felix Klein, known as “the dean of American graphology,” who subsequently certified me as a graphologist in 1988. I toured many Chabad houses and community centers and gave presentations about what I did, and I would read people’s writing.

When my son was learning at the Chabad yeshivah in Monsey, I gave a talk for the boys about graphology. The administration was impressed with what I did, and I was asked to do the same in other schools. One thing led to another, and I was soon coming for weekly sessions with the students in a number of schools in Brooklyn.

Over the course of time, I’ve learned many things from the teens I work with, and this became the basis of my book.

"I toured many Chabad houses and community centers and gave presentations about what I did, and I would read people’s writing."
"I toured many Chabad houses and community centers and gave presentations about what I did, and I would read people’s writing."

MP: When you look at a teen’s writing, you can tell a lot about him or her. What advantage does that give you over a teacher or principal who also knows a lot, if not more, about the same student?

Yaakov: There are a number of factors here. True, there are the obvious observations, but there are also issues that a person may not be conscious of.

Trust is developed through compassion and competence. Within 5 to 10 minutes, I’ve usually accomplished that. So when I see something showing up in their handwriting, I am able to help them discover themselves and give them tools to deal with their issue.

Also, I believe that teens often need someone to understand them, not to fix them. I offer them a safe environment where they can be understood and not judged.

Most importantly, people—especially teens—are afraid to open up. When I look at their handwriting and tell them what I see, they are already opened up since I just told them their secrets. Obviously, I do this very carefully with a great deal of compassion. But once they trust me and they see that I already know about the issue at hand, they feel they may as well spill the beans. This helps them talk about issues at home, bullying, addiction or whatever else shows up.

"One thing led to another, and I was soon coming for weekly sessions with the students in a number of schools."
"One thing led to another, and I was soon coming for weekly sessions with the students in a number of schools."

MP: What are some of the most common signs you look for in teen handwriting?

Yaakov: There are generally twenty separate indicators we look for—as well as hundreds of other little clues—when analyzing handwriting. In my book, Unlock: The Secret World of Teenagers, I discuss six basic indicators that are relevant to reading teens’ writing. Now, I need to point out that no factor can be viewed in isolation. Rather, when I see a number of clues pointing in one direction, I am pretty confident that I’m onto something. Also, learning these six factors will not make you a graphologist. It will just give you some powerful tools to use when trying to understand a teen.

The first thing I bring up in my book is the margins. Margins are the blank areas above and on both sides of your writing. Where you start writing on the page tells me something. Where you end your writing tells me something else. Together, it reveals a lot about you.

The next factor is how you form your lines when writing on unlined paper. Teens’ writing often resembles a roller coaster. They are looking for who they are, and it shows up in their writing.

The book also shows you how to look at how close the words are, how the writer chooses to cross out rejected words and phrases, and how the writer forms the lower part of letters that dip below the line.

The sixth factor I discuss is how the writer forms the word “I.” English is unique in that the personal pronoun is one letter. There are three basic ways of writing the capital “I”: there is the “box I” with a top and a bottom, there is the “independent I” with just a line, and then there is the “palmer I.” The independent I can indicate that the child went to school out of town at a young age and developed a healthy sense of independence. Or it could be that he has a problem with his parents and is very angry at them.

Other indicators in the handwriting also help reveal the person’s personality.

There are three basic ways of writing the capital “I.”
There are three basic ways of writing the capital “I.”

MP: Can you tell me about some of the things you’ve discovered?

Yaakov: Obviously, I need to modify some details to protect privacy, but here are some recent examples:

There was a 22-year-old woman who came to me, and I was able to tell that she had experienced a trauma at age 11 or 12. The problem was that she honestly could not think of anything that had happened to her during that period of time. Nine years later, in therapy, she realized that something had happened to her family. The event had nothing to do with her, but it stayed with her from when she was 13. The trauma of the incident had affected her more deeply than she had thought. Through removing herself from the incident and viewing it without emotion, she was able to let go of the trauma, and I was able to see that gradual change in her handwriting as she healed.

And then there are the less dramatic examples that are also important. I once met a young man who was very bright, and I could tell from his writing that he looked down on people who were not as intelligent. Obviously, if I would just tell him that, he’d shut off. I started out by telling him how I could see that he was really smart, how much he loved learning and how motivated he was. Once we established that I was not out to criticize him and that I saw him accurately, I was able to tell him that he had a huge blind spot for people not quite like him, and he accepted it.

Giving insight into handwriting on TV.
Giving insight into handwriting on TV.

MP: Are there limits to what you do in your field?

Yaakov: I can be an insightful friend and a guide, but I am not a mental health professional and not a parent. There’s a boy who I’ve been seeing for six years. He comes from an abusive home. More than anything, he just wants to be loved, and he looks for that love in all the wrong places. I can talk to him and help him understand why it’s a bad idea to strike up relationships with girls over the Internet, but at the end of the day, I cannot fill the gap that his family tore into his soul.

MP: As the world goes digital, have you seen a major change in graphology? Do you think the field will survive?

Yaakov: In the 1950s they predicted that the typewriter would mean the demise of graphology. But it didn’t happen. We still write quite a bit—especially children and teens, who are still in school.

That said, there are individuals who write so rarely that their handwriting is not an accurate portrayal of themselves. I knew a guy who had worked for the New York Times for many years. He had been typing for decades and doing very little writing, and his handwriting atrophied; it just didn’t represent him. As of now, most people are still writing, but time will tell what’ll happen in the long run.

MP: Yaakov, this has been very educational. Thanks so much for sharing. Do you have any final thoughts for our readers?

Yaakov: One of the tools I give the teens is the ability to view the events in their lives as being part of G‑d’s plan, hashgachah pratit. The Baal Shem Tov taught that everything we experience can teach us a lesson. Through looking at challenges as learning opportunities, they are able to shake themselves loose from whatever trauma may be gripping them and grow into stronger, healthier and wiser young adults.

Learn more and order books by emailing Yaakov.