Mony Almalech(1996)

It is a pioneering study of how colors function as symbolic codes in Balkan rituals, particularly weddings and funerals. The book treats color not merely as aesthetic but as a coded system, as mediators between life and death, memory and transcendence in Balkan traditions. Almalech situates Balkan color symbolism within broader European and biblical traditions, showing both unique local features and universal archetypes. The text connects Balkan practices with wider symbolic systems, making it relevant for comparative cultural studies. The author combines semiotics, anthropology, linguistics, and folklore studies. One of the earliest systematic treatments of color symbolism in Balkan folklore, influencing later studies in semiotics and ethnology. This book is about how color functions as a language of life and death, joy and mourning, identity and transition. By analyzing weddings and funerals, Almalech reveals how color codes articulate the deepest values of culture. 

Mony Almalech(2011)

It is a concise but rich study (about 106–108 pages) that explores the donkey’s symbolic, theological, and cultural role in the Bible. It examines why this humble animal, rather than the horse or camel, became a central sign in biblical narratives – especially in relation to kingship, prophecy, and the Messiah. The donkey becomes a messianic symbol of humility, peace, and wisdom, contrasting with the warlike horse. This fulfills prophetic traditions (e.g., Zechariah 9:9) and highlights the paradox of divine kingship. This book is linked to Almalech’s broader Biblical Hermeneutics Project, which also includes Color in the Torah. Both works use semiotics and linguistics to decode biblical symbolism. Almalech combines linguistics, Hebraic studies, semiotics, and theology, making it relevant for scholars of religion, culture, and communication. It’s a compact but profound contribution to the semiotics of religion and biblical hermeneutics.

Mony Almalech (2011)

The book is a semiotic study of how femininity and color interact in advertising as symbolic systems. Femininity is explored as a cultural sign, and colors are treated as an independent sign system with kernel meanings, prototypes, and associative networks.

Advertising messages are decoded as manipulative tools acting on both the consciousness and the unconsciousness of consumers. Almalech applies Frege’s semiotic triangle to analyze the relationship between femininity and colour. The book examines how prototype theory and word associations shape colour meanings in advertising contexts. Appendices include a “Norm of Colour Associations” and a collection of advertisement images illustrating femininity–colour correspondences. The book extends Almalech’s earlier work on colour symbolism into the domain of modern advertising. Offers practical insights into how colour and femininity are used to shape consumer perception. Its interdisciplinary contribution is to bridge linguistics, semiotics, psychology, and marketing. Reflects collaboration between the Bulgarian and Israeli academies of sciences, situating the study in a broader international context with a Cross-Cultural Resonance. This book is significant because it shows how advertising harnesses femininity and colour as powerful semiotic codes. By analyzing their interplay, Almalech reveals how cultural archetypes of femininity are reinforced, transformed, or manipulated through colour symbolism in commercial media.