Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading
Parshat Bo

Column #12. The contents of this weekly column are based on the sefer: EIM LAMIKRA HASHALEIM, by R' Nissan Sharoni, Ashdod, a guide to correct pronunciation of Hebrew, specifically in davening and Torah reading. 

We're continuing with our SH'VAs and we will both review and introduce new factors via examples from the SH'MA (and elsewhere, as needed). 

SH'MA YISRA'EL... The SH'VA under the SHIN of SH'MA is NA (as are almost all first-letter SH'VAs) and therefore the SHIN gets a very short vowel-sound. Not SHMA, but SH'MA. (One must also be careful not to over-vowel the SHIN - do not say SHEMA.) 

The SH'VA under the SIN in YISRA'EL is NACH. The first syllable of the word is YIS. The CHIRIK under the YUD is a "short" vowel and the second consonantal letter (the SIN) closes the syllable off and has no vowel sound of its own. Same for the VET-SH'VA of V'A'HAVTA. SH'VA NACH. 

L'VA-V'CHA. The SH'VA under the LAMED is NA (first letter). The SH'VA under the VET is also NA since it follows a letter with a T'NU'A G'DOLA (long vowel). VET-KAMATZ GADOL, L'VA is the first syllable, and then V'CHA. Not L'VAV-CHA. 

NAF-SH'CHA is an example of the two-SH'VAs in the middle of the word rule - the first is NACH (no vowel sound at all, NAF) and the second one is NA - SH'CHA. 

In case you are getting a little overwhelmed or confused, keep in mind the motivation for this column in general, and this topic in particular. And that is The Laws of Kri'at Sh'ma in Shulchan Aruch 61:23 - One must be careful... not to NA and NACH nor NACH a NA. (Even when it doesn't change the meaning of the word.) And let's not forget subsection 22 in the same section 61 - Even in P'sukei D'Zimra and the rest of davening one has to be careful. The Rama adds, so too in Torah reading and in the Prophets. 

Here's sort of an exception (which was mentioned in a previous column). When a connective VAV is sounded as a SHURUK, the SHURUK is not treated as a long vowel (some say that if the SHURUK also has a METEG, then the vowel is elongated enough to NA the SH'VA. Minchat Shai, a well-known authority on proper pronunciation, holds that the SH'VA is still NACH). Therefore, UV-CHOL NAF-SH'CHA, not U-V'CHOL. UV-KU-ME-CHA. When it comes to UV-SHOCH-B'CHA there is a METEG under the VAV and some will say U-V' rather than UV. 

HAD'VARIM - the SH'VA under the DALET is NA because the DALET has a DAGESH CHAZAK in it. Furthermore, because the DALET is with dot, it is stressed (almost like doubling it). The word then is broken into syllables HAD-D'VA-RIM, without separating the two Ds (because there are not two DALETs), but lingering on the DALET slightly HADDD'VARIM. Takes getting used to. Here's another - M'TZAVV'CHA, SH'VA NA under the VAV, stress the VAV (but the accent is on CHA). 

HI-SHA-M'RU - not SHAM, the MEM with the SH'VA NA (following the SHIN with a long vowel) belongs to the following syllable, M'RU, not to the previous syllable. 

A METEG (small vertical line to the left of a vowel) makes a short vowel longer and a SH'VA that follows a letter with a meteg-lengthened short vowel is NA rather than NACH. Blessing for a son: Y'SI-M'CHA (not Y'SIM-CHA), because even though the SIN has a CHIRIK without a YUD after it, making it a short vowel, there is a METEG that makes the CHIRIK as if there were a YUD, and the SH'VA following is NA and goes with the next syllable. The midwives from Sh'mot and the frogs from Va'eira are HA-M'YALL'DOT (it would be HAM- were it not for the METEG under the HEI. The LAMED has a dot in it, by the way, so its SH'VA is also NA. HA-TZ'FAR-D'IM. Again, by the way, the SH'VA under the REISH is NACH and the one under the DALET is NA. 

Let's try one more rule/exception: If a long vowel has the main accent of the word, then the following SH'VA becomes NACH and part of the syllable. Those camped to the east, KEID-ma.