Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading
Parshat Tzav

Column #21. 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'll take a Pesach break from "new" stuff, and use this week's column to review many of the things we've learned these past few months, using the Hagada for examples.

KADEISH: We say, BOREI PRI HAGAFEN, with the DAGESH in the PEI of PRI remaining, because we perceive a slight break in the phrasing (as mentioned last week or the week before) - BOREI pause PRI HAGAFEN. I recently bought a Yemenite Hagada, for comparison purposes, and found that they do not print the DAGESH. BOREI FRI (free)... (don't make me try for the Teimani HAGAFEN).

aSHER BA-char BA-nu - both words are MIL'EIL - BA-nu is always that way, and ba-CHAR became BA-char by the device known as NASOG ACHOR.

MIKOL separate LASHON. 

va-TI-ten-LA-nu. Pseudo-NASOG-ACHOR, since the words are joined with a MAKAF and are treated as a single word with the primary accent on the LA (and a secondary one on the TI.

KI VA-nu va-CHAR-ta. The second and third words lose the DAGESH from their leading BETs. 

MAGID: We dip SHTEI F'A-MIM.

We eat either sitting, YO-SH'VIM (not YOSH-VIM), YO-D'IM ET HATORA (not YOD-IM).

Where were the scholars having Seder? BIV-NEI V'RAK. How come we refer to the city as BNEI BRAK? Should be V'RAK.

...remember the day you came out of Egypt... TZEI-T'CHA (or TZEI-S'CHA). SH'VA NA. On the other hand, here's a tough SH'VA NACH to pro- nounce: V'HI-GAD-TA. The DALET is NACHed - no vowel sound. Not HI-GA-D'TA. HI-GAD very tiny pause TA. Here's another NA many people don't catch: And now G-d has brought us close to His service - KEI-R'VANU. Like the stars of the heavens, K'CHO-CH'VEI HASHAMAYIM LAROV.

R' Yosi HaGalili compares the MAKOT and the miracles in Egypt and at the Sea. After what Bnei Yisrael saw at the Sea, V'YI-R'U HA'AM ET HASHEM... they FEARED G-d, not VAYIR-U, and they saw. They did SEE, but that was already mentioned in the beginning of the pasuk, VAYAR YISRAEL... (This is the only example so far of an actual change in meaning with an incorrect pronunciation.)

We eat matza because the people did not LINGER when G-d hurried them out of Egypt. L'HIT-MAH-MEI-AH. Here we have a rare SH'VA NACH under a HEI, and therefore the HEI is sounded (aspirated). MAH, not MA. The final HEI has a PATACH under it, which is known as a PATACH G'NUVA. In such a case, the PATACH is sounded BEFORE the HEI, so the last syllable is AH, not HA. (Same as the easier to grasp TAPU'ACH rather than TAPUCHA.)

On this same note, we come to a very important example of a PATACH G'NUVA under a HEI. Im- portant, because we are dealing with one of G-d's names. Towards the end of the second perek of Hallel, we have ALEF with a CHATAF SEGOL, LAMED with a full CHOLOM, and a MAPIKed HEI with a PATACH G'NUVA. Because of the ALEF's vowel, it does not really stand alone as a syllable, but is linked to the LO as ELO. Which is the accented syllable of this MIL'EIL word. The final syllable is AH, not HA. ELO-HA is NOT one of G-d's names. ELO-ah is one of His Holy Names. It's not so nice to mispronounce any words of davening or Torah reading, but it is really not nice to mispronounce G-d's name. Especially if you know how to say it correctly. 

There's more in the Hagada to practice or correct pronunciation skills, but we'll leave it at this, with our best wishes to you and your family for a Chag Kasher V'Samei'ach and a meaningful (and fun) Seder.