Column #43. Contents of this weekly column are (mostly) 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 sort of took a break from this column in the last couple of issues of Torah Tidbits, which is CHAVAL, as they say, because there were things to focus on over Yamim Nora’im and Yom Tov. Be that as it may (as they also say, whoever they is), we didn’t have this column for a while.

I’m going back to something that has appeared in this column at least twice, and elsewhere in Torah Tidbits on a couple of occasions. Let’s say that we’re doing this again as we approach two days of Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan.

The real reason I’m bring up the subject again is the discovery I’ve made that many, many people - including native Hebrew-speaking Israelis, whom I thought for sure would know it, didn’t. And more than a few that I broached the subject with were kind of shocked and almost unbelieving.

I am talking about one of G-d’s names. The one that is spelled ALEF with a CHATAF-SEGOL under it, LAMED with a CHOLOM MALEI (that’s the VAV with the dot above it, and a HEI with a MAPIK (dot) in it and a PATACH under it. Its most well-known occurrence is at the end of the second passage of Hallel, B’tzeit Yisrael. MILIFNEI ADON CHULI ARETZ, MILIFNEI EL-LO-AHHH YAAKOV - not ELOHA. The situation is EXACTLY the same as words like TAPU’ACH (apple), RU’ACH (wind or spirit), MO’ACH (brain), MIZBEI’ACH (Altar), and many others. The PATACH under the CHET in each of the words presented is called a PATACH G’NUVA, a stolen PATACH. Its name derives from the fact that the “normal” way to read a letter with a vowel under it would give us TAPUCHA for apple and MIZBEICHA for Altar. LUCHA for calendar or blackboard and MOCHA for brain. In each (and every case of a CHET at the end of a word with a PATACH under it, the PATACH is stolen by a phantom ALEF that sneaks in before the CHET and takes the PATACH for itself. It is as if SI’ACH (bush or conversation) were spelled SIN with a CHIRIK MALEI, that’s the YUD, making the first syllable SI. Then an imaginary ALEF which steals the PATACH from under the CHET, leaving the CHET without a vowel, so that the second syllable is pronounced ACH. And, by the way, the accent is never on the last syllable; all the words with a PATACH G’NUVA are MILEIL. SI-ach. ta-PU-ach. miz-BEI-ach. Etc.

And here’s the point: Whatever goes for a CHET with a PATACH at the end of a word goes for a HEI with a PATACH under it.
Haman asks for a tree (wooden post) GAVO-AH 50 AMOT tall. The word for tall is ga-VO-ah, not GAVOHA. There is no word in Hebrew GAVOHA.

And there is no word, G-d’s name or otherwise in Hebrew, ELOHA. The word - the Name, is e-LO-ah. Just like TAPUCHA would be a mispronunciation of the Hebrew word for apple, so to is ELOHA a mispronunciation of one of G-d’s names. And because we are dealing with one of G-d’s names, its mispronunciation is a much more serious offense than saying LUCHA instead of LU’ACH.

If you think of the two English interjections HA and AH, you should be able to pronounce G-d’s name correctly rather than incorrectly.

When that second chapter of Hallel is sung in shul and many loud voices sing out ELOHA, it should now grate on your ears and offend your sense of proper reverence and respect for G-d and His Names, let alone correct Hebrew pronunciation.

I am not, G-d forbid, accusing anyone of intentional disrespect for G-d’s name, but this is a mispronunciation that should be worked on. Show this column to other English speakers, and tell your Hebrew-speaking friends about it. Some will probably already know about it, but some might not. <mtc>