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.

Let’s use this week’s Parshat Sh’lach to review the third portion of the SH’MA (which will be read twice this Shabbat (in Eretz Yisrael) - at the end of SH’VI’I and for the MAFTIR. Some comments will be obvious; others, hopefully, not.

va-YO-mer, the word is accented MIL’EIL, on the next to the last syllable. (Compared with its sister word va-yo-MAR, which is MILRA.)
Careful not to let the end of the word fuse with the next word. It shouldn’t sound like RADONOI. Just a little bit of a pause and G-d’s name will come out the way it is supposed to.

da-BEIR, pause slightly after it so that the REISH sound does not blend with the EL that follows it. This is very common in our davening (and Torah reading, but more so in davening because we are usually davening too fast). Every time we are mindful of this kind of situation and we make the effort to separate the words, the result is more careful davening. And that leads to better understanding of what we are saying, because we are already paying more attention.

B’NEI and YISRAEL also should be separated slightly, so that the YUD that ends the first word and the YUD that begins the second are each sounded.
There’s an old children’s... thing, don’t know what to call it, where you are asked to say TIRAS (corn) 10 or 20 times. After the first few times, the words blend to the point that you are not sure if you are hearing (or saying!) TIRAS or STIRA (slap). This illustrates the need to pause briefly between words that blend together for one of several reasons.

The third pasuk of this 5-pasuk portion has several of these “situations”. UR-I-TEM OTO (not MOTO), UZ-CHAR-TEM et (not, MET), VA-A’SI- TEM OTAM (not MOTAM)... in each of these cases, the word produced has a different, and not so nice meaning. (Unlike ROTO, which doesn’t mean anything.) ASHER ATEM (not, RATEM), and ZONIM ACHAREIHEM (not MACHARERI- HEM). Don’t take this as unnecessary repetition; it’s the kind of pasuk that frustrates the person trying to eliminate bad davening habits that we’ve had for a long time. Just remember to keep saying, “I think I can, I think I can...”

v’a-mar-TA - this is one of those words. a-MAR-ta, you said. Past tense. v’a-MAR-ta (not the word here), and you said. Past tense. v’a-mar-TA, accent shifted to the last syllable, and you shall say. Future or command tense/form. The VAV -and- the accent shift causes the tense to go from past to future. There are words that this doesn’t happen to. But in the case of v’a-mar-TA a-lei- HEM, misaccenting the first word DOES change its meaning. In contrast, saying a-LEI-hem is just mispronouncing the word, not changing its meaning. Of course, no words should be mispro- nounced or accented wrongly, but the error is most serious when the meaning of a word changes.
Second pasuk: v’na-T’NU (of v’naw-S’NU, but not v’nas-NU). AL TZITZIT (don’t pause here, don’t kiss your tzitzit, combine the phrase) HAKANAF. Then add, P’TIL T’CHEILET. The previous time and the next time the word TZITZIT is said, they are stand-alone nouns. But this time, the word is connected to HAKANAF. It is upon the TZITZIT HAKANAF that we put (tie) the thread of T’cheilet.

We’re not really finished this review, but we are, for this issue. Let’s end with this: When one says the last pasuk of Sh’ma, one should have KAVANA (have in mind) to fulfill the mitzva of L’MAAN TIZKOR, in order to remember the day you came out of the land of Egypt, all the days of your life. It’s one of the 613 mitzvot, and this is one way we fulfill it. Have KAVANA. <mtc>

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