Column #47. 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.

Proper phrasing seems to be a popular topic. Here are some more TT reader comments.

On the second bracha before SH’MA of Arvit, “proof” that it should be OHEIV pause AMO YISRA’EL can be seen in the S’fardi version of the bracha. They say: OHEIV ET AMO YISRA’EL. Thank you new father DR for this point.

Before we get to the next reader’s comment, I must repeat something we’ve said before about this column. It isn’t for everyone. There are people who skip right over it as they browse through Torah Tidbits, perhaps after having gotten a bad headache from attempting a column at one time. On the other hand, there are people who love it. I do; that’s why I started this column in TT in the first place. But I’m a rank amateur compared to some of the people I’ve met who light up to this subject. I sit at the dust of their feet and try to absorb and understand the wisdom they are trying to share. And then I can try to present it in the pages of TT, in the hopes that there are others who will also appreciate the fine tuning that we are trying to accomplish with this column (and other features of TT as well).

With that said, let’s take a deeper look at HAMELECH (HA)YOSHEIV... courtesy of DL, whom I thank so much for this contribution.
Here’s the issue. The King (Who) sits... AL KISEI RAM V’NISA. Depending upon where a pause is made, there are two ways to understand this sentence. What is the phrase RAM V’NISA (high and exalted) modifying? Is the intention that G-d is RAM V’NISA, or is the throne upon which He sits high and exalted? Is it to be read, HAMELECH (HA)YOSHEIV pause AL KISEI RAM V’NISA or is it HAMELECH (HA)YOSEIV AL KISEI pause RAM V’NISA?

Last week, following PPR’s suggestion, we looked at Yeshayahu 57:15, where G-d is described as RAM V’NISA and as SHOCHEIN AD. This implies that the part in davening should parallel the pasuk, giving HAMELECH (HA)YOSHEIV AL KISEI, the King (Who) sits on a throne, He is RAM V’NISA and SHOCHEIN AD (and MAROM and KADOSH) — effectively linking the HAMELECH sentence with the SHOCHEIN AD sentence, even though there is a switch of SHALI’ACH TZIBUR between them on Shabbat, which sort of divides between the two statements. (Interesting that on Yom Tov, the two sentences are not split up, because the SHA”TZ for SHACHARIT begins with HA’KEIL.

DL agrees that if the source of RAM V’NISA is 57:15, then the phrase definitely applies to G-d and the comma that Rinat Yisrael siddur (and others?) puts between KISEI and RAM is justified.

But there is another source for the phrase, also from Yeshayahu — namely, 6:1. There, Yeshayahu is saying that in the year that Uziyahu the king died, he (Yeshayahu) “saw” G-d sitting on a high and exalted throne. At least that’s how some of the commentaries explain the pasuk. Malbim is of the opinion that RAM V’NISA, here too, applies to G-d.

Now we’ve got a problem. If G-d sitting on a KISEI and the adjectival phrase RAM V’NISA are borrowed by the authors of the Siddur from 57:17, then the comma belongs between KISEI and RAM. If these words are borrowed from 6:1 (it is reasonable to say this because K’DUSHA which is coming up in the davening shortly also comes from Yeshayahu 6), then it depends upon which of the commentaries is (more) correct. DL con- cludes that a careful analysis of the TROP in the p’sukim favors the opinion that RAM V’NISA do indeed apply to HaShem. But let’s say that a person who does not put the pause between KISEI and RAM has on what to rely. <mtc>

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