CS (temporarily) from Galus asks about the DALET before G-d's name. Last week we wrote about the prefix-letters of Hebrew, and the effect (or not) they have on the vowel of the ALEF of G-d's name. We say VA-DO... (and G-d). BA-DO... (in G-d). But MEI-ADO...(from G-d). MEM or SHIN or HEI prefixed to G-d's name, do NOT cause the ALEF's vowel to drop. VAV, KAF, LAMED, and BET do cause the vowel to go away from under the ALEF. And so does the Aramaic DALET prefix. The well-known sentence in U'VA L'TZIYON, the Aramaic translation of BARUCH K'VOD HASHEM MIMKOMO is B'RICH Y'KARA DADONOI (not DA-ADO... or D'ADO...). In davening, that's about it. The word is found hundreds of times in Targum Onkeles. A well-edited siddur should drop the SH'VA under the first of the two YUDs in the double-YUD used for G-d's name, or from under the first letter of the YUD-KAY-VAV-KAY word, if that's what the siddur uses for His name. If your siddur keeps the SH'VA under the YUD after the DALET, it's not intentional; it does not reflect a different opinion. It's just inadvertent.

On another note... Gamliel, the leader of the tribe of Menashe, was the son of P'DA-TZUR. Even though there is a HEI after the DALET, it is unvoweled and therefore silent. No aspiration. Not p'dah-tzur. Only a HEI in the middle of a word with a SH'VA (or any other vowel) is sounded (and heard).

In the list of leaders at the beginning of the sedra, notice the prefixed LAMED to the names of the tribes. LIR-U-VEIN. The LAMED before a SH'VAed letter gets a CHIRIK under the LAMED, and draws the first letter of the word to it in a closed syllable, changing the SH'VA from NA to NACH. Not LI-R'U- VEIN, but LIR-U-VEIN. So too, LIZ-VU-LUN and LIM-NA-SHE. For Yehuda, the LAMED gets a CHIRIK and the SH'VA under the YUD drops away. LI-HU-DA.

L'SHIM-ON is the "normal" situation. LAMED/SH'VA attaching itself to the first syllable. SHIM, L'SHIM. So to for L'YIS-SA-CHAR,L'EFRAYIM, L'DAN, L'ASHER, L'GAD, L'NAFTALI. And in the case of BINYAMIN, the DAGESH of the BET drops out, giving us L'VINYAMIN.

Last week's column was about the pronunciation of G-d's name with a prefix-letter attached to it. The mnemonic device for the rules of this is MOSHE MOTZI V'KALEV MACHNIS. We wrote that the sentence doesn't mean much, it's just a mnemonic device. JL pointed out how very much the sentence means on its own: Moshe took (the People)
out (of Egypt) and Kalev (was one of the leaders who) brought them in (to the Land of Israel).

While we're doing a second TBDATR column in this issue, let's take a look at some items from the reading of Shavuot morning.

In commandment no. 10, LO TACHMOD, we have a list of what we may not covet. The list includes V'AVDO V'AMATO V'SHORO V'CHA'MORO.

Notice that the connective VAV has a SH'VA under it when the letter following it has a "regular" vowel - the PATACH of AVDO and the CHOLAM of SHORO, but gets a PATACH before a CHATAF- PATACH, as before AMATO and CHAMO- RO. A CHATAF-vowel is grammatically like a SH'VA. That means that a VAV- SH'VA before it would be like two SH'VAs in a row at the beginning of a word, which cannot happen.

Now look at the list of who is forbidden to do M'LACHA on Shabbat, in commandment no. 4 - U'VINCHA U'V'TECHA...U'VHEMTACHA V'GERCHA. Your son, daughter, and animal all begin with a BET. The DAGESH drops out and the VAV becomes a SHURUK - U'VINCHA, not V'BINCHA nor V'VIN- CHA. The DAGESH drops from the GIMEL of GEI-R'CHA too, but the VAV-SH'VA stays.

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