Column #96. 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.

Old business - MB wrote to point out that while enthusiastically discussing the correct pronuncia- tion (really, accenting) of Birkat Kohanim, we inadvertently misread and therefore mistransliter- ated the Torah's "lead in" to the three-pasuk blessing. Thus you shall bless the Children of Israel, AMOR LAHEM, not emor lahem. Rav Aryeh Kalpan z"l in Living Torah still renders the words as "say to them". Others use the phrase, "Saying to them". Rashi says the form of the word AMOR is like ZACHOR and SHAMOR. He also points out the the word is spelled in the "full" form, i.e. with a VAV, ALEF-MEM-VAV-REISH (as opposed to EMOR which is spelled in the Torah without the VAV) to remind us that the BRACHA of the KOHANIM should not be said in haste, but rather with proper KAVANA and a full heart. Thank you, MB, for your comments. And you were the only one to call that error to our attention.

On the issue we raised last week and left with a request of readers to comment: Should a person who was raised with the Ashkenazis pronunciation of Hebrew switch to the Sfardit pronunciation when making Aliya (or when going to a school that teaches davening that way)? Is this switch considered a praiseworthy improvement on his way of davening from his childhood, or is it a betrayal of TORAT IMECHA as in V'AL TITOSH TORAT (or TORAS) IMECHA? And if the answer to this specific question is that a person should maintain the pronunciation of his "home", then what about the issue of which syllable to accent? Should that be subject to the same guidelines as the first question raised? Or, as we suggested in last week's column, there is a difference.

In case we have lost some reader's understanding of the question being posed, let's look at a specific example.

Twice in the SH'MA, we find the word V'N'TATI (VAV/SH'VA - NUN/KAMATZ GADOL - TAV (without a DAGESH and with a PATACH under it) - TAV (with a DAGESH and a CHIRIK) - YUD. Once, G-d says: "And I will give the rain of the land in its time..." and one pasuk later, "And I will give grass in your fields for your animals..."

The word is pronounced by different Jews in different ways. More ways than potato or tomato. [1] v'na-ta-TI, [2] v'naw-sa-TI, [3] v'na-tha-TI,[4] v'na-tha-TI (these first four possibilities all being accented on the last syllable), and [5] v'na- TA-ti, [6] v'naw-SA-ti, [7] v'na-THA-ti, [8] v'naw- THA-ti. There are probably a few more ways that Jews pronounce this word, but we'll leave it at these 8 ways, without claiming that these are all common ways to say the word. But here's the question. Many of us (Ashkenazi Olim from English-speaking countries) grew up with [6]. As has appeared numerous times in this column, it is incorrect to accent the second-to-the-last-syllable, MIL'EIL. That would give the word a different meaning - And I gave. The word is supposed to be future tense, which is accomplished by the accent of na-TA-ti (or naw-SA-ti) being moved to the last syllable, MILRA. [1], [2], [3], and [4] all have the correct accent for this word. [5], [6], [7], and [8] do not. I believe (I'm making this personal and again inviting reader feedback) that a [5] should switch to [1], a [6] should switch to [2], a [7] to [3], and an [8] to [4].
On the other hand, I don't think a [2] should change to a [1] (in spoken Hebrew, but not for davening and Torah reading), nor should a [2] or a [1] switch to [3] or [4], even if we recognize that TH (as in think) is the more authentic way to pronounce a TAV without a DAGESH.

Feedback has begun; let's start with YL, who states that whatever we can repair of centuries of erosion of the language, we should. Here is part of his email, to put his comments in perspective. (Not everyone agrees, as you will see.)

...And now to the point. The differences between "Ashkenazi" and "Sephardi" pro- nunciation stem from ASSIMILATION. Our (and their) ancestors were sloppy about "AL TITOSH TORATH IMECHA". They assimilated linguistically over a considerable period of time to the pronunciation of the languages in which they found themselves. For the ASHKENAZI part, no central or eastern European language has guttural consonants (ALEF, HEH, HET or 'AYIN), for example, so we lost them too. For the SEPHARDI part, the Arabic they found themselves immersed in has only four or five distinct vowels, and so the SEPHARDI Jews lost the richness of 16 different vowel sounds found in the NIKUD system we both use. No more HATAF-PATAH/PATAH/KAMATZ differentiation, or TSERE/SEGHOL/HATAF-SEGHOL etc. etc. It is possible to reconstruct from the GEMARA (mostly in BERACHOT) how Hebrew was pronounced before the onset of GALUT. Now that we are back home, and GALUT is ending if not over, if we can drop YOM TOV SHENI SHEL GALUYOT, we can certainly revert to a more accurate pronunciation of Hebrew.
So far, both HR and AA have expressed their halachic opinions that we differentiate between correct and incorrect DIKDUK and we do not preserve incorrect DIKDUK in the name of MINHAG. However, there are Traditions of differ- ent groups of Jews as to the pronunciation of certain letters and vowels that differ from one group to the other, and these can (and should) be honored in the davening and Torah reading of the members of the particular group.

When I asked AA about the halachic "warning" to distinguish between ALEF and AYIN, CHET and CHAF, etc. in davening - especially in the SH'MA, his answer was that our children and grand- children might develop the distinctions because they are exposed to them here in Israel, but we need not (and maybe should not) pull our throat muscles (my wording) in an attempt to gutturalize the "friendly brother" letters. <more to come>

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