Column #105. 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 received a few emails about the MI CHAMOCHA - MI KAMOCHA anomaly. Nothing definitive, but... a few people mentioned the "ex- planation" that if the second KAMOCHA were to lose its DAGESH, then it would sound like the answer to the first question - Who is like You, HaShem, among the mighty? - is MICHA. So the DAGESH stays.And/or that G-d's name shouldn't be immediately followed by something that sounds like the name of an AVODA ZARA, idolatry, as in PESEL MICHA (Shoftim 18:31). With the DAGESH is doesn't sound like MICHA. CB writes that there are two other DGESH INCONSISTANCIES (his term) from T'hilim, that we have in the daily davening. This does not explain why one word has its DEGESH and the same word in the same pasuk does not, but it shows us that MI CHAMOCHA is not alone. T'hilim 148:2 - HA-L'LUHU CHOL MAL-ACHAV HA-L'LUHU KOL TZ'VA-AV. Let all His angels sing praise to Him, let all His Hosts sing praise to Him. (Interesting, I found a couple of T'hilims that had KOL and KOL in this pasuk, but the Sidurim and Tanachs that are reputed to be more accurate all have CHOL and KOL.). And the other one is in 150:5 (the next to the last pasuk in all of T'hilim) - HA-L'LUHU V'TZILTZ'LEI SHAMA, HA-L'LUHU B'TZILTZ'LEI T'RU'A. Again, some Sidurim have B' and B', even Rinat Yisrael, but the Koren Tanach and Eizor Eliyahu (one of the sidurim with the Nusach of the GR"A) have V' and B'. The TROP on these twoT'hilim occur- rences of NO DAGESH, YES DAGESH are identical and probably has (might have) something to do with the phenomenon. The reason I hedge with the effect of the TROP on the DAGESH YES/NO situation in T'hilim, is that, as you might know, the TROP that we are familiar with from the Torah reading, haftara, and megilot - even though melodies differ - the TROP and its rules are the same. This applies to 21 of the 24 books of Tanach, including ones that are never read in public. TROP (Taamei HaMikra) not only shows us how to "sing" from Tanach, but also how to read it on our own, where to pause, etc. Many grammar rules are linked to the TROP. Anyway, the difficulty comes from the fact that three books of Tanach - the ones known collectively as SIFREI EMET, aplay on words - Books of Truth, but also EMET are the initials of ALEF for IYOV (Job), MEM for MISHLEI (Proverbs), and TAV for T'hilim (Psalms). These three books have a different TROP system, one that is much, much less known than the other one. And, no, I'm not going to give a lesson on the Taamei HaMikra of Sifrei EMET.Not now, at least. Just know that it's different. So don't assume anything from the TROP when you read a T'hilim that shows the TROP-notes. Maybe some day we'll take a peep at this topic. Okay, new topic. Ready? (Don't answer quickly.) Here's another
example of a topic that some readers will already have known about well, and
others will say, I didn't know that! Or, I never noticed that! And others, who
probably aren't readers of this column anyway, will get a headache and quickly
move to another part ofTorah Tidbits. Take the word that gives the name to this
week's sedra - YITRO. (In the printed version of TT, we'll use Hebrew
characters, NIKUD, and Taamei HaMikra - in the electronic version, we'll do our
best to describe the notes and marks so things will be clear - more or less.)
Here are the opening words of the sedra: Look at the note over the REISH of YITRO and the one over the NUN (SOFIT) of MIDYAN. The same symbol is used for TWO DIFFERENT NOTES. The one on Yitro is a KADMA, which is a M'SHAREIT type of note, meaning that it leads to the next word without a pause (except for a very brief pause between words). The next word, KOHEIN,loses the DAGESH KAL from its first letter, and the phrase becomes YITRO CHOHEIN MIDYAN, Yitro the Minyanite priest. The note on MIDYAN is a PASHTA, which is a MAFSIK (of the third category, MISHNIM), indicating a light pause before continuing with the next words, CHOTEIN MOSHE, Moshe's father- in-law. In English, thiswould be like a comma: Yitro the Midyanite Kohen, Moshe's father-in-law, heard... The GERSHAYIM over the word VAYISHMA is actually less of a MAFSIK (pause- causer) than the PASHTA of MIDYAN. If we were to depict the pauses by a series of commas (from 1 to 4 commas), then the pasuk would read: VAYISHMA, YITRO KOHEIN MIDYAN,,CHOTEIN MOSHE,,, and so on. Notice the number of commas. The ZAKEIF-KATON on MOSHE is a second degree pause-causer (only an ETNACHTA and a SOF-PASUK would be first degree pause-causers, 4 commas in the "use commas to represent strength of pause" system. Now, in this particular instance (the opening phrase of this week's sedra), if the Torah reader were to pause after the name Yitro (which he shouldn't), it would not result in changing the meaning of the pasuk. Such an "error" would not be serious enough to require him to reread the words. But there are examples of themeaning or the flavor of the words changing, and that would be a more serious error. Remember, it's like the difference between a BIG TRUCK-DRIVER and a BIG-TRUCK DRIVER. Since in both of these cases, a dash is not used in "proper" English, the phrase would only be unanbiguous if a person said it with proper pauses to indicate what he meant. A BIG pause TRUCK no pause DRIVER indicates a large person and tells us nothing about the truck he drives. A BIG TRUCK pause DRIVER, tells us about the size of the truck and tells us nothing about the one driving it. This helps understand the role of TROP in proper phrasing. Back to the KADMA/PASHTA thing... Although they are identical symbols, they have different positioning on words, and that allows us to know which is what. PASHTA (the pause-causer) is always placed at the extreme left of the word - last letter at its left edge, regardless if it is on the accented syllable or not. However, if the accent is MIL'EIL, then a second PASHTA-mark is placed on the accented syllable. (If the word is MILRA, there will only be one PASHTA on it.) A KADMA (linker to the next word) is placed over the accented syllable. And even if the word's last letter is the accented syllable, the KADMA will be over the middle of the letter, thereby being distinguishable from a PASHTA, which will be placed at the far left of the letter. Before we conclude this topic for now, let's make things a little more (potentially) confusing. Besides the KADMA and PASHTA, the same symbol is also used before a ZAKEIF-KATON on the same word or over the first of two words connected by a MAKAF. In that case, it is neither a PASHTA or KADMA, but an indicator of a secondary accent. Some call it a MAKEIL (Minchat Shai). Ashkenazim often read this combination of TROP-marks in a special way. E.g. EL HAMIDBAR and V'ISHTECHA [The Parshat Yitro Homepage]
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