Towards better Davening and Torah Reading It has to do with accenting the correct syllable. Oh, no, not THAT again! Yes, that again. Because too many people don't take it seriously. Every word should be accented properly. But in most cases, accenting the wrong syllable is nothing more than accenting the wrong syllable. But sometimes, sometimes accenting the wrong syllable changes the meaning of the word. And sometimes, changing the meaning of the word threatens the validity of the performance of the mitzva. And that's serious. Specifically, there are 6 words (one occurs twice, so there are 7 words) in the SH'MA, all of the same "style", that an incorrect accent changes the meaning of the word. The strictest opinions actually claim that the Sh'ma might not be valid with that kind of mistake. The generous, lenient opinons don't do that far, but all will admit that the words should be pronounced properly and their meanings should not be distorted by mis-accenting. First of the words in question: v'a-hav'TA. Without the VAV, the word a-HAV-ta is accented on the HEI-VET syllable and is past tense, second person singular, meaning "you loved". Prefix a VAV to it without shifting the accent, and you get v'a-HAV-ta, meaning "and you loved", still past tense, the VAV being only conjunctive. This VAV is actually the "tense-flipping" VAV, which switches the tense from past to future. This is usually indicated by a switch in accent from the next-to-the-last syllable (MIL'EIL) to the last syllable (MILRA). The correct way to accent the word is v'a-hav'TA. That means, "and you shall love". Which is what it is supposed to mean. v'a-HAV-ta is simply wrong. But it is a deeply ingrained habit for some of us. Challenge: Kick the habit! [The Parshat Vayigash Homepage]
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