Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading

Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading

SEE FEAR

VA-TI-RE-NA HA’M’YALDOT ET HAELOKIM

The midwives feared G-d; they did not see Him. The first word above has an ALEF with no vowel under it. The ALEF is totally silent and absent from the pronunciation of the word. The word is VA-TI-RE-NA, and they feared… If it is mispronounced VA- TIR-ENA, the meaning of the word is changed to and they saw… (which, of course they couldn’t and didn’t).
SEE FEAR

VA-TI-RE-NA HA’M’YALDOT ET HAELOKIM
An ALEF and a HEI in the middle of a word is not heard from at all. But note also, that an ALEF with a vowel sometimes loses it to the provious letter, when it (the previous letter) has no vowel of its own.
Firstborn of Yaakov is R’U-VEIN, REISH with a SH’VA and an ALEF with a SHURUK. You hear the REISH with the shortest of vowel sounds (which we usually indicate in English letters as a letter followed by an apostrophe) - R’. And the rest of that same syllable is an ALEF, which doesn’t have a consonantal sound, but does have the vowel sound of the SHURUK, U (as the oo of food). The whole syllable is R’U.
The family from R’UVEIN is R’UVEINI - occurring 18 times in Tanach, but always with a prefix - either HAR’UVEINI or L’R’UVEINI. In these words, the REISH does not have its own vowel (just a METEG) and it (the REISH) takes the SHURUK away from the ALEF, leaving the ALEF “RAFA”, totally silent and non-contributory to the pronunciation of the word. HA-RUVEINI and LARUVEINI, not HA-R’UVEINI or LAR’UVEINI. In this case, the mispronunciation does not change the meaning - it’s just not the correct way to say those words. A Baal Korei (or Baal K’ri’a) would not have to repeat and correct the pronunciation, as he should with VATIRENA.
Remember, if the REISH or whatever letter precedes the ALEF with a vowel has its own vowel, then the ALEF will be pronounced with its vowel. R’UVEIN is our current example of this.
Another example of the VATIRENA situation above, namely, when the ALEF has no vowel, is found in Kabbalat Shabbat, at the end of T’hilim 99, right before MIZMOR L’DAVID. Moshe and Aharon were among His Kohanim and Sh’muel was B’KO-R’EI SH’MO. In B’KO-R’EI, the REISH has a SH’VA NA and the ALEF has a TZEIREI - R’EI. But the next word is KO-RIM - the ALEF has no vowel and we don’t hear it at all. KO and RIM - no influence from the ALEF.
Another example of the ALEF that loses its vowel to the preceding letter which has no vowel of its own is found in the last paragraph of Birkat HaMazon, first word. YUD with a SH’VA, REISH with no vowel, ALEF- SHURUK. Not YIR-U (which would be wrong for the YUD anyway), but Y’RU. As it it were YUD-REISH-VAV.

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• Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading
• Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading - In EIM LAMIKRA HASHALEIM,