Published August 26, 2010
The Torah tells us of the blessings and curses to be pronounced on Har G’rizim and Har Eival, after entering
the Land. The list of curses contains 12 items. After the first, the format of the verses is the same: Cursed is one who _____, and the entire nation shall say AMEIN.
The first curse is a bit different. ... And the entire people shall speak up and say AMEIN.
The notes of V’ANU CHOL HAAM are DARGA T’VIR. There is a tendency to pause after a T’VIR (because of how much breath the DARGA T’VIR take). In this case, one should be careful not to pause, but to include V’AM’RU (with its TIPCHA) in the single phrase, which indicates that the people answered AMEIN.
A pause after HA’AM would give the pasuk a different meaning: Cursed is the man… And the people answered - What? Don’t know, but something) - and they (then) said AMEIN. The fact is that they responded only with AMEIN (as is clear in the following eleven p’sukim) to all the curse-statements.
It’s a little thing, but it makes the reading clear and beautiful when a BK (Baal K’ri’a or Baal Korei) does it right.
This has an interesting contast in our davening. Maariv, to be specific.
“Your children beheld Your Majesty as You parted the sea before Moshe. ‘This is my G-d’, they responded, and then said, ‘HaShem shall reign for ever and ever.’”
ZEH KEILI is what the said at the sea. And they also said HASHEM YIMLOCH…
In this case, the ANU and the AM’RU refer to different things that were said. And our pauses should reflect that. In the pasuk above, the ANU and AM’RU are both referring to AMEIN. And the reading should reflect that.
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