The Halachos of Grammar

The Halachos of Grammar

By Yair Hoffman

A young girl from Borough Park approaches a religious Jewish man and asks, “Can you cross me the street?”

A Kollel Yungerman presents a remarkable Talmudic discourse after Kaballas Shabbos services in shul and begins with the words.. “The Rambam brings down a halacha..”

What do these two people have in common?

Grammar – or rather, the lack of it.

Does it make a difference, however?

It seems that it actually does. A verse in Nechemiah (13:24) castigates a group of people for their lack of language skills. “VeAinam makirim ledaber yehudis uchilshon am veam – And they do not know how to speak Hebrew and like the language of every nation. It seems that there is a debate as to how to understand the last three words of this verse. According to the Rambam (Hilchos Tefillah 1:4) and the Nodah BiYehudah the words are to be understood in the following sense. These people were neither able to speak Hebrew nor any other language fully. The vov is connective and the verse is then rendered as “And they do not know how to speak [neither ] Hebrew and the language of other nations. According to other commentators the prophet is castigating them just for being unable to speak Hebrew.

The Rambam is consistent with this position elsewhere too. In Hilchos Krias Shma (2:10) he writes: A person may read the Shma in any language that he understands. One who reads it in another language must be careful not to make grammatical errors in that language, and must be as careful in its grammar as he is in the Holy Tongue.

The Gemorah in Sanhedrin (17a) tells us that each member of the Sanhedrin was fluent in seventy languages.

The reasons for the need to express oneself in a grammatically proper fashion are pretty intuitive. It is necessary for communication. It is also necessary to convey precise meanings and nuances. A proper understanding of grammar allows one to understand things better as well. For example, in Lashon HaKodesh once can get a better understanding of both Chumash and Gemorah if one is well versed in the grammatical aspects of the language. A good grasp of grammar also leaves a person with a better ability toretain information.

Yet another reason for expressing oneself with proper grammatical form is in the way we are looked upon by others. Quite often it is also the way in which other people judge us. As a final reason, many Achronim have also ruled that the misuse of grammar manifests a subtle lack of emes, the quality of Truth.

There is a fascinating incident in which Rabbi Moshe Isserles’s cousin, Rabbi Shlomo Luria (known as the Maharshal) took Rabbi Isserles (the Ramah) to task for what appeared to be errors in grammar in his Darchei Moshe and Ramah. The Ramah replied that they were not errors in grammar since that was already the common usage.

All this of course is whether there is a requirement to use proper dikduk and grammar in languages other than Hebrew and in other written forms. However, in daveining and in the recitation of brachos, all authorities agree that it is important to pronounce words properly and to express oneself in a grammatically correct form.

In Hebrew grammar there are the Beged Kefet letters – the letters that at time have a dagesh, a dot mark that indicates that the letter is stressed. The general rule is that if the previous syllable ends with a letter tha leaves the mouth open the next begged kefet letter loses its dagesh. Thus in the posuk Ki mitzion taitzay sorah the tof immediately following Tzion retains its dagesh because the nun in Tzion ends with the mouth closed (notice that your tongue is touching the top of your mouth). However, the Tof in Sorah (otherwise Torah) has lost its dagesh since the previous word “taytzay” ended with an ay – with the mouth open.

This explanation leads us with the conclusion that in the blessings of Borei Pri HoAitz and Borei Pri HaAdamah the word should really be pronounced “fri” rather than “pri” since the previous word was borei ending with the mouth open. Indeed this is the position of Rabbi Ben Tzion Abba Shaul, that the word should be pronounced “fri.” Rabbi Ovadiah Yoseph in Yavia Omer Volume IX #22 disagrees with Rav Ben Tzion Abbah Shaul and says that when the word is intimately connected to the next word the what should be done is to create a pause between the previous word and the begged kefet word so that the word will still retain its natural dagesh. Thus Rav Ovadia Yoseph advocates that a slight pause be inserted between the words borei and pri.

[One of the primary purposes of Brachos is the expression of hakaros HaTov, expressing appreciation. Since we discussing both brachos and the idea of expressing oneself with proper grammar it is particularly appropriate now to express appreciation for the fine work of the editorial staff, Reb Shmuel Gerber and his staff for the wonderful job that they do in correcting the grammar in these articles.]

The same issue applies to the pronunciation of the Kaddish. The words BeAlma di vra chirusay (or kirusay) have the same issue. Rav Ovadiah Yoseph states that the word kirusay is actually modifying Yisgadal VeYiskadahs rather than it being associated with BeAlma di vra. He, therefore, advocates that one pause after the word vra and then pronounce kirusay with its full dagesh.

One last issue the idea of milail and milrah, which syllable is stressed in the pronumnciation of Hebrew words. Ideally, words in Hebrew are pronounced emphasizing the last syllable, while English words, in general, emphasize the first syllable. Thus the standard pronunciation of Gut Shabbos is actually incorrect. It should emphasize the last syllable (as in Shabuuuss not Shaaabus). At times the incorrect stress could actually change the meaning, such as in the word Veahavta in Shma. Stressing the latter syllable means and you shall love whereas stressing the earlier syllable means “and you have loved” in the past tense.

It is important in all this to have the proper motivation in all this and not just to be an anti-social annoying grammar stickler. The main motivation that we should have in all this of course is that exercising proper grammar in all languages allows us to serve Hashem better. The ultimate ideal is to be a true eved Hashem.