Pronouncing Words Properly

When I was a young boy, the schools placed a great emphasis on Keri'a – teaching children to read properly. They insisted that youngsters must be taught all the nuances of the Hebrew language, so they know how to accurately pronounce each letter of every word. This continued the tradition that was followed by our ancestors in Syria. Indeed, a number of sources emphasize the importance of praying slowly and carefully, ensuring not to skip or mispronounce even a single word. The Sefer Misvot Katan (Rav Yosef of Corbeil, France, 13 th century) writes that one must treat each word like a precious jewel, seeing to it that not a single word is missed. And the Shelah (Rav Yeshaya Horowitz, d. 1630) writes that if one mispronounces even a single letter of the prayer text, he can end up "destroying the world." For example, when reciting in Birkat Kohanim the words "Ya'er Hashem" – "G-d shall shine," mispronouncing the word "Ya'er" could result in a words that means, "G-d shall curse," and thus the Kohen ends up cursing, Heaven forbid, instead of blessing. Another example is the word "Anenu," which means "answer us." If it is pronounced with a Dagesh (dot) in the Nun, this word means "torment us." Mispronouncing words can also result in outright blasphemy. In the verse "Nafshenu Hiketa L'Hashem" – "Our soul awaits G-d" (Tehillim 33:20), the word "Hiketa" begins with the letter Het. If one mispronounces this Het as a Heh, then the meaning of the word is "strike," as though we proclaim that we are beating the Almighty, Heaven forbid. And in the verse "L'Hashem Ha'aretz U'mlo'ah, Tebel Ve'yoshebeh Bah" – "The earth and its fulness belong to G-d; the world and those who reside in it" (Tehillim 24:1), one must recite the word "Tebel" ("world") with the emphasis on the second syllable. Otherwise, this word means "produce that has not been tithed," implying that this is all that G-d owns, Heaven forbid. Likewise, we recite each morning the blessing "Malbish Arumim" – that G-d "clothes the naked," but if we omit the Dagesh in the Mem of "Arumim," the word means "the clever ones." This blessing would thus imply that Hashem provides clothing only for those who are clever. Another common mistake is omitting the "Mapik Heh" at the end of certain words. When the Heh at the end of a word has a Dagesh, it must be pronounced in a special way, and failing to do so corrupts the word's meaning. King Shlomo warns in the Book of Mishleh (18:21), "Mavet Ve'haim Be'yad Lashon" – "Death and life are in the hand of the tongue." This is certainly true in the realm of interpersonal relations, as gossip and slander can sometimes be a matter of life or death, but additionally, as we have seen, mispronounced words in prayer can reverse the prayer's meaning, resulting, Heaven forbid, in dire consequences.