[Don’t forget to see the Halacha
Encounters below!]
And [Yaakov] took from the stones of the place
and placed them by his head and [he] lied down in that place (28:11).
Rashi explains that
from the fact the Torah mentions “in that place” we learn that
only in that place did Yaakov Avinu lie down. Because instead
of going straight to Lavan in order to find himself a wife, Yaakov
made a detour to the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever. And for 14 years
he did not sleep. He spent day and night toiling in Torah.
But the question is
why? Why didn’t Yaakov listen to Yitzchok and Rivkah and
go right away. Why did he not try to come back as soon as possible
so that he can attend to the needs of his elderly parents. Indeed,
the Gemora (Megillah 16) learns from Yaakov that the Mitzvah of
learning Torah supercedes the Mitzvah of honoring one father and
mother. Yet this is merely justification not an explanation.
Yes, Yaakov was justified in his refraining from honoring his
parents because of the greatness of the Mitzvah of learning Torah.
But why was it so vital for Yaakov Avinu to employ this principle,
Gadol Talmud Torah M’Kavod Avihem - the learning of Torah
is greater than honoring one’s parents. After all, the same Gemora
says that Yaakov was, at this point, 63 years old. And we can’t
forget that we are dealing with Yaakov - yosheiv ohalim
(25:27) - who dwelled in the tents of Torah. Every day of these
63 years was dedicated to absorbing the lessons of Torah which
were taught to him by his grandfather Avraham and father Yitzchok.
So why was it so crucial to immerse himself into study of Torah
for additional 14 sleepless years?
HaGaon Rav Yaakov
Kamenetzky zt”l explains that the answer lies in the difference
between the teachings that Yaakov received from Yaakov and Yitzchok
and the teachings of Shem and Ever.
Avrohom and Yitzchok
were spiritual giants and the Torah that they taught was like
a powerful magnet which attracted everything good and repelled
the evil. Yaakov grew up in a protected environment, but
now it was time to leave. Now he was facing the challenge
of wicked the Lavan. But how would he deal with evil? He could
not have learned this from Avrohom and Yitzchok simply because
their presence allowed no evil. When Yishmael chose for
himself a bad path, immediately he and his mother were sent away.
It was now that Yaakov turned to the Yeshiva of Shem and
Ever. Shem, the son of Noach, lived through the flood. He received
from his father a tradition of how to survive amongst evil.
How to build an “ark” to insulate oneself and not be affected
by the evil of the world. Similarly, Ever lived through
the generation of Dispersion - a generation united in their
rebellion against Hashem. And he survived. Survived in the true
sense of the word, with his spirituality intact.
Now we can understand
why was it so crucial to attend the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever precisely
at this point. During these fourteen years Yaakov could not afford
to sleep. Day and night he was building an “ark,” a capsule around
himself that would allow him to survive in a world of Lavan, a
world of falsehood. It was these fourteen years that allowed
him to stay 22 years with Lavan, but remain Yaakov Avinu who could
say “with Lavan I sojourned but 613 Mitzvos I did keep”. (Rashi
32:5) Because Torah does not only educate and elevate. Torah guards
and protects those who are willing to dedicate themselves to it.
Rabbi Zlatapolsky learns nightly in the Zichron
Aharon Mechanchim Division of the Chicago Community Kollel.
Halacha Encounters
The Name of HaShem
Rabbi Moshe Rosenstein
Every morning in davening,
we say in the beginning of “Hodu,” “Give thanks to HaShem,
declare His Name… Praise in His holy Name…” [Divrei HaYomim
I 16:8-10] The Vilna Gaon explains this to mean that it is fitting
for us to give praise for the fact that we merit to be able to
say the name of HaShem.1 It is a tremendous
zechus for us that HaShem allows His holy Name to be uttered
by His chosen people, despite the fact that we are mere mortals
and otherwise should have no business referring to Him by name.
In this week’s Halacha Encounters, we will examine some
of the laws pertinent to the uttering of the Name of HaShem.
What is the Proper Pronunciation
of the Name of HaShem?
Of all the names of
HaShem that appear in our daily prayers and Brachos, by far the
most common is the Name referred to as “The Sheim Havaya.”
This is the Sheim HaShem made up of the letters yud-hey-vav-hey.2
It is forbidden for us to pronounce this Name using those letters.
The Mishna in Sanhedrin (90a) tells us that among those who lose
their portion in the World to Come are those who pronounce the
Name according to its letters. Tosafos explains that this
is referring to the Name of yud-hey-vav-hey.3
In truth, we do not know the proper, true pronunciation of these
four letters. The Gemora tells us that HaShem said “Not the way
I am written is the way I am pronounced – I am written as yud-hey…
but I am called by aleph-daled.”4 This means
the Sheim Havaya is to be pronounced as “Adonoy.”5
The poskim discuss the proper nekudos for the pronunciation
of this Name, as well as how careful we must be to pronounce it
properly.
The Aleph
The first aleph
of the Sheim has beneath it a chataf-patach.6
This is pronounced like the letter “a” in the word father.
There are some times, however, that this letter is not pronounced
this way. If the Sheim HaShem is preceded by any of the
following letters, the patach is shifted to that letter
and the aleph does not have any vowel added to it. The
letters are: beis, vav, lamed or kof.7
[For example, in the fifth passuk of Mizmor Shir Chanukas
HaBayis LiDovid, the Sheim HaShem is pronounced, “…zam’ru
LADONOY chasidov.”] Any other letter that precedes
the Name of HaShem is simply added to the beginning and the aleph
is pronounced as it normally is.
The Daled
The daled of
the Sheim has a cholam above it.8 This
makes the “d” sound as one would say the word “dough.”
Many poskim stress the vital importance of pronouncing
this letter properly. For some reason it has come into practice
that many people mispronounce this daled by either pronouncing
it as if it has a shva beneath it [as in the word did]
or as if it had a chirik [as in deed].
The consensus of the Gedolei HaPoskim of our times (including
HaGaon Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach zt”l9 and ylch”t
HaGaon Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv shlit”a10 and
HaGaon Rav Moshe Shternbuch shlit”a11) is that
this is a wrong pronunciation of the Sheim HaShem. Many
go so far as to say that one has not been yotzei if they
pronounced the name in this way.12 Certainly, however,
if it is pronounced in an acceptable way in which a person consistently
pronounces a cholam based on his own mesorah, it
is acceptable. To quote HaGaon Rav Shimon Schwab zt”l,
“[the daled] can be pronounced variously as: ‘OH’ or ‘OI’
or ‘AW,’ depending on individual minhagim. However, it
certainly is not pronounced ‘EE.’ Consequently, the often mispronounced
word ‘Ahdeenoy’ is not the Name of HaKadosh Baruch Hu
and is totally meaningless. The use of this word for Shem
HaKadosh is a travesty, and those who pronounce it this way
should be corrected.”13 Likewise, Rav Elyashiv ruled
that a shul who has a Baal Koreh or Shliach Tzibbur
that pronounces the Sheim this way should correct the matter.14
The Nun
The nun is
pronounced with a komatz beneath it.15 (As in
the word gnaw.) It is important for one
to be sure not to accidentally pronounce this as a patach (as
in night). The only distinction between
the word “my masters” (“adonai” with a patach beneath
the nun) and the Sheim HaShem is the komatz
under the nun, changing the word from “chol” to
“kodesh.” [See Minchas Shai on Beraishis 18:3]
There is some discussion amongst the poskim regarding the
proper way for Sefaradim to pronounce this. Since in the
“usual” Sefaradi havarah (accent), there is often little
or no distinction made between a komatz and a patach,
some poskim rule that when it comes to pronouncing the
Sheim HaShem, even Sefaradim should be careful to
pronounce the komatz in the Ashkenazi havarah.16
Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach zt”l, however, ruled that Sefaradim
should certainly pronounce this komatz as they would any
other, as their ancestors have done for generations.17
However, if a Sefaradi is davening as the shliach
tzibbur for an Ashkenaz shul, he should do his best
to pronounce his tefillos in the Ashkenazi havarah,18
particularly when it comes to the saying of the Sheim Hashem.19
_____________________________
1
Cited in Nesivos Emunah vol. 2 page 1
2
The “word” Havaya is simply a shuffling of the letters
of the way the Name is normally spelled.
3
Avodah Zara 18a s.v. Hogeh HaSheim
4
Pesachim 50a. The nekudos [vowels] commonly found
beneath the letters in a siddur actually have nothing to
do with the true pronunciation
5
See Beur HaGra Orach Chaim 5:1 and Mishna Berura
s.k 2.
6
See note 5.
7
Beur HaGra ibid. In Aramaic tefillos where the
letter daled can appear before the Sheim (as we
find in Uva LiTzion), it is treated like the bais, vav,
kaf and lamed.
8
Mishna Berura ibid.
9
Halichos Shlomo 7, note 11.
10
In a faxed teshuva from HaRav Yosef Ephrati shlit”a.
11
Teshuvos ViHanhagos 1:128, 2:77, 4:2.
12
See Halichos Shlomo. This was also stated publicly by
HaGaon Rav Yehuda Zev Segal zt”l in a public address in
the Mir Yeshiva in Yerushalayim (quoted by HaRav Dovid Zucker
shlit”a).
13
Quoted from “Rav Schwab on Prayer” [Artscroll] page 3.
14
Faxed teshuva.
15
M.B. ibid.
16
Teshuvos ViHanhagos 1:128 siting HaGaon Rav Chaim Kanievsky
shlit”a as well as the author, Rav Moshe Shternbuch shlit”a.
17
Halichos Shlomo 1, note 6. However, regarding the relatively
new “Havara Yiraelit” used by some Ashkenazim nowadays,
see Rav Shlomo Zalman’s comments in Halichos Shlomo 5,
note 67, as well as Teshuvos ViHanhagos 2:77.
18
Halichos Shlomo 5:20 – as well as visa versa.
19
Teshuvos ViHanhagos 1:128 and 2:76.
Rabbi Rosenstein learns
full time in the Kollel and is a frequent contributor to Halacha
Encounters.