(י”ט: א)בַּחדֶשׁ הַשְּׁלִישִׁי לְצֵאת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל It was early on a שבועות morning when, after staying up all night, I needed to be alert enough to correct the בעל קריאה when he pronounced the above bolded word לָצֵאת . Read More »

From Eliyahu Levin regarding this week’s הפטרה: ישעיה ו א וָאֶרְאֶ֧ה אֶת-אֲדנָ֛י יֹשֵׁ֥ב עַל-כִּסֵּ֖א רָ֣ם וְנִשָּׂ֑א שאלה שהגיעתני: אומרים בשחרית לשבת ויום טוב: המלך היושב על כסא רם ונשא. האם המלך הוא רם ונשא או הכסא? מצאתי שההזכרה היחידה בכל תנ”ך של כסא רם ונשא היא בהפטרת השבוע ושם הרד”ק והמלבי”ם חולקים אם הרם ונשא הוא על השם או על הכסא. Read More »

(יח: כא) וְאַתָּה תֶחֱזֶה מִכָּל-הָעָם אַנְשֵׁי-חַיִל יִרְאֵי אֱלהִים One should be very careful with the above bolded word. The proper pronunciation is “yir-AI,” with specific emphasis on the חיריק under the יו”ד and the separation of the first and second syllables. Read More »

(י”ט: י”ח) וְהַר סִינַי עָשַׁן כֻּלּוֹ As רש”י writes on this pasuk, there is a very distinct difference between עָשַׁן and עָשָׁן . The true meaning of the פסוק is that הר סיני was smoked i.e. covered in smoke. If read incorrectly with two קמצים it would imply that the mountain was all smoke. Read More »

When בני ישראל are faced with the ominous situation of having a sea on one side, and an invading Egyptian army on the other, some pretty harsh words are hurled in משה’s direction. Read More »

Just wanted to highlight one of Elie’s points below from last week but on this week’s פרשה : י: ו וּמָלְאוּ הלמ”ד בשוא נע, לא לקרוא וּמָלוּ It is not absolutely essential to use the שוא נע . However, one must be very careful not to skip the שוא altogether and pronounce it וּמָלוּ . Surely, the locusts were not circumcising the Egyptians houses. Read More »

As a general rule, the first letter of a word will usually have a דגש unless preceded by a word ending with a vowel sound. Also, if a word is prefixed by a ה’ הידיעה it should also usually begin with a דגש in its first letter. There are numerous exceptions to this rule (as there are to every rule, including the rule that every rule has exceptions. Read More »

דקדוקי מילים וחלקם בעלי שינויי משמעות בפרשת וארא ובהפטרה, ובקריאת שבת במנחה ושני וחמישי. אני נעזר בספר אם למקרא של ר’ ניסן שרוני נר”ו. בתוספת הערות והדרכה לקורא מאורי טאניס נר”ו. Read More »

From Eliyahu Levin: ט לא שאלה שהגיעה אלי בשנה שעברה מנויורק: Rav Eliyahu, Shalom UVracha -Please excuse me for writing to you in Loazeet, but please feel free to reply in Leshon HaKodesh. Read More »

(ה: ז) וְקֹשְׁשׁוּ לָהֶם תֶּבֶן At the end of a פסוק or at an אתנחתא , we find that שֶמֶן becomes שָמֶן and אֶבֶן becomes אָבֶן but for some odd reason תֶּבֶן does not become תָּבֶן . I did a little fishing around in a Concordance and I came up with a theory that perhaps we do not modify the word if it will appear to change its meaning. Read More »

דקדוקי מילים וחלקם בעלי משמעות בפרשת שמות ובהפטרות. אני נעזר בספר אם למקרא של ר’ ניסן שרוני נר”ו. בתוספת הערות והדרכה לקורא מאורי טאניס נר”ו. Read More »

(ב: ו) וַתֹּאמֶר מִיַּלְדֵי הָעִבְרִים זֶה It would seem that the pronunciation of the word מילדי is quite crucial. Obviously, when pronounced correctly, it means “from the children of the Hebrews.” However, suppose it were to be erroneously pronounced מְיַלְדֵי . Read More »

A rather heated exchange has been brewing over at our sister-blog, AstroTorah , as to the exact proper grammatical term for sunrise. Is it נץ החמה or הנץ החמה? (Further, it is הָנֵץ or הֶנֵץ?) I figured we could settle this here. Read More »

From 2010: Last week, the בעל קריאה said אֵבֶל מצרים instead of אָבֵל מצרים. I did correct it on the spot but it occurred to me afterward that perhaps it is only אָבֵל because of סמיכות in which case, I don’t think it is a critical mistake absolutely requiring correction. Is that the case?But I was wrong: elie said… Read More »

In the beginning of this week’s פרשה we are told (א: י”א) that בני ישראל built two large cities for פרעה – פתם and רַעַמְסֵס . This may sound rather similar to the city in which יוסף placed his family (בראשית מ”ז: י”א ). Read More »

(מ”א: נ”ז) כִּי חָזַק הָרָעָב בְּכָל הָאָרֶץ When properly pronounced, the above means “because the famine had strengthened in the whole land.” The word חזק is used as a verb. However, if improperly pronounced חָזָק it is an adjective, meaning “the famine was strong.” Very correctable, in my opinion. Read More »

(מ”ב: י”ח) זֹאת עֲשׂוּ וִחְיוּ It is of utmost importance that the word עשו be pronounced properly and not עָשׂוּ . The word is meant to be a command but if improperly pronounced, it is a past tense verb. Basically, it is supposed to be “do,” not “did.” This is one of those examples which can really be tough to call depending on the בעל קריאה . Read More »

בס”ד יום א לסדר מעט צרי ומעט דבש למערכת שלום רציתי לעורר על שני ניקודים בפרשת השבוע (מקץ) שרוב החומשים משתבשים בהם. א. מא נ וליוסף יֻלַּד הלמ”ד בפתח. כן הוא לפי הדקדוק. וכתב על זה המנחת ש”י: בכל הספרים הלמ”ד בקמץ גם נמסר עליו במ”ג [=במקראות גדולות, הכוונה לדפוס ונציה]. א.ל. Read More »

The initial purpose of this blog was to alert people to Dikduk-related issues in the פרשה in advance. (I realize that my repostings late Friday afternoon do not serve that purpose too well.) But I would like to tap the resources of this blog’s knowledgeable readers for another related purpose. Read More »

(מ”ג: כ”ו) וַיָּבֹא יוֹסֵף הַבַּיְתָה וַיָּבִיאּוּ לוֹ אֶת הַמִּנְחָה Any explanations available on the anomalous דגש in the א of ויביאו ? Read More »