Reality is that most of us call it Shabbos so why promote people calling it Shabbat. When I taught in a Modern-Orthodox school I was approached by a graduate of YOF who had an issue with me not calling it Shabbat. I replied that this is how most people speak in the Five-Towns (been here for most of the past 50 years; when in Rome -the diaspora…) and what’s so bad anyway if kids pronounce it like their grandparents?!?! (She understood and almost agreed). By the way, when I speak with Sephardim and most Israelis I say Shabbat.
A Freilichin Purim and Shabbat Shalom
You are mixing up Modern Hebrew with traditional Sephardic pronunciation.
Modern Hebrew is simply the secular Ashkenazi Jews’ imitation of Sephardic pronunciation. The members of the Hebrew Language Comitte in Israel were not very exposed to Hebrew at all, and couldn’t pronounce a lot of length differences or consonants preserved by Sephardim in Hebrew.
Traditional Sephardic pronunciation—not the colloquial one influenced by modern Hebrew; I mean genuine Sephardic dialects—diffrentiate between ALL the Beged Kefet, in some dialects excluding soft vet; All the vowels, based on a system older than the Ashkenazi one; and ALL consonants, including Alef, Ayin, het, soft chaf, soft taf, yet and hard taf, tzadi and “ts”, and everything else, except for samech and sin.
By the way, some Sephardim and Yemenites have begun to adopt the original pronunciation of Sin, which means they are diffrentiating between everything now.
Sephardim feel marginalized because Ashkenazim don’t attempt to understand the parts of Jewish culture that we preserved and Ashkenazim didn’t. It’s a real shame.
As you are living in the US I understand your position. And as a student in YOF I had to deal with the competing pronunciations at school and shul.
In Israel there is a different dynamic. The more one believes in the State of Israel as part of our redemption the more one tends to adopt the customs and pronunciations of the greater Israeli society – even saying Sephardi slichot at times, or adopting a more liberal approach to Mei-Kitniyot.
The more one opposes the concept of the State the more one tends to maintain their “home” customs.
Here in Israel I cheerfully adopted Nusach Achid, struggle to use the sephardic pronunciation and encouraged my children to perform Hatarat-nedarim to align their customs with those of their spouses. I feel certain that my ancestors would prefer to see my children thriving in dynamic and unified Jewish homeland than preserving some Polish accent.
This an be an annoying issue with no real good way to deal with it to make everyone happy and certainly to be correct, as far as we know.
Good Shabbos
Reality is that most of us call it Shabbos so why promote people calling it Shabbat. When I taught in a Modern-Orthodox school I was approached by a graduate of YOF who had an issue with me not calling it Shabbat. I replied that this is how most people speak in the Five-Towns (been here for most of the past 50 years; when in Rome -the diaspora…) and what’s so bad anyway if kids pronounce it like their grandparents?!?! (She understood and almost agreed). By the way, when I speak with Sephardim and most Israelis I say Shabbat.
A Freilichin Purim and Shabbat Shalom
Lets bring back the “Thuf” guy!
You are mixing up Modern Hebrew with traditional Sephardic pronunciation.
Modern Hebrew is simply the secular Ashkenazi Jews’ imitation of Sephardic pronunciation. The members of the Hebrew Language Comitte in Israel were not very exposed to Hebrew at all, and couldn’t pronounce a lot of length differences or consonants preserved by Sephardim in Hebrew.
Traditional Sephardic pronunciation—not the colloquial one influenced by modern Hebrew; I mean genuine Sephardic dialects—diffrentiate between ALL the Beged Kefet, in some dialects excluding soft vet; All the vowels, based on a system older than the Ashkenazi one; and ALL consonants, including Alef, Ayin, het, soft chaf, soft taf, yet and hard taf, tzadi and “ts”, and everything else, except for samech and sin.
By the way, some Sephardim and Yemenites have begun to adopt the original pronunciation of Sin, which means they are diffrentiating between everything now.
Sephardim feel marginalized because Ashkenazim don’t attempt to understand the parts of Jewish culture that we preserved and Ashkenazim didn’t. It’s a real shame.
As you are living in the US I understand your position. And as a student in YOF I had to deal with the competing pronunciations at school and shul.
In Israel there is a different dynamic. The more one believes in the State of Israel as part of our redemption the more one tends to adopt the customs and pronunciations of the greater Israeli society – even saying Sephardi slichot at times, or adopting a more liberal approach to Mei-Kitniyot.
The more one opposes the concept of the State the more one tends to maintain their “home” customs.
Here in Israel I cheerfully adopted Nusach Achid, struggle to use the sephardic pronunciation and encouraged my children to perform Hatarat-nedarim to align their customs with those of their spouses. I feel certain that my ancestors would prefer to see my children thriving in dynamic and unified Jewish homeland than preserving some Polish accent.
Respectfully, Michael