[Avodah] History of Havarah

[D&E-H Bannett]

Re:  R' Micha's posting on correct or original havara 
including<<we know that true Ashkenaz havarah had a distinct 
ayin. (Ask any boy nicknamed "Yankl".) It dropped out 
because the local languages had no such sound. Is this 
change
"real", or is the mesorah with an /ng/ ayin? And once we say 
we should
revert this shift, how many are similar but simply too old 
to know?>>

This has been discussed on Mesorah and a number of times I 
have questioned the idea that we revert for the simple 
reason that changes in pronunciation have been going on 
continuosly. To which era do we revert? The same goes for 
nusach hatefilla. At what point in history do we set the end 
of "correct" nusach.

Did those rabbanim who objected to the change in EY to 
Israeli pronunciation from their particular form of Ashkenaz 
pronunciation realize that their pronunciation was not the 
same as the Ashkenazi pronunciation of some hundreds of 
years ago.  For example, the evidence  is quite strong that 
Rashi's "Ashkenazi" pronunciation was very close to what is 
now known as the Sefaradic pronunciation.

A good book on this subject is the "Sefat Emet" of Rav 
Ben-Zion HaCohen (of Jerba - no connection to the Gerrer).


k"t,

David