[Avodah] Keil melech neeman

[D&E-H Bannett]

For a few days. I've been more or less following the 
discussion on the added words to kri'at sh'ma'. I didn't add 
my two cents because I had a 102 degree temperature so I 
just waited to see if some Yekke from KAJ would finally 
mention that at KAJ the chazan says only the single word 
Emes out loud and they always say El melekh ne'eman.  Just 
61 years ago I heard the chazan and when I asked I was shown 
the chazan's siddur which had written in the margin "nur 
emes laut".

Today, with only 100 degrees, I gave in to the urge to post 
to the list a letter from Ptolemy. If Ptolemy had known, he 
would have added that Copernicus wrote his theory only in 
the early 1500's, a few hundred years after R"T.

I also want to point out that the best detailed explanation 
of the many shitot on added words in sh'ma is that of R' 
Hamburger in the second volume of Minhag Ashkenaz.  Believe 
it or not, he has 120 pages on this "little" subject. One 
thing I remember is his quote from one of the geonim who 
didn't think much of the magic protective power of having 
248 words to match the number of "eivarim" and didn't think 
it proper to add sheimot for that purpose.

Yes, I had the flu shots. If I get a sufficiently strong 
urge, I might write sometime soon about the mixing up by 
ashkenazim of not saying amen to someone else's b'rakha and 
not saying amen to you own b'rakha and the connection with 
El melekh ne'eman, saying ga'al yisrael in shaharit and even 
birkat ahava before sh'ma silently.