Tt6 TAGHeuer SWISS MADE SINCE 1860 Somewhere Over The Drugstore Come in this month and try on any TAG Heuer timepiece. When you do, we'll enter you in a contest to win a TAG Heuer S/el leather watch. ... Way out west there's a song that you'll know of, written by Hal Arlen. ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR RI Rogers & Hollands Jewelers Jewelry created for now and forever Somerset Collection North Level One. Grand Court 8 I 6 -4700 Ve(10144 attierdet:0114 Invites You To Share In Twenty-Ili o Wonderful Years Of Experience — a-om Traditional to the Glitz. • Weddings • Hebrew Calligraphy • Calligraphy & Mailings • Sign-In Boards ( • Bar/Bat Mitzvahs • Birth Announcements • Stationery • Yarmulkas With (Dedication and Creativity, 'Debbie goldfine (Weisserman Tower 14 • Southfield 810-569-9792 25% Off InvitationsWith This Ad Master Cara When 014 The Best Wilt - Do .. . 0°° OFF (with ad) DurallIER THE AREA'S LARGEST IN STOCK SELECTION WITH GUARANTEED BEST PRICE! • O•P "We Ship Anywhere" 04-/6 GLIDERSFRom5168.00 c<• ROCKERS FROM $98.00 , 0 WbiltIP excluding kids C- 44 S'P ECIALAS-C 21325 Telegraph 3337 Auburn Rd. (Between 8 & 9 Mile) 36539 Gratiot Ave. (Between Adams & Squirrel) Southfield (South of 16 Mile) Auburn Hills 948-1060 Mt. Clemens 790-3065 853-7440 The text of a Torah scroll is entirely consonantal, without vowels. The vowel sounds are supplied by the reader, based on his or her knowledge of Hebrew. In the early Middle Ages, Jew- ish scholars known as the Ma- soretes added vowel symbols to the Torah text as an aid to cor- rect reading. Knowing that by tradition the Tetragrammaton was pronounced as Adonai, they added to the Tetragrammaton you properly; continue using the the (modified) vowel symbols of the word: shva, cholam, patach. pronunciation you learned. Usually scholarly (or pseudo- Around the 16th century, when scholarly) writers will use "Yah- Christian scholars of Europe be- weh" as the authentic Hebrew gan to study the Torah in its term for God, based on the be- original Hebrew, they — being lief that Yahweh is the correct unaware of the Jewish custom pronunciation for the Hebrew — read the word as "Yehovah" letters yud, hey, vav, hey, often (or to use the German spelling, referred to as the Tetragram- Jehovah), thus creating a hybrid maton. Yet even in ancient times word. "Jehovah" became widespread the four-letter combination was pronounced Adonai ("Lord"), so among English speakers after as not to violate the prohibition its use in the King James Bible of taking God's name in vain (1611), in Exodus 6:3. Other- (Exodus 20:7), and also to avoid wise, the King James rendered bringing Judaism down to the the Tetragrammaton as "the level of paganism, whose deities Lord." The American Standard Bible (1901) regularly used "Je- had personal names. The actual pronunciation hovah," with the result that the probably was used only by the word is perhaps better-known kohanim, the priests, and then in America than in other parts only in specific circumstances. of the English-speaking world. The word got an extra boost On Yom Kippur, it was used by the High Priest alone in the Holy in 1931 when the Millennial of Holies of the Temple in Dawnists changed their name Jerusalem, and by ordinary to the Jehovah's Witnesses. priests when they recited the priestly blessing in the Temple. Q: The Wizard of Oz is m Since we do not have audio very favorite movie, and recordings from 2,000 years ago "Over the Rainbow" i (although some of those Beach my very favorite song, Boys records sure sound ancient, so of course Harold don't they?), we have no accu- Arlen is my very fa- rate way of knowing how the Tetragrammaton was pro- vorite composer. nounced. Anyone today propos- Can you tell me ing a pronunciation is only anything about how the song making a guess, at best. "Yahweh" entered Western was written? literature in part from Greek A: Arlen, transcriptions of Torah texts. born Hyman Among those who claimed to know the true pronunciation were some of the early Christ- ian scholars writing in Greek, notably Theodoret (circa 386- 457), bishop of Cyrrhus (a small city between Antioch and Eu- phrates, in what is today Syria). Theodoret stated that he heard the Samaritans pronounce God's name as "Yahweh." "Jehovah" is not a Jewish term. It is based on Christians' misunderstanding of how the Torah was to be read. Q: I'm confused about Jew- ish names for God. In some places, I see it rendered as Yahweh, and at other times as Jehovah. When I went to school, we never used these words. We were taught to pronounce God's name as Adonai or Adonoi. So where do these other terms come from? A: Your Hebrew school taught Arluck in 1905 in New York, was the son of a cantor. Hy's own "musical career" began when he was just a boy and sang in the synagogue choir. He got happy as a songwriter with his first big success in 1928, writing for the musical Get Happy. No doubt Arlen's biggest claim to fame was the 1939 Wiz- ard of Oz, for which he won an Academy Award. Arlen composed the music to "Over the Rainbow" while strolling down the street one evening. He was passing the fa- mous Schwabs Drugstore on Sunset Boulevard when sud- denly, inspired, he sat right down. Using the light from the window at Schwabs, he wrote out music for what would be- come one of the most famous songs of all time. Alas: would-be musicians will have to search elsewhere for in- spiration; Schwabs was torn down in 1989. ❑ \ \ Send questions to Tell Me Why, The Jewish News, 27676 Franklin Road, Southfield, MI 48034, or fax to (810) 354-6069. All letters must be signed and in- clude the writer's address. Ques- tions answered in the column will feature only the writer's initials and city of residence.