Ideology, Syntax, and When to Breathe

The traditional blessing before the Torah reading contains 2 key clauses:

            •    asher bachar banu mi-kol ha-amim (“who has chosen us from among all peoples”); and

            •    natan lanu et torato (“[who] gave us the Torah”).

Where you choose to breathe (as you recite this bless­ing) will affect the meaning of the conjunction that joins those clauses.

            •    By not breathing, you subordinate the conjunction. This yields the meaning: “who has chosen us from all peoples by giving us the Torah.”

            •    By breathing, you coordinate the conjunction. This yields the meaning: “who has chosen us from all peoples, and who has given us the Torah.”

This affects the ideology that you may wish to convey, regarding what makes Jews special:

            •    If you believe that Jewish distinctiveness is genetic or that Jews are morally superior (as some Jews have claimed), that meaning is most clearly con­veyed by breathing between these two clauses.

            •    If the only Jewish distinctiveness that you wish to acknowledge is that our culture is Torah-centered, that meaning is most clearly conveyed when you do not breathe between these two clauses.