Date: 07 Apr 2004
Time: 20:16:48 -0700
It is Aramaic. On this topic, Zemach Keissar of Bar-Ilan University commented as follows: "This Yemenite pronounciation, in this and in other instances, reaches back ear into ancient sources and in fact reflects a linguistic reality which existed in Babylonia. It provides eloquent testimony to the excellence and exceptional value of the Aramaic spoken by Yemenite Jews, including Aramaic sections found in the prayerbook. Without doubt, this accurate tradition of the Aramaic language used by the Yemnites, is a result of their tradition of exact reading of the "Targumim" (translations of the Torah into Aramaic - such as Onkelos, Yonatan and Targum Megillot) and the reading of the Aramaic in the Babylonian Talmud.[25]" [25] Prof. Shlomo Morag has already pointed out the connection between the pronounciation of Babylonian Aramaic by Yemenite Jews and that which is reflected in the book "Halachot P'sukot" in his work Aramit B'massoret Teman, Jerusalem, 1988, et al. "The Yemenite - Jewish community has preserved many ancient customs in various aspects of religious practice which trace their origins back to ancient times and sources. Among these are many ancient customs relating to the Passover Seder night, some of which originated in Eretz Yisrael, a fact which was already been noted by a number of scholars. It is also well-known that many examples of linguistic features which are characteristic of the language of our Sages are preserved in the Yemenite Haggadah. The following is a brief presentation of several customs observed on the Seder night and several unique linguistic forms (Hebrew and Aramaic) which found their way into the Passover Haggadah (or are related to the Passover holiday) according to their traditional Yemenite vowelization." See http://www.chayas.com/pessah.htm for the full article with specifics. Site Admin
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