The Bobover Rebbe, Horav Bentzion Halberstam, z.l., interpreted this pasuk in a novel homiletic manner. He once davened in a shul where the chazan, instead of focusing on achieving proper kavanah, devotion, was priding himself on his ability to enunciate the words clearly with the proper syllables. His melodious voice only increased his arrogance. Witnessing this degradation of the sanctity of Tefillah, prayer, the Bobover Rebbe remarked: The Torah states: “If you will make for Me an altar of stones.”; Chazal teach us that tefillah has replaced the altar with its sacrifices. The Sefer Yetzirah states that in kabbalistic vernacular, “,uh,ut”, letters, are referred to as “stones.” The pasuk can then be interpreted as “If you will build your present day mizbayach, altar — which is a reference to our tefillos — of stone — referring to the enunciation of the letters; “Do not build them hewn.” A stone cut by metal is smooth and exact. This would refer to those words and letters which are articulated with clarity and proper emphasis placed on the syllables. The inference would be, suggested the Rebbe, that just as one should not build an altar of hewn stone, he should likewise not create a tefillah of words whose entire emphasis is upon the grammar and enunciation while ignoring the spiritual devotion and essence of the tefillah. The reason for this is, “For you have raised your sword over it.” The “cherev,” sword, is an allusion to arrogance, as the Torah states, l,utd crj ratu “the sword of your grandeur,” (Devarim 33:29). The root of the word “l,utd” is “vutd”, haughtiness. A tefillah of this nature is nothing more than an exercise in organized conceit.
This thesis by no means suggests that the proper enunciation of the words is not to be emphasized. Not only is it necessary, its absence impugns the very nature of tefillah and demonstrates the reader’s lack of erudition. However, those whose prime focus during davening is to remind everyone around them as to the proper vocalization of the words, either by themselves enunciating the words in such a manner that it literally disturbs the kavanah of others, or by constantly haranguing and denigrating those who do not emphasize the words correctly, perhaps, if these pious individuals would place greater emphasis upon their own spiritual devotion they would not hear the mistakes of others.
