Every father is obligated to hire for his son an expert and knowledgeable teacher who will teach him the meaning of the words well.
Sources and Explanations
Rabbi Chaim Palagi (in the introduction to Kol HaKatuv LaChaim) stated this obligation in these words: “The vast majority do not know and do not understand what they are reading, and even Talmud scholars are not proficient in saying Tehillim, for they do not know Scripture, and this is not a proper way. Every Jew is obligated to hire for his son an expert and knowledgeable teacher who will teach him the meaning of the words well. And, as it were, (Hakadosh Baruch Hu) weighs on a scale, for according to the measure of the kavanah (concentration) and pleasant recitation of the Tehillim, to that same measure will it be a segulah (spiritual remedy) for him, that Hashem too will answer him; for to the many you shall increase and to the few you shall decrease. Better a little with kavanah, one book, than much without kavanah, all five books,” end quote.
Regarding reading with understanding, the Pele Yo’etz (Tehillim) wrote that all the virtues of saying Tehillim apply to one who reads them properly and understands what he utters with his lips. The Shelah (Hilchot Teshuvah, Inyanei Tefillah) likewise advised: “One whose soul longs to cleave to Him, blessed be He, and to His praises, should then attach himself to the Book of Tehillim. Fortunate is the man who says Tehillim with song and melody, with joy, with kavanah of the heart, and with understanding.”
It appears that this obligation to hire a teacher who is precise is derived from the words of the Gemara (Bava Batra 21a), which cites the dispute between Rava and Rav Dimi as to whether it is preferable to hire for the students a teacher who places the main emphasis on covering material with the students (that is, reading a great deal) but does not pay particular attention to whether they read precisely, since one proceeds on the assumption that with time the student will correct his manner of reading on his own (an error goes away by itself), or whether it is preferable to hire a teacher who places the main emphasis on precision and less on covering material, for they hold that the student will fix and root in his mind the mistaken manner of learning and will not change it (an error, once it has entered, has entered). In practice, the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 245:19) rules that it is preferable to hire for the students a teacher who is more precise, even though he does not read as much as other teachers.
From the sefer “Shaf Veyativ – Laws of Saying Tehillim” by Rabbi Shay Tahan, Chapter 5: How to Say Tehillim and Precise Pronunciation, Halacha 27 (p. 84 in the print edition). Translated from the Hebrew original.
