The famed sage Rabbi Noson Adler of Frankfort au Main, Germany , brought a
special person from Israel , over 200 years ago, to teach him the correct
pronunciation. Rabbi Adler's successor and famous student Rabbi Moshe
Sofer, the "Chasam Sofer" also prayed using the Sephardic dialect. Yet
among his famous responsa he told his congregants in Frankfort and
elsewhere, to continue using their customary dialect "while praying 'Lifnei
Hateiva', as the public prayer leader or cantor".
There is another point called "messora", the handing down of customs and
traditions, that can not be easily abandoned. This is a very involved law,
and quite interesting. By the way, in the same manner that Ashkenazi
pronunciation has changed due to the influence of the different European
languages spoken, so it is with today's Sephardic pronunciations. There is
change due to African and Arabic languages that have left their mark.
Probably the purest form of Loshon Hakodesh available today is found by
those that lived in Teiman (Yemen).
Avrohom Mondrowitz,
Jerusalem