| Honorific-Prefix: | Rabbi |
| Bension Kohen | |
| Birth Place: | Djerba, Tunisia |
| Death Date: | 1999 |
| Death Place: | Jerusalem, Israel |
| Resting Place: | Jerusalem |
| Residence: | Jerusalem |
| Nationality: | Tunisian, Israeli |
| Known For: | Hebrew grammar work Sfath Emeth |
Rabbi Bension Kohen or haKohen (; born in Djerba, Tunisia, died 1999 in Jerusalem) was a writer of literature on Hebrew grammar and literature. He was the author of Sfath Emeth, a work on the pronunciation of the Hebrew alphabet.
In the introduction to his work, Kohen provides a purported lineage going back over a dozen generations of kohanim born at Djerba. Among his claimed patrilineal ancestors are Rabbi (d. 1848), himself an author of multiple works on Hebrew grammar. Citing a similar lineage table from Heritage of Yehoyada HaKohen (Hebrew: נוריש יהוידע הכהן), Kohen claims to trace the family back to Yitzchak HaKohen the Elder, who had emigrated from Israel to Djerba at the Second Temple Destruction.
Kohen's flagship work, the Sfath Emeth, was first printed in Jerusalem in 1987.[1] The work purports to present the "authentic" pronunciation of the 22 Hebrew letters based on Geonic literature and the work of Hebrew grammarians such as Rav Saadya Gaon, Rabbi Yitzhak ben Shlomo Yisraeli and the Radak.
Rabbi Kohen's research led him to produce a table of pronunciation. The table was published (with minor variations from what is listed below) on page 150 of Sfath Emeth:
| Hebrew letter | Similar-sounding Arabic letter | Similar English sound | Jewish community with correct pronunciation | Varying pronunciation error | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pronounced as /link/ | button (English Cockney) | Most Jewish communities | H | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | B | All Jewish communities | none | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | Non-existent | V | בּ and פ | |||
| גּ - Gimmel (Degusha) | pronounced as /link/ | Non-existent | G | ج (jīm) | ||
| pronounced as /link/ | Gh (French) | Jewish communities of Arabic nationality | Gimmel degusha | |||
| דּ - Daleth (Degusha) | pronounced as /link/ | D | All communities | none | ||
| ד - Daleth | pronounced as /link/ | the | Temanim | Dalet degusha | ||
| pronounced as /link/ | H | Ashkenazim, Sefardim | Alef | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | W | Temanim, Iraqi Jews | V | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | Z | Most communities | pronounced as /link/ (soft J, like French Jean) | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | Non-existent | Jewish communities of Arabic nationality | Chof, Hey | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | Non-existent (T, yet thicker) | Jewish communities of Arabic nationality | Taw degusha | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | Y | All Jewish communities | none | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | K | All Jewish communities | none | |||
| כ - Kaph (non degusha, spelled also Chof) | pronounced as /link/ | Non-existent | All communities | none | ||
| pronounced as /link/ | L | All Jewish communities | none | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | M | All Jewish communities | none | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | N | All Jewish communities | none | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | S | All Jewish communities | none | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | Non existent | Jewish communities of Arabic nationality | Alef, Gimmel non-degusha | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | Non existent | P | Most Jewish communities | Peh (non-degusha), Beth | ||
| פ - Peh non-degusha | pronounced as /link/ | F | All Jewish communities | none | ||
| pronounced as /link/ | Non-existent (pronounced as a thicker-sounding S) | Jewish communities of Arabic nationality | Samech, "Tz" sound | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | Non-existent | Iragi and North-African Jewry | Kafh, Gimmel, Alef, Gimmel (non-degusha) | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | Non-existent | Eastern-European and Asian Jewry | Gimmel (Non-degusha), (American R) | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | Sh | Most Jewish communities | Samech | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | S | Most Jewish communities | Shin | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | T | All Jewish communities | None | |||
| ת Taw (non degusha) | pronounced as /link/ | Th | Iraqi and Yemenite Jewish communities | Samech, Taw (degusha) |