if two of the letters in yal kagam are both referring to the same concept, i.e. pasulim by eidim, why aren't they both together? Does the pneumonic yal kagam mean something that was easy to remember back then? Or is there another reason for the order of the letters?
Menachem Weiman, St. Louis, MO
Yes, the "Ayin" and the "Mem" in Yal Kagam are both connected with Pesulim of witnesses, but it must be that they are not placed next to each other in the pneumonic because they do not "ring" so well together. Somehow, "Ya'al Kegam" just "flows" as an easy phrase to remember, even nowadays.
Chazal exerted effort to develop ways to help us memorize our learning. See Megilah 32a, where we learn that one should not learn without singing. Tosfos (DH veha'Shoneh) explains that they used to sing the Mishnayos, because in this way they remembered them better.
Kol Tuv,
Dovid Bloom