Why do many Ashkenazic congregations repeat (at least a portion of) the last verse (Devarim 25:19) of Parashat Zachor twice, once saying "zeikher" and the other "zekher" (flipping the first vowel from tzeirei to segol)? What is the underlying argument between the two pronunciations and how should one deal with this issue?
Answer
Per the Mishna Berura "Know that some say that the word זכר should be pronounced as "Zaicher" with a "Tzairai" and some say that it should be pronounced "Zecher" with a "Segol." Therefore, it is correct to read it twice.
The Mishnah Berurah does not cite a source for the two opinions, however some have suggested that the source is the following letter by Rabbi Chaim Volozhin. Rabbi Chaim was a leading student the Gaon of Vilna, and the following is a section of a letter that was written by Rabbi Chaim to the publisher of Ma'aseh Rav, a collection of testimonies about the Vilna Gaon's personal customs.
"As for what you wrote to say in Parshas Zachor, Zecher, I heard from the holy mouth of the Vilna Gaon that he read it Zaicher. I do not know whether those who claim to have heard otherwise are mistaken or whether he changed his mind in his old age. Please try to find out the truth."
The different ways I have seen are either totally repeating the Posuk and saying the word differently or just repeating from Timche with the other pronunciation.
See Igros Moshe for further discussion. http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=922&st=&pgnum=111
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