טעמי המקרא - שלשלת

At the same time as Moshe Rabbenu was given the Torah by Hashem, he was not only given the actual words to write down, but the vowels, the way to pronounce words, were given to him at the same time, for example, when to use a קמץ, חיריק, חולם etc. Also at the same time, he was given the טעמי המקרא, the cantillations, trop, the notes to be sung on each word.

You will note that these are called טעמי המקרא, they are not just fanciful musical accompaniments they are, in fact, deeper hints and guidance to understanding some further depth in Torah which does not appear by just reading the words even with the vowels.

There are two types of טעמי המקרא. They are known as מלכים and משרתים, kings and servants.

Basically, a servant is a note or series of notes leading to a final note, where there is then a distinct pause. The final note is known as a מלך, melech, a king.

There are a number of these notes known as melech but the greatest one is the שלשלת, the “King of Kings”.

The note only appears a few times in the whole of Torah and its significance is, therefore, even greater.

I would like to go through the various places that a שלשלת is found and discuss the matter in some depth.

The first time we come across a שלשלת is in the sedra וירא. Lot was told to get out of Sedom fast, in order that he should not be destroyed with Sedom. The Torah continues, ויתמהמה, and he tarried. On that word there is a שלשלת.

In order to understand why there is this “King of Kings” special note at this juncture, let us go back a little while. Avrohom Avinu was told to leave his homeland and go, in fact, to the land of Canaan, and Lot joined him. When they arrived, there was immediately a famine and they went down to Egypt. They were very poor at that time. Avrohom Avinu had to borrow money to keep going.

When they came out of Egypt three months later, not only Avrohom was rich but Lot also. We then see that Avrohom on his way back, as Rashi states, פרע הקפותיו, paid up his debts. Avrohom was not affected by the sudden wealth he received, he ruled his money and not his money ruling him.

Lot, however, did not have the same attitude. Immediately afterwards we find that his shepherds were involved in a squabble with Avrohom’s shepherds. Rashi tells us that Lot’s shepherds were feeding from the pastures of individual people and when Avrohom’s shepherds objected, the rejoinder was, “Well Avrohom has no children and, therefore, Lot will, in due course, inherit his lands and these lands have been promised to Avrohom. Therefore we are doing no wrong.”

Very bad thinking. Obviously, this was coming from Lot himself. Not only had he acquired wealth, he wanted to acquire even more wealth in whatever manner he could, not caring too much about the means. Avrohom said to Lot “We must part company even though we will remain brothers.” What did Lot do? Instead of making up with Avrohom, promising to improve and that his shepherds would not do this in future, he looked out at the best part of the land, namely Sedom and its environs (now the site of the Dead Sea) and decided that that was the place for him to live.

The Gomorra in Sanhedrin ק''ט and in particular, in even more detail, in the Sefer Hayosher, a famous medrash sefer, goes into great details as to how beautiful and lush that particular part of the country was. Because of this, the effect on the citizens was that they became very miserly and did not want anybody to share their good fortune. They passed draconian laws to stop people even passing through their land.

This was the place that Lot wanted to go and live and he did go there. His character was flawed and his eagerness for the good life and luxury, leading to his latent bad middos being brought forth at full blast, was the consequence.

He was once taken away from Sedom by the four kings who rampaged through the area. Avrohom chased the four kings and released him, but Lot went back to Sedom. He could not keep away from the fleshpots of luxury together with the licentiousness.

When finally, the angels came to save him, in the merit of Avrohom, despite the fact that he was told that if he did not leave, he would be destroyed together with the inhabitants and everything else in Sedom. ויתמהמה, he tarried. The שלשלת is a treble note as the word שלשלת implies because it comes from the root of שלש, three. He Tarried, and Tarried and Tarried and the angels had to turn themselves into men and take himself and his wife and daughters by the hand to physically eject them from Sedom.

We can see the importance of the שלשלת.

This was not only a lesson for what happened in the past, history repeats itself. Nowadays, we are in the midst of a major world financial upheaval. The monies which have been made over the past years, one could almost say the obscene monies made over the past years by fair means and foul have unfortunately, in many case, led to people doing almost anything in order to increase their wealth. The money, unfortunately, has been ruling the person and the chickens have now come home to roost, as is well known.

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Turning to the next שלשלת we find, it appears in חיי שרה. Eliezer had just reached ארם נהרים having been sent to look for a shidduch for Yitzchok, and he tethered the camels and then he prayed to Hashem for success. On the word ויאמר there is a שלשלת.

Once again the background leading up to this is very important. Avrohom and Soroh were fortunate enough, after many years of not having children to, at the age of 100 and 90 respectively, to have a son called Yitzchok. When Yitzchok was 37 years of age, the story of the עקידה took place and Soroh died. Subsequently, Avrohom thought to himself that he must look round for a suitable wife for his son as a matter of urgency.

This was a major problem because of various factors. Avrohom was, of course, known as the standard bearer of the new revolution proclaiming that there was a one and only Hashem in the world. People had got used to him and he was even known as אב המון גוים, father of all the nations. He and his wife were known as people of great kindness, אנשי חסד.

Yitzchok, however, concentrated on serving Hashem in a different way, namely with fear of heaven and strength of purpose. There were no compromises, no easy way. He was very strict on himself.

Furthermore, he had to stay in our Holy Land and, in fact, never went out of it for all his life.

Eliezer was faced with three major problems. He had to look for a wife who was suitable for such a person as Yitzchok and also the prospective Choson would not come to visit her or her family and Eliezer realised that in order to create a good marriage, the wife for Yitzchok had to be somebody with utmost kindness, similar to Avrohom and Soroh. He, therefore, started off his plea to Hashem to show him a girl who would fit this task and also belong to the family of Avrohom and so they would be able to continue the dynasty commenced by Avrohom and Soroh.

The Torah emphasises the Tefilla of Eliezer, with the שלשלת on ויאמר.

He was, of course, successful as we all know.

This is also a lesson relevant to shidduchim in our times. People have been known to arrange marriages with an eye on the יחוס of the family, the wealth and prestige and what the world will say, etc.

My Rebbe, the Bais Yisroel, used to quote the verse כי יקח איש אשה חדשה נקי יהיה, When a man takes a new wife he should be נקי, which is normally translated as free or unencumbered. However, if one looks at the three letters, a נ has a numerical value of 50, a ק has a numerical value of 100 and י is 10. The hint, that the Bais Yisroel used to quote, I believe in the name of his father, the Imrei Emess, was how to approach a shidduch. People usually look for three things, first there is the נדן, dowry represented by the letter נ. If only 50% of the figure originally floated is actually forthcoming, be satisfied.

ק represents קרן, the prospective Choson or Kallah themselves. This has to be 100%, it is the most important part of a shidduch.

י represents the יחוס, if this is only 10% of that which is mentioned, that is enough.

The most important thing in a shidduch is that the boy and girl should be of first class quality. They should be compatible and be able to live together happily and bring up future generations in the correct manner. The rest is bonus.

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The next time we find a שלשלת is in וישב. Yosef had been purchased by Potiphar, one of Pharoh’s ministers and he became his “head of the household”. Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him and Yosef refused. ויאמן (“He refused”) has a שלשלת, once again a three fold note, No, No, No.

If we look at the background of the whole story, we will see how great this act was.

Yaakov finally had a son by his beloved wife Rochel. Yosef grew up to be a special lad, the apple of his father’s eye. At the age of 17 he was suddenly torn away from all this and sold by his brothers and eventually was sold to Potiphar a minister of Pharoh in Egypt. Yosef had gone from a household of righteousness, of Yaakov as well as Yitzchok who was still alive and the great matriarchs, into a degenerate society in Egypt. He was depressed and broken. He could easily have been influenced the wrong way and have done the wrong thing. The Chochomim tell us אין אפוטרפוס לעריות

As our Chazal tell us, Yosef saw the face of his holy father and had the strength of character not to be influenced. He emphatically said “No” whatever the consequences. And there were consequences. We all know that he ended up in prison for many years, but the end of the story was that he came out of prison and became the second in command in Egypt and eased the path of Yaakov and his children and the Bnei Yisroel in their going down to Egypt.

Not for nothing, is there a שלשלת at ויאמן.

Today, this is also very relevant to ourselves.

We live in a society where media in general, and the internet in particular, are trying to seduce many people, righteous, naïve etc. with very attractive filth. We must have the strength of character to say “No, No, No”.

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The final שלשלת is in פרשת צו. Once again the background here is very important. Aaron and his sons had been appointed to be Kohanim and the Torah tells us the procedure that was carried out to complete the investiture. After they had put on special clothes and in particular Aaron with the eight special vestments, the Torah continues with the korbonos, the sacrifices which were specially brought all on the 1st day of Nissan, the day the Mishkon was consecrated. The final sacrifice was the איל המלאים, the inauguration ram. Then, Moshe having carried out the final acts that Hashem commanded to do to Aaron, he became the Kohen Godol. On the word וישחט, “he slaughtered” (the איל המלאים) there is a שלשלת. This is because it was the culmination of the investiture of Aaron as Kohen Godol and his children as Kohanim.

This was a great event at the time because it was in the merit of Aaron that the Shechina came down and dwelt in the Mishkon. Aaron blessed the Bnei Yisroel and it was the inauguration of a new way of life for the Bnei Yisroel which has continued ever since.

Once again, it was not just for that particular time, it was for all generations including ours.

Furthermore, the word שלשלת nowadays is applied to a family tree, in the same way as the Kohanim have a separate family tree.

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You may have noted that all the four places mentioned above are leyned in the winter months (צו is actually read before פסח). This is a רמז, hint, to us that even when things look dark, one can overcome difficulties בס''ד.

As one can see the use of a שלשלת highlights very important matters that are not to be glossed over.

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SUCCOS פרי החג

Towards the end of the sedra Pinchas, the Torah enumerates all the different sacrifices which are to be brought regularly each day, on Shabbos, and then on the Yomim Tovim. The final parshah concerns the קרבנות of Succos. Many of you will be aware that during the first seven days of Succos, there are, in total, 70 bulls to be sacrificed in descending order, that is, the first day 13, the second day 12 until on the seventh day 7 were sacrificed. Finally on the last day, שמיני עצרת, there was one bull offered.

חז''ל tell us that the 70 were offered for the 70 major nations of the world followed by the one for the Bnei Yisroel.

I believe that an introduction to the Dvar Torah below will help appreciate and clarify it fully.

In addition to the letters and words written in a Sefer Torah which are, of course, as given to Moshe by Hashem, there was also given to him as תורה של בעל פה the vocalisation of each word being by way of חולם, קמץ, פתח etc. This is not written into the Sefer Torah by there is a mesoirah as to exactly how to pronounce each word. This, of course, is printed in the Chumashim.

In addition, there is a mesoirah concerning the notes (trop), known as טעמי המקרא. These טעמי המקרא, roughly translated as reasons or interpretations of the verse, consist of a number of notes sung each in a different way. Again, this has come down to us as a mesoirah, a tradition.

There are high notes, the greatest of which being the שלשלת and there are a number of other high notes such as פזר, תלישא גדולה etc.

This is what we hear by the Baal Koreh read in tune every Shabbos and whenever a Sefer Torah is taken out and read in public.

These notes are not there haphazardly but have a definite purpose and not for nothing are they called טעמי המקרא. They help us to understand and give interpretations, albeit sometimes rather hidden, which enable us to understand better or give us fresh insights into the meaning of actual words in Torah.

If one looks carefully at the whole of the sedra Pinchas, which I believe is the second longest sedra at 168 verses, there is no פזר until the instruction concerning the sacrifices, קרבנות, to be brought on the second day of Succos. We find the words as followsומנחתם (their meal offering) ונסכיהם (their wine offerings) לפרים (for the bulls). On the middle word ונסכיהם there is a פזר, this is followed by לפרים with a תלישא גדולה on it. Both of these are known as very “high” notes in other words, ones to which great emphasis applies.

If we then proceed to the third day we find the same טעמי המקרא and strangely enough, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth and the seventh day again, we have the same phenomenon of an ordinary note, a מונח, under the word ומנחתם but a פזר above the ונסכיהם and a תלישא גדולה above the word לפרים.

To add to this unusual phenomenon, if we go back to the first day of Succos, there is no פזר or תלישא גדולה at all when the sacrifices for the first day are mentioned, nor is there a פזר or תלישא גדולה on שמיני עצרת, which follows immediately on after the seventh day.

As I mentioned above these are known as טעמי המקרא, that is to give us an interpretation of the verses.

I would like to suggest that the reason why these particular טעמי המקרא, trop, are used is connected with a Halacha which we find concerning Yom Tov. There is a mitzvah of simcha on Yom Tov and especially on Succos where it is mentioned by the Torah twice specifically, at the end of Parshas ראה. The רמב''ם paskens אין שמחה אלא בבשר ויין . The way to fulfil the mitzvah of simcha is with meat and wine.

We find that people are always excited about an impending Yom Tov and when the first day arrives, especially of Succos, the excitement is great. However, by the second day and third, etc. this gradually subsides. What I am suggesting is that in order to ensure that the simcha is kept at a high level the Torah is hinting that one should eat and drink and therefore, be merry and in order to emphasise this, on the word ונסכיהם which is the wine libations, a פזר is intoned. On לפרים that is the best type of meat, one has a תלישא גדולה. פזר translates as to spread out or spend, in other words, spend money on the wine and, for meat, תלישא גדולה, exert great effort to obtain this and eat it. This is, therefore, emphasised from the second day to the seventh day inclusive.

When it comes to the last day, שמיני עצרת, the Gomora tells us that this was a רגל בפני עצמו, a Yom Tov for itself. Therefore, inherently, the simcha is there for the day itself and, of course, this is the day of Simchas Torah in Eretz Yisroel and leads into Simchas Torah for the rest of the Diaspora. There is, therefore, no need to create extra simcha by the consumption of wine and meat.

In respect of the word ומנחתם, which refers to the flour which was also brought at the same time with every sacrifice, there is no need for a “high” note because that did not add to the simcha. However, it is noteworthy to mention that if one takes all the measurements, עשרוניםof סלת, fine flour, which had to be brought during the whole of סוכות and שמיני עצרת, in respect of all the various קרבנות and add them together, they come to 348 esronim in total. This is the exact gemmatria of the word שמח.

Let us all enjoy ourselves with simcha on Succos, זמן שמחתנו.

ח' תשרי תשס''ט

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