Lead Tidbit

A Note on Notes...

The Aseret HaDibrot comes with two different sets of Torah notes (cantillation marks, TROP). One set, known as TAAMEI HATACHTON (lower notes) presents the 13 p’sukim that make up the Aseret HaDibrot as just that - 13 p’sukim among the 5846 p’sukim of the Torah. They sound no different and not more special than all the other p’sukim of the Torah. And that’s good, because the Aseret HaDibrot have been over- venerated by many people - Jew and non-Jew - to the point that our Sages took measures to “close the mouth of the apostate” who claimed that G-d gave us only the Aseret HaDibrot and that the rest of the Torah was written by Moshe Rabeinu on his own. Without further elaboration on this point - and without bringing up the issue of “to stand or not to stand” when the Aseret HaDibrot are read (perhaps we will have space to discuss that issue too) - the “lower” notes “tone down” the drama of the Torah’s presentation of the Sinai Experience.

On the other hand, the TAAMEI HA’EL- YON (upper notes), present the Aseret HaDibrot as distinct DIBROT (D’varim or Commandments, as they are popularly referred to), with a dramatic flair that reflects their specialness in and of themselves and in context of the whole episode of Matan Torah.
[Side point: the names ELYON and TACHTON refer to the fact that some Torah notes are printed above the word they mark, and others are printed below their word. Both sets of TAAMIM for the Aseret HaDibrot have both kinds of notes, but the TAAMEI HA’ELYON has more upper notes. And these notes generally add the abovementioned flair to the reading.]

Officially, the TACHTON set of notes is to be used when reading the Torah in private; the ELYON set is for public reading. This means that most of the Torah-reading Jewish world uses the “upper” notes when the Aseret HaDibrot are read in shul on Shabbat Parshat Yitro, on Shabbat Parshat Va’etchanan (there are interesting changes in the Torah’s two versions - this, some other time), and on Shavuot morning when we read from Yitro. And what does “private” mean? When you sit at home with a Chumash on Friday night and go over the sedra, and you read with Torah notes, you use the TAAMEI HATACHTON.

Minhag Yerushalayim is to use TAAMEI HATACHTON when the Asaret HaDibrot are read in Parshat HaShavua. Only on Shavuot morning, when there is more of the idea of re-enacting Maamad Har Sinai, we read with the ELYON notes.

With all this said, let’s draw an important lesson from the above, that goes beyond and deeper than how the Aseret HaDibrot sound.
Since Parshat Va’eira, the Torah reading has been “flying high”. Prophecy, miracles, wonders, more miracles, and miracles within miracles. Suspension of the laws of nature. Spiritually - the highest we go.

But look at the beginning of Parshat Yitro (and look at most of next week’s sedra of Mishpatim, until the restatement of the Sinai Experience). It’s about as down to earth as you can get. Mundane, everyday questions and disputes. All kinds of little things that Moshe (and our court system) has to deal with. Your dog gets scratched up by your neighbor’s rose- bushes that he is ruining (because no hydrant was available). Who pays for the damages? This is comparable to a fiery and smoky Sinai with G-d’s presence accompanied by the ever-increasing sound of a Shofar?

The answer is - YES! The Asaeret HaDibrot and all of Torah and Mitzvot that they reflect come with two sets of notes: UPPER and lower. Each has its place. Both complement each other. Jewish life has its spiritually uplifting moments. And it has many more every-day moments. And each of all these moments are addressed by the Aseret HaDibrot and by the whole Torah.

This Shabbat, some of us will hear the Taamei HaElyon and some will hear the Taamei HaTachton. But all of us will hear and vicariously experience Matan Torah. And we should recommit ourselves to Torah and Mitzvot on all levels - from the mundane to the sublime… and back again.

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