This week, we get to enjoy a very special and rare note, the shalshelet. It only appears four times in the Torah and this is the last time we’ll see it this year!
Shalshelet always appears at the beginning of a verse and really stands alone from all the other words around it. Shalshelet means chain but also refers to the number three—שָׁלֹשׁ (shalosh). It sounds like a chain looping back on itself, going up and down three times. Here is where it appears in our parashah:
וַיִּשְׁחָ֓ט
He slaughtered
Some people have suggested that the shalshelet’s unusual sound captures a feeling of hesitation, where the character is unsure how to proceed. In our parashah, it appears on the word וַיִּשְׁחָט (vayish’hat, he slaughtered), which talks about when Moshe prepared the final ram as part of the מִלּוּאִים (milluim, inauguration) ceremony for Aharon to become the כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל (kohen gadol, high priest). Until now, Moshe had been very involved in all of the sacrifices; from now on, his brother would be in charge of that. Can you understand why it might have been hard for Moshe to let go of that special job? Try to think about how he felt when you hear the note!
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