Shalshelet - Sign of Hesitation

I speak this week about the rare cantillation mark called the shalshelet (chain). Linking together the instances of the shalshelet in the Torah, we can see a common theme - they indicate hesitation to do the right thing. What does this teach us about Moses and his relationship to his brother, Aaron?

Hesitating to Do the Right Thing
 
Each week for the past three years, I have convened a small class of dedicated learners to study the sagas of Israel’s kings as recounted in the Bible. We started with Samuel, moved on to Kings, and now have embarked on the unusual quest to explore the book of Chronicles. This fascinating text, the last book of the Hebrew Bible, has given us deeper insight into the historic imagination of our ancestors and a keen appreciation for story-telling and retelling.

Just this past week, we slogged our way through another series of genealogies in the latter chapters of I Chronicles. Here’s a taste of I Chronicles 23, just so you can see what you’re missing:
 
1 When David reached a ripe old age, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2 Then David assembled all the officers of Israel and the priests and the Levites. … 6 David formed them into divisions: The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 7 The Gershonites were Ladan and Shimei. 8 The sons of Ladan were Jehiel the chief, Zetham, and Joel—three. 9 The sons of Shimei were Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran—three. These were the chiefs of the clans of the Ladanites.
 
You get the idea. One detail that caught our attention this week was a description of Aaron and Moses. The Chronicler writes:
 
The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart, he and his sons, forever, to be consecrated as most holy, to make burnt offerings to the Eternal and serve God and pronounce blessings in God’s name forever. As for Moses, the man of God, his sons were named after the tribe of Levi. The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer (I Chr. 23:13-14).
 
Our group was curious about the way Moses and Aaron were depicted here. Are they side-by-side as equals, or is there a distinction to be made? The Rabbis of the Talmud asked the same question. That is, when it says that Moses’ sons were Levites—and not priests—does that mean that Moses also was a Levite and not a priest? Was the priesthood reserved only for Moses’ brother, Aaron, and not for Moses himself?[1]

If so, then how would you explain this week’s Torah portion? In Parashat Tzav, Moses conducts a series of sacrifices designed to ordain Aaron and his sons as priests. Now uou need a priest to perform those rituals, and of course Aaron and his sons aren’t fully baked yet. That leaves only Moses to serve in the role of priest. Perhaps this is why Psalm 99 says מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן בְּכֹהֲנָיו, “Moses and Aaron among God’s priests” (v. 6).[2] In a sense, Moses has to be a priest, at least for a little while, in order to ordain his older brother.

The Midrash records a problem, though. If Moses is the priest, the high priest, the only priest … would he want to give that up? To let someone else take over? The Midrash says: “All seven days of ordination, [Moses] fulfilled the high priesthood, and he thought [the office] was his. On the seventh day, God told him, ‘It belongs not to you but rather to Aaron your brother.’”[3]

In the Torah itself, we never read of Moses having the slightest bit of jealousy that his brother attains the priesthood; we never see a protest that that Aaron’s sons are invested with a special position in Judaism for all time while Moses’ sons are lost to obscurity. But there is a very special hint in the cantillation for this week’s Torah reading that might give us a clue that Moses wasn’t entirely enthusiastic to give the priesthood over to his brother.
 
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There are only four times in the Torah—three in Genesis and one in this week’s parashah—where we chant a shalshelet. The word shalshelet means “chain,” and this is what it sounds like. [Cantor Valdman chants וַיִּשְׁחָ֓ט.]

We can’t know for sure what this rare trop is meant to communicate. But by looking at the other instances of the shalshelet in the Torah, we might discern a common element. As Rabbi David Kasher writes, “If we can detect a theme they all share, perhaps we can figure out how it might be read back into this moment in our parashah.”[4]

The first shalshelet occurs in the story of Lot in the city of Sodom. Sodom is infamously filled with people who care only for themselves and who delight in causing suffering to strangers. Lot alone among them, a former stranger himself, displays hospitality to angelic guests who come to visit. While Lot stands out from his wicked neighbors, he had settled in Sodom for a reason; he desires wealth and took himself to the town most famous for its riches. So when the angels tell Lot to flee—since the city is about to be destroyed—we read that “he tarried” (Gen. 19:16), וַֽיִּתְמַהְמָ֓הּ—with a shalshelet. He is caught in indecision, though eventually he does follow the angels to safety outside the city.

We next encounter a shalshelet in the story of Abraham’s servant, Eliezer, on his mission to find a wife for Isaac. We’ve met Eliezer once earlier in the story—before Isaac was born, Abraham bemoaned his lacking a child and announced that his servant, Eliezer, would have to be his heir. But now, that same servant who nearly inherited Abraham’s great fortune has been sent on a journey to find a wife for Isaac, the young man who supplanted him. Immediately before he meets Rebecca, he kneels and prays that his mission will be successful. But his prayer begins with a shalshelet, וַיֹּאמַ֓ר (Gen. 34:29)—a simple “he said” made much, much longer, so as to delay the prayer that comes after. Just as Lot was faced with indecision, so is Eliezer unsure if he can go through with his difficult task. He does, in the end; but he has to pause before overcoming his jealousy and doing the right thing.

The final shalshelet in Genesis occurs in the story of Joseph. When Joseph rises to authority in the household of Potiphar, his master’s wife tries to seduce him. Joseph resists, and we read that “he refused,” וַיְמָאֵ֓ן (Gen. 39:8). The shalshelet is a clue that, like Lot, he wanted to take and enjoy, and the Midrash makes no mistake that Joseph wanted what Potiphar’s wife was offering.[5] Like Eliezer, Joseph wanted to promote himself instead of his master. But also like Eliezer and Lot, though he struggled with his conscience, he made the right decision in the end.

All three other instances of the shalshelet in the Torah suggest uncertainty, a hesitation to do what the character, deep down, knows is right. And so, we return to Moses. Our shalshelet appears over the word וַיִּשְׁחָ֓ט, “he slaughtered” (Lev. 8:23). This is Moses’ last sacrifice in his role as high priest, and we can now sense the reluctance with which he goes through with it. Again and again—five times in one chapter—our parashah reminds us that this ordination exercise is כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהֹוָה אֶת־מֹשֶׁה, “as the Eternal commanded Moses” (Lev. 8:9, 13, 17, 21, and 29); and Moses himself says of the procedure כִּי־כֵן צֻוֵּיתִי, “For so have I been commanded” (Lev. 8:35). Why the repeated emphasis on God’s commanding this ritual? Perhaps it’s to remind Moses of his duty, that no matter how much he might want to be the high priest or how much he might believe himself to be the best choice, his job is to put someone else before himself.

Mois Navon writes, “the inauguration procedure was a truly difficult test of [Moses’s] moral mettle.”[6] And Moses hesitates, the shalshelet suggests, but ultimately goes through with it. Like Lot, Eliezer, and Joseph, Moses does the right thing. Perhaps this is why, 31 chapters later in the Torah, we will read that Moses was עָנָו מְאֹד, “Very humble, more than so than any other human being on earth” (Num. 12:3). He lived up to his best self, though it was hard, and he modeled for all of us the ability to do the same.

Sometimes, it’s actually easy to know what the right thing to do is. What’s hard is convincing ourselves to do it, especially if it means giving up something valuable or important. The shalshelet is a sympathetic reminder that we were not the first to face such dilemmas, and we can learn from the examples of the past and take heart that the right choice is within reach. May our own lives be filled with as few shalshelets as the Torah, and may our own Chronicles relate that, when we could, we made the right choice.
 

[1] BT Zevachim 102a

[2] See Leviticus Rabbah 11:6.

[3] Ibid.

[4] “Four Links in a Chain.” https://mechonhadar.s3.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/KasherParashatTzav5784.pdf

[5] See BT Sotah 36b and Rashi on Gen. 39:11.

[6] “The Shalshelet: Mark of Ambivalence,” Jewish Thought, Vol. 4, Num. 1 (1995), p. 9.