![]() The Be’ur Halacha notes that the different systems of dividing the text results in differences in the vowels sounds and punctuation of certain words. This means that the longer commandments, such as "Lo Yihiye" and "Zachor," are each divided in several verses, and the short commandments – "Lo Tirsah," "Lo Tinaf," "Lo Tignob" and "Lo Ta’ane" – are merged into a single verse. This system breaks up the text of the Ten Commandments according to the common, conventional length of verses. The "Ta’am Tahton" system is used when a person reads the Ten Commandments privately, such as for the weekly "Shenayim Mikra Ve’ehad Targum" reading or for general individual learning. Namely, on Shabuot, on Shabbat Parashat Yitro and on Shabbat Parashat Vaethanan, the Ten Commandments are read using the "Ta’am Elyon," so that they are read the way they were heard by the Jewish people at Sinai.Īlthough there is a tradition that a verse cannot be shorter than three words, we allow separate verses for the two-word commandments in the public reading, because this is how the Jews heard the proclamation of the Ten Commandments at Sinai. ![]() This system is used for the public Torah reading, whenever the Ten Commandments are read. We refer to this system at the "Ta’am Elyon" (literally, "upper cantillaton") because generally speaking, the Te’amim that are used to extend a verse are the notes positioned on top of the word, such as the Pazer Gadol and Azla Geresh. Therefore, even in the "Ta’am Elyon," which reflects the manner in which the commandments were heard at Sinai, the first two commandments are combined. The exception to this rule is the first two commandments, which are combined into a single verse in the "Ta’am Elyon." The reason for this exception is that, according to tradition, when God proclaimed the Ten Commandments, He uttered the first two commandments as a single statement. This means that the longer commandments are made into a single verse despite their length, and the short commandments, such as "Lo Tirsah" and "Lo Tinaf," are assigned a brief, two-word verse. Even the very short commandments, such as "Lo Tirsah" and "Lo Tinaf," comprise an independent paragraph, as do the longer commandments, such as "Lo Yihiye" and "Zachor." The "Ta’am Elyon" system of cantillation notes follows this arrangement, and makes each commandment no more and no less than a single verse. One who looks at the text of the Ten Commandments in a Torah scroll will notice that the Torah assigns a separate paragraph for each commandment. What is the difference between these two versions? (There are also different versions of the actual text of the Ten Commandments – one in Parashat Yitro, and one in Parashat Va’ethanan we deal here with the different versions of the Te’amim, not of the text.) If we open to the text of the Ten Commandments in Parashat Yitro or Parashat Va’ethanan in most printed Humashim, we will find the version called "Ta’am Tahton." The second version, which is called "Ta’am Elyon," is generally printed in the back of the Humash or after the Parasha. ![]() The Be’ur Halacha (by Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, 1839-1933), in this context, notes the two different sets of Te’amim (cantillation notes) that exist for the Ten Commandments. The Shulhan Aruch (Orah Haim 494) rules that on Shabuot we read the section in the Torah that contains the Ten Commandments (in Parashat Yitro). ![]()
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