Shalshelet

The Shalshelet is one of the marks used in cantillation of the Torah and is one of the rarest used. It is only found four times in the entire Torahhttp://books.google.com/books?id=cAhkCXAEy6kC&pg=PA60&dq=shalshelet&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html, in Genesis 19:16, 24:12, and 39:8, and in Leviticus 8:23. Words accented with the shalshelet mark only occur at the beginning of the versehttp://books.google.com/books?id=Gh6OHYcIZgkC&pg=PA147&dq=shalshelet&lr=&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html.
The word shalshelet means "chain".http://books.google.com/books?id=eCQeKubRziYC&pg=PA211&dq=shalshelet&lr=&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html This shows the connection of the worlds by the links of a chainhttp://books.google.com/books?id=ylvMsMBvPbEC&pg=PA302&dq=shalshelet&lr=&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=htmlhttp://books.google.com/books?id=A3H5gis3FhgC&pg=RA2-PA327&dq=shalshelet&lr=&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html.
It is rendered musically by a long and elaborate string of notes, giving a strong emphasis to the word on which it occurs.
==Purpose==
The Shalshelet mark is said to be used for various purposes:
*In Genesis 19:16, it is used on the word "and he lingered" to show uncertaintyhttp://books.google.com/books?id=l1u-_VMDM80C&pg=PA65&dq=shalshelet&lr=&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=htmlhttp://books.google.com/books?id=0Z1TeANpQ4wC&pg=PA64&dq=shalshelet&lr=&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html.
*In Genesis 24:12, it is used on the word "VaYomer" (and he said) to indicate the hesitation of the servanthttp://books.google.com/books?id=liBaiHoL8e4C&pg=PA73&dq=shalshelet&lr=&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html.
*In Genesis 39:8, it is used on the word "Vayimaen" (and he refused) to indicate a strugglehttp://books.google.com/books?id=yzewmitzYgEC&pg=PA24&dq=shalshelet&lr=&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html.
Grammatically it is equivalent to segolta, but is never preceded by a conjunctive accent or a disjunctive of a lower class. It is thus related to segolta in the same way as zaqef gadol is related to zaqef qaton, or yetiv to pashta.
==External links==
*Site providing audio recordings of the Shalshelet
*Mois Navon, "The Shalshelet: Mark Of Ambivelence", Jewish Thought, OU Publications, Vol.4, Num.1 (5755-6)
==References==
Category:Cantillation marks