Contents of this weekly column are (mostly) based on the sefer: EIM LAMIKRA HASHALEIM, by R' Nissan Sharoni, Ashdod, a guide to correct pronunciation of Hebrew, specifically in davening and Torah reading.

There are two presentations of the ASERET HADIBROT (10 Commandments, Decalogue, Aseret HaD’varim) in the Torah - one in Parshat Yitro (Sh’mot 20) and one in Parshat Va’etchanan (D’varim 5). The former one is read in public twice - on Shabbat Parshat Yitro, of course, and on Shavuot morning; the latter is read only on Shabbat Parshat Va’etchanan (a.k.a. Shabbat Nachamu).

Each text of the Aseret HaDibrot comes with two sets of TROP (Torah notes), known as TAAMEI HA’ELYON and TAAMEI HATACHTON, the upper notes and the lower notes. TROP is written above the words or below (except for SOF PASUK, which appears after the word). Those notes placed above words tend to be “fancier” than the ones placed below the words. This doesn’t go for all upper or lower notes, but is so in most cases.

The TAAMEI HA’ELYON are not made up of only notes that go above words, nor are the TAAMEI HATACHTON all above words, nor do TAAMEI HATACHTON consist of only notes that go below words. But the TAAMEI HA'ELYON is made up of many more upper notes than TAAMEI TACHTON.
Just wanted to set the record straight.

There’s more preliminary stuff. Traditionally, officially, sort of, TAAMEI HA’ELYON is for public reading of the Torah and TAAMEI HATACHTON is for reading by individuals. Without being exactly sure what the reading for individuals means, the standard practice of shuls in Israel and elsewhere is to use TAAMEI ELYON for the three times the Aseret HaDibrot are read in public. And that means that TAAMEI HATACHTON is not used in public.

Minhag Yerushalayim (largely based on the opinions of the Vilna Gaon and followed by many - but not all - shuls in Jerusalem, and be some shuls outside of Jerusalem as well) is to use TAAMEI HATACHTON for the reading of Parshat Yitro and Parshat Va’etchanan, and to use TAAMEI HA’ELYON only on Shavuot morning.

Since the Yitro Aseret HaDibrot is read both ways at different times of the year (according to Minhag Yerushalayim), we’ll use it to show the differences between the two sets of TAAMIM.

Starting with ANOCHI, the Aseret HaDibrot is comprised of 13 p’sukim. Specifically, command- ment #1 is 1 pasuk, #2 is 4 p’sukim, #3 is 1 pasuk, #4 is 4 p’sukim. #5 is 1 pasuk. #6, #7, #8, and #9 are together in 1 pasuk. And #10 is 1 pasuk long.

TAAMEI HATACHTON reads the p’sukim of the Aseret HaDibrot the same way any and all of the Torah’s 5846 p’sukim are read. And that is, as p’sukim. Whatever the TROP, each pasuk ends with a SOF PASUK.
The Aseret HaDibrot can also be “arranged” differently, not pasuk by pasuk. The TAAMEI HA- ELYON presents the Aseret HaDibrot as DIBROT or D’VARIM or commandments, without consder- ing the pasuk breakdown.

Specifically, the first two Dibrot are read as one “statement”, which also matches the fact that they are contained in a single PARSHA (S’TUMA).

That’s 5 p’sukim as a continuous, dramatic-sounding Divine statement. Commandment #3 is its own statement, and its own Parsha S’tuma. The 4 p’sukim of #4 are read as a single unit (they are a Parsha P’tucha). So is #5 (Parsha Stuma). The single pasuk with commandments #6, #7, #8, and #9 is read as 4 separate (albeit short) statements. And that one pasuk is 4 parshiyot s’tumot in a Sefer Torah. The single pasuk of commandment #10 consists of two parshiyot s’tumot, and is read as a single statement.

The important difference between TAAMEI ELYON and TAAMEI TACHTON is the treatment of the Aseret HaDibrot as special Divine statements and as p’sukim among the rest of the Torah. They are both.

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