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.
Okay, maybe we’re ready for a TROP lesson. No, no. Keep reading. Don’t be afraid. Certainly, if you’ve ever “layned”, this will be good stuff to read. But even if you haven’t read the Torah in public, and even if you are of the female persua- sion, you can still learn a lot from this column, and others like it that we will have in the future, IY”H. These columns will not be helpful in teaching melody. But the theory that many (most?) of us never got, will serve us well, hopefully. Especially if we decide to recite the Sh’ma by layning it. Or even just to learn to use TAAMEI HAMIKRA (TROP) to help us read better.

TROP serves three functions. First, to fix the syllable to accent. This, as we’ve presented in recent columns, is true for most of the TAAMIM (TROP notes), but not all. However, even those notes that are traditionally not placed on the accented syllable will be helpful, because modern printers have added a second TAAM, just like the “real” one, to indicate the accented syllable, when it isn’t the one that the real mark is on, in the first place. (That was a tough sentence, but if you reread it slowly, it should be understandable.)

Second function is to punctuate the words and p’sukim so that they can be read correctly and understood properly. (More on that to come.)
And third, to direct the melody of reading to make the reading more graceful. As mentioned, we’ll not be focusing on that in this column.
TROP notes come in two styles: M’SHARTIM (a.k.a. M’CHABRIM) and MAFSIKIM. Connectors and separators. A M’SHAREIT indicates that the word on (or under) which it is, is joined to the word that follows it. A MAFSIK calls for a pause after the word is read.

A MAFSIK can stand on its own. A M’SHAREIT always has a MAFSIK after it, or two or more M’SHARTIM followed by a MAFSIK.

There are two MAFSIKIM that always are on there own, without a M’SHAREIT preceding and linking to them — ZAKEIF GADOL (vertical line with a colon to its immediate right, above a word) and Y’TIV, a less than symbol < placed under a word and immediately to the right of its first letter.
M’SHARTIM (8 of them) are considered one group, whereas MAFSIKIM (19 of them) are sub- divided into categories that reflect the amount of pause they bring on. There are four of these sub- categories of MAFSIKIM, each with a name of its own. They are, in order of strongest pause to shortest: KEISARIM, M’LACHIM, MISHNIM, and SHALISHIM.

In order to read p’sukim correctly, one needs to be aware of the strength of a pause - not just whether a TROP mark indicates a pause or a link.
In addition to the M;SHARTIM (which we wll get to in deatail in a future column), there is also a MAKAF (that’s a dash or hyphen at the top of a space between two words) which joins the two words in a stronger way than a word with a M’SHAREIT would be linked to the word that follows it. The first word of a MAKAFed pair (or triplet) does not have its own TROP mark, but shares the TROP of the following word to which it is linked. In the first passage of Sh’ma, we have B’CHOL—L’VA-V’CHA UV-CHOL—NAF-SH’CHA UV-CHOL—M’O-DECHA. That’s 6 words, three pairs, each pair is linked with a MAKAF, each CHOL-word has no TROP of its own.
There is a lot more to come... (patience, please). Not sure if TROP will be every week.

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