Who is Shalsheles?
The Shalshelet (Hebrew: שַלְשֶלֶת) is a cantillation mark found in the Torah. It is one of the rarest used, occurring just four times in the entire Torah, in Genesis 19:16, 24:12, and 39:8, and in Leviticus 8:23. The four words accented with the shalshelet mark all occur at the beginning of the verse. The Hebrew word שַׁלְשֶׁ֓לֶת translates into English as chain. Kabbalistic authors have held that this shows the connection of the worlds by the links of a chain. The symbolism of the Shalshelet is that the subject of the story is wrestling with his inner demons and is undergoing some hesitation in his actions. It is rendered musically by a long and elaborate string of notes, giving a strong emphasis to the word on which it occurs.
