There are only four of them in all of Chumash with one in Parshas Tzav and they are as unique in sound as they are in meaning. Yet of all them, the "shalsheles" of this weeks parsha is the most intriguing. This "ta'am hamikra", the longest musical note that accompanied the text from Sinai, is associated with struggle, dissonance and tension. Probably we are guided to see it just that way due to its very first appearance in the Torah (Breishis19:15). There the Torah explicitly describes the inner struggle that Lot endures as he is being coaxed to leave Sodom by the very angels that were sent to fetch him. In onomatopoeic form, "and he hesitated" is sung with a shalsheles drawing out the word as much as possible. Rashi further explains that facing the loss of all his material wealth that he must leave behind gave Lot great pause and he had to be forcibly pulled away from his house.
The salsheles next appears in (Breishis 24:12) the prayer offered by Eliezer, pleading with Hashem for clarity and direction in choosing a wife for Yitzchak. Here chazal have told us that indeed this mission was a test of his loyalty to Avraham and his children. How Eliezer, having imbibed the practices and thoughts of Avraham Avinu for a lifetime, would have loved Yitzchak for a son in law! Thus his prayer was one of the penitent who knew with his mind what he should say and yet his heart was in another place altogether.
Yosef Hatzadik's refusal to comply with the advances of Potifar's wife are marked with the third shalsheles (Breishis 39:8). Here too, chazal understand that a struggle raged in the heart of Yosef, one not at all apparent from the text itself. The manner and intensity of the woman's interest that conceivably could win him freedom and place him close to fulfilling his dreams created unbearable duress. As we know, it was only the vision of his father reminding him of the greatness that lay ahead that doused the fires from within.
All of this makes it so hard to understand the shalsheles of Parshas Tzav (8:23). Moshe is preparing the ram that will complete the consecration services of the Mishkan. After this korban, Aharon will take over and Moshe will return to the role of a Levi and of course of national leader. It was only during those initiating seven days that Moshe was allowed to do the avoda of Aharon. Why the shalsheles?
No doubt Moshe was very conflicted about these korabnos. On one hand the Mishkan was about to be established and the redemption reach its zenith. The rift that the sin of the golden calf introduced was about to be mended for all to see and the availability of the shechina for our prayers was about to descend. Yet for Moshe personally this korban brought home that he would never again have the privilege to serve in the Heichal and to bring various korbanos. The shalsheles reminds us of that pain that he must have felt at losing the opportunity for these mitzvos.