If one reads Tehillim with the te’amim (cantillation notes), he should not read with the cantillation notes of Scripture, but rather with the te’amim specific to reading the books of “Emet” (Iyov, Mishlei and Tehillim). If he is not proficient in the te’amim, he should read without te’amim.
Sources and Explanations
The Gaon Rabbi Meir Mazuz shlita brought in the sefer Asaf HaMazkir (Ma’arechet Tet, entry “Ta’amei Emet”), and these are his words: “Among the Ashkenazim there is no tune at all for the books of Emet, and they say Tehillim without any tune. Likewise, most of the Eastern communities in the Land have no tune; only among those originating from Aleppo did I hear a beautiful and precise tune for Tehillim (on cassettes that arrived from Aleppo in the year 5751). Our tune for Tehillim is more moving, but we do not distinguish between the te’amim so much, only between a disjunctive accent and a conjunctive one. The tune of Mishlei in Tunis and in Djerba is the same, and it is the famous tune of Eshet Chayil. The tune of Iyov differs slightly between Tunis and Djerba, and that of Djerba resembles the Djerba tune for Megillat Esther. Likewise, I saw in the anthology HaAsif (5647) in the name of an early Karaite that the tunes of Iyov and Esther are close to each other; see there. It appears that our tune is ancient, from even before the Karaites separated from the House of Israel. They showed me a novel point, that even our Rabbis the Ba’alei HaTosafot did not know the tune of the te’amim of Emet, as appears from what they wrote in Bava Batra (15b, s.v. Befur’anuta), that this is why Iyov was written together with Tehillim and Mishlei, because they are of one type, written in a song-like style with short verses and one tune, for in their days (in the days of the Talmud) there was a tune, as we say in Megillah; see there. This is astonishing. I heard abroad from Rabbi Simcha Zirkind, may Hashem protect him, that the Ashkenazim are not proficient in the te’amim of the book of Tehillim even though they are very accustomed to it; they read it without te’amim, only two or three in the world [know them], and perhaps the Admor is proficient in its te’amim; end of his words. Years later I saw likewise in the sefer Masa Teiman by R’ Yaakov Sapir z”l (folio 70) that the te’amim of Emet were forgotten among the Ashkenazim; see there. Perhaps this is the reason that they are not accustomed to reading Iyov on Tishah B’Av and Mishlei on the festival of Shavuot as is our custom, for when the tune was forgotten, their reading was without melody and it was abolished entirely. I heard from the aged elder R’ Binyamin Menuna Haddad in the name of his father, the great Rabbi, the distinguished dayan R’ Abba Shaul Haddad zt”l, that he would say wittily: ‘The te’amim of Emet (truth) are sheker (falsehood), and the te’amim of Sheker are emet,’ and he explained that the te’amim of the books of Emet are, Heaven forbid, false, for they do not resemble the other te’amim of Tanach and they cause the reader to err; for example, the tarcha in the books of Emet is a conjunctive accent unless it is at the beginning of the word, and the zarka likewise is conjunctive unless it is at the end of the word, and the etnach is not so strongly disjunctive, but rather approximately like a segolta in the other books. But the te’amim of Shir HaShirim, Kohelet and Rut (the acronym Sheker) are true, like all the known te’amim of Tanach,” end quote.
Likewise, it is brought in the sefer Ta’amei Torah by Rav Yisrael Yitzchak (Ma’amar 2, chapter 1), and these are his words: “Behold, the te’amim of the books of Emet differ in their form and shape from the te’amim of Scripture. This is because the te’amim were instituted to enable the listener to understand from the mouth of the reader, for in their days they would read publicly without its explanation, and without the pauses of the te’amim the listener would not understand. And since most of the verses are short and were composed in the manner of song, to delight the soul and draw it to the fear of God, therefore a special tune was designated for this, and the signs accord with the tune, for when the tune changes its signs change as well, as is known in the science of music. And this is what the Rishonim called divine music, and because their essence was founded upon song.”
From the sefer “Shaf Veyativ – Laws of Saying Tehillim” by Rabbi Shay Tahan, Chapter 5: How to Say Tehillim and Precise Pronunciation, Halacha 10 (p. 69 in the print edition). Translated from the Hebrew original.
