Hand Signs

It is a tradition in many synagogues for one (or both) of the gabbaiim to make hand gestures to indicate the proper trope to the Torah reader. Below is a set of these gestures* that can help with both reading and practicing a Torah portion. Click here to download a pdf to use offline.

אתנחת֑א Etnakhta	מונ֣ח Munakh	תפח֖א Tipkha	מרכ֥א Merkha


סוף־פסוֽק Sof Passuk	מרכ֥א Merkha

סיף־אלייֽה Sof Aliyah

זקף־קט֔ן Zakef Katan	מונ֣ח Munakh	פשט֙א Pashta	מהפ֤ך Mapakh


זקף־גד֕ול Zakef Gadol		ית֚יב Yitiv

רב֗יע R'via	מונ֣ח Munakh	מונח־לגרמ֣ה ׀ Munakh Legarme	גרש֞ים Gershayim

תב֛יר T'vir	מרכ֥א Merkha	פז֡ר Pazer	מונ֣ח Munakh


	דרג֧א Darga

סג֒יל Segol	מונ֣ח Munakh	זרק֘א Zarka	מונ֣ח Munakh

אזלא־ג֜רש Azla Geresh	קדמ֨א Kadma	תלישה־קטנה֩ T'lisha Kitanah	מונ֣ח Munakh


קדמ֨א ואזל֜א Kadma V'Azla		ת֠לישה־גדולה T'lisha Gidolah

*Many thanks go to Cantor Paul D. Goldstein who showed me these signs and shared some of his innovations, such as, certain variations on the munakh and the merkha preceding a t'vir.