Product Reviews – Trope Trainer™, PocketTorah & Tikkun Korim

Tikkun Korim (Feldheim 2007)

I recently noticed a number of “hits” on the blog regarding two somewhat interrelated topics, specifically Yes, You Can Buy A Torah On Ebay and The Fine Art of Torah Laining (“Reading”) – Part I and The Fine Art of Torah Laining (“Reading”) – Part II. 

I extrapolate from this that the interest in acquiring a Torah comes from new synagogues/independent minyanim in formation and that the interest in Torah laining (“reading”) may be related, at least in part, to this interest. Or not. (There is a limit on the metrics available to bloggers so this is at best a guess.)

In any event, perhaps this is a opportune time to share with readers some of the tools I have been using to hone my own Torah laining skills now that I am “back in the game,” in the sense of regularly reading Torah for my independent minyan (the inevitable plug – you can read all about it at The Role of Hebrew In the Prayer Service – Fourth In A Series (Discovering the Mission Minyan)).

Trope Trainer™ 

The process of acquiring the specific knowledge to read a portion of the Torah is often a bit tedious, as well as difficult. First the reader has to commit to memory the way the text is read (i.e. the vowels). (As noted in The Fine Art of Torah Laining (“Reading”) – Part I, the “A” list readers also have to work on the accenting of the Hebrew and understanding the text.)  Once that is done, then the reader has to do much the same thing in terms of committing to memory the trope (aka the “teamim” in Hebrew, or the "notes" in English). As also noted in the prior blog piece, the tool used in connection with this process is, typically, the tikkun, a book which contains a side-by-side comparison of the Torah text against a version that contains both vowels and trope.

But it doesn’t have to be that way and there is a new tool available to readers that both improves the process as well as making it, at least as far as I am concerned, much more fun. That tool is Trope Trainer™, from Kinnor Software, which offers a multimedia approach to acquisition of both trope and text, one that is so agreeable that I have lately heard some b’nai mitzvahs thanking Trope Trainer™ in addition to their flesh and blood instructors. But Trope Trainer™ is also a very effective tool for anyone wanting to lain Torah, as I will explain.

The first thing that distinguishes Trope Trainer™ is the sheer number of trope options available. There are 27 melody options for Ashkenazic (German rite) readers and a further four for Sephardic (Middle Eastern rite) style readers. Of the 27 Ashkenazic options, no less than six are based on the so-called “Binder” trope style, which is the one most typically used in mainstream American synagogues, particularly in the Reform Movement. But there are also options for Chabad-oriented participants as well as Modern Orthodox and Haredi. The trope options are enhanced by the ability to adjust the pitch (plus or minus 12 tones), the voice (ranging from “Child” to “Bass”), and the accent (two flavors of Ashkenazic, three Sephardic and one Galician). There are also options for adjusting the speed of the reading, the voice level and the “instrument level.” Referring to the latter, you can have a musical accompaniment if you so desire (can’t say that I have). While it is conceivable that a trope option is not covered (for example my favored Lithuanian style, alas), there are not many people who won’t find something to their liking and in a voice and tone they can work with.

The next distinguishing mark of Trope Trainer ™ is that it is possible to have the program lain (chant) single words, sentences, aliyot and even the entire parshah (Hebrew/Persian for “portion”), doing so against a setting where the vowelled/noted text and the Torah (“stam”) text are perfectly aligned side-by-side. This is, by far, the best tool I have ever encountered for learning to lain a section of Torah.

The next distinguishing aspect of Trope Trainer™ is that there is an adequate (albeit not wonderful) translation available and, that, too, can be set to have the program chant the text in the trope of your choice (not to mention the accent, voice and pitch).

Another very useful feature is the ability to select a particular aliyah (portion) and to print any or all of a designated potion either in tikkun (side-by-side) format or translated (or Torah text (stam) only. Incredibly versatile.

There is also an intereactive perpetual Jewish calendar that enables the user to select the correct portion of the week, whether in accordance with the rules pertaining to Israel or the Diaspora, to select between Shabbat, holiday and daily readings, and to opt between annual and triennial reading cycles. This takes much of the worry out of making sure that the right portion is being read in terms of assignments – it has certainly reduced my worry in that regard.

Other really “cool” options including the color highlighting of phrases, color coding of the notes and underlining of special melody sections. All of these functions are controllable by the user (I don’t personally use them but can see their utility for others.) The program also enhances by enlargement the vowel known as the kamatz katan, my own personal nemesis.

There are many other bells and whistles, so many I can’t really do the program justice in that regard. They include the ability to export a reading to Itunes™ and musical notation under the text – a *huge* benefit for readers with musical training.

All of the functions noted above are also available for the Haftorah that is associated with the portion as well.

Trope Trainer™ isn’t cheap – list price is $139.95 for the Deluxe version (which includes the entire Torah, Haftorahs and megilot (Ruth, Aicha (Lamentations), etc.). The Standard Version (no megilot) is $114.95. There is a single parshah (portion) at $59.95 which should be perfect for B’nai Mitzvah students. The same price is charged for a megilot-only version. There is also a “software only” version that contains neither readings nor Tutorials (not sure how useful this really is) for $54.95. The Amazon.com prices appear to be higher than those offered on the Kinnor Software website. A quick look at Google’s price-focused www.froogle.com also suggests that there are no significant discounts available.

The update policy, at least so far, has been impressive. I purchased the program back in 2011 and the updates so far have been free.

You can download a demo from the Kinnor Software website via their Download link.

I cannot think of a better tool for learning Torah than Trope Trainer™. But there is an interesting alternative out there that is also worth reviewing.

PocketTorah 

PocketTorah is free, courtesy of an astoundingly generous act on the part of Jewish New Media Innovation Fund (itself a collaboration of several well known philanthropic organizations, including the Jim Joseph Foundation, which I have previously had occasion to praise in connection with its support for the independent minyan movement).

The “About” section of the PocketTorah website tells you what you need to know about the product: “PocketTorah is an application that will provide the user the ability to learn the weekly Torah and Haftarah portion anywhere, at any time, on any mobile device or computer for free.” PocketTorah is available as an app for both the Apple and Android operating systems and can also be accessed on a platform independent basis via its website (but only with Chrome and Safari browsers at present).

While it lacks the bells and whistles of TropeTrainer™ PocketTorah provides an interactive learning experience in which the user can switch between vowelled/noted sentences and sentences in Torah (stam) text, along with a translation and can hear the reader chant the sentence. (But warning to ultra Orthodox would-be users – some of those doing the laining (reading) are women, so this program may not be for you. I don’t hold by kol isha but as a matter of courtesy to those of my readers who do, I thought to let you know this.)

The format is not nearly as useable as TropeTrainer™ as the functionality of a side-by-side format is superior and the sentences appear in isolation. Nor does PocketTorah have the incredible versatility of TropeTrainer™ in terms of trope and voice selection. (But, interestingly, PocketTorah provides access to textual commentary from places like the Jewish Theological Seminary, Yeshiva University, Hebrew Union College and other institutions while TropeTrainer™ does not.) But the price is certainly right and you can take PocketTorah with you pretty much anywhere.

PocketTorah is still in development and there are occasional bugs. For example, the ability to switch between vowelled/noted sentences and sentences in Torah (stam) text seems to work just fine on a first generation Ipad but doesn’t work on a latest-and-greatest Android smartphone. Hopefully these issues will be dealt with in the fullness of time.

Tikkun Korim

There are still occasions where resort to a traditional side-by-side format paper tikkun is desirable. Happily significant progress has been made on that front as well.

Readers who are Baby Boomers like me likely were brought up on the old K’tav Publishing Tikkun (proper name Tikkun Torah LaKorim (current edition is Scharstein 1969)), will be very pleasantly surprised by what is now out there.

My favorite of the new tikkunim that are now on the market is Tikkun Korim Ha-Chadash “Simanim” (Feldheim 2007). Unlike the barebones K’tav offering, the Tikkun Korim offers a razor-sharp clear text, computer realignment between the vowelled/noted sentences and sentences in Torah (stam) text, shading over key phrases, and enhanced visibility for special notes like the kamatz katan.

I recently had cause to look at the old K’tav tikkun while polishing a reading (another member of the minyan had innocently appropriated my Tikkun Korim). The difference in readability and usability was just stunning. Once you start using the Tikkun Korim, there is no going back.

One nice option provided by Tikkun Korim is size – there are small (compact), medium and large sizes so in a sense this tikkun is customizable as I certainly would not want to haul the large size version with me to synagogue.

Tikkun Korim is available in both Ashkenazic (German rite) and Sephardic (Middle Eastern) formats. The large Ashkenazic edition is available on Amazon at $45.00. It looks like the same volume is available for $49.95 on the J. Levine Co. website, but unlike Amazon, J. Levine also offers the medium size ($39.95) and the small size ($24.95) and J. Levine Co. has some of the editions of this tikkun in both Ashkenazic and Sephardic editions.

Tikkun Korim does not include a translation, however. If that is important to you, you might consider the Kestenbaum Tikkun (full name The Kestenbaum Edition Tikkun: The Torah Reader’s Compendium (Artscroll 2002)), which comes with both a translation and a commentary by Rabbi Avie Gold. The translation and commentary are very much mainstream Orthodox and the renderings of words are in the Ashkenazic (German rite) manner, hence “Shabbos” for “Shabbat,” “megillos" for "megilot,” etc. For West Coast Jews, in particular, as well as those not brought up Orthodox, this may seem strange, but one gets used to it pretty quickly. The Kestenbaum Tikkun also contains a section on laws, customs and Torah etiquette. But as is typically the case with Artscroll offerings, don’t assume that what Artscroll says is a “must” is necessarily that. Artscroll can be a mite pushy about such matters.

The Kestenbaum Tikkun is large and bulky, almost a coffee table book – again no treat to transport to synagogue but for home use it is an excellent resource.

The Kestenbaum Tikkun sells for $58.45 on Amazon. The price is $55.24 at J. Levine. (But also look at shipping cost and sales tax issues in evaluating the total price of any of the books discussed in this post.)

The old K’tav tikkun is still available for purchase. It’s $29.95 at J. Levine and $55.98 at Amazon. Hard to understand the price variance (different edition? different book despite the name?) but the bigger question is why anyone would buy the barebones K’tav offering when there are so many better options out there.

It's a bit funny to think of all these high-tech solutions being applied to the lowest tech of media (referring to a quill-pen written parchment scroll) but, to echo the Chinese aphorism, we definitely live in interesting times.  Anything that enhances the synagogue experience is, as far as I am concerned, a very good thing indeed and I have certainly found that to be the case with the Torah laining tools described in this post.