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               Written by Dr Russell Jay Hendel

                     Volume 10 Number 3
                    Produced May 9, 2001

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VERSE: Nu15-30b

RASHIS COVERED: Gn09-05d Gn09-06a Ex31-14b Ex31-14a
                Lv20-07a Lv24-15a Lv24-16b Nu15-30b

The LIST below gathers 5 crimes
* Each of them has TWO verses associated with it
* with witnesses the punishment for this crime is death
* without witnesses the punishment is extinction

In some cases the EXTINCTION - DEATH distinction is not
explicit in the verse while in other cases it is more
explicit.

Thus the LIST enables us to see an overall pattern -
a rule which should universally applied -- that is,
death penalty applies only with witnesses while
without witnesses we have extinction

*1 Contrast the punishments to blasphemy
   in the following 2 verses:
     Lv24-15a lists a punishment of BEARING HIS SIN while Nu15-30b
  lists a punishment of BEING CUT OFF. Hence it is reasonable
  to identify the phrase BEAR HIS SIN with the punishment of
  BEING CUT OFF

  Lv24-15, Lv24-16 and Nu15-30 present 3 different words for
  cursing. They give the roots KUF-LAMED-LAMED, NUN-KUF-BETH,
  GIMEL-DALETH-FAY. Rashi on Lv24-16b and Nu15-30b brings
  LISTS of verses confirming that these roots are synonyms
  (that is, different roots with basically the same meaning)

The LIST below aligns Lv24-15 and Lv24-16 by breaking the
2 verses into 4 PHRASES. A comparison of aligned phrases
facilitates inference of the details of blasphemy. The main
laws learned is that
* cursing the ineffable name of God carries a death penalty
* cursing one of the other names of God results in extinction

The differences between the 4 phrases are examined in the 4
footnotes

*1 There are some subtle differences in the actual Hebrew
   which I have translated over (to get everything in one
   line). Lv24-15 says A MAN A MAN WHEN HE CURSETH..
   while Lv24-16 says WHOSO CURSETH. The Sifrah/Sifray,
   the Midrashic commentary gives no comment on this. I would
   assume that as usual, this language means that  the death
   penalty is extended to both men and women.

*2 Cursing the Ineffable Name of God carries a death penalty
   while cursing one of Gods other names (such as My Lord)
   carries a punishment of extinction.

*3 I would simply say that HIS GOD refers to names of God
   that have a POSSESSIVE element in the word: For example,
   MY LORD, MY GOD. So Lv24-15 explicitly says that cursing
   one of Gods names that have a possesive element, (like
   MY LORD), carries no death penalty, but rather a penalty
   of extinction.

*4 This has been explained above: There are two types of
   blasphemy: A blasphemy that carries a death penalty
   and a blasphemy that carries an extinction penalty.

   Now as pointed out in footnotes *2 and *3, Lv24-16
   dealing with the case of cursing Gods ineffable name,
   carries a death penalty, while Lv24-15 shows that
   cursing Gods other names (like LORD) carry an
   extinction penalty.

   Similarly (by analogy with the other crimes
   in the list above) cursing Gods ineffable Name
   WITHOUT witnesses would also carry a death penalty.

   In other words the primary intention of the
   2 verses, Lv24-15 and Lv24-16,  was to indicate the
   distinction between the INEFFABLE and OTHER NAMES
   of God. But by ANALOGY with other crimes, cursing the
   ineffable name of God without witnesses would also carry
   an EXTINCTION penalty.

   I think this viewpoint, that certain items are learned
   explicitly while other items are learned by analogy
   will facilitate seeing all of Rashi as the Simple
   inference of the text.

RASHI RULE USED: DOUBLE PARSHAS





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VERSE: Ex31-10a


RASHIS COVERED: Ex31-10a Ex31-10b Ex35-19a Ex39-01a

Ex35-19a mentions the the production of SERAD CLOTHES

What are these SERAD CLOTHES?

Rashi says they refer to the UTENSIL COVERS mentioned
in Nu04.

Four methods are used to strengthen this association.
They involve examinations of
* ROOTS
* VERSES
* MATERIALS
* ELIMINATION OF ALTERNATIVES
There are a variety of techniques that a person studying
Biblical meaning can use. Using Rashi we supply at
least 4 methods*5

This Rashi is also instructive to see the variation in tone
in Rashi.*6

*1 Rashi (Ex31-10b)explains that the covers LOOKED LIKE LEFTOVER
   CLOTHES since they had a net like appearance with
   many holes.

   This corresponds to the Yiddish SHMATAHS -- worn out garments
   that are used around the house.

   In a similar manner even though these garments were
   specifically produced for the purpose of covering
   utensils, nevertheless they are called the LEFTOVER
   GARMENTS (i.e. the SHMATAHS) and they indeed were
   produced with a net like appearance like SHMATAHS.

   In summary they had the FORM (net like with holes)
   and FUNCTION (used to cover items) of LEFTOVER
   GARMENTS (Shmatahs).

   Finally we point out that even though these cloths
   were never worn they are called GARMENTS -- an explicit
   usage of the word GARMENT for things not worn occurs in
   Nu04-08 (I am indebted to Harry Rashbaum from my Shomrey
   Emunah class for bringing up this point).

*2 Compare the following verses in which SERAD occurs.
   ------------------------------------------------------------
   Ex31-10 The SeRaD Clothes                  ;Priestly clothes
   Ex39-41 The SeRaD Clothes to SERVE holiness;Priestly clothes
   Ex39-01 The SeRaD Clothes to SERVE holiness;Priestly clothes
   ------------------------------------------------------------

   Collectively the 3 verses together seem to say that there
   are 2 types of >CLOTHES<:
   * Priestly Clothes
   * SeRaD Clothes used to SERVE THE HOLINESS(by eg covering
     up the utensil covers)

   In my Shomrey Emunah Rashi Class it was pointed out that
   in Modern Hebrew SERAD refers to the MINISTRY. Such
   a meaning would be derived from this verse which equates
   SERAD with SERVICE (This method differs in emphasis
   from the method of ROOTS in NOTE 1 which looks at these
   clothes not as SERVING the TEMPLE but rather as
   SHMATAHS, LEFTOVER LOOKING CLOTHES

*3 Rashi brings this argument on Ex31-10a and Ex39-01a.

   --Rashi points out that Ex39-01 lists the materials from
   which the SeRaD clothes were made--LINEN is not mentioned

   --Similarly Nu04 lists the materials from which the UTENSIL
   COVERS were made--again LINEN is not mentioned

   --But Ex28 and Ex29 mentioned the materials from which
   the Priestly garments were made and they all had LINEN.

   Hence, concludes Rashi the SeRad clothes seem to be
   different from the Priestly clothes and similar to
   the Utensil covers. This leads to the conclusion that
   the utensil covers are identical with the Serad clothes.


*4 A comparison of Ex35 vs Ex25,Ex26 shows that all the
   priestly and temple items CROSS REFERENCE each other.

   The only item NOT cross referenced in Ex35 was the
   UTENSIL COVERS mentioned in Nu04.

   Hence by a process of elimination it seems reasonable
   to CROSS REFERENCE the SERAD CLOTHES with the
   UTENSIL COVERS.

*5 Rashi mentions a 5th method: Comparison to similar
   words in other languages. For example in Aramaic
   SERAD means TO SERVE.

*6 Note the difference in Rashis tone
   * Rashi is CONJECTURAL in tone in Ex31-10a Ex31-10b Ex39-01a
   * Rashi is DEFINITE in tone in Ex35-19a
   This shows that Rashi must be read holistically.

RASHI RULE USED: DOUBLE PARSHAS


#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc. 2001, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#




          THE 6 RASHI RULE CLASSES(Version 3.2 Dec 15 2001)
                http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rules-01.htm
          Copyright Dec 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President

========================================================
THE DICTIONARY RULE: Rashi can function as a dictionary.
                     He presents 2-6 meanings of words
         REFERENCE: http://www.RashiYomi.Com/words.htm
========================================================
* EXAMPLE 1: AL means ON. AL can also mean
      - WITH (Eat Passover WITH matzoh Ex12-09e)
      - IN   (Place the Matzoh IN the basket Ex29-03)
      - TO   (The boards shall be even from bottom TO top Ex26-24c)
      - NEAR (His borders will be NEAR Tzison Gn49-13b)
      - AFTER(Offer Peace offerings AFTER the daily Lv03-05a)

* EXAMPLE 2: KI means IF,PERHAPS,RATHER,BECAUSE,WHEN,THAT
   Gn18-15a Gn24-33a

* EXAMPLE 3: YDA means FAMILIAR, not KNOW (eg Dt34-10a)
	   eg Gn04-01 Adam was FAMILIAR with his wife

* EXAMPLE 4: ON THE FACE OF means DURING THE LIFETIME
            Nu03-04a Gn11-28a Ex20-03c Dt05-07a

===========================================================
THE GRAMMAR RULE: Rashi comments on RARE or SIMILAR usages
        REFERENCE:http://www.RashiYomi.Com/grammar.htm
===========================================================

* EXAMPLE 1: BA-ah means CAME;ba-AH means COMING(Gn46-26a)


* EXAMPLE 2:THE SENTENCE: 0.2% of Biblical sentences are 2verses
 -(Dt11-07:08) It was not your fathers who saw this;rather you

* EXAMPLE 3: Hitpael has different rules if 1st root letter is
   Tzade (USE: Ni-Tz-Ta-Dack not Ni-Th-Tza-Dack--Gn44-16a)

================================================================
THE CITATION RULE: Rashi enriches meaning by citing OTHER verses
         REFERENCE:http://www.RashiYomi.Com/other-20.htm
================================================================
* EXAMPLE 1: Dt26-05d We went down to Egypt with A FEW PEOPLE
	    ENRICHED by Gn46-27: We went down with 70 people

* EXAMPLE 2: Lv01-05a Non-priests may SLAUGHTER offerings
	    This law DERIVED from explicit statement in 2Chr30-17

* EXAMPLE 3:Why does Rashi say that Chur is Miriams son(Ex17-10b)
	    DERIVED from possible interpretation of 1-Chr18-19

* EXAMPLE 4: Gn35-22a Reuven Slept with Bilhah(Fathers concubine)
	    Gn49-04  Reuven PLAYED with fathers BEDS
        CONCLUSION: Reuven inteferred with fathers personal
	life(ruffled bedspreads); Bible condemns Reuven by
	exaggeration; he is accused of incest which he didnt do

=================================================================
THE 3 RABBI ISHMAEL RULES: They govern style(broad vs literal)
REFERENCE:http://www.RashiYomi.com/example1.htm thru example9.htm
=================================================================

* EXAMPLE 1: Simple sentences are always GENERALIZED
            ---------------------------------------
	    Dt25-04a Dont MUZZLE an OX while it is THRESHING
	    Rabbi Ishmael: Dont STOP any ANIMAL from eating
			   while DOING ITS WORK
					
* EXAMPLE 2: GENERAL-EXAMPLE style always interpreted LITERALLY
            --------------------------------------------------
 Nu05-12d (GENERAL) If a women DESECRATES her marriage
	   (EXAMPLE) and commits ADULTERY
	   Rabbi Ishmael: Nu05 only applies to ADULTERY.
	   It does not apply to other marriage DESECRATIONS
			
* EXAMPLE 3: GENERAL-EXAMPLE-GENERAL style intepreted SIMILARLY
            --------------------------------------------------
 Lv05-21b (GENERAL) If a man DENIES under oath
	  (EXAMPLE) ..denies a deposit,loan,theft,wages,lost item
	  (GENERAL) or ANY DENIAL which he denies
 RABBI ISHMAEL: These laws apply to any SIMILAR Example
 * The law applies to partnerships, movables and monetary objects
 * The law does not apply to real-estate or slander

=================================================================
THE CLIMAX RULE: The Bible should be interpreted in such a manner
                that it reflects CLIMACTIC development to a goal
             REFERENCE: http://www.RashiYomi.Com/example9.htm
=================================================================
 EXAMPLE 1: Dt19-11a If a man HATES, SPIES, CONFRONTS & KILLS
 RASHI: Bible identifies 4 stages to murder(Capped)

==============================================================
THE FORMATTING PRINCIPLE: Bible had its own method to mimic
                          bold, bullets, footnotes, paragraphs
==============================================================

* BOLD: Bible REPEATS words to obtain BOLD emphasis effect
          http://www.RashiYomi.Com/doubl-14.htm
  --------------------------------------------------------------
  EXAMPLE 1:(Ex12-09c) COOK COOK it in water (So COOKED is bold)
  INFERENCE: Prefered to COOK it in water;
         But COOK It at all costs(Even if you dont have water)

* BULLETS: Bible indicates bullets by REPEATING KEYWORDS
  --------------------------------------------------------
 Who am I
 - THAT I should go to Pharaoh
 - THAT I should take the Jews out of Egypt (Ex03-11a)
 --------------------------------------------------------
 RASHI: Repeated word THAT creates BULLET effect
 - Pharoh was a difficult king (Bullet one)
 - Jews were not yet ready for freedom (Bullet two)

* FOOTNOTES: The Bible indicates FOOTNOTES by ALMOST DUPLICATING
	     verses but making small minor changes
                http://www.RashiYomi.Com/align-58.htm
  ---------------------------------------------------------------
  EXAMPLE: Ex20-03a
  VERSE        PHRASE #1       PHRASE #2       PHRASE #3
  -------      ---------       ---------       ------------------
  Ex20-03      Dont            POSSESS  the gods of others
  Ex20-04      Dont            MAKE     idols

  RASHI: So both POSSESSion & MAKING of idols are prohibited
  ---------------------------------------------------------------

                           End of Rashi is Simple Digest

#*#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi, 2001 Inc. Dr. Hendel President #*#*#*#*#