#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
-----------------------------------------------------------
| Rashi is Simple Version 2.0 |
| (C) Dr Hendel, Summer 2000 |
| http://www.RashiYomi.Com |
| PERMISSION to reprint WITH this header if NOT for profit |
------------------------------------------------------------
VERSE: Gn50-13a
RASHIS COVERED: Gn50-13a Nu02-02a
VERSES
----------------------------------------------------------
Gn50-13a the children of Jacob did to him AS HE COMMANDED
Nu02-02a the tribes encamped by their flags and symbols
----------------------------------------------------------
RASHI:
=====
Jacob commanded his sons on the death bed that they should
bear his coffin in a prescribed fashion. Thus certain children
were on the north side of the coffin, certain children were on
the east side etc. This arrangement of children is IDENTICAL
with the arrangement by which the tribes camped. In other words
the same children who camped eg on the east side also bore
Jacobs coffin on the east side.(And therefore it says that
the children of Israel camped >by the signs< (ie the signs
which their father had given them at his death)).
COMMENT
=======
Rashis comment looks incredible. There doesnt seem to be any
connection between the verses cited above and what Rashi says.
No wonder some people believe that some Rashis are midrashic
The idea of deriving Rashi from the nuances of the word >SIGN<
seems far fetched.
PROPOSED EXPLANATION
====================
We now perform some midrashic magic and make the above Rashi
simple. The idea is simple: Jacob saw divisions and factions
among his children...he therefore blessed them in a SPECIFIC
order. His hope was that this order of children should prevent
further problems. He also hoped that this order should
ALWAYS be used.
For example the 3 tribes that excelled in Torah
scholarship were blessed one after another in Gn49 and all
of them encamped on the east side (in Nu02). Thus the order
in both Gn49 and Nu02 was focused on similarity of interest.
Jacob hoped to preserve peace among his children by putting
similar tribes together.
Reviewing all 12 tribes we see that the ORDER in which
Jacob blessed his children (Gn49) is >ALMOST IDENTICAL< with
the order of the tribes in their encampments Nu02). This
>IDENTICALITY OF ORDER< is the driving force behind the
Rashi.
In other words, Rashi is derived from a COMPARISON of
tribal order in the two parshas (the blessings vs the
encampments). SINCE THESE TWO ORDERS--(a)THE ORDER OF TRIBES
IN THE BLESSINGS and the (b)ORDER OF TRIBES BY THE
ENCAMPMENTS ARE THE SAME, RASHI THEREFORE ASSUMES THAT THE
SAME ORDER WAS USED IN BEARING THE COFFIN. Hence Rashi
is Simple! Here is the LIST.
{LIST}
Comparison of order of tribes in (1) Jacobs blessings in
Gn49 vs (2) the camping arrangement described in Nu02.
The footnotes explain discrepancies.
=======================================================
TRIBE
ORDER THE TRIBES ENCAMPED IN A RECTANGLE
BY THE FOLLOWING TRIBES WERE ON THE FOLLOWING
BLESSINGS SIDES
Gn49 Nu02
======= ===========================================
Reuben SOUTH
Shimon SOUTH
-----------------
Levi MIDDLE Levi fought for God by Golden Calf*1
-----------------
Yehuda*2 EAST Eastern tribes were known for scholarship
Zevulun EAST
Yissachar EAST
-----------------
Dan*3 NORTH Northern tribes were known for Judges
Gad*4 SOUTH
Asher NORTH
Naftali NORTH
-----------------
Joseph*5 WEST Western tribes had Temples on their land
Binyamin WEST
NOTES
=====
*1 Levi should have encamped in the south with Reuben &
Shimon. However in Ex32-26 the tribe of Levi volunteered
to fight for God. They therefore became substitutes for
the firstborn and achieved a separate place in the camp
*2 This is a famous Rashi on Nu03-38a.
--YISSACHAR was known for its TEACHERS (1Ch12-33),
--ZEVULUN was known for its SCRIBES(Jud5-14),
--JUDAH was known for its LAWMAKERS (Gn49-10)
We see here the LOGIC of Jacob assigning an ORDER to
the tribes. He wanted to encourage similar tribes to live
with one another.
*3*4 As indicated in Footnote 1, Levi left the southern
camp and camped in the middle. Therefore Reuven & Shimon
needed a replacement on the SOUTH side. This replacement
came from the remaining 4 tribes--Dan, Gad
Ahser Naftali.
My opinion is that Jacob grouped those tribes that
were known for their Leadership during the days
of the Judges.. For example Asher gave birth to SERACH
who lived forever and helped prevent a civil war during
the Sheva rebellion (2Sam20-19). Dan gave birth
to the most famous of all the Judges, the legendary
Samson, who saved the Jews from the Philistines(Ju13..)
Finally Naftali gave rise to Barak who with Devorah
the prophetess conquered enemies (Ju4-5).
Gad however was not noted for Judges. Therefore he
was moved to the SOUTH side in the encampments
I would seem from the above analysis that Jacob only
gave >GUIDELINES< of ORDER on his deathbed. These
guidelines however could be >CHANGED< by behavior as
happened with Levi.
*5 eg Compare the Rashi on Gn45-14. Both Joseph and
Binyamin had temples in their land. They were both known
for their holiness (Joseph resisted temptation while
Binyamin is one of the 4 people who never sinned)
{END OF LIST}
SUMMARY:
=======
Rashi noted an almost identical order of tribes in the
blessings of Jacob (Gn49) and the configuration of the
Jewish Camp(Nu02). Hence Rashi assumes that all orderings
of the tribes were similar.
It also seems reasonable that this ordering was
recommended by Jacob in order to facilitate peace
and harmony among the Jews.
RASHI RULE USED: DOUBLE PARSHAS
---------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The following additional references may be too wordy
However they frequently contain additional information & lists
The hyperlinks only work on the main website
Volume 8 Number 24
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
Volume 8 Number 24