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               (C) RashiYomi Incorporated, 2002
               Written by Dr Russell Jay Hendel

                     Volume 12 Number 17
         FOR THE COLORFUL, WORD QUALITY, HTML VERSION, VISIT:
                http://www.RashiYomi.com/h12n17.htm
                 Produced January 1st, 2002

       WARNING: USE FIX WIDTH FONTS (eg COURIER (NEW) 10)

`          Whats new and hot in this issue?

*1  THE AKAYDAH -- at http://www.RashiYomi.Com/akaydah.htm

    The statistics seem to point out that people prefer Essays
    over these digests(The essays are more popular)

    This creates a new vision for Rashiyomi: Cover the Bible
    with 100-200 essays each covering 50 Rashis.

    Towards this end I wrote up the essay: THE AKAYDAH. This
    cites several dozen Rashis. It gives a new perspective on
    the AKAYDAH, PROPHECY and FAITH. We discuss what really
    happened and what Abrahams text was

    If you prefer this essay format let me know. We can
    accelerate its production.

*2  My thanks to the many readers who answered the survey

    You will, starting this issue get HTML versions.
    IF YOU HAVE COLOR PREFERENCES LET ME KNOW. They are easily
    changed. Right now I use, Yellow headers, Brown backgrounds,
    beige databases, blue notes and green long notes.

    THOSE WHO WANTED TEXT WILL BE SENT SPECIAL TEXT VERSIONS
    IF YOU WANT TEXT LET ME KNOW

#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2002, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#

VERSE: Ex02-24b

RASHIS COVERED: Ex02-24b Gn04-01c Nu08-25a

BACKGROUND
----------
Hebrew like many other languages has CONNECTIVE words. These
are words like WITH, TO, FROM, ON, OF. They are technically
known as prepositions. Their grammatical function is to connect
the various parts of sentences.

THE TEXT
--------
We deal with the Hebrew word ETH.
This word has no English translation as its primary function
is to indicate the OBJECT of a sentence (in other words it
functions as a marker without meaning)

THE RASHI
---------
Rashi and other grammarians point out that ETH can mean
WITH, TO, etc. In fact all connectives interchange. Thus
TO can mean WITH, OF, FROM etc.

THE LIST
--------
We present 3 Rashis where ETH can mean WITH.
Eventually we will gather all prepositions and all
their meanings and make one great list.

REFERENCES
----------
For further examples with other prepositions visit
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/words.htm
which contains list of meanings of prepositions like TO

*10 The word KNH usually means TO ACQUIRE/BUY. But it can
   also mean CREATE. The most famous example is Gn14-19
   ---------------------------------------------------
   Bless be God who CREATED (KONAY) Heaven and earth
   ---------------------------------------------------

*11 Rashi presents an elegant application of Rabbi Ishmaels
    rules: http://www.RashiYomi.Com/ri-14.htm which deals
    with contradictory verses. Here is the contradiction
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Nu08-24 When levites reach 50..they will NO LONGER SERVE
    Nu08-25 But they WILL SERVE in watching the temple
    ----------------------------------------------------

    One of the 5 methods of resolving two contradictory
    verses is to apply them to components of the same
    process. Accordingly we have the Rashi: After 50
    ------------------------------------------------------
    --They do NOT carry Temple object on their shoulders
    --They do Sing Temple songs, close doors etc
    ------------------------------------------------------
    I think the source for this distinction is obvious
    logic about 50 year olds.

*12 These examples come from Radack whom however suggests
    that they may simply be indicating the OBJECTIVE case
    -----------------------------------------------------
    1S17-34 The lion and (ETH) bear came
    2K06-05 The hatchet & (ETH) iron fell into the water
    -----------------------------------------------------
    The word ETH mays simply tell us whether the word
    after it functions as a subject or object

RASHI RULE USED: SPECIAL WORDS

#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2002, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#

VERSE: Gn10-25a

RASHIS COVERED: Gn04-01a Gn10-25a Gn21-01a
                Ex12-35c Ex24-01a

BACKGROUND
----------
Most people are familiar with the 3 Hebrew tenses. Thus, for
example, for the root, Sh-M-R, TO WATCH, we have SHMARTI means
I WATCHED, ESHMOR means I WILL WATCH and SHOMAYR means I AM
WATCHING.

TEXT
----
But an OVERTURNING PREFIX VAV plus the FUTURE tense also means
the past: For example, VA-ESHMOR means I WATCHED
(not I WILL WATCH)

RASHI
-----
Rashi sees a difference between these 2 past tenses
-- VA-ESHMOR means I WATCHED    (PAST ABSOLUTE)
-- SHAMARTI means I HAD WATCHED (PAST PERFECT)

THE LIST
--------
Here is a LIST of verses where PAST PERFECT (HAD WATCHED)
vs PERFECT is used (WATCHED). Footnotes indicate how
Rashi or logic would translate the verse


REFERENCES
----------
Two previous postings on this issue occur at
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/h5n7.htm
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/h4n13.htm

*1 This is the source for the often cited midrash that
   ----------------------------------------------------
   God created many worlds before he created this one
   ----------------------------------------------------
   That is the text explictly states THE WORLD HAD ALREADY
   BEEN DARK. Thus contrary to popular belief the world
   was NOT created 6000 years ago. Instead Adam, the first
   prophet was created. For more details and references see

   http://www.RashiYomi.Com/gen-1.htm


*2 Thus Rashi sees the Biblical sequence as follows
   -----------------------------------------
   -Gn02     God creates Adam
   -Gn02-end Adam and eve were naked
   -Gn04     Adam and even had children
   -Gn03     Snake tries to get Eve to sin
   -----------------------------------------

   -- The idea that the event of Gn04 (birth of children)
   preceded the event of Gn03 (Snakes seduction) is
   inferred from the explicit Biblical statement
   AND ADAM HAD ALREADY KNOWN HIS WIFE

   --Rashi explains why the temporal sequence was interrupted:
   By putting the seduction of the snake after the nakedness
   of Adam and Eve the Torah indicates WHY he sinned (Because
   the SNAKE saw her naked--Rashi explains he wanted her
   sexually)

*3 Notice that the Biblical text sometimes uses passive (HAD
   CHILDREN) and sometimes uses active(HAD ALREADY GIVEN BIRTH)
   The Bible alternates style to indicate temporal order.
   Here is a rendition of Gn10-21:32
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   SHAYM had (passive) ..ARPACHSHAD ...ARAM

   ARAMs children were ....
   ARPACHSHAD HAD GIVEN BIRTH to....

   EVER had (passive) SPLIT because the world SPLIT up
   His brother YAKTAN HAD GIVEN BIRTH to.....in the EAST
   ----------------------------------------------------------

   Notice eg that ARPACHSHAD is mentioned before ARAM (older
   brother) but his children are mentioned AFTERWARDS (Hence
   the past perfect to indicate order reversal)

   Similarly the Bible explicitly identifies that YAKTAN
   lived in the EAST, the place where the TOWER OF BABEL
   was built (Gn11-01).

   By using the PAST PERFECT, the Bible indicates that
   YAKTANS children (Tower of Babel) happened before
   SPLIT (which was the reason for splitting up the world
   (See Gn11-09).

   This would place the Tower of Babel at 340 years after
   the Mabul.

   Thus EVER was a prophet---since he named his child
   by an event that happened at the end of SPLITS life.
   Most probably prophets were warning of the doom that
   would happen and noone listened.

*4 The sequence of events is
   ------------------------------------------------------------
   Gn18 Angels promise Abraham a son next year
   Gn19 Destruction of Sedom and Amorah
   Gn20 Avimelech repents from seducing Sarah;Abe prays for him
   Gn21 Sarah HAD GIVEN birth
   ------------------------------------------------------------

   Sarah gave birth way before then (HAD GIVEN). The purpose
   of the order reversal is to teach a moral lesson:
   ------------------------------------------------------
   Abraham prayed for Avimelech to have children (End of Gn20)
   And hence Abraham merited to have a child himself (Gn21-01)
   HE WHO PRAYS FOR HIS FRIEND WILL BE ANSWERED FIRST
   ------------------------------------------------------

*5 This is not a Rashi but is a famous answer to Bible
   critics who claim that Jacob teased Esauv to get the
   Birthright. The Bible however clearly states JACOB
   HAD ALREADY GIVEN ESAUV FOOD (The discussion of
   selling the birthright took place later)

*6 The Biblical text states
   ----------------------------------------------
   God HAD ALREADY made the Jews pitied
   They now loaned utensils before leaving
   ----------------------------------------------
   Rashi explains that
   -- they had already been pitied--ie they had
   already obtained loans of utensils

   -- Now they obtained second loans (They made
   believe they lost the previous utensils and
   they got second loans).

   So the verse concludes THEY LOANED OUT EGYPT
   (That is they took all their wealth)

*7 This simple but elegant example was provided by Harry
   Rashbaum in my Shomray Emunah Rashi class

*8 The verse explicitly States GOD HAD ALREADY TOLD MOSES
   TO COME UP. Thus the Rashi position that these events
   happened prior to the giving of the 10 commandments
   is based on grammar (I see no way to defend the
   alternate view of the Ramban).

RASHI RULE USED:  GRAMMAR

#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2002, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#

VERSE: Ex03-01b

RASHIS COVERED: Gn01-14e Gn02-03a Gn02-14c
                Gn10-25a Gn14-07a Ex03-01b

BACKGROUND
----------
When God created the Garden of Eden He created 4 rivers. The
Bible explains that these rivers surrounded the countries of
CUSH and ASSYRIA. But CUSH and ASSYRIA werent even born for
over a 1000 years (See Gn10-07:11)

THE RASHI
---------
Rashi is Simple: The OBJECTS were named by what they would BE

RADACK gives an example of this: You name cookie dough based
on what WILL happen to it--it will be COOKED. Rashi gives a
deeper reason: God is a prophet and can name things based
on the future. So for example, Gn10-25 states that AYVER
named his son SPLIT because the world WILL BE SPLIT UP
several 100 years later at the end of his life. Rashi concludes
-- THUS AYVER WAS A PROPHET AND NAMED HIS SON BY WHAT WILL HAPPEN

THE LIST
--------
The list below gives examples of Rashis where things are
named because of future events.

REFERENCE
---------
See http://www.RashiYomi.Com/gn10-25a.htm in this issue
for a more thorough explanation.

*1 God designated the Moon for holidays even though holidays were
   not proclaimed till Ex12

*2 God blesses the Sabbath at creation even though the double
   manna blessing doesnt happen till Ex16

*3 The rivers surrounded the countries of KUSH and ASSHUR.
   But these countries werent so named for another 1000 years
   (See Gn10-07:11 where the people founding these countries were
   born)

*4 See http://www.RashiYomi.Com/gn10-25a.htm which
   discusses how the grammar of the verses indicates that
   SPLIT was named by what happened at the end of his life*10

*5 Moses and Aaron were judged at this place several 100
   years later. (Rashi cites Oonkelos who suggests that
   it was not necessary to cite the prophecy of future
   judgement since it is reasonable that this was a place
   of courts where people came for judgement cases)

*6 It says that Moses came to the mountain of God even though
   the 10 commandments and the revelation of God on this
   mountain did not happen for several years.

*10 Roughly speaking the text says as follows
    ---------------------------------------------------
    His name was SPLIT because the world was split up(eg Gn11-09)
    But his brother had ALREADY HAD children who lived in the
    EAST (home of the tower of Babel which caused the split up)
    ---------------------------------------------------

    The past perfect(HAD ALREADY HAD) suggests that the
    SPLITTING up happened after the tower of Babel (In other
    words SPLIT was named by what happened at the end of his
    life) See the url cited above for more details.

RASHI RULE USED: WORD MEANINGS

#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2002, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#

From: Joey 
To:   RJHendel@Juno.com
SUBJECT: RE HTML
Date: Dec 1, 2001

Russ

A few weeks ago you asked if people did not want
text versions. You promised to send out html.
What happened?

Joey

[ANSWER: The above email (Actually communicated to
me orally) was instrumental in getting me back on
track]

#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2002, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#


From: 4 gzntr8 
To: rjhendel@juno.com
Bcc:
Subject: Re: VOTE IF YOU WANT HTML VERSION
Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2001 10:46:52 -0500

Hi Russell:

  Merry ... Assarah Betevet :-)

  I rarely get a chance to read your Rashi, but the few times I do it is
always fascinating. As u know,I am very much into Hebrew root forms.

  In viewing the explanation on hitpalel which you state means to request
clemency, in actuality, what is included in the prayers is far more than
just requests.

  I think, perhaps, the only part of the prayers where requests are made is
in the SHemoneh Esreh (and perhaps Tachanun), and a small section o fthe
Birkot Hashachar. The vast majority of it of it is Tehilim (unless you wish
to translate that in many of the Tehilim, David Hamelech makes requests).
Even a good part of teh Shemoneh Esreh (especially the first 3 brachot) are
not requests but praises.

  So ... the questioin is ... how would these aspects of prayer fit in to
the explanation that hitpalel means asking for clemency, or even to
interactively judge oneself?

  =======================

  I'm glad you brought up the issue of BA-ah vs. Ba-AH.

  As a good example of this, which I had HOPED you would mention is the
phrase we recite at the end of the Hagaddah and Yom Kippur.

  Which is it?

   "Leshanah HaBA-ah Biyerushalayim" or "Leshanah Haba-AH Biyerushalayim"?

  I saw in one Hagaddah (I think it was Rabbi Riskin's Hagaddah) an
explanation stating that BOTH are correct.

  The BA-ah use states that our hearts are already there. I have trouble
with this explanation as it seesm incongruous with the use of L'shanah, with
the Lamed appearing to imply a "future" meaning.

  The second, Haba-AH seems to imply our desire for the immediate future
arrival of all people from galut to Yerushalayim.

  As a ba'al koreh, I have to be EXTREMELY careful of the proper
prononciation as the wrong one changes the meaning of the sentence as is
INCORRECT! Halevai enough gabba'im would be alert enough to correct the
ba'al koreh who makes such a mistake.

  BTW - another example of where emphasis on the correct sylabble makes a
difference:

  NaTAti - I have given

   Example: V'livnei machir naTAti et Hagil'ad

            To the children of Machir, I HAVE given the Gil'ad. (When this
was stated by Moses in Devarim, the act had already been done.)

NataTI - I WILL give

  Example: VenataTI metar artzechem ...
           I WILL give rain on the earth. (a promise that if we obey G-d's
commandments, this WILL be our reward.)

  Russel, are you aware of any others where the emphasis on different
syllables of the same word changes the meaning?

  Hope all is well...

Dan



#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2002, 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, 2002 Inc. Dr. Hendel President #*#*#*#*#