SUCCINCT SUMMARY
----------------
Rashi frequently makes powerful inferences from the ALIGNMENT,
that is, the word by word comparison, of almost identical verses.
The minor variations between these almost similar verses
suggests nuances and differences or even meaning. We call
this the Rashi rule of ALIGNMENT
-When Rashi identifies two cases from the ALIGNMENT we call
this the Rashi subrule of TWO CASES
-When Rashi infers nuances from the variations between the
almost similar verses (or verse phrases) we call this the
Rashi subrule of NUANCES.
-When Rashi infers MEANING from the ALIGNMENT of almost
identical phrases we call this the Rashi SUBRULE of MEANING.
EXAMPLE Gn14-02e
---------------
Gn14-01:02 states
-----------------------------------------------
In the days of
AMRAFEL, King of SHINAR
ARYOCH King of ELASAR
KEDARLAOMER King of AYLAM
THIDAL King of GOYIM
They made war on
BERA King of SEDOM
BIRSHA King of AMORAH
SHINAV King of ADMAH
SHEMEVER King of TZEVOYIM
--------------- ---------------- ------------
King of BELAH He was TZOAR
*1 *2 *3
NOTES
-----
*1 The NAME of the KING
- for the last row is in column 3
- for the other rows is in column 1
(Rashi Gn14-02e)
*2 The title King is
- for the last row in Column 1
- for the other rows in Column 2
*3 The Country name is
- for the last row in column 2
- for the other rows in column 3
Rashi does not explain the reasons
for these differences on this verse.
However Rashi does explain the reasons
on Gn13-10e. There Rashi uses the CLIMAX
rule to show that BELA was a LAND OF THE
YOUNG. It is not surprising that the Kings
name was YOUNG. It was the land of the YOUTH.
The Hebrew word BELA means DEVOUR---as is
well known excessive YOUTHFUL activity leads
to being DEVOURED and early death.
This criss-crossing of Rashis (The explanation
of the ALIGNMENT of Gn14-02e occurs on
Gn13-10e) is characteristic.
LIST309d below summarizes this alignment
SUCCINCT SUMMARY
----------------
Rashi frequently made inferences based on the Biblical STYLE.
We call this Rashi Rule the RABBI ISHMAEL STYLE rule.
A powerful style rule was the painting of
a verse in a CLIMACTIC DEVELOPMENT manner.
We call this the RASHI SUBRULE of CLIMAX
EXAMPLE Gn13-10e
----------------
Gn13-10 talks about a climate that
encourages love-making
------------------------------
And Lot saw the whole Jordan valley
- it was full of drink (Rashi: Well irrigated)
- ...LIKE a Garden of God (Rashi: Known for trees)
- LIKE Egype (Rashi: Known for its field produce)
- Coming to YOUTH's kingdom (cf Gn14-02)
-------------------------------
In summary the verse describes this valley as
----------
- rivers
- trees
- fields
- YOUTH
----------
The CLIMAX is unmistakable. It was a land
encouraging love-making and the activities
of YOUTH (Rashi accuses Lot of wanting this
land for the opportunities of love-making).
In passing those who have taken advanced art
courses know that the typical BACKGROUND to
a love scene is precisely that indicated by
Gn13-10: RIVERS-TREES-FIELDS-YOUTH. In fact
we can explain WHY the above 4 suggest love-making
-----------------------------------------
- Rivers:EXPLANATION: Emotions of LOVE resemble
the shimmers of water more than solid land
- TREES:EXPLANATION:(a) Provides needed privacy
(b) Well known erection symbols
- FIELDS:EXPLANATION:(a) Provides a soft "bed"
(b) Zephyred fields resemble the pulsations
of love
- YOUTH:EXPLANATION:Love is more vigorous
when Young
-------------------------------------------
Notice how we have combined
- the CLIMAX of Gn13-10
- the ALIGNMENT of Gn14-02
- We can add the OFFER of Lot's daughters
to the Sedom herd.
Thus what we have here is not a homily of the
sages but rather the simple meaning of the
text---for it is the Biblical text that
emphasizes
- that DEVOUR(BELA) was ruled by King YOUTH
- that Lot liked RIVERS-TREES-FIELDS-YOUTH
The Chazalian reaction
----------------------------
Lot chose the cities for sex
----------------------------
is not midrashic, homiletic nor fancy. It is
rather the simple meaning of the text!
LIST109u below summarizes this argument.
SUCCINT SUMMARY
---------------
The ALIGNMENT rule is closely related
to the FORMATTING rule
EXAMPLE Gn12-06b Gn12-08d
-------------------------
Gn12-06:08 states
-----------------------------------------------------
And Abraham passed
- by the land
- until the place of Schem
- until Elon Moreh
- ....
- Towards the mountain
built an altar
*1 *2 *3
------------------------------------------------------
The verses list a sequence of places that Abraham
visited. The places are listed in column 3. Note
however the differences in column 2
- ELON MOREH is stated by itself
- SCHEM is qualified as the PLACE of Schem.
- The act of BUILDING AN ALTAR is mentioned
by the mountain.
Rashi chose to comment on the word PLACE.
Rashi does NOT comment because the word
is extra---rather Rashi comments because
of the ALIGNMENT which places emphasis
on the word.
It is impossible to understand Rashi
without consulting the Radack who shows
that one of meanings of the Hebrew word
MAKOM (Place) is GOD because GOD IS
THE PLACE OF THE WORLD. Combining
Radack and Rashi we can bring several
----------------------------------------------
verses where PLACE means GOD/TEMPLE/PRAYER
- Es04-14 Jews will be helped from another HOLY person
- Ez03-12 Bless be God from his TEMPLE
- Gn28-11 And he prayed at the HOLY PLACE(Moriah)
- Gn12-06b Abe passed to the HOLY place of Schem
--------------------------------------------------
Rashi (paraphrased)
-------------------------------------
They called SCHEM Holy because
of the HOLY war declared by 2 brothers
on the entire city of Schem for the rape
of Dinah
-------------------------------------
Again Rashi's derivation here is not Midrashic
but rather based
- on several precedents where PLACE means HOLY PLACE
- on the ALIGNMENT which places EMPHASIS on PLACE
LIST309e summarizes this argument.
LIST811k summarizes the verses
where PLACE means HOLY
SUCCINCT SUMMARY
----------------
The FORMATTING rule seeks to explain Rashis based on
the FORMATTING of the Biblical text. FORMATTING techniques
in modern writing include use of bold, italics,underline,
bullets, paragraph indentation and similar items. The Bible
indicated FORMATTING using its own techniques: For example
- the Bible indicates bold,italics, underline thru REPETITION
- the Bible indicates bulleting, thru REPEATING keywords
The Bible can also indicate formatting thru meaning without
any formal structure.
We revisit the Gn12-06:08 which we just studied
using the ALIGNMENT rule.
Gn12-06:08 states
-----------------------------------------------------
And Abraham passed
- by the land
- until the place of Schem
- until Elon Moreh
- ....
- Towards the mountain
built an altar
*1 *2 *3
------------------------------------------------------
Now we have already established that PLACE of SCHEM
refers to the HOLY place of Schem. Rashi further
explains that Abraham prayed there (Because he was
a prophet) that the Jews should be victorious in
avenging the rape of Dinah.
The above derivation comes from ALIGNMENT which
places an emphasis on the word PLACE.
But now we can apply the FORMATTING rule.
Each clause in the above paragraph lists one
place where Abraham journeyed. If one of these
clauses speaks about the Prayers that Abraham
offered thru prophecy then according to the
FORMATTING rule we are justified in seeing
all the phrases as speaking about the
prayers that Abraham offered based on
prophecy. Hence the Rashi
----------------------------------
Rashi prayed there concerning the
sin of Achan which happened in that
place (See Jo07)
----------------------------------
LIST107t summarizes these arguments.
The reader should notice the delicate intertwining
of Rashis. To explain one verse Gn12-06:08
we needed to use
- ALIGNMENT
- supported by WORD MEANING
- and then FORMATTING
To explain Gn14-01:02 we needed to use
- ALIGNMENT
- followed by CLIMAX
Therefore this is a peach of an example by which
to show the method of Rashi interrelationships.
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