*1 On a technical point the Hebrew root Ayin-Sin-Hey can
mean MADE, FIXED, or ACQUIRED *10

Note the several plurals
- the souls THAT THEY acquired in Charan
- THEY (Abe,Sarah and servants) left

The use of plural implies a joint effort.
- Hence the emphasis that both Sarah and
Abraham ACQUIRED staff*11

- The emphasis that the STAFF jointly left
with Abraham implying they had adopted his
way of life*11


*2 Rashi is NOT commenting on the singular (HE came to
Egypt vs THEY came to Egypt). Rather Rashi is
commenting on the contrast that

- in the first part of the above list we use the
plural (eg the servants THEY (Abe/Sarah) acquired)

- in the later part of the above list we use the
singular.

This implies that the journeying activities were
initiated by Abraham with Sarah staying behind*12

*10 Radack gives the following examples
-------------------------------------------
- Dt21-12 she FIXES her nails
- Dt08-17 I ACQUIRED these assets by myself
- Es07-02 Whatever you want shall be DONE
-------------------------------------------
This illustrates 3 distinct meanings of the
root Ayin-Sin-Hey

*11 Rashi appears to say that
--------------------------------------
The SIMPLE meaning of the Biblical text refers to
- THE SOULS(Servants) THEY ACQUIRED

The HOMILETIC meaning of the text refers to
- THE SOULS (Servants) THEY MADE(Converted)
--------------------------------------

But a fundamental principle in this list is that
the simple and homiletic meaning are one and the
same.

How so?

Rashi is really commenting on TWO aspects of the verse!!!!
- The verse speaks about the THE SOULS THEY ACQUIRED
- The repeated use of PLURAL implies that these servants
adopted Abrahams way of life

Since the plural implies that the servants converted
we might as well re-interpret THE SOULS THEY ACQUIRED
as THE SOULS THEY CONVERTED

So when Rashi states THE SIMPLE MEANING he refers
---------------------------------------------------
to the MEANING OF THE PHRASE without reference
to the REST OF THE VERSE.
---------------------------------------------------
However by examining the
rest of the verse (which uses plural--THEY left-
implying that the servants wanted to leave just
like Abraham) we see that the servants adopted
Abrahams way of life

To recap
- the word A-S-H does mean ACQUIRED
- but the repeated plural implies ADOPTION OF RELIGIOUSITY
Hence we can reinterpret A-S-H as ACQUIRED. In other
words the reinterpretation of A-S-H as CONVERTED (vs
ACQUIRED) comes NOT from the meanings of A-S-H but
rather from the repeated use of plural in the verse

Hence Rashi-is-Simple and the simple and homiletic
meaning are one and the same

-- Praise be Him who chose them and their learning --

*12 Rashi literally states
--------------------------------------------
He hid Sarah in a chest--when the custom
officials opened it they saw her and how
beautiful she was
--------------------------------------------

This of course is rediculous (No one hides his
wife in a chest!).

Rather it means that Abraham was in charge of Journeys
and made Sarah the overseer of baggage. As such she
appeared as just another servant (since she looked
after baggage) and therefore no one payed attention
to her. When however the custom officials investigated
the contents of the baggage they had to enter into
conversation with Sarah--it was then obvious that she
was no servant and her beauty (of character, demeanor
and presentation ) became obvious. (It was (ahem)
also obvious why Abraham assigned her this task)