Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
Http://www.Shamash.Org/Rashi/
Volume 2 Number 12
Produced Jun, 04 1999
Topics Discussed in This Issue
------------------------------
V4A10-36 SHVH has 4 meanings: Repent, Return, Tranquil, Rebel
v4-12-9 God teaches mannars: Talk to people before punishing them
v4a12-6 God says PLEASE when a request contradicts a previous one
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*** READING TIPS ***
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IF YOU ARE IN A HURRY WE RECOMMEND READING THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS:
* VERSE:
* RASHI TEXT:
* BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
"HOW DO I FIND QUICKLY A SPECIFIC SECTION?"
ANSWER: Use your FIND menu
For example: FIND VERSE:
takes you to the beginning of the next section.
Similarly
FIND NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
takes you to the brief explanation of Rashi.
"IS THERE AN EASY WAY TO GO TO EACH VERSE AND POSTING?"
Yes. Use your FIND menu.
"FIND #*#*#*#" takes you to the next posting
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v4a10-36
v4a10-36 Please be tranquil with Israel, Oh God,..
RASHI TEXT:
v4a10-36
The Hebrew word SHVAH means TRANQUIL
A similar verse is Isa30-15--"with
tranquility and leisure will you be saved"
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
The RDK in his comprehensive book, ROOTS, lists 4 meanings to ShVH
--To REPENT (e.g. & when he repents he will be healed (Isa6-10)
--To RETURN (eg & the rainwater will not return to heaven.Is55-10
--To be TRANQUIL(eg with tranquility/leisure you'll be saved Is30-15
--To REBEL (eg repent, rebellious children Jer 3-14)
This is summarized in {LIST1} with further examples in {LIST2}
Which one of these 4 meanings applies here. Clearly 4-10-36 does
not mean
>>Rebel, God, against Israel
Nor does it mean
>>Repent, God, from Israel.
It might mean, as it is popularly translated,
>>Return, God, to Israel.
But this also doesn't make full sense--return from where?
So Rashi is Simple. He says the correct explanation:
>>Be tranquil, oh God, with Israel.
Rashi supports this interpretation with a comparable verse, Isa30-15
where ShVA means tranquil. But Rashi does more. Not only does this
verse have the same WORD (SHVA) it also has the same CONCEPT--for
both verses, Isa30-15 and 4-10-36, speak about having God in our
midst in an atmosphere of tranquility.
This theme occurs in several other verses and Rashis {LIST3}. As
an example 3-26-6 promises not only that we will have peace but
that we won't even have to see armies (such as armies from other
nations passing thru our land to their destinations). In other
words we will not only have peace but tranquil peace (Rashi).
This completes our explanation of Rashi. But as is our custom we
attempt to show a unified meaning behind the 4 meanings of SHVA;
this is presented in {LIST4} and briefly summarized here. (Those
readers with limited time resources may comfortably skip to the
next posting)
The underlying meaning of SHVA is a return to ones primal self.
So TRANQUILITY is a return to ones natural state without worries.
REPENTANCE is a return to ones natural state FROM A STATE OF SIN.
Thus repentance is return to the self from sin while tranquility
is a return to the self from a non-sinful state.
On this last point there is a rich literature in both Chasidus and
Rav Kook (The Lights of Repentance). Rav Kook for example sees an
underlying harmonious unity between Yom Kippur when we come closer
to God from a sinful state and Simcath Torah when we come closer to
God from a non sinful state.
Finally SHVAH doesn't mean any REBELLION but a rebellion is which
every little thing bothers you. It is sort of like a "KEEP THE
NEIGHBORHOOD CLEAN" mentality where anything peculiar must be kept
out.
There are many verses to support this but the clearest comes from
Prov1-32:
>>For the ShVH of gullible people will kill them and
>>the TRANQUILITY of the thickheaded will destroy them.
Note in the verse how SHVH is parallel to TRANQUILITY. We in fact
have a remarkable 2 way controversy beween Rishonim here: Based
on the parallism the obvious translation of SHVH is TRANQUILITY,
a position held by IBN EZRA. On the other hand, Rashi, Ralbag,
and RADACK see the two halves of the verse as CONTRASTS, not
PARALLELS, and they interpret SHVAH as REBELLION.
But our way of taking the unified meaning shows that there is no
controversy!!! Both Rashi, Radack, Ralbag, and Ibn Ezra would have
to agree with the way we suggest taking it:
>>The obsessive,gullible desire for tranquility ends up
>>destroying and killing certain types of people
>>(because obsession with tranquility has to lead to
>>rebellious non moral behavior (when you start fighting
>>with everyone that mars in any way your tranquility).
Indeed, the true art of understanding controversies among Rishonim
is to explain the underlying concepts in such a way that the
controversy vanishes.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
We have several times commented how Rashi avoids superficial
techniques like Gematrias and ALWAYS focuses on concepts.
In this verse, Rashi explains the word SHVH in 4-10-36 by
citing a verse, Isa30-15. Not only does this verse have the
same WORD it also has the same CONCEPT--namely of God being
with us in tranquility. As already pointed out this is a theme
in Rashi which occurs in several verses {LIST3}
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {The 4 meanings of SHVH, courtesy of RDK *1}
MEANING SAMPLE TEXT VERSE
======= =========== =======
To repent when he repents he will be healed Isa6-10
To Return the rainwater will not return to heaven Is55-10
To be tranquil with tranquility/leisure you'll be saved Is30-15
To rebel repent, rebellious children Jer 3-14
FOOTNOTES
*1 Actually according to RDK there are 3 meanings--he combines
REPENT and RETURN into one meaning. But I thought it simpler
to show examples of each one
{LIST2} {Of Sample verses illustrating the 4 meanings of Shva}
MEANING SAMPLE TEXT VERSE
======= =========== =======
To repent when he repents he will be healed Isa6-10
To repent A redeemer will come to the repentent Isa59-20
To Return the rainwater will not return to heaven. Is55-10
To Return we returned our lost money to you 1-44-8
To return ..don't return Isaac to Canaan 1-24-6
To be tranquil with tranquility/leisure you'll be saved Is30-15
To be tranquil God will make you tranquil from exile *1 5-30-3
To be tranquil And you, thru God will be tranquil Hos12-7
To rebel repent, rebellious children Jer 3-14
To rebel Your rebelliousness will rebuke you Jer2-19
To rebel *2 for after I rebelled I regretted Jer31-19
FOOTNOTES
*1 RDK cites a delightful controversy between earlier Grammarians
on whether SHVH means RETURN or TRANQUILIZE here
*2 RDK points out that some people translate this as
REPENT.
{LIST3} {Of Verses stating we need BOTH peace and tranquility}
VERSE EMPHAIS
===== =======
Isa30-15 We could win the war (not thru military alliances
but) thru tranquility with God (See whole chapter)
4-10-36 God should be with us IN TRANQUILITY
3-26-6 Not only will we have peace but we will not
have to see any armies (Rashi)
4-6-24:26 Rashi emphasizes that we will have not only
possessions but they will be protected from
theft (by God)--this is the same theme as
3-26-6, that what we have--peace or possessions
will be protected by God.
Hos12-7 And you, thru your God will you be tranquil
{LIST4} {Of the underlying unity in all 4 meanings of SHVH *1}
MEANING RELATION TO IDEA OF "RETURN TO ONES PRIMAL STATE"
======= =================================================
Return Return
Repent Return to ones natural self but FROM STATE OF SIN *2
Tranquil Return to ones natural self from NON SINFUL STATE *2
REBEL Overemphasis on being oneself to the extent that
one does not tolerate other opinions *3
FOOTNOTES
*1 We emphasize that this list is extra. One can understand Rashi
even if one doesn't accept the ideas presented in this list
*2 We cited both chasidus and Rav Kook above and Rav Kooks
wonderful book, the Lights of Repentance. We also cited Rav Kooks
analysis of the underlying unity in Yom Kippur and Simcath Torah.
On Yom Kippur we come closer to God by removing sin; Yom Kippur
resembles a surgeon removing a tumor; On Simcath Torah we come
closer to God from a non sinful state; Simcath Torah resembles
a doctor helping a patient achieve maximum health.
*3 Again we cite the delightful verse in Prov
Prov1-32:
----For the SHVH of gullible people will kill them and
----the TRANQUILITY of the thickheaded will destroy them.
Note in the verse how SHVH is parallel to TRANQUILITY. We in fact
have a remarkable 2 way controversy beween Rishonim here: Based
on the parallism the obvious translation of SHVH is TRANQUILITY,
a position held by IBN EZRA. On the other hand, Rashi, Ralbag,
and RADACK see the two halves of the verse as CONTRASTS not
PARALLELS and they interpret SHVAH as REBELLION.
But our way of taking the unified meaning shows that there is no
controversy!!! Both Rashi, Radack, Ralbag, and Ibn Ezra would have
to agree with the way we suggested taking it:
>>The obsessive,gullible desire for tranquility ends up
>>destroying and killing certain types of people
>>(because obsession with tranquility has to lead to
>>rebellious non moral behavior (when you start fighting
>>with everyone that mars in any way your tranquility).
Indeed, the true art of understanding controversies among Rishonim
is to explain the underlying concepts in such a way that the
controversy vanishes.
CROSS REFERENCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
The Lights of Repentance, Rabbi Kook.
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
UNIFIED MEANING
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VERSE: v4-12-9
v4-12-9 And God was angry at them and He went away
v1a3-14 And God said to the snake since you did this
RASHI TEXT:
v4-12-9
Only after he told them their sin (in verses 6-8) did He decree
their sentence. How much more so must humans who are angry first
tell the people they are about to punish WHY they are being
punished and why they are angry with them.
v1a3-14
From here (that God spoke to Adam and Eve before punishing
them but not the snake) we learn that you don't try and see
merit in someone who attempts to get others to sin since the
person who tried to get others to sin would say "They should
have listened to God not to me"
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
Rashi is Simple and clear. There is nothing bothersome in
4-12-9. Rather Rashi is simply deriving a moral lesson from the
text.
In passing, as {LIST1} shows, God always tells people when he
punishes them WHY he punishes them. Thus he told Kayin why
he was punishing him even though it was obvious that he was
being punished because of the murder of Hevel. Similarly
God told Noach and Abraham about the destructions of the Flood
and Sedom and Gemorrah.
We might add, that this principle that Rashi learns from this
verse is in fact a LEGAL guideline in Judaism: A person who
bears a grudge against someone must first tell him openly
what is bothering him. This is a Biblical commandment
(See 3-19-17 and Rambam, Character Laws, 6:6).
Rambam ingeniously brings in a negative example of this
principle: Avshalom did NOT give Amnon an argument after Amnon
raped Avshaloms sister. The keeping silent about his justifiable
grudge built up till Avshalom killed Amnon. This in turn later
resulted in a civil war (2S13-22, 2S13-28).
Someone might ask me: Why don't you say that something
was bothering Rashi? Namely, the fact that even though God
was angry he first spoke to Aaron and Miryam in a calm
manner?
The answer to this question lies in {LIST1}---for we see from
{LIST1} that God always talks to people before releasing his
anger. Consequently nothing SHOULD be bothering Rashi. The
fact that one verse has a problem is irrelevant because all
the other verses do not have problems. Furthermore the
principle involved is a Jewish law. Thus it is preferable to
simply say that Rashi was deriving a moral lesson.
In fact the real question is not "Why did God delay his anger
till speaking to people before punishing them" but rather
"Why is it that God punished the snake (for seducing Eve into
eating from the tree of knowledge) WITHOUT speaking to him
first."
Indeed, 1-3-11 and 1-3-13 show that God spoke to Adam and Chava
So why didn't he speak to the snake?
Rashi answers this question by reviewing {LIST1} and noticing
that only evil sinners are spoken to before punishment but not
those who suggest sin. Rashi then explains why those who
recommend sin are worse than murderers (like Kayin) or other
sinners: Because the people who recommend sin have a standard
argument that "
>>I didn't sin...we were talking about it...they
>>should have listened to God (not to sin) and not to me.
Although this Rashi is elementary nevertheless it illustrates
all the important principles when dealing with lists:
1st) One should always make a list--do not be content with
learning something from one verse (that God delayed his anger
till he spoke to them) but rather seek out comparable
examples
2nd) Use negative examples. Thus in this verse we claim that
it is proper to speak about why one is angry, as God spoke
to Aaron-Miryam before punishing them. A negative example
by contrast, shows how it is improper to not speak about
why one is angry as happened when Avshalom did not speak
about his anger at Amnon for raping his sister and ended up
killing him.
3rd) Seek out the exceptions. Try and explain them. Thus
the full principle is that one should speak about what is
bothering one UNLESS the person's sin was that he tried to
get someone else to sin (as the snake tried to get Eve to
sin).
This set of principles is summarized in {LIST2}.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {Of people spoken to before being punished}
PERSON SIN SPOKEN TO PUNISHED IN VERSE
====== === ========= =================
Adam Ate from tree 1-3-11 1-3-17
Eve Ate from tree 1-3-13 1-3-16
Snake Recommended sin *1 1-3-14
Kayin Killed Hevel 1-4-9 1-4-11
Pharoh Tortured jews 2-1
Amnon Raped Tamar *2 2Sam13-28
Aaron-Miryam Slandered Moses 4-12-6 4-12-10
Bilam Cursed Jews *3 4-22-20 *3 4-22-22
FOOTNOTES:
=========
*1 The snake was punished even though he wasn't spoken to first
*2 Avshalom never spoke to Amnon 2S13-20. His pent up anger
was a mistake since it led to murder
*3 Actually his sin was that he wanted to Curse the Jews.
The assertion that God 'spoke' to him in 4-22-20
is not at all obvious and is a story in its own right
However for purposes of this list it does fit in.
{LIST2} {Of check points when making a list}
ITEM EXAMPLE
==== =======
Did you try and find Finding other cases where
comparable examples God delayed punishment till
he spoke to them
Do you have negative examples God DID speak to Miryam
before punishing her. But
Avshalom did not speak to
Amnon when he raped his
sister. The pent up
emotions resulted in
Avshalom committing murder
Were there exceptions The snake was not spoken to
Did you explain them before being punished. This
is because the snake tried
to seduce someone else(Chava
into sinning (eating from
the tree of knowledge).
CROSS REFERENCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
MORAL REASONS/LESSONS | DOUBLE PARSHAS
MORAL REASONS/LESSONS | DOUBLE PARSHAS
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VERSE: v4a12-6
V4A12-6 & God said: PLEASE (NA) hear my side
v1a22-2 & God said: PLEASE take your son (for sacrifice)
v2-11-2 & God said: PLEASE speak to the nation
RASHI TEXT:
The word NA denotes PLEASE.
[Moderator: Rashi gives supplementary material on some verses
which can be found in the COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM SECTION]
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
There are exactly 8 verses in the Torah where God uses the word
PLEASE {LIST1}. As can be seen God only uses PLEASE when the
action He is about to do is UNEXPECTED.
For example:God promised NEVER AGAIN to bring a flood on the world
(1-8-21). Therefore when He went down to Sedom and Gemarrah to
see if they deserved destruction He APPEARED to be contradicting
his promise.
Because of this apparent contradiction to a previous prophecy
God said PLEASE let us descend. The connotation seems to be
that this descent will be PLEASING to you and not contradict
any previous prophecies. (In fact God had only promised not
to destroy the WHOLE world; He had not promised not to destroy
individual cities).
All 8 verses may be interpreted similarly. As another example
in 1-22-2 God says to Abraham to PLEASE take your son and offer
him as a sacrifice. This APPEARS to contradict the Biblical
promise that Abraham will have many descendants from Isaac
(1-13-15, 1-15-8, 1-17-6, 1-21-12). Therefore God used the
word PLEASE to emphasize that the sacrifice of Isaac would
ultimately be PLEASING to him and consistent with previous
prophecies.
Similarly for 2-11-2. God had said explicitly in 1-15-13 that
the Jews would be tortured in Egypt, God would judge the
Egyptians and the Jews would then leave with great wealth.
However the Egyptians continuously rebelled against God. So
it APPEARED that they would not give the Jews anything (and
in fact the Jews left in a hurry without even time to bake
their bread (2-12-34))!! So it would not have surprised us
if the Egyptians gave them nothing. Therefore God said PLEASE
ask them for gifts and God made the Jews GRACEFUL in the eyes
of the Egyptians (2-11-3) so that they got the wealth. Thus
verse 2-11-2 uses the word PLEASE to denote that the outcome
of this prophecy would be PLEASING & consistent with previous
prophecies.
Finally re 4-12-6: It explicitly says that Miryam slandered
Moses, that God heard (4-12-2), & that God was angry(4-12-9).
Furthermore God knew that Miryam had no defense since Moses
was very humble (4-12-3). So we would have expected an
immediate punishment WITHOUT a trial or judicial process.
Nevertheless God says PLEASE listen to my side and asks them
if they have a defense. (Rashi on 4-12-9 points out that
the emphasis is that God gave them judicial process).
I think the conceptual emphasis here is that Miryam was
punished thru the attribute of JUSTICE rather than thru the
attribute of LORDSHIP. God's LORDSHIP would not have
required explaining reasons. But God's JUSTICE would require
an explanation (Cf 5-12-17:18--Despite God's power God LOVES
JUDICIAL PROCESS for the orphan and widow--thus the word
PLEASE in 4-12-6 emphasizes that this prophecy of God loving
JUSTICE would be fulfilled even though from God's anger we
would have expected otherwise).
{LIST1} similarly reviews all other occurences of PLEASE by God
As indicated in the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT section this list was
compiled in a Chumash and Rashi shiur I gave a few years ago
at Young Israel of the Mainline in Bala Cynwyd Pennsylvania.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
Having presented the above analysis, that PLEASE denotes
an action by God that we would not expect because of other
prophecies or recent events that seem to contradict it
let us look at the supplementary
material said by Rashi in each verse:
1-22-2: Please take your son as a sacrifice so that people
should not say the first 9 tests of Abraham weren't
worth anything
Our way of taking this is "Since Abraham could rely
on the Biblical promise that he will have many
descendants the other tests were easy to pass; this
test however WHICH APPEARED TO CONTRADICT A
PROPHECY was a real test
Thus both Rashi's language and our approach amount
to the same thing: There was a previous prophecy
promising that Abrahams descendants would be known
thru Isaac. On the one hand this seemed to contradict
the present prophetic request to sacrifice Isaac while
on the other hand it also explains why the other tests
weren't real tests (since Abraham had a prophecy to
rely on to know that he wasn't really giving anything
up).
The reason we have chosen to emphasize this
contradiction is because this is consistent with
the other 7 times that PLEASE is used.
2-11-2 Please ask for gifts so that people should not say
that I (God) fulfilled the first two clauses of
my prophecy to Abraham (A sojourner will your
descendants be in a land not belonging to them
and they will be tortured) but not the last two
clauses (and the nation that tortures them I will
judge AND THEY WILL LEAVE WITH GREAT WEALTH)
This is fully consistent with the way we have taken it
that people did not expect to get any wealth from
the Egyptians.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {Of ALL verses where God says PLEASE. As can be seen
God uses PLEASE in those situations where the
listener would NOT expect what God provided. Thus
PLEASE has a connotation of LET THIS BE PLEASING
TO YOU even though you don't think it will happen.
There are only 8 verses where God uses PLEASE in the
5 books of Moses}
VERSE TEXT WHY PLEASE IS USED
===== ==== ==================
1-22-2 Please take your son for sacrifice God promised him many
descendants so how
can He now command to
sacrifice him
4-12-6 Please listen to My side Even though I am a King
& have the capacity to
punish you immediately
nevertheless I am
following judicial
protocol
2-11-2 Please speak to the Eyptians Even though My plagues
have hurt the nation &
it appears that you will
be lucky to just leave
(without wealth)
nevertheless I am
arranging for the
Egyptians to give you
gifts
2-4-6 Please place your hand in your.. Even though you asked me
for great miracles
nevertheless this 2nd
miracle will give you
a sickness (Leprosy)
which I will then remove
1-31-12 Please look ..(at all the sheep) *1 Even though Laban keeps
on swindling you & you
don't think you will get
anything nevertheless I
am seeing that you get
good pay
1-15-5 Please look to heaven & count stars Even though you have no
children and it appears
you will not have many
descendants nevertheless
you will
1-18-21 Let Us please look at Sedom/Gmarrh Even though I promised
never to bring another
flood to destroy the
world nevertheless I can
still destroy this city
1-13-14 Please look around..this land yours Even though you let LOT
chose the choicest part
of the land nevertheless
this land will one day
be yours
FOOTNOTES
*1 Technically this was said by an angel but we have
nevertheless still included it in the list.
CROSS REFERENCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
The contents of this posting were developed at a Chumash and
Rashi shiur that I gave at the Young Israel of the Mainline
in Bala Cynwyd (My present Chumash and Rashi shiur is at
the Lower Merion Synagogue)
My approach there was to
--let the students pick out a Rashi they wanted to explain.
--let the students try and find comparable cases
--I would then use the Konkordance to help them find all cases
--I would then ask the students what they thought was common
At the time the students successfully explained 6 of the 8 verses
(All but 1-18-21 and 4-12-6) in terms of the paradigm of
God uses PLEASE when the promise is something NOT EXPECTED
because of some other promise or recent activities that seem
to contradict it"
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
DOUBLE PARSHAS | COMMON THEME
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