Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
http://www.shamash.org/rashi
Volume 2 Number 22
Produced Jul, 08 1999
Topics Discussed in This Issue
------------------------------
v1a26-5 LISTENED TO ME=AKAYDAH; by aligning 2 verses
v5-1-3 5 Reasons why Rebuking is done near time of death
v2a19-13 A surprise Rashi that overrode a talmudic derivation
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*** READING TIPS ***
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IF YOU ARE IN A HURRY WE RECOMMEND 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
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VERSE: v1a26-5
v1a26-5 ..Because Abraham listened to my voice
RASHI TEXT:
v1a26-5 He listened to my voice when I tested him
with the sacrifice of Isaac
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
It says in v1a26-4:5 that 'In your desendants all nations will
be blessed BECAUSE ABRAHAM LISTENED to my voice'.
So Rashi is Simple. He cross references the IDENTICAL statement in
1-22-18: 'In your descendants all nations will be blessed because
you listened to my voice'.
See {LIST1} for an alignment of the two verses. The technique used
here is OTHER VERSES or more specifically CROSS REFERENCE. This
technique---CROSS REFERENCE---is the most basic of all literary
techniques and hence is especially emphasized on the Seder Night
(See v5d26-5).
As can be seen from {LIST1} Rashi had a subtle point here. For
Abraham listened to God many times. However 1-26-5 is clearly
referring to the sacrifice of Isaac since, as {LIST1} shows, the
verses are identical.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {Alignment of 1-26-4:5 and 1-22-18 *1}
1-26-4:5 1-22-18
======== =======
In your seed will be blessed In your seed will be blessed
all nations of the earth all nations of the earth
Because Because
Abraham listened *1 you listened *1
to my voice to my voice
FOOTNOTES:
*1 There is one major difference between the two verses which
is easily explained. 1-22-18 is spoken directly to Abraham and
hence says BECAUSE YOU LISTENED while 1-26-4:5 is spoken to Isaac
and hence says BECAUSE ABRAHAM LISTENED.
A further minor difference is that 1-26-4:5 takes place over two
verses while 1-22-18 does not.
CROSS REFERENCES:
v5d26-5 The use of CROSS REFERENCE on the Seder night
v4d22-5 We clearly explain the ALIGNMENT method here
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
OTHER VERSES | CROSS REFERENCE
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VERSE: v5-1-3
v5-1-3 In the 40th year Moses spoke to the Jews
RASHI TEXT:
v5-1-3 Moses spoke to the Jews close to his death.
He learned this from Jacob who rebuked Reuven close to his
death. For Jacob was afraid that if he rebuked him sooner
that he would leave him and join Esauv. In fact there
are 4 reasons for rebuking near death: a) Fear of causing
defection, b) Fear of not being listened to and having
to repeat, c) Fear of causing hatred in the rebuker, d)
Fear of creating a situation where the rebuked person is
embarassed to see the rebuker. Many people rebuked near
death: Yoshua, Samuel and David.
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
This Rashi is a peach on how to learn and how to use Rashi.
Rashi appears simple. He is dealing with the concept of REBUKING.
So we seek examples of people who rebuked {LIST1}. The actual
list brought by the Sifrah has 7 examples while Rashi only has 5!!!
The extra 2 examples brought by the Sifrah are Abrahams rebuke of
Avimelech which led to a peaceful treaty (1-21-22:34) and Isaacs
rebuke of Avimelech which also led to a peaceful treaty(1-26-16:33)
The Sifra concludes "Great is Rebuke since it brings Peace".
Why didn't Rashi cite this? Clearly Rashi does not disagree with it.
Clearly Rashi who was citing the Sifrah anyway thought it on topic.
Rather Rashi didn't cite it because he was using workbook methods.
He cited a theme and some examples with some worked out exercises &
he THEN EXPECTED THE READER TO FINISH THE REST!!!!
What about the actual lists. {LIST1} shows the 5 examples brought
down by Rashi and the Sifrah: They all involve Rebuke near death.
So Rashi just dealt with this topic. Why do people sometimes rebuke
near death?
In my Chumash and Rashi class at the Lower Merion Synagogue I asked
my students to examine the list and come up with their own criteria.
The results are interesting and gratifying: They came up with 3 of
the 4 explanations (Embellishing one of them). They also came up
with a 5th explanation.
Is their explanation wrong or not mainstream if it is not in the
Sifrah? No!!! Because Rashi himself deliberately did not cite
the whole Sifrah. He rather cited the theme and invited workbook
methods. So it is consistent with Rashi to come up with new
reasons.
But how do you distinguish between what Chazal really want and
what someone dreamt up due to the workbook methods? Simple--justify
it with a list. In fact {LIST1} shows how the 4 reasons all
correspond to 4 of the examples. It also shows how the 5th reason
developed by my students corresponds to the 5th example.
Thus Moses dealt with the Jews who had rebelled against God 10 times
and hence only rebuked them near death so he should not have to
continually rebuke them. "Rebuke near death is more poignant" said
one of my students which complements nicely the Sifrahs reason.
As to the 5th reason developed by my Rashi students but not
brought down in the Sifrah: They suggested that we wait till death
to rebuke people in the hope that the children will be proper
BY THEMSELVES. Then the deathbed speech is not "CHANGE YOUR WAYS"
but "CONTINUE YOUR WAYS"--much much pleasanter. In fact an
examination of Jos23-8 explicitly shows that this is the case.
For further details on this most interesting Rashi & Sifrah
see {LIST1} and its footnotes.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
As commented this Rashi is a peach on how to use workbook
methods to encourage learning and teaching in students.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {A List of REBUKINGS. Note how the bottom two items
illustrate that Rebuke brings peace. Note how the
other 5 were done near death for the reasons indicated
in the footnotes. Verse sources are given in the footnotes}
NEAR
REBUKE REBUKED REBUKED ON WHAT DEATH WHY NEAR DEATH
====== ======= ===================== ===== =======================
Jacob Reuven Playing with his bed Yes Afraid he'd go to Esv*1
Moses Jews Numerous sins Yes Didn't want to repeat*2
Joshua Jews Keep up the good work Yes Do it themselves*3
Samuel Jews Did I cheat you*4 Yes No creation of enmity
David Solomon Be moral/upright Yes No embarassment*5
Abraham Avmlech Water rights No Brought peace*6
Isaac Avmlech Treaty after expulsion No Brought peace*7
FOOTNOTES
*1 I don't have a proof of this but note the cute coincidence that
after it says that Reuven played with Jacobs beds it says that Jacob
had 12 children (as if to say none defected). This has important
implications for outreach. Part of Jacob's greatness as a patriarch
is that he didn't lose any of his children (like Abraham and Isaac)
to the forces of evil--and this is true despite his children's
attempted murder of Joseph and such sins as those of Reuven. See
1-49 for the rebuke and 1-35-22 for the juxtaposition of the sin
with the statement that Jacob had 12 children.
*2 My students at LMS suggested that a deathbed wish has more
poignancy than ordinary wishes. Also note that the Jews rebelled
10 times against God. So Moses had grounds to believe that he
wouldn't be listened to. See 5-1 for the rebuke. See 4-14-22
for a statement of the 10 rebellions of the Jews against God.
*3 As commented this was brought down by one of my LMS students.
We wait to rebuke till death because the children should be given
an opportunity to "do it themselves". In fact this sentiment is
explicitly reflected in Joshua23-8 (The rebuke is in Jos23).
*4 Samuel's emphasis on the fact that "Have I hurt anybody and not
payed him back" shows that he rebuked near death to avoid creating
ill will. 1Sam12-3:4 shows an emphasis that Samuel didn't want
anyone walking away with a feeling of ill will. The rebuke is
contained in 1Sam12.
*5 There is an agaddic opinion that Solomon didn't sin (by taking
foreign wives) until after he killed Shimi Ben Gayrah who was
allegedly the Head of the Sanhedrin and hence taught the royal
household's children. King David probably new that Solomon
had a tendency to sin--if he rebuked him during his lifetime
Solomon would have been embarassed to see David. (See 1Kings2
for the rebuke)
*6 1-21-22:34 Note how the treaty brought peace
*7 1-26-16:33 Note how the treaty brought peace
CROSS REFERENCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
MORAL REASONS
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VERSE: v2a19-13
v2a19-13 ..Do not touch ..lest you be THROWN THROWN
v2b19-13 ...THROWN
v5c1-16 ...LISTENING to the case
RASHI TEXT:
v2a19-13 THROWN THROWN--from here we learn that when
executing a person by stoning you shove him off a platform
that is 2 stories high.
v2b19-13 THROW (YRH) means THROW DOWNWARD like 2-13-4
v5c1-16 ...LISTENING is a present form (GERUND in french)
like REMEMBERING/WATCHING the Sabbath
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
We have explained many times {LIST1} that the infinitive is treated
by Rashi as a GERUND and denotes ongoing activity. So the verse does
not say HE WILL BE THROWN down but rather HE WILL BE INVOLVED IN
THROWING. THROWING vs THROW indicates ONGOING activity.(See V1n12
and v2n10 for a good list of Biblical infinitives treated this way)
This requirement of ongoing throwing implies that eg the person
should not be thrown down from say 20 feet (which would kill him
immediately but would also disfigure him and scatter his body).
Rather the person should be thrown from a height sufficient to
kill him but not sufficient to break up his body---and if he didn't
die from this he has many more THROWINGS on him (of stones).
To fully understand this we recall the principle of STAGES(v1a32-15)
Recall that 32-15 mentions how for each animal type that Jacob sent
to Esauv he sent a proportion of males and females that respected
the animal workload. So animals that worked harder had less females
per male while animals that had free time had more females per male.
The talmud then took this principle and applied it to humans: Men
who work harder have less obligation to visit their wives then men
who are wealthy and don't work so much (who must visit their wives
more often). However the numerical male-female ratios of animals vs
humans do not match. It is the IDEA that is the same--the actual
ratios were not derived from the Bible but from experience.
The same principle applies here. From the infinitive we learn that
continued THROWING may be used from which we infer that we may not
throw the person executed from so high a height that his body
becomes disfigured in one throw. The Bible however only teaches me
the IDEA that the height should not be so big that his body
becomes disfigured. The NUMERICAL MEASUREMENT of this height (ie how
high should it be so that his body doesn't scatter on impact) is
learned from experience--2 human heights.
So Rashi does NOT learn from the use of TWO VERBS that TWO human
heights should be used. Rather Rashi learns from the INFINITIVE that
ongoing THROWING may be needed and it is this IDEA that the person's
body should not be scattered which gives rise to the two heights.
At this point we mention the Gmarrah (Sanhedrin 45a) that learns
the same thing "Don't throw him from a very high height" from the
verse "Love thy neighbor like thyself" (3-19-18), implying that
we should "pick for him a nice death"(No disfiguration)
Notice how Rashi rejected this explanation. Indeed, if I loved my
neighbor like myself I would forgive him and not execute him. Rashi
is simple--He saw this Gmarrah as simply pegging a law on a
compassionate verse. The real derivation however comes from the
INFINITIVE in 2-19-13 which implies MULTIPLE THROWINGS from which we
INFER that we don't want the body disfigured.
This completes the explanation of the infinitive THROWING in 2-19-13
Rashi does not comment on the double verbs or even on the double
THROW. The Talmud however goes into further detail.
To partially understand the Talmud we use the technique of OTHER
VERSES. It is explicitly stated in OTHER VERSES that there is a
method of death called STONING which involves the THROWING OF STONES
by the whole nation. Indeed it says in 4-15-35 "Let the whole
Congregation throw stones on him" and similarly in 3-24-14 "Let the
whole congregation throw at him".Finally it says in 5-17-5:7 that
Throw stones at him...first the witnesses throw and then the whole
nation" {LIST2}.
Thus it is from these other verses that we learn that stoning should
be done primarily
--by throwing stones
--the witnesses throw first
--the rest of the nation stones him afterwards(if he is not yet dead
The Gmarrah and Rambam (Sanhedrin 15:1) go into details on the two
double verbs in this verse. To very briefly go over the Talmud and
Rambam recall(v2n20) that in a double verb the infinitive means
ongoing activity ("even 100 times") while the 2nd verb means ANY
type of activity even non standard ones.
So here perhaps the
--INFINITIVE of stone means the whole nation stones him(5-17-7)
--the INFINITIVE of throw means many throwings (Don't disfigure him
--the DOUBLE STONE means any type of STONING motion (even if it
doesn't involve hurling stones but hurling him)
--the DOUBLE THROW means any type of THROWING (even if it comes
from a light shove (which is the way the witnesses started
the execution)
--Finally the Talmud learns from the word OR (stone OR throw)
that it is sufficient if he dies from the initial shove
(So it is not necessary to always use actual stones).
This seems to correspond to most of the Talmuds derivations (Except
for the talmuds derivation that the laws apply to all generations
and not just to the situation at Mount Sinai---the Rambam also left
this derivation out). But as I have explained many times the purpose
of this list is not too explain all talmudic derash--rather the
purpose of this list is to explain all Rashis. For our basic thesis
is that every Rashi is backed by a list which makes Rashi simple.
In this case the method of treating double verbs corresponds to
many of the laws and to the particular citations that Rashi mentions.
Furthermore Rashi himself deviated from some of the Talmudic
derashs. So we suffice with the above.
Rashi supplements this explanation with the observation that
there are two words for throwing in Hebrew: ZRK means THROW
while YRH means THROW DOWNWARD {LIST3}
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {Of INFINITIVES translated as GERUNDS}
VERSE GERUND TEXT
===== ====== ==========================================
2Sam3-15 WALKING And her husband walked with her, WALKING
2Sam3-15 CRYING and CRYING...
Isa22-13 KILLING And he behold there is partying: The
Isa22-13 SLAUGHTERING KILLING of ox and the SLAUGHTERING of
Isa22-13 EATING sheep, the EATING of meat and the DRINKING
Isa22-13 DRINKING of wine-{the mentality of...} EATING and
Isa22-13 EATING DRINKING because tomorrow we die anyway.
Isa22-13 DRINKING
5-16-1 WATCHING The WATCHING of the Spring shall enable
the passover to happen in the Springtime
5-27-1 WATCHING*1 The WATCHING(Commemoration) of the
commandments shall be...by the building
of stones....and writing the laws on them
Isa42-24 WALKING ..They didn't want the WALKING in my ways*2
Isa3-16 WALKING WALKING and TIPTOEING is their gate*3
1-12-9 WALKING And Abraham journeyed, WALKING and
JOURNEYING southward
Jer2-2 WALKING While WALKING,call out to the Jerusalemites
"Thus says God...I remember your walking
after me in a desert..."*4
FOOTNOTES:
*1 Rashi EXPLICITLY identifies the INFINITIVE on this verse as
"LIKE THE PRESENT" (i.e. a GERUND--Rashi uses the old french)
*2 Isa42-24 can EITHER be translated with INFINITIVE or GERUND
INFINITIVE: They did not want TO WALK in my ways
GERUND: They did not want the WALKING in my ways
*3 Perhaps a better translation would be "They walked by
WALKING and TIPTOEING" (i.e. They walked in a WALKING-TIPTOEING
GATE)
*4 Note that the Radack here dismisses the verbal form as a
COMMAND or INFINITIVE. I suppose the ultimate question in all these
translations is HOW natural is the use of the Gerund...I tried
to pick verses where the gerund seems natural...in this verse
Jer2-2 I think there is a symbolic pun...."While walking call out."
....In other words Jeremiah's WALKING is SYMBOLIC of the Jews
WALKING in the desert...that is why he was commanded to give this
Divine utterance WHILE WALKING (normally Divine utterances were
given while standing,in an atmosphere of more respect)--I picked
this example to show the possible richness in using Gerunds and
how they might shed additional light on meaning
{LIST2} {List of verses dealing with stoning}
VERSE WHAT IS LEARNED TEXT
===== =============== ====
3-24-14 Everyone stones(not just witnesses) Let the nation stone
3-24-13 Use stones for stoning Stone him with stones
5-17-5:7 Witnesses stone 1st; Nation 2nd Witnesses then nation
{LIST3} {The two verbs that mean THROW. Note how YRH always
involves a COMING down (even if say as by an arrow it
is shot up first) while ZRK does not necessarily
involve coming down (as throwing the blood up the
altar}
ROOT VERSE WHAT IS THROWN DOES IT EVENTUALLY COME DOWN
==== ===== ============== ============================
YRH 5-11-14 Rain Yes
YRH 2S11-20 Arrows Yes
YRH Jos18-6 Lots Yes
ZRK 3-17-6 Blood upwards No
ZRK 2-9-8 Ashes No (6th Plague)
ZRK Ez36-25 Pure Water Yes
CROSS REFERENCES:
V1a32-15--Principle of stages
v1n12---infinitive = gerund=ongoing activity
v2n10---infinitive = gerund = ongoing activity
v2n20---double verbs = any type of activity(even nonstandard
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Yasher Coach To Gilbert Issard for asking this question
Please bring more questions.
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
GRAMMAR | INFINITIVE | STAGES
SYNONYMS
GRAMMAR | INFINITIVE
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NOTATIONAL CONVENTIONS
----------------------
e.g. v5b2-1 means as follows:
The "v" means verse
The "5" means Deuteronomy--the 5th book
The "2" means The 2nd chapter
The "1" means The 1st verse
The "b" means The second rashi on that
verse ("we rounded mount
Seir)
Similarly v5-2-1 would mean Dt 2:1 and probably refer to all
Rashis. (These conventions start with issue 14---beforehand
the notation is similar and will be updated retroactively
in the future)
Asterisks (*,#) in a list usually refer to footnotes that follow it
Parenthesis with the word List and a number--[LIST3] refers to
LISTS in the LIST section of each posting.
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