Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
http://www.shamash.org/rashi/
Volume 2 Number 6
Produced May. 09, 1999
Topics Discussed in This Issue
------------------------------
v4-3-1 Genealogical terms (Father,sister,uncle) denote "being close
v4-3-38 Torah learns "good neighbor etiquette" from Moses
v4-3-4 ON THE FACE OF=DURING LIFETIME OF (occurs thrice in Tnach)
v4-1-49 Levites did not sin;hence were not counted in "sin" censii
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
***************************
*** READING TIPS ***
***************************
ARE YOU PRESSED FOR TIME?
DO YOU JUST WANT TO BROWSE MAIN IDEAS QUICKLY & go back later?
THEN WE RECOMMEND READING ONLY THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS
* VERSE:
* RASHI TEXT:
* BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
BUT "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: v4a3-1
v4a3-1 and these are the descendants of Moses & Aaron
v4b3-1 on the day that God spoke to Moses at Mt Sinai
RASHI TEXT:
v4a3-1
The text says 'These are the descendants of Moses AND Aaron'
But the text only mentions the descendants of Aaron, not Moses?
Because he (Moses) taught them Torah.
This teaches us that whoever teaches his son Torah it is accounted
to him as if he (the teacher) gave birth to him.
v4b3-1
"On the day the God spoke to Moses at Mt Sinai"--it was on that
day that they became Moses "descendants" also (because he (Moses)
taught them).
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
As is, Rashi Appears Simple enough: The text says "The descendants
of MOSES and Aaron" but we only find Aaron's descendants listed-so
we conclude that Moses was their "Spiritual father" and they
(Aaron's children) were his "Spiritual Children".
But on a deeper level Rashi Is Simple because of a principle
(of language) that IN GENERAL, genealogical terms always
can denote CLOSENESS.
Some partial examples are reviewed in {LIST1}: The students of
prophets are called SONS OF THE PROPHETS (2K2-3; suburbs are
called the DAUGHTERS OF THE CITY (4-32-42); Wisdom is the SISTER
of the wise person (Prv7-4); etc.
So Rashi does not LEARN that "descendants" can refer to students
from 4-3-1 but rather Rashi learns this principle FROM the general
tendency of language to let genealogical terms denote closeness.
On 4-3-1 Rashi APPLIES this principle (he does not LEARN it).
In other words it is not the verse that CAUSES/ENABLES our
knowledge of this principle (that DESCENDANTS=STUDENTS); rather
it is our knowledge of this principle which ENABLES the
interpretation of the verse. The interpretation of the verse
comes AFTER our knowledge of the principle (not vice versa)
Perhaps another example will make this clearer. Everyone knows
that in Gen 1 it says by every day except Monday that "God saw
that it was good". Obviously the fact that the phrase
"God saw it was good" is missing cannot automatically lead you to
the conclusion that God created Hell on that day (one of the
popular Midrashic explanations for why "it was good" is missing.)
However according to Rashi, Isa30-33 should be interpreted "..For
Hell was burning for you (the wicked people) since (the) Monday
(of Creation)". We can now apply our knowledge of Hell being
created on Monday to Gen 1 and conclude that that is why the
phrase "it was good" is missing. Again: The Midrash is not CAUSED
by the verse but EFFECTED by it.
This corresponds to our principle--very often used in this email
group--that Rashi sometimes derives things from OTHER VERSES.
Finally the 2nd Rashi on this verse can simply be derived from the
fact that "on the day that God spoke to Moses" is a prepositional
adjectiveal phrase modifying "descendants". In other words "These
are the DESCENDANTS of Moses--- on that day".
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
I am a bit surprised at the Sifsay Chachamim's treatment of the
2nd Rashi on this verse. For there is no problem in the verse
and the statement that "things happened at Har Sinai" occurs
frequently in these Parshas. The correct simple explanation
is that the second half of the verse is a clause that modifies
the word DESCENDANTS (Descendants on the day God spoke to Moses).
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {Genelogical terms always denote closeness}
WORD GENEALOGICAL MEANING VERSE WITH
MEANING OF CLOSENSS EXAMPLE OF MEANING
OF CLOSENESS
==== ============ =========== ==================
BN Son students of prophets 2K2-3 *1
BTh Daughter Suburbs of cities 4-32-42 *2
ACoTh Sister Wisdom is sister of wise Prv7-4
AV Father Leader 1-45-8
DoD Uncle Lover Song6-1 *3
FOOTNOTES
*1cf 2K2-12--The Prophet is called the "father" of the children
*2 cf 2S20-19 -- The "metropolis" is called a "mother"
*3 Uncles traditionally are a "older" than their nephews/nieces
and frequently play with them. So "Uncle" would denote the
"playful" aspect of being a "lover"(Like an uncle with a child")
By contrast BAAL would denote the POSSESIVE aspect of LOVER
In any event WITHOUT the SPECIFIC explanation of the preceding
paragraph LOVER is "someone close to you but not an immediate
relative" just as UNCLE is "someone close to you but not an
immediate relative". Thus the entire list justifies that
GENEALOGICAL TERMS denotes some type of CLOSENESS.
CROSS REFERENCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
*To RDK for lists of meanings of genealogical terms
*To my article PSHAT and DERASH where the MISSING'"IT WAS GOOD" on
the second day = Hell = Isa33:30' is mentioned.
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
OTHER VERSES | UNIVERSAL METAPHORS
OTHER VERSES
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v4-3-38
v4-3-38 ..& Moses camped on eastern side....
RASHI TEXT:
v4-3-38
Judah (& Yissachar and Zevulun) also camped on the eastern side.
(See v4-2-3:8)
This (proximity--of Moses and Judah-Yissachar-Zevulun) teaches
us that it is good to live near the righteous. For we find
that all three of them (Judah-Yissachar-Zevulun) are praised for
their scholarship in Tenach (See {LIST1} for verses).
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
Rashi Is Simple enough. We would like to add 3 points.
NOTHING WAS BOTHERING RASHI: Indeed, 4-3-38 is a grammaticaly
sound verse; it has no extra words.
The Bible told where each of the tribes were during their journeys
and it does the same for Moses and Aaron. Thus the verse is
perfectly normal.
RASHI WAS SIMPLY DERIVING A MORAL LESSON: We have already seen
examples of Rashi
deriving moral lessons when there was no problem with the verse.
Thus v2b20-23 teaches us to have a "ramp" not a "staircase" to go
up to the altar so that the "steps" should not see your nakedness
(when you walk). Just as v2b20-23 teaches us to respect the
modesty needs of stones so too (a fortiori) we should respect the
modesty needs of people. Similarly from v1a32-15 which teaches us
that marital frequency in animals is a function of workload and
nearness (of animals to their mates) we learn that marital
frequency in people should be a function of workload and nearness
of husbands to their wives (e.g. sailors have less frequent
marital obligations). So too here, Rashi is deriving a moral
lesson from a verse (See the web site for the complete set of
examples of this principle to date).
RASHI DID A PATTERN SEARCH BASED ON MEANING: We have emphasized
several times how
modern technology is inadequate to do Biblical Research. Most
database searches are on LETTERS or WORDS. Furthermore simple
database searches only give lists.
But Rashi here did a search on all tribes. He asked for those
characteristics that were common to JUDAH-ZEVULUN-YISSACHAR-MOSES
but not common to the other tribes. This is not a search for
COMMON **WORDS** of these 4 tribes but rather a search on COMMON
**CONCEPTS** of these 4 tribes.
(In passing for those who know Advanced SQL & database theory
it is possible to do a search among all tribes and output
characteristics common to 4 of them but not to the others).
As {LIST1} below shows---there is no common WORD to these 4
tribes. However there is a common CONCEPT. All of them were
outstanding in Torah. Hence, Rashi deduces the moral principle
that people benefit from association/living near a righteous
person.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
My favorite technique when teaching Rashi is to let students
do the research themselves and see what they come up with. Believe
it or not one can come up with other associations. Here is a
particularly elegant one:
>Suppose we compare the census in 4-1 and 4-26. Some tribes
>increased in numbers while some decreased. We can look at all
>the tribes and ask who increased and decreased. Similarly we
>can look at every unit of 3 tribes (which had a separate
>camping position) and ask what happened to that unit of 3.
>Remarkably the only unit of 3 tribes that ALL HAD INCREASES
>was the JUDAH-YISACHAR-ZEVULUN unit. Every other unit had
>increases and decreases. So we could equally explain the
>association of Moses and Judah-Yisachar-Zevulun being near
>each other as influencing their population counts.
>More remarkably is that this is consistent with the sister
>Rashi in 4-16-1 that says that Reubenites sinned with Korach
>because the Reubenites and Kehathites lived close by.
>Indeed we find that the only 3 tribe unit that all had
>decreases in population was the Reuven-Gad-Shimon unit.
>This is also consistent with Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch's
>observation that it was principally Shimon who sinned
>with the Midianite women (Rav Hirsch based his findings
>on an actuarial analysis of 4-1 vs 4-26).
>The Judah-Zevulun-Yissachar unit had the greatest increase
>while the Reuven-Gad-Shimon unit had the greatest decrease.
Such alternative analysis of Rashi issues enhances appreciation
of Rashi and is consistent with the "workbook approach" that I
have suggested Rashi takes -- giving 1 or 2 ideas and letting
the students fill in the rest.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1}{MOSES, JUDAH, YISSACHAR, ZEVULUN were outstanding in Torah}
TRIBE VERSE TEXT SHOWING THEY WERE OUTSTANDING IN TORAH
===== ===== ===========================================
Moses 5-33-4 Moses taught/gave Jews the Torah
YISACHAR 1C12-33 From Yisachar were sages..to teach what to do
ZEVULUN Jud5-14 From Zevulun.those trained in scribal calligraphy
JUDAH 1-49-10 Leaders and statue makers won't depart from Judah*1
FOOTNOTES
*1 Cf Ps60-9 Ps108-9 which also echo this theme.
CROSS REFERENCES:
* v4-16-1 discusses a sister moral lesson that because the tribe
of Reuben lived close to Khath therefore when Korach rebelled
Reuben joined him.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
MORAL LESSONS
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v4-3-4
v4-3-4 ..& Elazar ...were made Priests ON THE FACE of Aaron
v1a11-28 ..and Charan died ON THE FACE of his father
RASHI TEXT:
v4-3-4
ON THE FACE means IN THE LIFETIME.
Thus the verse (v4-3-4)means
Elazar was made a priest in the LIFETIME of Aaron. Similarly
the verse v1a11-28 means that Charan died during his father's
lifetime
v1a11-28
ON THE FACE means IN THE LIFETIME.
Thus the verse (v4-3-4)means
Elazar was made a priest in the LIFETIME of Aaron. Similarly
v1-11-28 means that Charan died during his father's lifetime
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
Rashi is giving the MEANING or TRANSLATION of the phrase
ON THE FACE. The phrase ON THE FACE OF SO-and-SO only occurs 3
times in all of Tnach {LIST1}. In each case the phrase means
IN THE LIFETIME OF SO AND SO. So Rashi Is Simple.
A few further comments may help. The word ON (AL) and FACE( PNAY)
occur several dozen times in Tnach. The phrase AL PNAY, ON THE
FACE is a NEW TERM composed of FAMILIAR words. This type of
construction of new terms from other words is common in all
languages.
The actual phrase ON THE FACE when not referring to people occurs
more than 3 times. It seems to denote ON THE EXTENSION or ON THE
DURATION of something and would be consistent with DURING THE
LIFETIME of somebody. {LIST2} contains a partial list with
possible nuances.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {The 3 verses that contain the phrase
ON THE FACE OF SO AND SO--in each verse this phrase is
translated as DURING THE LIFETIME}
VERSE TEXT
===== ====
1-11-28 ..& ChaRaN dies DURING THE LIFETIME of his father
4-3-4 Elazar..were made Priests DURING THE LIFETIME of Aaron
5-21-16 (A person who has two wives cannot make the son of the
wife he likes into a firstborn DURING THE LIFETIME of
the firstborn of the wife he hates)
{LIST2} {VERSES where ON THE FACE of occurs but not referring to
a person. Only a partial list (with supporting footnotes)
is given}
VERSE WITHOUT "ON THE WITH "ON THE FACE" IT
FACE" IT COULD MEANS
MEAN
===== =============== ======================
Ez48-21 There were 5000 extra cubits There were 5000 extra
extending from the core of cubits extending from the
the city. This 5000 cubit core ot the city. These
STRIP acted as an addendum 5000 cubits EXTENDED
to the city (e.g. for leaving OVER THE WHOLE 25000 cubit
animals) LENGTH (making a 5000 by
25000 RECTANGLE which
served as an addendum to
to the city (e.g. for
leaving animals).
The emphasis would be on The emphasis would be on
the fact that it is a STRIP the fact that it was a
RECTANGLE (not a strip).
The phrase "5000 cubits
ON THE FACE of 25000 cubits
denotes that the 5000
cubits EXTENDED throughout
the 25000 cubit length) *1
1-25-18 ..and he (Yishmael) camped= ..and he (Yishmael) camped
AT SOME SPOT near his THROUGHOUT THE PLACES WHERE
brothers his brothers lied
The emphasis would be that The emphasis would be that
he is NEAR his brothers he encamped throughout the
but located in one spot EXTENSION of his brothers'
dwelling places.
This is a very succinct
picturesque description of
the nomadic Arab way of
life--they don't live in
one spot but rather they
live all over the place or
to use the Biblical phrase
ON THE FACE OF = THE
EXTENSION of everyone else*2
FOOTNOTES
*1 For a similar usage see 2S2-24--and they came to GIVATH
AMAH which was ON THE FACE of GIACH
The ON THE FACE would imply that GIVATH AmAH *SPREAD* over the whole
length/duration of GIACH.
*2 The frequently occuring Biblical phrase ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH
would probably also denote "EVERY AND ANY PLACE".
So e.g. "I will destroy nation X FROM the earth" could mean I will
uproot him from his land (but he might escape elsewhere or mingle
and get absorbed in the nations). The phrase "I will destroy nation
X FROM THE FACE of the earth" would mean I will uproot him BOTH
from his land and from every place on the land.
These two examples should suffice to account for the other occurences
of ON THE FACE. At any rate Rashi was just concerned with the phrase
ON THE FACE OF SO AND SO which occurs only 3 times and which
definitely means DURING THE LIFETIME OF.
CROSS REFERENCES:
I am a bit surprised at the Sifsay Chachamim on 4-3-4 who first
asks "Why did Rashi have to interpret it this way" and then
proceeds to give a lengthy halachic answer. The simple approach
we have taken based on lists is that Rashi was simply giving a
translation.
I am also a bit surprised that no Halachic source (Rambam, Sifrah
...) brought down any Halachic Midrash on 5-21-16. Perhaps this
is because the associated law (that death cancels "first born
status" is obvious). (e.g. See Rambam Inheritances Chapters 2
and 6)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
WORD MEANINGS | TWO-WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINS | TWO-WORD MEANINGS
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v4-1-49
v4-1-49 Usually don't count Levi ..in the Israelite Census
RASHI TEXT:
v4-1-49
(1st explanation) (Why not count the Levites in the national
census) Because they are God's legion and it is proper that the
Kings Legion be counted separately.
(2nd explanation) God new that the Jews would rebel in the spy
incident and die. Therefore God said let these not be included
in the census since they didn't die in the Golden calf incident.
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
We explain Rashi's 2nd explanation (The first explanation is dealt
with below). Rashi's 2nd explanation is based on the list {LIST1}
of all census/counting incidents in the wilderness. Briefly there
were 4 such incidents.
-1) The golden calf count of those dying from the sin (2-32-26:28)
-2) The census in 4-1
-3) The count of those dying after the sin with the Midianite
women (4-25-9:14)
-4) The census after the spy and Midianite women incident in 4-26
Note that v4-1-49 explicitly requests that the Levites be counted
separately and not in the national census. Also
Note that in the two censuses (4-1) and (4-26) the Levites were
counted separately from the national figure (4-26-62 & 4-3-14:39).
The question remains why?
To answer this we study {LIST2} the list of all sins which resulted
in heavy losses. There are 3 such sins:
-a) Golden calf (2-32)
-b) The spy incident (4-13)
-c) The midianite women incident (4-25)
As {LIST2} shows it is reasonable to argue that the Levites did not
participate in ANY of these sins.A brief summary of the arguments in
{LIST2} is as follows:
--a) It says explicitly that the Levites did
not sin in the Golden calf (2-32-26:28).
--b)The Levites are explicitly left out of the tribes
that sent spies (4-13-4:15).Furthermore since
Gods prerequisite for the death to those who listened to the spies
is that they rebelled against God 10 times and since the Levites did
not sin in the Golden calf we conclude that they did not die. Since
they both did not send spies and did not die it is extremely
reasonable that they did not sin at all (that is they didn't believe
the spies story that God could not help us conquer the land).
--c)Finally a brilliant piece of actuarial analysis by Rabbi Samson
Raphael Hirsch suggests that it was principally the tribe of Shimon
who sinned and died in the Midianite women incident (see details
in {LIST2}) Thus Levites did not sin there either.
So Rashi Is Simple! The Levites do not sin and hence don't have to
be counted in censuses whose purpose is to determine the effects on
population counts, from death decrees, emanating from various sins!!
This also explains the word ACH=USUALLY with which verse 4-1-49
begins. "You will USUALLY not have to count the levites among the
rest of the nation". You will USUALLY not have to. But if they
sinned also then you would count them in the national census.
The idea that ACH=USUALLy was explained in Volume 1 Number 16 which
can be accessed on the web site. Note how the English word USUALLY
denotes EXCEPTIONS (USUALLY but not ALWAYS). Volume 1 Number 16
cited all 42 times ACH occurs in the Bible.
For a close comparable usage see 3-23-27:
>>USUALLY ON YOM KIPPUR YOU WILL BE FORGIVEN.
Rashi says
>>USUALLY YOU WILL BE FORGIVEN, PROVIDED YOU HAVE
>>ASKED FORGIVENESS.
Similarly on this verse, 4-1-49:
>USUALLY YOU WILL NOT COUNT THE LEVITES
>IN THE NATIONAL CENSUS.
Rashi says
>USUALLY YOU WILL NOT COUNT THEM PROVIDED THEY CONTINUE
>NOT TO SIN WITH THE NATION
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
Our general thesis is that when Rashi gives two explanations it is
the second explanation that he really believes. The first explanation
is frequently something reasonable to guess at by a beginning student
who doesn't have the ability to analyze all the facts. Rashi placed
these first explanations to encourage these beginning students to
continue learning till they have the intellectual capacity to arive
at the second explanation.
Rashis first explanation is a good intuition: It connects 2 facts:
-a) The levites served in the Temple (they were Gods legion)
-b) The levites had a separate count.
So the first explanation of Rashi simply connects these two facts
and says since they are Gods legion they must receive a separate
count.
Notice how this explanation is based on an ASSOCIATION not on a LIST
When I teach Rashi I very often ask my students to GUESS at the
explanation BEFORE SEEING RASHI. The above would be a good guess:
>>They serve in the temple and hence are counted separately
However the reason we gave above based on the list of all censuses
and the list of all times the nation sinned is more functional:
The census is to determine the effects of sin: Hence it is wrong
to count a tribe that did not sin.
By bringing initial elementary explanations Rashi encouraged
beginning students to learn. Imagine the thrill of a beginning
student who finds his/her explanation in Rashi. This encourages
the student to go on.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {List of all censuses in the wilderness}
VERSES CENSUS NAME RESULTS ASSOCIATED SIN
====== =========== ======= ==============
2-32-26:28 Golden calf 3000 died Golden calf
4-1 Nat Census 600,000 people NA
4-25-9:14 Midianite women 24000 died Midianite Women
4-26 After-spy census 600,000 people Spy *1
FOOTNOTES
*1 See 4-26-64 which explicitly connects this census with the
spy goal.
{LIST2} {Documentation that the levites did not sin in wilderness}
SIN VERSES HOW DOES IT SHOW LEVITES DID NOT SIN
=== ====== ====================================
Gold calf 2-32-26:28 It says so explicitly
Spy 4-13-4:15 All tribes sent spys except Levites
4-14-22 They didn't sin in Golden calf. Hence
there total number of rebellions against
God was not 10 hence according to this
verse they did not have death decreed on
them
Midian
Women 4-25-9 FACT 1:24000 died from midianite women sin
4-26-51 FACT 2:General population decreased only
4-2-32 -0.3% from 4-1 to 4-26.
4-26-14 FACT 3: Shimon tribed decreased -76% from
4-1-23 90000 to 20000.
4-26-14 FACT 4: Shimon tribe was a "leader" in
midianite sins. It was the
Shimon prince leader who publicly
slept with a midianite.
DISCUSSION: A percentage analysis of
all 12 tribes shows that only Shimon
decreased by such a large amount. The
next largest decrease was 14% and many
tribes had 20% or more increases. Indeed
two tribes had 60% increases. Rav Hirsch
conjectures that the majority of the
24000 loss came from Shimon who had
such a tremendous loss. It is extremely
reasonable to assume that few of the
other tribes sinned and it is reasonable
to assume that Levi did not sin at all *1
FOOTNOTE:
*1 The clever reader might suggest that this is STILL only a very
very reasonable conjecture. True but it is not our main point.
Our main point is that the USUALLY in 4-1-49 has a connotation
USUALLY but NOT ALWAYS; USUALLY don't count them unless they
start participating in national sins. So even if the Levites
sinned with the Midianite women, since they didn' sin with the
Golden calf or spies they were counted separately in 4-1
and 4-26. Thus our main thesis would be hurt but not refuted
if the above analysis was not accepted.
CROSS REFERENCES:
* Sifsay Chachamim on this verse gives some very esoteric arguments
For example he suggests that originally the Levites did not sin
in the spy incident and then changed their mind. Furthermore the
Sifsay Chachamim gets bogged down in the semantics of ACH.
Our way of taking it avoids many of these problems. The levites
BOTH did not send spies and did not die in the spy punishment. It
is therefore simpler to say they did not sin at all.
As we have shown in Volume 1 Number 16 by reviewing all 41 times
ACH occurs: ACH = USUALLY. So "USUALLY don't count Levites in the
rest of the nation" suggests some exception---namely if they
participate in national sins. Such an approach is FUNCTIONAL.
The purpose of the census is to review the effects of sin--therefore
it makes sense not to count tribes that did not sin.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
----------------
* To my article PSHAT and DERASH for the meaning of ACH=Usually
* To Rabbi Hirsch for his brilliant actuarial analysis of the
midianite women fatalities.
* To my Father, Abraham Hendel for helping me analyze mortality
trends between 4-1 and 4-26.
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
SPECIAL MEANINGS | ACH=USUALLY | OVERALL STRUCTURE
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
COMMUNICATIONS
--------------
Send via email SUBMISSIONS/responses/contributions to
rashi-is-simple@shamash.org
If you want your communication published anonomously (without
mentioning your name) simply say so (and your wishes will be
respected). All other submissions (whether thru Shamash or ANY
of my email addresses are made with the understanding that
they can be published as is or with editing)
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.
THE WEB SITE
------------
To review all past issues as well as to see all principles go to the
web site HTTP://WWW.Shamash.Org/Rashi/Index.Htm. You can download all
past issues from this website.
THE ARCHIVES
------------
Alternatively to get PAST ISSUES goto
http://www.shamash.org/listarchives/rashi-is-simple/
To retrieve a specific past issue email to listproc@shamash.org and type
in the body of the message: get rashi-is-simple rashi-is-simple.v#.n#
Issues 5,10,12 are not located here but can be retrieved from the
web site.
SUBSCRIBE & UNSUBSCRIBE
-----------------------
To UNSUBSCRIBE send mail to listproc@shamash.org and type in the body
of the message: unsubscribe rashi-is-simple email-address.
To SUBSCRIBE send email to listproc@shamash.org, and type in the body
of the message: subscribe rashi-is-simple email-address FName LName
OUR GOALS
---------
RASHI-IS-SIMPLE
* will provide logical explanations to all 8,000 Rashis on Chumash.
* the preferred vehicle of explanation is thru list of verses and exceptions
* These postings will be archived in Shamash in Quartuplet
-- By Volume and Number
-- By Verse
-- By Grammatical Rule
-- By quicky explanation
* Rashi-Is-Simple should prove useful to
layman, scholars, rabbis, educators, and students
* Although this list is orthodox we welcome all logical
--explanations
--contributions
--modifications
--questions
--problems
provided they are defended with adequate examples.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
----------------------
For further information on the character of this list
* read your welcome note from Shamash
* read PESHAT and DERASH: TRADITION, Winter 1980 by Russell Hendel
End of Rashi-Is-Simple Digest
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*