Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
Http://www.Shamash.Org/Rashi/
Volume 2 Number 9
Produced May, 23 1999
Topics Discussed in This Issue
------------------------------
v5-4-7 ON MY FACE = During my lifetime
v4b4-13 Verbs become nouns by 3 methods.'TO ASH'=To REMOVE the ashes
v4a4-9 3 translations with different emphasii in Exodus vs Numbers
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*** READING TIPS ***
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IF 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: v5-5-7
v5-5-7 You shall have no other gods ON MY FACE
RASHI TEXT:
v5-4-7
ON MY FACE = During my lifetime.
[Rashi also brings an initial explanation:
ON MY FACE = in any place where I may be, which is the whole
universe.
As we shall see below it is the 2nd explanation which is preferred]
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
There are 3 vereses where the phrase ON THE FACE of occurs
& the verse refers to the face of person{LIST1}. In each of
them the phrase clearly means DURING THE LIFETIME OF.
Thus 1-11-28 means that Charan died DURING THE LIFETIME of
this father. Similarly, 4-3-4 means that Elazar became
a Cohen Gadol DURING THE LIFETIME of his father Aaron.
A similar interpretation was given to the 3rd verse and it
is summarized below in the footnotes to {LIST1}.
Thus Rashi Is Simple: If we treat God like a person
(e.g. cf 2-15-3) then 5-4-7 would be translated as
"You shall not have other Gods DURING MY LIFETIME.
This is the simple meaning of the text based on lists.
It is also the final interpretation listed in Rashi.
On this email list we have always found that Biblical
lists justify Rashis terminal explanation. The reason
for Rashi's first explanation is given below in the
COMMENTS ON RASHIS FORM section.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
As just shown, it is Rashi's 2nd explanation which is consistent
with the Biblical lists. ON THE FACE OF always means DURING THE
LIFETIME when referring to a person.
As just indicated however, this phrase only occurs 3 times in
Tnach (or 4 times with this verse).
In volume 2 number 6 we examined many of
the other occurences of the phrase ON THE FACE OF
(e.g. ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH) and we suggested that it means
SPREAD ALL OVER. The simplest example is 1-25-18:
>>"And Ishmael camped (ON THE FACE OF) by his brothers".
If the phrase ON THE FACE OF had not occured in the verse
then I would say that this means "And Ishmael camped
in ONE SPOT that was near his brothers". However since the
verse says "And Ishmael camped ON THE FACE
of his brothers" there is an emphasis that Ishmael camped
in a variety of places--all near his brothers. This is consistent
with the Arab nomadic way of life--their camping is "SPREAD ALL
OVER".
In summary: ON THE FACE OF can have two meanings:
a) It can mean DURING THE LIFETIME OF when referring to a person
b) It can mean SPREAD ALL OVER
So Rashi's 1st explanation (of 5-4-7)is the majority usage of ON
THE FACE OF.ON THE FACE OF means SPREAD ALL OVER. Thus the verse
means "You shall have no other gods at each and every place--
in the whole world".
By contrast the 2nd explanation uses the fact that God is a
person and means "You shall have no other gods DURING MY
LIFETIME"--thus it uses the minority usage of ON THE FACE OF.
This is consistent with Rashi's approach which is to be empathic
with beginning student error. A beginning student would
undoubtedly use the majority usage and interpret the verse
"You should not have other gods at any place in the world".
This therefore is Rashis first explanation.
The more trained student however would correctly understand that
the issue is not STATISTICAL (i.e. what does ON THE FACE OF
**usually** mean) but rather GRAMMATICAL--what are the rules
governing ON THE FACE OF. The rule is that when occuring with
a person, ON THE FACE OF means DURING THE LIFETIME. Hence Rashis
second explanation is "You shall not have other gods DURING
MY LIFETIME."
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) *1
FOOTNOTES:
*1 In Volume 2 Number 6 I translated 5-21-16 as follows:
"If a person has two wives--one he likes and one he dislikes--
but his first born son was born to the disliked wife, then the
father cannot give 2/3 of his inheritance to the son of his liked
wife DURING THE LIFETIME OF THE DISLIKED WIVE'S SON.
On the other hand if disliked wive's son dies AND if he has no
inheritors then it would appear from 5-21-16 that he can give
2/3 of his inheritance to the son of his liked wife.
What is bothering me is that even though the verse seems to say
this explicitly and even though it seems logical nevertheless
in Rambam, Inheritance 6:3, only the first of the above 2 laws
are brought (that you can't give take away promogeniture during
the lifetime of the eldest). The 2nd of these laws (That you
can give a fictitious promogeniture to the liked wife's son after
the death of the disliked wife's son) is not mentioned.
All this is further complicated by the law, Inheritance 2:7, that
death does NOT cancel promogeniture!! If Jacob,say had two
children, Reuben and Shimon, with Reuben the eldest and Reuben
dies than Reuben's children inherit 2/3 of the estate while
Shimon's children inherit 1/3. In other words, the promogeniture
is "inherited" even after the death of the eldest.
Thus my above suggested interpretation of 5-21-16 must be
restricted to a case where a person had 2 wives and
there were NO grandchildren. In such a case the death of the
firstborn cancels promogeniture. But again as remarked above, this
seems to be obvious--why then the verse? Furthermore, I am
surprised that no halachic commentary makes ANY comment on the
phrase DURING THE LIFETIME, mentioned in 5-21-16. So the matter
certainly requires investigation.
CROSS REFERENCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Volume 2 Number 6 v4-3-4
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
WORD MEANING
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VERSE: v4b4-13
v4b4-13 ..and you should DUST (DShN) the altar
RASHI TEXT:
v4b4-13
DSHN means to **remove** the dust
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
Rashi is Simple enough: DSN means ashes and normally occurs,(like
in English), as a noun.In this verse it occurs as a verb. So Rashi
explains "TO ASH" means TO REMOVE THE ASHES (just as in English
"TO DUST" means "TO REMOVE THE DUST")
In case we weren't sure the Sifsay Chachamim adds on Rashis
>>To remove the dust
the following:
>>To REMOVE it
but not
>>To PLACE it".
To fully understand both Rashi and the Sifsay chachamim
we must review the way NOUNS become VERBS{LIST1} and {LIST2}
Sometimes the verb indicates CREATION of the noun: For example,
TO PLANT (create a plant), TO MILK (to create the milk) etc.
Sometimes the verb indicates the REMOVAL of the noun: For example,
TO DUST (remove dust), TO DEFROST (remove the frost) etc.
Sometimes the verb indicates the STANDARD ACTIVITY done with that
noun: For example, TO HAMMAR (UP-DOWN motion), TO SCREW (rotating
motion), TO FAN (back-forth motion).
So Rashi Is Simple yet profound. The verb DShN could mean any of
several things. Rashi indicates that the verb-noun transformation
here is the REMOVAL ONE.
Finally we note in passing that besides the approach we took here
--examination of the SEMANTIC transformations--we could also take
a GRAMMATICAL approach--the PIEL of a verb sometimes denotes
negation--thus SHRSH in the KAL means TO PLANT while in the PIEL
it means TO UPROOT. However as noted in our footnotes to the lists
the examination of semantic transformations is primary.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {Examples of making a VERB from a NOUN.
I have called such transformations SEMANTIC
transformations to distinguish them from purely
grammatical transformation such as the conjugations of
verbs. {LIST2} summarizes the TYPES of VERB-NOUN semantic
transformations}
NOUN VERB RELATIONSHIP
==== ==== ============
Dust To dust Removal of dust
Root To UpRoot *1 To remove the roots(from ground)
Frost To DeFrost *1 To remove the frost
Plant To Plant Creation (planting) of plants
Record To record To Create a record
Milk To milk(a cow) To Create milk
Fire To fire To Create a fire(e.g.in a furnace)
Hammar To hammar Standard activity done with hammar*2
Screw To screw Standard activity done with screws*2
Fan To fan Standard activity done with Fan *2
FOOTNOTES
*1 In the other examples the VERB and NOUN are spelled the same (DUST
and TO DUST) while in these examples the verb has a prefix added on
(To UpRoot). In Hebrew instead of a prefix the PIEL BINYAN is
sometimes used: Thus ShRSh in Piel means to UPRoot while in KAL it
means to TAKE root.
Now in v4b4-13 DShN is in Piel. Thus there is a simple
consistency here and we COULD have derived the whole point by simple
grammatical considerations. Nevertheless I think it worthwhile to
point out that there are semantic considerations here also.
Furthermore as can be seen by the English example 'TO DUST = removal
of dust'----not all languages at all times use a prefix. Thus I
believe it is necessary to document the semantic transformation also
*2 In other words TO HAMMAR refers to an UP-DOWN motion with force;
TO SCREW refers to a ROTATING motion; while TO FAN refers to
a BACK-FORTH motion---there is nothing common between UP-DOWN,
ROTATING or BACK-FORTH vs HAMMAR, SCREW, FAN. Rather the activity
is the STANDARD ACTIVITY done with these objects.
{LIST2} {The 3 types of VERB-NOUN semantic transformations}
TYPE EXAMPLE-The Noun Example-The Verb
==== ================ ================
Removal Dust To Dust
Creation Milk To milk a cow
Standard activity of Hammar To hammar
CROSS REFERENCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Just a word about the "What is the problem" approach to Rashi
which we comment on every now and then.
Dr Leibowitz emphasized in her teachings the idea that the study
of Rashi should begin with "What is the problem?".
Similarly Dr Boncheck in his books emphasizes that the study of
Rashi should begin with "What is bothering Rashi?" (which is
also the name of his books).
I of course recommend both their books as excellent texts as well
as Dr Bonchek's website by which to gain Rashi study skills.
I stated in my Tradition article, Peshat and Derash
that Rashi is not always bothered by something and it is a mistake
to begin the study of EVERY Rashi with "What is the problem". The
strongest proof for this lies in the fact that sometimes Rashi is
commenting on STYLE---not on a breach of Grammar. If the Chumash
took one of two alternative styles then it is a mistake to ask
What was bothering Rashi.. since the real point of Rashi is that
the Chumash took a particular style to emphasize the nuances of
that style.
Nevertheless it is only the emphasis that Rashi is ALWAYS bothered
by something that should be avoided. There are many verses where
such an approach is worthwhile.
Take this verse: v4b4-13. If I didn't ask what is bothering Rashi
then I would simply have dismissed Rashi as a TRANSLATION. However
by first asking "What is the problem" I become aware of the three
types of verb-noun transformations and this awareness enriches
my understanding of why Rashi chose to translate this verse.
Needless to say, even in this verse v4-4-13---nothing was bothering
Rashi INSIDE the verse. Nor is the use of a Piel construction with
a root that is used mostly for nouns "a problem". Rather Rashi is
bothered by the fact that there are 3 types of verb-noun
transformations and the reader of the chumash must therefore be told
which one applies here.
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
WORD MEANING | SEMANTIC
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v4a4-9
v4a4-9 ..the menorahs "tongs"
v4b4-9 ..the menorahs "dustpans"
v4c4-9 ..the menorahs "oil jars"
[Moderator: These same 3 words are repeated in 2-25-37:38
We present the Rashis on these words both here IN Numbers
as well as in Exodus. We shall explain some of their
differences]
RASHI TEXT:
v4a4-9
TONGS: (4-4-9)Like tongs with which you orient wicks to any side
(2-25-38) These are the tongs with which you
a) take the wick from the oil
b) arrange the wick in the oil
c) orient them
And they are calls tongs(From the root LKCh=Take)
because you TAKE the wicks
v4b4-9
DUSTPANS: (4-4-9) Like a small spoon..borders on its sides
but not in front...and you scoop up the
ashes of the fire when you fix it
[Moderator: The description of borders on
its side but not in front resembles a
small dustpan (or scoop)--I translated it
this way to provide intuition]
(2-25-38) Sort of cups that you "SWEEP UP" the
nights ashes every morning...ChTH=(SWEEP UP)
is the same as in the verse Isa30-14)
v4c4-9
OIL JARS: (4-4-9) Like LUTzISH in Old French for the oil and wicks
(2-25-37) Sort of Cups--receptacles for the oil/wicks
[Moderator: Our translations here are just approximate. I am
not familiar with Old French or the nature of utensils from
former periods. Nevertheless we have brought these Rashis
to clarify
a) what is needed in a translation
b) why Rashi emphasizes different things in different verses]
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
How should one Translate a word? What is needed in a good
translation? What is the checklist of criteria by which
one should create a translation?
There are 6 items to check for when making a translation.
These are compactly listed in tabular format in {LIST1}.
We now go over them one by one and study how Rashi
fulfilled these items in the three examples above.
The six items are:
THE TRANSLATION: Thus Rashi translates MLKaCheHaH as TONGS.
THE FUNCTION OF THE ITEM: The function of tongs is to take
wicks from the oil cup &/or orient
the wicks in the oil cup.
THE FORM OF THE ITEM: Thus Rashi describes the "scoopers"
as sort of miniature dust pans..they
have no borders in front but borders
on the side (so that there form
enables bringing ashes into them
and retaining it from falling out)
THE ROOT OF THE WORD: Thus Rashi explains that TONGS come
come from the root LKCh= To TAKE
because you TAKE wicks from the oil
with them.
OTHER VERSES USING THIS WORD: Thus Rashi cites Isa30-14
for another use of the
word for "sweeping/scooping"
GOOD SECULAR INTUITIVE TRANSLATIONS: Thus Rashi cites Old French
translations for several words
Now that we have presented the 6 potential items in every
translation we are in a position to discuss what Rashi emphasized
in Numbers and what Rashi emphasized in Exodus. This
is compactly summarized in {LIST2}
We suffice with some clarifying examples: Rashi emphasized
FUNCTION more in EXODUS than he did in NUMBERS: Thus in
Exodus he gives three functions to the TONGS:
a) take wicks from oil,
b) place the wicks,
c) draw them forward (when they burn up and become to small)
while in Numbers Rashi only gives one function--
a) orient the wicks on any side.
Similarly Rashi emphasized FORM more in Numbers than he did
in Exodus: Thus Rashi gives a complete description of the
Candelabra dustpans in Numbers: borders on side but none in
front. He does not give such a description in Exodus.
It seems to me that there is a simple explanation as to
why Rashi did one thing in Exodus and one thing in Numbers.
In Exodus Rashi explained THOSE ASPECTS OF MEANING THAT ARE
CONNECTED TO HALACHAH AND BIBLE. Thus he explained the FUNCTION
of all items in detail since these are halachically prescribed.
Similarly he explained the ROOTS of each term and gave OTHER
VERSES since these relate to the Bible.
By contrast, in Numbers Rashi explained THOSE ASPECTS OF MEANING
THAT ARE SECULAR IN NATURE. Thus he gave very detailed
descriptions of FORM. For example, he gave a detailed
description of the construction of the DUSTPAN since these
descriptions do not occur in any halachic work but presumably
were obtained from some secular expert proficient in their
construction.
There is more to explain--for example why did Rashi explain
Biblical aspects of meaning in Exodus but secular aspects
in Numbers. We do not presently have answers to this. But our
main goal of explaining how Rashi interpreted the Chumash has
been achieved. We have also presented the criteria needed by
a good translation.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
Comments on Rashi's form are listed above in the BRIEF BUT
COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {The six criteria for a good translation.
We list how these are fulfilled in the 3 words
being studied. We also show how Rashi emphasized
different items in Exodus and Numbers}
CRITERIA
FOR
TRANSLATION TONGS DUSTPAN OILPAN
=========== ===== ======= ======
Translation Tongs DUSTPAN oilpan
Function Take wicks Dust ashes Receptacle
from oil accumulated for oils &
overnight wicks
Form Borders on
side;open
in front
Root LKCh=Take ChTh=Sweep NR=candle
Verses Isa30-14
Old French TolYash PhiShedya LuTzChis
{LIST2} {Comparison to Rashi on Exodus vs Numbers on the 3 words--
Oilpan, Tongs, Sweepers. As an example of how to use
this list, note that an explicit statement on the root
of the word occurs only in Exodus and only on the word
TONGS: Rashi says "They are called Tongs(from the root
LKCh) because you TAKE wicks from the oil. Thus on
the Row starting with ROOT under the column headed by
"IN RASHI ON EXODUS" we find TONGS but no other words.
Similarly on the row starting with OLD FRENCH under
the column headed by IN RASHI ON NUMBERS we find
OILPAN since this is the only one of the three words
with OLD FRENCH}
Criteria for
Translation In Rashi on Exodus *1 In Rashi on Numbers *1
============ ======================= ======================
TRANSLATION Tongs
FUNCTION Oilpan TONGS*2 SWEEPERS*2 Oilpan Tongs Sweepers
FORM Oilpan Sweepers Tongs SWEEPERS*2
Root Tongs
Verses Sweepers
Old French Tongs Sweepers Oilpan
FOOTNOTES
*1 In the text of the posting it is conjectured that Rashi gave
aspects of meaning related to the Bible and Halacha on Exodus
and gave secular aspects of meaning in Numbers.
*2 Capital letters denote that there is more material in that book
For example Rashi lists 3 functions of TONGS in EXODUS--
a) taking wicks from oil, b) ordering wicks on oilpan and c)
drawing wicks from oilpan. In Numbers only one function is
mentioned. In a similar manner a complete description of the
SWEEPERS are given in Numbers but not in Exodus.
CROSS REFERENCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
WORD MEANING
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NOTATIONAL CONVENTIONS
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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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RASHI-IS-SIMPLE
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