Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
http://www.shamash.org/rashi
Volume 3 Number 12
Produced Aug, 29 1999
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^^ THE GOLDEN ^^
^^ Rambam Rashi Series ^^
vv Gold series #2-Part 1 of 3 vv
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Topics Discussed in This Issue
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v5a24-14 Gold-Rambam-Rashi series #2-1. Rent 11. Worker Laws.
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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
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v5a24-14
V5a24-14 Do not withold from a laborer
v5e24-14 ..(don't withold) from the sojourner in your gates
v5d24-14 ...in your land
v5a24-15 for he (the laborer) risks his life
v5b24-14 ..(and he might pray) and you will have a sin
v5a15-9 ..lend to the poor in order that he not
pray on you to God
v5b15-9 ..and you will have a sin
v5a14-21 ..don't eat traifos (rather) give it to the
sojouner in your gates
v2d23-12 and the sojourner
v3b19-13 do not overnight the work of the laborer
RASHI TEXT:
v5a24-14 The prohibition of witholding from a laborer
is repeated here (v5a24-14) from 3-19-13. The
purpose of the repetition is so that a person
who witholds from a poor person violates
(at least) 2 prohibitions (5-24-14) and 3-19-13
[Moderator: See {LIST1} for further details]
v5e24-14 "the sojourner in your gates" refers to the
righteous gentile (that has obligated himself
to keep the 7 Noachide laws but did not convert)
v5d24-14 The phrase "in your land" extends the prohibition
of witholding wages to BOTH physical work as well
as work with animals and utensils
v5a24-15 the phrase "for he (the laborer) risks his life"
means eg he climbs up trees (to do tree labor)
and does other activities that endanger his life
v5b24-14 The phrase "and you will have a sin" means
that whether the poor person prays against
you or not you will have a sin but if he
prays retribution (from God) will be sooner
v5b15-9 The phrase "and you will have a sin" means
that whether the poor person prays against
you or not you will have a sin but if he
prays retribution (from God) will be sooner
v5a15-9 Here (5-15-9) it says
"that he NOT pray on you to God" while in 5-24-15
it says "that he pray on you to God" showing that
the prayer to God is NOT obligatory but optional.
v5a14-21 The phrase "sojouner in your gates" refers to the
righteous gentile(who accepted the 7 noachide laws)
v2d23-12 The phrase "and the sojourner" refers to the
righteous gentile (who accepted the 7 noachide laws)
v3b19-13 The prohibition "do not overnight" in the phrase
"do not overnight the work of the laborer" refers
to the WORK of the laborer since OVERNIGHT (TLN)
is feminine (like WORK) while LABORER is masculine
The reason for this law is that the Torah gave an
extra 12 hours for the boss to find money for the
laborer (in case he didn't have the money on hand)
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
Most of the 'punchiness' and 'simplicity' of the explanations
may be found in the {LISTS} below. However for those who don't
wish to plough thru them we quickly indicate brief explanations.
--v5a24-14 and 3-19-13 are two verses that both prohibit
witholding wages, each verse contributing different details.
The basic idea is that the two chapters combine and increase
the number of prohibitions violated {LIST1}, Footnote 1.
--v5e24-14 The word SOJOURNER in the Bible can refer to either
a CONVERT or a RIGHTEOUS NOACHIDE. As {LIST3} demonstrates the
phrase SOJOURNER IN YOUR GATES refers to the NOACHIDES (In a later
issue we will show that CONVERT IN YOUR MIDST refers to a real
convert). {LIST3} contains all 5 occurences of SOJOURNER IN YOUR
GATES in the Bible.
I bring special attention to the use of SOJOURNER IN YOUR GATES
in 5-31-12. Based on the Rambam Chagiga 3:8 I would say that this
creates an 8th Noachide law---the obligation to RESPECT prophecy.
Indeed, prophecy is the whole source of Noachide laws so obviously
they are obligated to respect prophecy. However the reason this
is not listed in the noachide laws is because the standard 7
noachide laws are punishable by human methods while disrespect
for prophecy is punishable at the hands of heaven.
--5-24-15 speaks about giving the WORKER his wages while
3-19-13 speaks about giving the WORK of the worker to him.
This duality (WORK vs WORKER) suggests that a broader interpretation
should be used which applies the worker laws to BOTH manual human
labor as well as animal and machinery labor (they all have to be
payed on time). ({LIST1} Footnote 6).
Further details on this law (and its dual derivation from v5d24-14
vs v3b19-13) may be found in Footnote 6.
--v5a24-15. The EXTRA SENTENCE 'for he (the laborer) risks his life'
is illustrated by Rashi as applying to say a window washer who risks
his life daily.
--v5b24-14 The word TO BE in Hebrew always denotes emphasis
and permanance {LIST5}. Hence the phrase AND YOU WILL HAVE
A SIN (vs BECAUSE YOU SINNED TO HIM) denotes that the sin
is there (emphasis/permanance) whether he prays to God or
not. (But if he prays to God retribution is quicker).
--v5a15-9 Here (5-15-9) it says
"that he NOT pray on you to God" while in 5-24-15
it says "that he pray on you to God" showing that
the prayer to God is NOT obligatory but optional.
An agrieved person does not HAVE to pray about
his loss of wages but MAY do so if he wishes.
--v3b19-13 As is clear from Footnote 5, {LIST1}, the two verses
5-24-15 and 3-19-13 talk about two complementary situations. One
explicitly talks about not OVERNIGHTING wages (apparently of
a day worker who must be payed the following night) while the
other verse speaks about giving someone WAGES BY DAY UNTIL
SUNDOWN (obviously a night worker).
More details will be given next time till we complete Rambam
Rent, 11.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {Alignment of two verses--3-19-13 and 5-24-14-- that
prohibit witholding wages from the laborer. The
differences between the two verses are explained in the
footnotes}
3-19-13 5-24-14 NOTE
======================= ============================= ====
DO NOT withhold DO NOT withhold
(your friend) a LABORER
a poor person *1
or a destitute person
your friend from your brothers *1
or the sojourners *3
in your land in your gate
DO NOT steal *1
DO NOT overnight in his day DO *5
the work of the laborer give his wages *6
with you
till morning & DO NOT let the sun set on him *5
because he is a poor person *7
& he takes his life in his hand
that he should not call *8
on you to God
and you will have a sin *9
FOOTNOTES
*1 One verse prohibits witholding from the poor and one verse
prohibits in general. So Rashi is simple and infers that witholding
from the poor has two sets of violations.(Rambam Rent11,amplifies
& suggests that there are 4 separate violations (corresponding
to the 4 DO NOTs in {LIST1}---Rashi however just indicated the
general idea of 2 chapters with prohibitions. He left it to the
student to count the number of DO NOTS. We have shown several
times that Rashi uses WORKBOOK methods and allows students to
extend hints that he gives.
Note how 5-24-14 prohibits witholding from the 'poor...your
BROTHER...' and hence includes and extends 3-19-13(which prohibits
witholding from 'your FRIEND') and applies it to the poor
*3 The word SOJOURNER in Biblical Hebrew can mean either a
CONVERT or a RIGHTEOUS NOACHIDE (who accepts the 7 laws of
Noach but did not convert). By reviewing {LIST3} we see that
the phrase SOJOURNER IN YOUR GATES only refers to NOACHIDES
(while, as will be shown in a future issue, SOJOURNER IN
YOUR MIDST refers to CONVERTS).
*5 It is clear that one verse is speaking about a day laborer
that should not be OVERNIGHTED in his pay while the other
verse is speaking about night laborer who is to be payed
by day until the sun sets.
It is interesting that Rambam, Rent 11, simply lists
these laws WITHOUT GIVING REASONS while Rashi gives the
reason
>>the Torah gave the manager an extra 12 hours
>>to find wages for the laborer in case he
>>didn't have any.
From this principle we may infer the 3 cases mentioned
by Rambam, in Rent 11:2
>>day laborers must be payed till the next morning
(because 12 hours is given to find wages)
>>week/month laborers are paid at the end of employment
(Because the manager had a whole week/month to find
wages and does not need any more)
>>hour laborers must be payed by COB
(Since it is only a few hours, we don't need a 12 hour
period but just enough time to get more money)
Note the amusing reversal of roles: Rambam is terse while
Rashi is logical and explicit.
*6 Note how in one verse the emphasis in on the LABORER
while in the other verse the emphasis is on the WORK of
the LABORER. So Rashi Is Simple---the laws apply equally
to human manual labor or to working with machinery or
animals.
Note the elegance and simplicity with which we derived
this law---one verse speaks about the WORK of the worker
while the other about the WORKER himself.
This is indeed how the Sifrah derives it in v3b19-13.
However in v5d24-14 Sifrah/Rashi learns the SAME thing
from the extra word LAND
>>SOJOURNER IN YOUR GATES {LIST3}
>>SOJOUNRER IN YOUR LAND IN YOUR GATES (v5d24-14)
Clearly BY ITSELF the word LAND does not connote
UTENSILS, ANIMALS.
Rather the truth is that Rashi/Sifrah learned it from v3b19-13
and the EXPLICIT contrast of WORK vs WORKER. This is the
technique of OTHER VERSES. Rashi/Sifrah did not learn anything
from this verse. Undoubtedly the extra word LAND may hint back
at something ALREADY learned but the primary derivation is as
indicated.
(See Malbim on v3b19-13 who supplements Rashis'simple grammatical
observation with further semantic studies).
*7 The EXTRA SENTENCE 'he takes his life in his hand' is
peculiar so Rashi amplifies it and suggests eg that he is
a tree worker or window washer who 'risks his life' when
he climbs up. The Rambam, Rent 11, amplifies and suggests
that 'it is as if you killed him' referring to the great
emotional anguish you cause a worker by delaying his wages.
Rambam uses a similar phrase at the end of Theft & Loss,1
>>Whoever steals from a person is as if they killed
>>him.
*8 See {LIST2} for discussion of this phrase which is contrasted
with a sfimilar phrase in 5-15-9.
*9 See {LIST2} for discussion of this phrase which is contrasted
with a similar phrase in 5-15-9.
{LIST2} {Two verses where we are warned against not giving
to needy people 'lest they call out and pray to you to
God'---one verse deals with witholding wages from a
LABORER (5-24-14) while the other speaks about witholding
loans from the POOR (5-15-9)}
5-15-9 5-24-14 NOTE
======================= ====================== ====
that he should call that he should NOT call *8
on you to God on you to God
and you will have a sin and you will have a sin *9
FOOTNOTES
*8 From the two phrases 'in order that he NOT call to God' vs
'in order that he call to God' we infer that the 'calling to
God' is a RIGHT but not an OBLIGATION. (That is the agrieved
person MAY pray to God because of the loss of wages but
does not have to do so)
*9 The phrase 'and you will HAVE a sin' (vs the possible 'because
you sin to him' (Ki TheCheThaH Lo)) means that you will
INTRINSICALLY have sin whether you pray to him or not.(But
if you pray he will be punished sooner)
This is so because the verb TO BE in Hebrew always denotes EMPHASIS
and PERMANANCE. We have seen this several times. {LIST5} provides
some examples.
{LIST3} {The only 5 Biblical verses where the phrase SOJOURNER IN
YOUR GATES occurs. It is conjectured that the phrase
SOJOURNER IN YOUR GATES refers to a righteous non-jew that
accepted the 7 laws of Noach while the phrase SOJOURNER
or SOJOURNER IN YOUR MIDST refers to a convert. See the
footnotes for references and comments}
VERSE COMMANDMENT THAT APPLIES TO 'SOJOUNER IN YOUR MIDST' NOTE
======= ======================================================= ====
5-14-21 Give the trayfah to the sojourner in your GATES *1
2-20-10 Observe the Sabbath..you...& the sojourner in your GATES *2
5-5-14 Observe the Sabbath..you...& the sojourner in your GATES
5-24-14 don't withold the wages of a...a sojourner in your GATES *1
5-31-12 ..assemble the nation--women..sojourner in your GATES *3
FOOTNOTES
*1 Rashi explicitly says SOJOUNER IN YOUR GATES = Righteous NOACHIDE
*2 The obligation for the 'sojourner' to observe the Sabbath
applies to BOTH the convert and the righteous noachide (And indeed
the word SOJOURNER can refer to EITHER the convert or the righteous
noachide). SOJOURNERS observing Sabbath are mentioned in BOTH
2-23-12 and 2-20-10. Therefore it is logical to say that one
of them refers to a SOJOURNER=CONVERT and one of them refers to
a SOJOURNER=RIGHTEOUS NOACHIDE.
Since the phrase SOJOURNER IN YOUR GATES refers to a Righteous
noachide it seems logical to take 2-20-10(which has SOJOURNER
IN YOUR GATES) to refer to righteous noachides and 2-23-12 to
refer to converts.
Unfortunately Rashi, following the Mechilta REVERSES the order
It says that 2-23-12 refers to RIGHTEOUS NOACHIDES and 2-20-10
refers to CONVERT.
Since however this violates the other Rashis/Mechiltahs that
SOJOURNER IN YOUR GATE=Righteous Noachide it would appear to
me that this is a typo in the Mechiltah and hence we should
reverse the association(So 2-20-10 refers to righteous noachide
and 2-23-12 refers to convert). This would make all SOJOURNER
IN YOUR GATES refer to righteous noachides. This is summarized
in {LIST4}. The reason for doing this is to achieve consistency
throughout that SOJOURNER IN YOUR GATE=NOACHIDE.
Note that this emendation DOES NOT change any laws
*3 I could find no Talmud, Sifra, Rashi on this SOJOURNER
IN YOUR GATES.
A priori the NOACHIDE has no obligation to visit the temple
on the festivals and hence has no obligation to listen to
the reading of the law every 7 years. But the Rambam explicitly
says (Chagigah 3:6) that
>>Sojourners that do not recognize must prepare their
>>hearts and pay attention t listen with reverence
>>and fear and rejoice with trembling as the day on
>>which the Torah was given
Apparently then the Rambam is referring to Righteous Noachides.
I would suggest that the Rambam is introducing an 8th law of
Noachides (Besides the standard 7)--the law or obligation to
respect prophecy. For indeed, it is prophecy which obligates
the noachides to their 7 laws in the first place. Hence we
must suppose that they have an obligation to believe/respect
prophecy.
And the reason why this is not enumerated in their 7 laws is
because their other 7 laws Noachides are liable to HUMAN
punishment for their violation while for not respecting
prophecy they are only liable at the hands of heaven.
{LIST4} {Two verses that BOTH speak about the SOJOURNER
observing the Sabbath. SOJOURNER can refer EITHER
to a CONVERT or RIGHTEOUS NOACHIDE. There are
two ways this association can take place as
exhibited in the LIST. Both methods preserve the
known halachah. However my suggested method of
Midrash is CONSISTENT with other verses with
SOJOURNER IN YOUR GATES which means NOACHIDE
See {LIST3} for a complete list of verses with
SOJOURNER IN YOUR GATES}
VERSE SOJOURNER Rashi/Mclth My approach
======= ====================== =========== ===========
2-20-10 SOJOURNER IN YOUR GATE Convert Noachide
2-23-12 SOJOURNER Noachide Convert
{LIST5} {Of verses with the verb TO BE--Courtesy of Malbim
In all these verses the verb TO BE denotes EMPHASIS *1}
VERSE TEXT WHY EMPHASIZED
----- ---- --------------
4-6-5 He WILL BE holy Non specificed Neziruth can't be transient
but must have some type of emphasis and
demonstration of committment (The usual
period for demonstration is 30 days)
3-2-1 it WILL BE wheat The emphasis shows that other types of
flour invalidate it
3-2-5 it WILL BE Matzoh The emphasis shows that if one left out
the Matzoh attribute then it invalidates
the offering
FOOTNOTES:
=========
*1 Malbim brings this principle down in his MORNING STAR--principle
600. THere he gives about a dozen examples (since some of them have
controversy on WHAT is being emphasized I left them out).
Malbim explains that the EMPHASIS in the Leviticus verses is an
emphasis of ESSENTIALITY--without the attribute that is mentioned in
the verse with the verb TO BE the procedure is invalid
We however have taken a broader interpretation and allow
any type of emphasis (For example: by the Nazerite, the emphasis
indicated by the verb TO BE denotes that Nazaretism should have
sufficient DURATION which in many matters is 30 days
CROSS REFERENCES:
v4a18-19 The verb HYH (TO BE) denotes emphasis
v2-1-5 The verb HYH (TO BE) denotes emphasis
v2b12-40 The verb HYH (TO BE) denotes emphasis
v1b15-13 The verb HYH (TO BE) denotes emphasis
v1a15-13 The verb HYH (TO BE) denotes emphasis
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
OTHER VERSES | ALIGNMENT
SYNONYMS | ALIGNMENT
OTHER VERSES
EXTRA SENTENCE
OTHER VERSES | ALIGNMENT
OTHER VERSES | ALIGNMENT
SPECIAL WORDS
SYNONYMS | ALIGNMENT
SYNONYMS | ALIGNMENT
OTHER VERSES | ALIGNMENTS
OTHER VERSES | ALIGNMENT
SQL {Database query comments for those who know Database theory}:
Standard alignment sql.
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Seir)
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