Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
http://www.shamash.org/rashi
Volume 3 Number 13
Produced Sep, 03 1999
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^ THE GOLDEN ^^
^^ Rambam Rashi Series ^^
vv Gold series #2-Part 2 of 3 vv
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Topics Discussed in This Issue
------------------------------
v2c22-24 IM=with/equal; ETH=Accompany/subordinate(Rambam,Hire 11)
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
***************************
*** READING TIPS ***
***************************
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: v2c22-24
v2c22-24 If you lend money ...to the poor with you
v1b39-10 ...and Joseph did not listen to her (ie to
Potiperah who wanted an affair with him) to
sleep beside her to be with her
v1a39-10 ...and Joseph did not listen to her (ie to
Potiperah who wanted an affair with him) to
sleep beside her to be with her
v5b14-27 ..don't forsake the levi because he has no
inheritance with you
v3b25-41 and he (the slave) will go out from you
he (the slave) WITH HIS children
v5b22-4 ..(Help your friend) Lift up his donkey
(if it fell or its cargos fall) with him
(the owner)
RASHI TEXT:
v2c22-24 The textual statement 'to the poor WITH YOU'
implies that you should be empathic for him
and feel as if yourself were poor.
v1b39-10 The textual statement 'to be WITH HER' means
that he (Joseph) and her (Potiperah) would be
with each other in the hereafter
v1a39-10 The textual statement 'to sleep BY HER' means
lying with each other without full intimacy
v5b14-27 The text says he (The levi) doesn't have an
inheritance WITH YOU' but he(the Levi) does
have a share in the gifts to the poor left
on the fields on which there are no tithes
v3b25-41 Rabbi Shimon said "If he (the slave) was
sold, who sold his children (ie the text
says they go out with him)"--we therefore
learn that the Master of the slave is liable
to support his wife and children
v5b22-4 It says 'Lift up the animal WITH HIM'. In
other words if the owner sits on the side
and says 'you have a Biblical obligation
to lift the animal' you are NOT obligated
to lift it.
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
There are two ways to designate that an activity
was done WITH someone--you can say
---it was done WITH SO AND SO (IMO) or
---it was done ACCOMPANIED BY SO AND SO (ITO)
Malbim(v3-19-13) explicitly suggests that
---IMO (WITH) implies that BOTH were equal in the activity
---ITO (ACCOMPANIED) implies one was SUBORDINATE to the other
A modern linguistic analogy would be VOUS vs TU in French
(both mean YOU but you only use TU with someone you are
FAMILIAR with and use VOUS with a stranger).
The above 5 Rashis exploit this principle {LIST1}. Hence
--(5-22-4) Lift up a fallen animal WITH the owner but
not ACCOMPANIED by the owner--there is no obligation to
lift if the owner sits on the side and does not EQUALLY
lift with you
--(3-25-41) The slave owner's children go out WITH HIM--
they--the slave and his children--were EQUALLY sustained
by the master (If it had said 'he and his children
ACCOMPANYING HIM' it would imply that the children were
dependent on their slave father who would have to
support them--by saying WITH THEM you imply that they
were both dependent on the MASTER).
--(5-14-27) The Levite has no inheritance WITH the Jewish
people but instead has an inheritance ACCOMPANYING THEM.
That is their inheritance is the Levite cities (the 48
cities (4-35-7) and the Levite gifts (4-18-20, 4-18-24).
The Levites however were NOT equal (WITH) the rest of the
Jewish people in inheriting the land but rather the Levites
were subordinate to them (Thus the receipt of Levite gifts
showed subordination; similarly the receipt of the 48 cities
showed subordination since accidental murderers received asylum
there (in some cases rent-free).
--(2-22-24) The Bible says the poor should be WITH you
not ACCOMPANY you. This implies some type of equality
between the giver and the poor. Rashi therefore states that
their should be emotional equality--you should be empathic
to the poor person's plight and feel like him. The Great
Midrash (Midrash Rabbah) on the almost identical sister verse
3-25-35 illustrates this empathic emotional equality with the
poor by a story of Rabbi Tanchom son of Rabbi Chiiyah. His
mother whenever she went shopping for meat would buy 2 cuts---
one for themselves and one for the poor (to fulfill the
concept of WITH HIM (vs ACCOMPANY him)).
--Finally (1-39-10) Potiperah tried to seduce Joseph by
requesting that he
-----lie by each other side by side (without full intimacy--
see {LIST2}--the normal terms for intimacy are SLEEP WITH
or SLEEP OF; SLEED BY THE SIDE would indicate non intimacy
------he (Joseph) would be WITH her (vs ACCOMPANY her).
So to speak, this was Joseph's big chance. He was a slave
but she promised him equality WITH HER (probably the intent
is to killing her husband and then marrying Joseph who
would no longer be a slave).
{LIST1} presents many other midrashim/halacoth that utilize
this principle but were not explicitly mentioned by Rashi.
We single out three
--5-15-16 cites the slave as stating 'Because it is good
for me WITH my master' (Vs accompanying him). Hence we
have the famous halachah 'Whoever acquires a slave acquires
a master since the slave must be WITH (not accompany) the
master--that is, the master must give the slave the same
quality food, clothing and quarters that the master has.
(Rambam, Slaves 1:9)
---There is considerable confusion in the chapter on Bilam
since God first appears to say to Bilam-- who asked permission
to go with the Moabite emissaries and curse the Jews--DON'T GO
WITH THEM (4-22-12), then God says GO ACCOMPANYING THEM(4-22-20),
then God gets angry when he GOES WITH THEM (4-22-22), then Bilam
apologizes for GOING (4-22-34) and finally Bilam gets permission
to go WITH THEM (4-22-35).
But based on the Great Midrash and the WITH/ACCOMPANY principle
Malbim had no problem with the above. The sequence is as follows
--Don't go WITH them (eg to give advice to curse the Jews)
--but you can ACCOMPANY them (for hire)
--Nevertheless Bilam went WITH THEM (not accompanying them)
--and hence God was angry for his going WITH them (eg to give
advice) but not accompanying them to just say what God commanded)
--At this Bilam apologized and offered to go back
--God told him that he doesn't have to change his emotions so he
can go WITH them (with 'happiness at the thought of causing pain
to the Jews') but CAN ONLY SAY WHAT I(GOD) command you.
The above makes the whole chapter read smoothly (Many of our
comments about WITH/ACCOMPANY occur explicitly in the verses.
See {LIST3} for a summary.
--Finally we mention 3-19-13
>>The wages of a worker should not stay overnight
>>ACCOMPANYING you till morning
Thus the prohibition is only when there is an element of
SUBORDINATION of the worker to the HIRER. Hence
--there is only a prohibition when the worker directly
pays the hirer, not when eg the worker and hirer agree
to payment by a 3rd party (since then the worker and
hirer are both subordinate to another party and the
element of subordination of the worker to the hirer
is absent (since he doesn't have the person's pay))
The language of the Sifrah is clear
>>Don't let payment stay overnight ACCOMPANYING
>>YOU---this does not apply if they agree to
>>payment by a 3rd party since the staying
>>overnight has to be according TO YOUR WILL
>>(Since the will shows SUBORDINATION/ACCOMPANYING)
This Sifrah was brought down so that we can complete the
Rambam-Rashi-Gold Series for Rambam Hire,11.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
There are many subtle points about Rashi's form. We
bring up 5.
RASHI EMPHASIZES CONCEPTS NOT WORDS
-----------------------------------
I have suggested this several times. The Great Midrash
on 1-39-10 on the words
>> for him (Joseph) to be WITH her (Potiperah)
comments
>> to go down to Hell with her
(The implication being eg that she would kill
her husband, marry him, and give him dominion
over the house and make him an equal (WITH HIM)
But Rashi changes the Midrash's words
>> to be with her in Heaven
Why did Rashi change 'To be with her in HELL' to 'To
be with her in HEAVEN'. It obviously was a mistake but
a mistake IN THE WORD. Rashi however was keenly analytic
about the CONCEPT of 'WITH HER' vs 'ACCOMPANYING HER'.
The position of this email list is that
--all Rashi's must be understood by a prior examination of LISTS.
--Furthermore Rashi's language is understood in light of these LISTS
--if necessary we even modify Rashi's language (or
suggest that the language was a mnemonic for the true
reason) by using these LISTS.
--Rashi is meticulous and NEVER made mistakes in LISTS.
The text of the Great Midrash may be found in Gen Rabbah 87:6.
RASHI USED WORKBOOK METHODS--Slave-Master equality
--------------------------------------------------
Note the amusing twist that the law that
>>a master must SHARE with the slave the same types
>>of food, housing, drink, clothing that he uses
>>because it says FOR IT IS GOOD **WITH** HIM
is NOT brought down by Rashi but is brought down by the Rambam
with the Biblical derivation (Slaves 1:9).
I have suggested that Rashi uses WORKBOOK methods. He will give
one or two examples of a principle and then let students fill
in the midrash on other similar examples.
In this case Rashi does comment on the WITHs at
--3-25-41--the owner must support the SLAVES children
--5-22-4---you only help lift up a fallen animal if the owner shares
The extension of these two examples to the sharing of owner and
slave is straightforward and hence Rashi left it to the student.
RASHI USES WORKBOOK METHODS--Chapter on Bilam
---------------------------------------------
Similarly Rashi omitted comment on the WITHS/ACCOMPANYING in
the Bilam chapter {LIST3} because the WITHS in 5-14-27
>>The Levite does not inherit WITH the Jews
clearly means that although he inherits it is an inheritance
ACCOMPANYING not an inheritance WITH (for the Levites did indeed
inherit 48 cities).
This type of reasoning --that an act(inheritance) happens in an
unequal vs an equal manner--- is exactly the same type of tone
present in the Bilam chapter. (The issue was NOT whether Bilam
could go with the Moabites but rather whether it was a GOING
WITH or a GOING ACCOMPANYING). Hence again, Rashi left it to
the student.
RASHI USES WORKBOOK METHODS--Poor WITH you
-------------------------------------------
The concept of
>>the poor WITH you
occurs twice (2-22-24, 3-25-35). So Rashi is Simple and comments
on 2-22-24 but leaves the similar comments on 3-25-35 to the
student. IN passing note the story of purchasing 2 cuts of meat,
one for the poor and one for oneself (Leviticus Rabbah 34:5).
Such stories give OPERATIONAL implementation to PHILOSOPHICAL
concepts. In other words the philosophical concept ('be Empathic
to the poor') is concretized by the suggestion of getting 2
cuts of meat.
RASHI USES WORKBOOK METHODS--worker vs slave
--------------------------------------------
Finally we note that the Sifrah comments on 3-19-13 (violations
of worker delayed payment only occurs when the money is retained
by the hirer (so that there is subordination/ACCOMPANYING between
hirer and worker). It is not violated if they left it by a 3rd
party. The Rambam although not citing the verse does quote the
law. Rashi however is silent.
Again Rashi uses workbook methods. I think what motivated Rashi
here is the ironic twist that WITH YOU is used by slaves (3-25-41,
5-15-16) but ACCOMPANYING YOU is used by workers!! This twist
is certainly enough to motivate the student to work out the
details by him/herself.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {Summary of laws learned from WITH(IM) vs ACCOMPANY(ETH)
For full discussion see the text above. The footnotes
fill in relevant sources and comments. Several verses
are brought where the principle applies but is not
brought down by Rashi. This is explained in the
COMMENTS ON RASHIS FORM section}
VERSE PRONOUN LAW learned from WITH/ACCOMPANY
======== ================== =======================================
v2-22-24 WITH the poor Be empathic to his poverty *1
v1-39-10 be WITH her SHARE with her in hell *2
v5-14-27 inheritance WITH*3 Levite inheritance SUBORDINATE on others
v3-25-41 WITH his children Children and slave SHARE from master *4
v5-22-4 Lift WITH him *5 Lift up animal only if owner helps also
v3-19-13 worker SUBORDINATE Only if hirer pays *6
v5-15-16 Slave WITH you Slave and master SHARE food,housing *7
v4-22 Bilam/Moab Many verses with WITH/ACCOMPANY *8
FOOTNOTES
*1 eg The Midrash Rabbah story of purchasing 2 cuts of meat..
one for the poor and one for oneself (Showing empathy with
the poor)
*2 Joseph would be WITH Potiperah not ACCOMPANY her. I think
the reference is to killing her husband and marrying him and
becoming her equal
*3 eg Levite gifts depend on people giving to him. Levite
cities gave asylum to accidental murderers (sometimes rent-free)
*4 So the SLAVE and CHILD are WITH each other (both get from
master). If the CHILD received from the SLAVE then the CHILD
would ACCOMPANY the slave
*5 If the owner helps then you and owner are WITH each other
in lifting. If the owner sits on the side and says 'You lift--
it is your mitzvah' then the owner is subordinate and there
is no obligation.
*6 If the hirer and worker agree to a 3rd party payment
then hirer and worker are WITH each other(and there
is no Biblical violation in delaying payment). It is
only when the worker directly pays the hirer that the
worker is SUBORDINATE/DEPENDENT/ACCOMPANYING hirer.
*7 The slave is WITH the master. He must get the same
type of food, housing, drink, clothing.
*8 See {LIST3}
{LIST2} {Expressions denoting physical intimacy. In Biblical
Hebrew the verb used is ShCV and the pronouns used
are IM (Sleep With) or ETH (Sleep of-e.g by rape)
(In modern Hebrew I believe they use
YSHN as well as ScCV). The phrase SLEEP BESIDES
only occurs once and is therefore translated as to
lie together without full intimacy.}
VERSE PRONOUN ACT DESCRIBED
======= ======= =============
5-27-22 WITH Adultery
5-27-21 WITH Besitality
5-27-20 WITH Incest*1
1-34-7 OF Rape*2
3-20-11 OF Incest*1
3-20-13 OF Homosexuality
1-39-10 BY Share a bed without intimacy
FOOTNOTES
*1 Incest can have EITHER the SLEEP WITH or SLEEP OF form
By contrast...
*2 Rape ONLY has the SLEEP OF form. It would be an interesting
question to find out the rules governing pronoun usage.
{LIST3} {List of verses dealing with Bilam going to Moab. The
sequence which at first glance looks contradictory is
explained by emphasizing the pronouns WITH YOU/ACCOMPANY YOU
VERSE TEXT COMMENT ON WITH/ACCOMPANY
======= ========================== ===============================
4-22-12 Don't go WITH the Moabites eg Give advice to destroy jews
4-22-20 You can accompany them eg for money if they hire you*1
4-22-22 Bilam went WITH them not for hire but to give advice
4-22-34 Bilam apologizes for going WITH vs ACCOMPANYING
4-22-35 You can go WITH THEM but ONLY say what you are told*2
FOOTNOTES
*1 Rashi
*2 The difference between v4-22-20 and v4-22-35 is that in 4-22-20
---Bilam was told to accompany them ie as a consultant who
transmitted Gods words
---but ONLY say what God commaned
In 4-33-35
---Bilam was told to go WITH them (ie eager to see the destruction
of the Jews)
---but ONLY say what God commanded.
In both verses Bilam was only allowed to say what God commaned.
But in 4-22-20 he was told not to hate them. Bilam apologized
to God in 4-22-34 for violating the prophetic order and then
God allowed him to go with his present emotional state but only
say what God had commanded.
Many of these comments are supported by Rashis and Midrashs--we
will fully study them in a later digest.
CROSS REFERENCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Malbim (Footnote 32) on v3-19-13 mentions the principle
that
IMO=WITH=EQUAL PERFORMANCE while
ITO=ACCOMPANIED=SUBORDINATE PERFORMANCE
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
PRONOUNS | SYNONYMS | IMO-ITO
SQL {Database query comments for those who know Database theory}:
SELECT Verses FROM Bible WHERE 'IMO' Verse OR
'ITO' Verse
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (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 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*