Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
http://www.shamash.org/rashi
Volume 3 Number 6
Produced Aug, 11 1999
Topics Discussed in This Issue
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v5c11-12 THE makes a noun Proper--we give 5 examples
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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: v5c11-12
v5c11-12 ..Gods eyes are on it from THE New Year
v5-6-17 ..Don't test God the way you tested him in THE MASAH
v1-1-31 ..and there was evening and morning THE Sixth Day
v1a28-11 ...and he bumped into THE Place
v5a21-2 ..and YOUR Elders and YOUR Judges will go out
RASHI TEXT:
v5c11-12 THE New Year means Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year)
v5-6-17 MASAH means "testing God". But here it refers to
then name of the place called MASAH (2-17-7)
1-1-31 The letter HAY=THE=5th letter of the alphabet
was added (THE 6th day vs Day 6) to teach that God
made a deal with the creation of prophecy that
prophecy would only last if the Jews accepted the 5
books of Moses. A better explanation is that THE 6th
DAY refers to Shavuoth, the holiday of receipt of the
Torah
v1a28-11 The Bible says "he bumped into THE place"
without saying which place. It probably refers to
Har Hamoriah (cf 1-22-4 where Moriah is also called
THE place)
v5a21-2 YOUR ELDERS refers to the Elders of the
Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
Everyone knows the difference between a PROPER NOUN and a NON PROPER
NOUN. Thus in English if I wish someone a "good new year" I am
simply referring to the next year of this life--he might for example
have just moved say on April 1st and I wish him a "good new year" in
his new apartment--the reference is to the coming year in his new
apartment. By contrast if I wish him a "good New Year" then I am
referring to the National Holiday called the New Year which occurs
in America on January 1st and in Jewish circles on Tishray 1st.
We have just explained the CONCEPT of a proper noun. A proper noun
refers to a specific object while a non proper noun can refer to
any object. The means of RECOGNIZING a proper noun in English is
thru the use of capital letters. Thus "New Year" refers to the
proper noun while "new year" refers to the non proper noun. In
Hebrew the means of RECOGNIZING a proper noun is thru the use of
the participle "THE". Thus the phrase "a years beginning" refers
to the non proper noun while the phrase "the years beginning"
refers to the proper noun. (In Hebrew, RayShiTh ShaNaH is non
proper while RayShith HaShaNah is proper).
Thus Rashi is Simple. Since the verse explicitly says RayShith
HaShaNah ("The New Year") it must be refering to the Jewish
New Year and not to "a good year."
The other four cases above are similar. In each case the participle
THE tells us that we are referring to a proper noun.
We now use the principle of STAGES (cf v1a32-15 in v1n14): In
STAGE 1 I am certain that the verse is speaking about a Proper
Noun. In stage 2 I try and guess what specific place had that
proper noun as its name. Let us go thru the examples
--THE New Year obviously names the Jewish New Year (v5-11-12)
--Similarly THE Sixth Day must name the holiday that happens
on the sixth, Shavuoth, the Holiday of Matan Torah. This is
similar to the American holiday "The 4th" refering to July 4th
or Independence Day (1-1-31)
--Similarly THE Masah refers to the place called Masah (Without
the "THE" the word Masah would be an improper noun and simply
refer to any of the many places that the Jews tested God (See
5-9-7 thru 5-9-29) (5-6-17)
--Similarly YOUR Elders, although not a proper noun, would
be similar to the phrase THE REBBE used by Lubavitchers to refer
not to any Rebbe but to the 7th Lubavitcher Rebbe. Thus YOUR
Elders refers to the most distinguished of all elders, or the
Elders in the Great Court of 71 in Jerusalem (5-21-2)
--Finally the phrase THE PLACE must refer to some specific PLACE
known to Jews as THE PLACE. One logical reference is HAR HAMORIAH
where Abraham sacrificed Isaac and where the Temple was built.
(If someone in some Midrash suggested some other place it would not
contradict Rashi because everyone agrees that in STAGE ONE Rashi
refers to SOME SPECIFIC PLACE (THE PLACE=Proper noun) while in
STAGE TWO we try and guess which place (and therefore there can
be controversy) (1-28-11))
The preceding set of examples with their English analogies is
compactly exhibited in {LIST1}. This completes the basic explanation
of these Rashis. Rashi is simple observing that THE makes a noun
proper and presenting us with the consequences of this on the 5
verses listed above.
However the more interested reader might wish to review the
following two important points.
--POINT 1: In v1n1 (v1b28-11) we explained that 1-28-11 using
the concept that a NOUN should not be repeated in a verse because
a pronoun could be used. Indeed 1-28-11 could have simply said "And
he bumped into THE PLace...and he slept THERE (vs He slept in THAT
PLACE)". The standard treatment of double nouns is that they each
refer to something else. Hence we suggested that the 1st THE PLACE
refers to GOD (who is called Place in Tenach and the Talmud since
God is the PLACE of the world) while the second PLACE refers to the
actual place where he slept.
How then can I reconcile "THE PLACE=God" with the current explanation
of "THE PLACE=Har Hamoriah".
The answer is straightforward. Using the principle of STAGES **all**
I know in STAGE ONE is that THE PLACE refers to some specific place.
I don't yet know which one. In stage 2 we try and guess which proper
nouns are called THE PLACE. But one possibility is that it refers to
HAR HAMORIAH. Another possibility is that it refers to God. Both are
equally valid. So Rashi Is SImple and brings both.
Nevertheless since there is an additional problem in the verse--the
repetition of the noun PLACE--it appears that the best Peshat in
the verse is that the 1st PLACE refers to God and the 2nd place
refers to the place he slept in. This approach would solve BOTH
problems of why the PROPER noun was used and why there was a
repetition of Space.
--POINT 2: Some people may wonder why 1-1-31 refers to the
receiving of the Torah---what does that have to do with
the rest of the chapter?
But in v1-1-4 in v1n25 we have shown that all of Genesis 1 must
be referring not to the creation of the physical world but to
the creation of prophecy. What happened 6000 years ago is not
that the world was created but rather that the first prophet
was created, Adam. Genesis 1 does not describe how God created
the world but rather how God created the first prophet. Such a
thesis requires great elaboration and a detailed defense of each
verse in Genesis 1.
For the moment let us look at 1-1-31. If Genesis 1 is talking about
prophecy and if the creation of prophets requires as a prerequisite
Talmud Torah, learning, then we easily see why the culmination of
prophecy on the sixth day is "nicknamed" the "matan torah" holiday--
the "receiving the torah holiday" of that person. For a person
to become a prophet they must dedicate themselves to a life of
learning. The classical example is contained in 2-19:20 where the
Jews prepared for receiving the Torah and became prophets (2-19:20)
Similarly every prophet must go thru a learning stage. Such an
explanation is consistent with the many midrashim which portray
Adam as knowing many Jewish laws.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
We have several times emphasized that Rashi in his commentary might
give 2 explanations. In such a case the 2nd explanation is the
preferred explanation. The 1st explanation is frequently an
explanation that is correct if based only on part of the verse or
only on this verse while the 2nd explanation is an explanation that
is correct when based on all facts or all verses.
So on 1-28-11 we have two explanations of Rashi. The first
explanation---"THE PLACE"=Har Hamoriah, only explains one fact--
why THE is used (making THE PLACE a proper noun). This
explanation does not explain why the noun PLACE is repeated.
The 2nd explanation--"THE PLACE"=God--explains ALL facts--it
explains the Proper Noun (THE PLACE means GOD) and it ALSO
explains why the NOUN place is repeated (Because one PLACE refers
to God while the other refers to a physical location.)
And the reason Rashi gave both explanations is because he was
a master pedagogue. He wanted the student who came up with
the partially correct explanation to feel good--so he put that
explanation in Rashi, as if to say, "this is a good attempt".
Then when the student grows and tries to solve all problems in
the verse he will arrive at the second explanation which is
the true explanation. In fact Rashi goes a step further in
making the beginning student feel at home. He cites another
verse (1-22-4) where THE Place means Moriah!!
Know the above principle well--for it is deep and recondite and the
basis of all learning. For learning is not only dependent on LOGIC
but also on MOTIVATION and therefore every teacher should act like
Rashi and complement students on explanations that are partially
correct.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {Of verses with words which are proper nouns because
they are preceded with THE}
VERSE PHRASE PROPER NOUN ENGLISH ANALOGY
======= ============ =============== =============================
5-11-12 THE New Year Rosh Hashanah New Year vs new year *1
5-6-17 THE Masah Name of a place Long Island vs long island *2
1-1-31 THE 6th day Shavuoth July 4th *3
1-28-11 THE Place God, Moriah The Lord vs lord *4
5-21-2 YOUR Elders Sanhedrin Rabbis The Rebbe vs a rebbe *5
FOOTNOTES
*1 "new year" refers to any 12 month period; New Year refers to
January 1st in America and Rosh Hashanah in Jewish circles
*2 "long island" can refer to ANY Island that is long and narrow
Long Island refers to a specific place in New York
*3 Both July 4th and Shavuoth (The 6th) are Holidays named by
the date they occur on
*4 "lord" refers to any distinguished person (eg the British
house of lords) while Lord refers only to God
*5 "rebbe" can refer to any rebbe while in Lubavitch circles
The Rebbe refers to the 7th Lubavitch Rebbe.
CROSS REFERENCES:
v1a32-15 in v1n14 (The principle of Stages)
v1n1 v1a28-11 (ALternate explanation of THE Place=God)
v1-1-4 v1n25(Prophecy was created 6000 years ago not the world
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Ever since I have come to Baltimore I have received many excellent
questions. The question on 5-11-12 (why the THE before New Year)
was asked me by a Yeshiva Bachur (who wishes to remain anonymous)
The Yeshiva Bochur cited an explanation of the Kutzker:
>>Why is there the word THE. Because every year in Yeshiva we say
>>this will be THE Year. We will really learn the whole Masechta.
>>We will really learn every Tosafoth. We will really review
>>and know every Rashi. Thus we call the year THE Year. But...
>>by the end of the year it is just another ordinary year (and
>>hence no HAY=THE in the rest of the verse "From THE Year
>>Beginning to years end"
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
USAGE | STAGES
USAGE | STAGES
USAGE | STAGES
USAGE | STAGES
USAGE | STAGES
SQL {Database query comments for those who know Database theory}:
S1 = SELECT verse FROM Bible WHERE verse "THE"
S2 = SELECT word FROM S1 WHERE "THE" word
SELECT word, word.meaning FROM S2 JOIN Dictionary WHERE
S2.word = Dictionary.Word
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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
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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)
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