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(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 2000
Volume 5 Number 9
Produced Feb, 18 2000
WARNING: USE FIX WIDTH FONTS (eg COURIER (NEW) 10)
Verses/Topics Discussed in This Issue with quicky explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------
v1-17-9
The phrases "AND YOU" or "AND I" mark off contrasting
paragraphs. Good examples are v1-17, v1-6. In each case
God actions are introduced with AND I:....Abrahams or
Noachs action are introduced with AND YOU. Rashis
comments hilight/emphasize the contrast.
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RASHI IS SIMPLE
GOALS: To grammatically defend all 8000 Rashis on Chumash.
METHOD:Every Rashi will be defended with a LIST of comparable cases
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Laymen, Academicians, Rabbis, Yeshiva students
COMMENTS,QUESTIONS: EMail to address below; (minor edits may occur)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:Always given unless 'anonymous' is explicitly asked
(UN)SUBSCRIBE: Email to above with keyword "(UN)subscribe"
JOURNAL REFERECE: Pshat & Drash, TRADITION, Win 1980, R Hendel
NOTATION: eg v2b1-8 refers to Ex(Book 2) Chap 1 Verse 8 Rashi b(#2)
SPECIALS:...on Rambam,Ramban,Symbolism,Pedagogy,Daily Questions
EMAIL: RJHendel@Juno.Com,rashi-is-simple@shamash.org,
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VERSE: v1-17-9
======
v1-17-9 AND YOU: Watch my convenant
v2y31-13 AND YOU: Watch my Sabbath
v2a14-15 And God said to Moses 'Why do you pray to me'
v2b14-15 speak to the Jews and let them Journey
v1d4-7 AND YOU: Shall conquer it (sin)
v2a18-21 AND YOU: See from the nation skillful people
v5-18-14 AND YOU: This is not what God gave you
v1a15-15 AND YOU: You will die in peace
v1a6-18 And I will keep my convenant with you
RASHI TEXT:
===========
v1-17-9 "AND YOU: Watch my convenant"
This Sentence (Beginning "AND") adds contrast to
the previous paragraph.The previous paragraph begins
>AND I: I will make a convenant with you
>...
This paragraph begins
>AND YOU: Watch(ie Keep) my convenant
v2y31-13 "AND YOU: Watch my Sabbath"
Even though in the previous chapter I have
commanded you on the Construction of the
Temple nevertheless the Sabbath takes
precedence(There is no building of the
Mishkan on Sabbath)
v2a14-15 "And God said to Moses 'Why do you pray to me'"
[Rashi gives two explanations]
(Explanation (1)) Since Israel is suffering you
should not be praying but helping them
(Explanation (2)) "Why do **YOU** pray to **ME**"
It is **my** job to get them out--not **yours**.
They only have to go into the sea. The reason
they don't have to do anything is because the
merit of their father and the merit of their
faith is sufficient.
v2b14-15 "Tell the Jews to journey"
In other words they do not have to do anything
They can simply go for into the sea for they
have the merit of their fathers and the merit
of their faith and this suffices
v1d4-7 "AND YOU: Shall conquer it (sin)"
If you want to
v2a18-21 "AND YOU: SEE/SELECT from the nation skillful people"
"See" with your intuition
v5-18-14 "AND YOU: This is not what God gave you"
God did not give you TRANCES but rather PROPHECY
God did not give you ASTROLOGERS but rather PRIESTS
v1a15-15 "AND YOU: You(Abraham) will die in peace"
You will die in peace and not see what I
have decreed on your descendants ("That
they will be slaves and be tortured")
v1a6-18 "And I will keep my convenant with you(Noach)"
I (God) will do 2 things
>I will make sure the people do not kill
you while you are making the arc
>I will make sure that the food you bring to
the arc does not rot
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
=========================================
Rashi introduces here a principle of FORMATTING and STYLE. In
English if you write a document you have various FORMATTING
STYLES at your disposal with which you can communicate. For
example you might use BOLD, ITALICS, CAPS. Similarly you might
use PARAGRAPH structure to
>GROUP SIMILAR ITEMS
Let us take a simple example. God makes the
>CIRCUMCISION CONVENANT
with Abraham. There are 2 parties involved.
>GOD: God promises to protect the Jewish peole
>ABRAHAM: Abraham promises to keep the circumcision convenant
The Chumash indicates this using the key words
>"I:" "YOU:"
That is the paragraphs read
>1-17-4 I: I will keep the convenant..& I will multiply you.
>1-17-9 YOU: You will watch (keep) the convenant
Thus Rashi Is Simple. The word
>AND YOU
is a
>SPECIAL WORD
which indicates
>PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE
More specifically it indicates that there are
>TWO CONTRASTING UNITS
>EACH ONE HAVING CERTAIN RIGHTS/OBLIGATIONS/PROPERTIES
By focusing on these key words you can emphasize the rights,
obligations, or properties of each party.
-------------------------------------------------------
| QUESTION 1: |
| =========== |
| Can you find other examples of the use of |
| >AND YOU |
| in Rashi? How would you find them? What tools would |
| you use? {LIST1} below gives some examples. It also |
| includes simple examples from the Torah |
-------------------------------------------------------
We now review 8 other examples illustrating this point.
EXAMPLE 1: Simple Verses illustrating contrasts
-----------------------------------------------
5-28-43
>The SOJOURNER will rise UP
>AND YOU: You will go DOWN
1-3-15
>HE (the snake): will bite you with his head
>AND YOU: You will crush him with your heal
EXAMPLE 2: 2-14-13:16 --GOD vs YOU
----------------------------------
2-14-13
>GOD: He will fight for you (the Jews)
>AND YOU: You will do nothing(be silent)
In other words, God does everything and we do nothing.
Hence in 2-14-14 we have
>Why do you (Moses) pray to me
I just told you that your job is to do nothing!
Hence in 2-14-15
>AND YOU: Lift up your stick..and let the Jews go
They needn't do anything except go (because it was promised
to their forefathers).
In other words, Rashis comments are not something new but
amplifications of the GOD vs YOU in 2-14-13---it is an
emphasis on the contrast between
>GOD FIGHTS<--->YOU ARE SILENT
EXAMPLE 3: 1-4-7--SIN/SATAN vs YOU
----------------------------------
In discussing sin we have
>The desire of sin (satan) is towards you
>AND YOU: You will conquer it
Again Rashi emphasizes the contrast
>SIN DESIRES<--->You can conquer
There are two parties here
>SIN and MAN
So Rashi emphasizes
>You CAN conquer it IF you want to.
The emphasis on
>CAN ...IF
is because there are two parties (man and sin)
EXAMPLE 4: 2-18-21--GOD'S-LAW-PROPHECY::MOSES-INTUITION-DELEGATION
------------------------------------------------------------------
In explicitly says in 2-18-19
>(God's word) You will bring Gods word..tell it to them
>(Your word) AND YOU: Will pick skillful people to be judges
Rashi's comment on
>"AND YOU: You will pick"--with your holy intuition
In other words, Rashi is emphasizing the contrast that
>You will bring the law = Gods prophecy
>But You will pick judges=Your intuition
In fact that was Jethro's whole contribution---that Moses should not
do everything as Gods agent but rather Moses should delegate
authority and only bring the serious issues to God. Thus the picking
of the judges had to be done by intution and not prophecy.
EXAMPLE 5: 1-15-13:15---CHILDREN vs YOU
----------------------------------------
It says
>YOUR CHILDREN will be strangers, slaves and tortured..
>AND YOU: Will die in peace, be buried in good old age
Rashi again emphasizes the contrast
>You will die in peace<---->your children will be slaves
>In fact you will die in peace and not even see them slaves
Rashis comment
>you will not see your children being made into slaves
simply hilights the contrast
>they will be slaves <-----> you will die in peace
EXAMPLE 6: 1-6-17:21--GOD vs NOACH on the flood
-----------------------------------------------
In discussing the flood the Bible clearly defines
>Gods part with the flood
>Noachs part with the flood
Verses 1-6-17:20 state
>AND I GOD: Will bring the flood
> Will bring Noach into the ark
> Will preserve the animals
While in 1-6-21
>NOACH: Will bring food to the ark
Again Rashi emphasizes the contrast that
>God does one part while Noach does the other
Since the
>coming to the ark
is listed as one of the things that God does
>AND I GOD:...and you will come to the ark
it must be the case, says Rashi, that this refers to protecting
Noach against those who opposed the ark. Similarly God protects
the food Noach brought against spoilage. Rashi isn't being
Midrashic nor is he inferring these nuances from peculiar words;
rather he is inferring these nuances from the contrast.
EXAMPLE 7: 5-18-14--NON JEWISH NATIONS vs JEWS
-----------------------------------------------
We have a contrast between
>THE NON JEWISH NATIONS: (They have astrologers; trances)
>THE JEWISH NATIONS: (They have priests; prophecy)
Again Rashi emphasizes specifics to hilight the contrast
>Trances vs prophecy
>Astrology vs priests
(The priests had URIM vTUMIN which fortold the future by
lighting up letters---wheras astrology communicates by
interpreting events symbolically that shouldn't be
interpreted, the URIM vTUMIN communicate by words)
EXAMPLE 8: 2-31-13--GOD TO US::VS::US TO GOD
--------------------------------------------
We have already in a previous posting emphasized that there are
>half a dozen paragraphs dealing with the mishkan
>a terminal paragraph dealing with Sabbath
Thus we infer from
>CONTEXT
that the Sabbath must be observed even when building the Mishkan.
Rashi now adds a further support for this--
>The phrase AND YOU: Observe the Sabbath..creates a contrast
Indeed
>(The first six paragraphs deal with)Gods gift of dwelling to us
>(The last paragraph deals with) Our gift/observance to God
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
=========================
We note that we interpreted
>Your holy intuition
as
>intuition
not
>prophecy.
This is how Rashi himself uses the phrase
>holy intuition
See Rashi on 1-42-1 for a comparable case where Rashi emphasizes
that this is
>intuition not prophecy
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
===========================================================
VERSE TOPIC CONTRAST-1 CONTRAST-2
5-28-43 Social status Sojourner-up You-down
1-3-15 Fight Snake bits you destroy
2-14-13:16 Exodus God fights You silent
1-4-7 Fight Sin seduces You conquer
2-18-19:21 Social order God's laws Moses' delegates
1-15-13:15 Egypt Children slaves Abraham in peace
1-6-17:21 Flood God protects Noach brings food
5-18-14 Know future non-jew trance jews prophecy
2-31-13 God-us God-dwells We observe sabbath
CROSS REFERENCES:
=================
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
=================
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
===============================================================
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
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End of Rashi-Is-Simple Digest
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