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Surfing the Talmudic Seas
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 2000
Volume 6 Number 13
Produced Jun 14, 2000
WARNING: USE FIX WIDTH FONTS (eg COURIER (NEW) 10)
Verses/Topics Discussed in This Issue with quicky explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------
v9-6-14a
News on the Rashi Yomi Website
Gn06-12a
Discussion of the 40 Rashis on the word "ALL"
There are 4 methods
Gn18-22b Clear explanation of Rashis position on the famous
18 "textual fixes" made by the prophet sages of the
great assembly. Numerous new sources are brought down.
Acknowledgement to Mail Jewish mailing list and Chaiim
Mateh for encouraging me to research this.
v9-6-14b
Question from a Day School teacher on sources
for multiplication and other arithmetic operations
in Rashis---needed to motivate students who are
not into "this world"
v9-6-14c
Posting from Dr John Loike---a suggested second
solution to the "10 commandments"
Rashis covered in this issue
----------------------------
VERSE RULE BRIEF DESCRIPTION
======== ============== ================================
Gn18-22b NEW MEANINGS >STAND BEFORE GOD< means prophecy
Gn06-12m SPECIAL WORDS >ALL< is used in 5 ways
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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
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COMMENTS,QUESTIONS: EMail to address below; (minor edits may occur)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:Always given unless 'anonymous' is explicitly asked
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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
RASHI-IS-SIMPLE RULES...Complete set with examples ON BOTTOM
EMAIL: RJHendel@Juno.Com,rashi-is-simple@shamash.org,
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VERSE: v9-6-14a
We will soon be moving to our new website
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/
I will let you know (in the next week or 2) when the move will
take place. However, Right now the website is empty. There is no
point in going there.You can still go to
http://www.shamash.org/rashi
The whole Rashi website is being rewritten in a more compact
readable fashion. I thank all people who have sent me comments
on readability. Many new downloads and features will be
available.
The postings in this issue reflect the new formats.
Hope you like it...Please feel free to write comments
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VERSE: Gn06-12m
RULE: The Hebrew word "ALL"(KL)indicates that there are no
exceptions and that what is being discussed should take place
in ALL circumstance---EVEN those you wouldn't ordinarily think
of.There are 4 methods by which the interpretation of ALL is
implemented.
"ALL" can indicate
(A) cases you wouldn't ordinarily think of or
(B) it can indicate that there are no exceptions or
(C) it can refer even to mixtures or
(D) it can indicate an emphasis on exceptional circumstances
EXAMPLES:
--------
(1-5) "ALL" INDICATES CASES NOT ORDINARILY INCLUDED
---------------------------------------------
(1) Ex12-43b "EVERY foreigner should not eat the Pascal lamb"
RASHI: "EVERY" Foreigner---BOTH actual foreigners AND ALSO
Jews who have apostated and become foreign to God
(2) Gn06-12a "(In Noachs time by the flood) ALL flesh became
corrupted" RASHI: "ALL FLESH" EVEN non humans--even cows
and chickens switched 'mates' and participated in the
corruption.
(3) Lv24-14a "And ALL who herd the blasphemy will place their
hands on the head of the blasphemer" RASHI: "ALL" even
the Judges.
(4) Dt13-01a "Obey ALL commandments that I command you" RASHI:
EVEN light non serious commandments
(5) Nu20-29b "& the WHOLE house of Israel cried on Aarons death"
RASHI: "the WHOLE" house---even women and children. Rashis
point is strengthened by aligning the following verses
Nu20-29b "& the WHOLE house of Israel cried on Aarons death"
Dt34-08 "& the children of Israel cried on Moses death"
*1 *2
NOTES:The 2 differences (WHOLE vs nothing and "house of Israel"
vs "children of Israel") suggest that MORE people mourned for
Aaron. Rashi simply suggests that since Moses was the "law"
while Aaron was the "priest" whose function was to reconcile
family and personal problems therefore the women and children
were affected by Aaron's death and mourned him. By contrast
Moses was a leader and his death affected the men and social
leaders of the community.
(6) "ALL" CAN INDICATE THAT THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS
----------------------------------------------
(6) Dt01-01a "These are the words that Moses spoke to ALL of
Israel (before his death)" RASHI: "ALL"--Moses insisted
that EVERYONE assemble to hear him (Because otherwise
those who weren't there would say 'Had I been there I
would have answered Moses back'--therefore Moses wanted
everybody to make sure he was serious)
(7) "ALL" CAN EMPHASIZE AND REFER TO MIXTURES
-----------------------------------------
Ex12-20b "ALL leaven you will not eat on Passover" RASHI:
"ALL Leaven" EVEN foods which are not primarily leaven but
have leaven mixed in
(8) "ALL" CAN EMPHASIZE EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES
---------------------------------------------
Ex38-22b "And Bzalel(the craftsman) did ALL that Moses
was commanded" RASHI: Bzalel did "ALL"---even when Moses
forgot to tell him something or told him a wrong order
Bzalel knew how to do everything as Moses commanded God*1
--------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES
-----
*1 The commentaries on Rashi are confused here trying to find
why Moses is suspected of commanding the wrong order (that Bzalel
knew how to correct). But Rashis main point is that Bzalel had
a tremendous intuition and could understand things without being
told. It is irrelevant to this point whether Moses actually ever
made a mistake which Bzalel corrected.
A reasonable explanation to "Moses mistake" is that in Ex25
the Temple Vessels are commanded to be created before Ex26
the creation of the actual House of God. By contrast when
Bzalel actually made them we find the Temple house made
first (Ex36-08:38) while the temple utensils are made second
(Ex37).
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VERSE: Gn18-22b
THE BIBLICAL TEXT ACCORDING TO RASHI
------------------------------------
Gn18-22b "And the Angels (which came to tell Abraham that he would
give birth to a son) left and they went to Sedom (where they had
orders to destroy it); but Abraham was still standing in a prophetic
vision before God. And in that Prophetic vision Abraham saw himself
asking God why He was destroying a whole city---couldn't the city
be spared if there were Righteous people in it...and God answered
him that indeed there were no righteous people"
IMPLICATIONS
------------
COMMENT: The above translation has important philosophical
implications: For the great dialogue between Abraham and God
"Why is God destroying a whole city" did not happen (as some
would take it) by a deeply religious Patriarch who questioned
God---rather the questioning happened in a vision in order
to instruct Abraham on Gods ways.
This interpretation is explicitly stated
"Gn18-19 For I will give Prophetic Knowledge to Abraham
in order that he will be able to instruct his household
to observe the ways of God"
Thus we have an explicit statement that the whole questioning
of the destruction of Sedom was not initiated by Abraham to doubt
Gods way but rather initiated by God in order to instruct Abraham
TRANSLATIONS
------------
Crucial to the above translation is the explanation that
>STANDING BEFORE GOD means STANDING IN PROPHETIC VISION
vision (cf Gn19-27,Dt29-14, Zech3-1). Some other examples where
STANDING BEFORE GOD=PROPHETIC VISION occurs in
VERSE TEXT
========== =======================================================
Gn19-27 & Abraham got up to the place where he STOOD BEFORE GOD
Dt29-09:14 You are all STANDING BEFORE GOD..to enter his convenant
Zech03-01 & in a vision I saw Joshua the Priest STANDING BEFORE GOD
This point (that STANDING=PROPHECY) is made by the MARZU commentary
on Genesis Rabbah.
VARIANT TEXTS IN RASHI (Technical discussion)
----------------------
The above is all clear. However some texts of Rashi read
"The Torah says "Abraham stood before God". But it
should read "God stood before Abraham". This verse is
in fact one of the 18 textual fixes made by the Prophet
Sages of the Great Assembly in which they OVERTURNED
the text"
Thus it appears that Rashi is saying that the "original Torah
text" said something else and Chazal 'fixed it'.
To answer this we note that
(1) The Yfah Toar explicitly states in Midrash Rabbah
"Most Rashis do not have this clause (that the text
was changed). It appears that this was put into Rashi
by some rash student"
(2nd) We have shown above that the text as is, reads fine
(3rd) The Michat Shai on Zecharia 2:12 brings down around 5
Rishonim that explicitly state that "the 18 textual fixes of
the men of the great assembly" were not CHANGES IN TEXT but
rather notations on 18 texts that LOOKED like they were saying
something else
In passing there is a marginal commentary called the MESORAH
which does exactly that...it lists verses which LOOK like they
have mistakes--the purpose of so doing is to avoid scribal error
(4th) Even if Rashi said "Which the sages OVERTURNED these texts"
it would STILL not mean they changed it. For the word OVERTURNED
means to INVESTIGATE (Cf the Ethics of the Father statement
"INVESTIGATE INVESTIGATE"). Thus these texts are simply texts
that were investigated.
5th) The suggested alternative phrase GOD STOOD does occur but is
always used when God is about to do something. It might be out of
place here since God and Abraham were having a dialogue and God
was not about to do anything(cf Nu14-14 , Ez03-23, Zech03-05,
1Chr21-15). This requires more investigation since there are not
that many verses with this phrase.
In summary it seems clear BASED ON BIBLICAL USAGE that the
original text was "And Abraham (prophetically) still stood
before God"
I acknowledge the Mail Jewish discussion group in general and
Chaiim Mateh in particular for encouraging me to answer this
question (cf Volume 32 Number 36)
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VERSE: v9-6-14b
Anonymous School Teacher
Thank you for the Rashi on Nu03-40:51 showing how arithmetic
calculations are useful in understanding the text and Rashis
I teach Yeshiva School kids and they are not motivated to learn
arithmetic and other such secular subjects. Rashis like this
could help me in motivating them.
Any help would be appreciated
Thank you
[Moderator: We will have a whole section soon on these
"spreadsheet" Rashis---I am glad they are being put to use]
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VERSE: v9-6-14c
From: "John D. Loike"
To:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hi Russel, I hope you are well. I did some research.
First of all, in Parsha Naso, Rashi explicitly states
that 5 commandments were written on one tablet and 5
on the other tablet. Second, I looked up the Midrash, the
reason that Rav Nechemia (?) states that all ten were written
on both tablets is from a classical limud found in Yuma and
other places that ever time a verse states SHnai .... and the
plural it is an additional word to signify two= equal. see Yuma
62 for several examples of this. So why does the torah states
Shnai for similar reasons. Third, The example of the deficient
Luchot differs from all your other examples in that in this word
two vuv are missing so that it comes to teach something more
significant.Maybe it comes to tell you that there will be two
sets of luchot and only one will remain intact...Nonetheless, the
question remains without a good solution. Finally, why are all our
luchot in shul shown with round tops. where did this begin? Keep
up the good work. John
[MODERATOR: I am keeping my new policy of publishing comments
even if I don't have time to answer them. Right now I am
involved in rewriting my whole website
The ROUND tops were developed to let rain water slope down so
that the tablets in shules should not be ruined. The original
lucoth were perfect cubes, 1 amah cubed (18' x 18' x 18']
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THE 2 DOZEN RASHI-IS-SIMPLE RASHI RULES
=======================================
I: RASHI gives MEANING
======================
A: WORD MEANINGS--(eg)"on the face of"=during the lifetime
(v2n6,v4-3-4), http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v4-3-4.htm
B: SPECIAL WORDS--(eg)ACH=USUALLY;USUALLY observe shabbath!
(v2n6, v4-1-49),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v4-1-49.htm
C: SYNONYMS--(eg)YShV=RESIDE; GARTI='INNED'--temporary say
(v1n1, v1-32-5), http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v1-32-5.htm
D: UNIFIED MEANING--(eg)Tz Ch K = (a) laugh, OR (b) mock
(v4n4, v1-21-9), http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v1-21-9.htm
E: NEW MEANINGS--(eg)HEAD-MOUTH of garment = HEM of Garment
(v5n10,v2a28-32),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v2a28-32.htm
II: RASHI teaches GRAMMAR/STYLE
===============================
F: CLASSICAL GRAMMAR--(eg)HEY+CHATAF PATACH=QUESTION
(v2n24,v1b3-11),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v1b3-11.htm
G: USAGE(NEW GRAMMAR)--(eg)INFINITIVE=GERUND;WATCHING laws;
(v2n10,v4-32-6),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v4-32-6.htm
H: ROOT+PREPOSITION--(eg) BCH AL=cries about,BCH ETH=mourn
(v1n14,v1a45-14),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v1a45-14.htm
I: SEMANTIC RULES--(eg) WAGES="ENDoF"="END oF Work Day';
(v1n10,v1b1-1),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v1b1-1.htm
J: STYLE--(eg)REPETITION denotes Endearment;'Abraham,Abraham
(v1n6,v2-1-1),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v2-1-1.htm
K: DOUBLE NOUNS--(eg)HIT HIT by sword ('even without sword')
(v2n20,v2a22-25),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v2a22-25.htm
L: PRONOUNS--(eg) sanctify OTHO = sanctify ONLY IT;
(v2n10,v4a7-1),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v4a7-1.htm
III: OVERALL TEXTUAL STRUCTURE
==============================
M: OTHER VERSES--(eg)STONE(3-25-13)=BALANCE STONES(3-19-36)
(v3n9,v5b25-13),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v5b25-13.htm
N: EXTRA SENTENCES--(eg)he'll dress his measurement=TAYLORED
(v1n20,v3a6-3),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v3a6-3.htm
O: DOUBLE PARSHAS-'he WILL pray'-'he WON'T pray';So Optional
(v3n12,v5a24-14),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v5a24-14.htm
P: CLIMAX-(eg 5-19-11)(a)Hate, (b)spy, (c)confront,(d)Murder
(v3n9,v5-19-11),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v5-19-11.htm
Q: OVERALL STRUCTURE-growing nails=despisement(from context)
(v3n8,v5-21-12),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v5-21-12.htm
IV: IMPLICATIONS & DERIVATIONS
==============================
R: STAGES-learn HUMAN marital frequency from ANIMAL ratios
(v1n14,v1a32-15),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v1a32-15.htm
S: MORAL LESSONS/REASONS-God spoke before punishment;we too
(v2n12,v4-12-9),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v4-12-9.htm
T: RabbiIshmael-(eg)When an OX gores; OR ANY animal gores;
(v2n19,v2-22-17),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v2-22-17.htm
V: OVERALL
=================
U: SYMBOLISM-'WASHING his clothes in wine'=PLENTY of wine;
(v4n18,v1a49-11),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v1a49-11.htm
V: PICTURES--(eg) The TZITZ was like a HELMET over a turban
(v5n12,v2-40-35),http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v2-40-35.htm
W: TABLES/SPREADSHEETS---To appear
End of Rashi-Is-Simple Digest
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