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(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 2000
Volume 7 Number 6
Produced Aug 16 2000
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Verses/Topics Discussed in This Issue with quicky explanations
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WEEKLY PARSHAH SERIES CONTINUED
-------------------------------
MY MOST FREQUENT QUESTION: "Dr Hendel Why can't you stick to
the Parshah. Why do you jump all
over the place. Read this posting
for an answer
Dt03-23b 18 times in the Bible the phrase "AT THAT TIME" occurs.
6 Rashis point to 4 uses of this phrase. This Rashi
also affords a wonderful opportunity to see in action
Rashi's workbook methods.
MY OLDEST RASHI QUESTION---FROM 1971
Dt09-04a Fond memories from 1971. A 7th grader at Maimonidees
High school in Boston wanted to know why Rashi
blatantly contradicted grammar on Dt09-04a. Read
below for an answer (If anyone out there knows where
this 7th grader is today please give her a copy and
get her in contact with Rashi is Simple)
WEEKLY PARSHAH SERIES CONTINUED
Rashis covered in this issue
----------------------------
VERSE RULE BRIEF EXPLANATION
======== ============== =================
Dt09-04a EXTRA SENTENCE Rashi explains a 3-fold repetition
Dt09-05a EXTRA SENTENCE Rashi explains a 3-fold repetition
Dt03-23b DOUBLE PARSHAS The phrase AT THAT TIME has 4 meanings
Gn38-01a DOUBLE PARSHAS The phrase AT THAT TIME has 4 meanings
Nu22-04c DOUBLE PARSHAS The phrase AT THAT TIME has 4 meanings
Dt01-09b DOUBLE PARSHAS The phrase AT THAT TIME has 4 meanings
Dt03-12a DOUBLE PARSHAS The phrase AT THAT TIME has 4 meanings
Dt10-08b DOUBLE PARSHAS The phrase AT THAT TIME has 4 meanings
--------------------------------------------------------------
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#
RASHI IS SIMPLE
GOALS: To grammatically defend all 8000 Rashis on Chumash.
METHOD:Rashis are defended with LISTS of comparable cases
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Laymen, Academicians, Yeshiva world
COMMENTS,QUESTIONS: EMail to address below
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:If you want to ask anonymously please ask
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JOURNAL REFERECE: Pshat & Drash,TRADITION, Win 1980,R Hendel
NOTATION: eg Gn01-02a refers to Rashi "a" on Genesis 1:2
SPECIALS:...on Parshah,Rambam,Ramban,Pedagogy,Symbolism
RASHI-IS-SIMPLE RULES Complete set of rules on bottom
EMAIL: RJHendel@Juno.Com, rashi-is-simple@shamash.org,
WEB: http://www.RashiYomi.Com/
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: Dt03-23b
RULE: The phrase "AT THAT TIME" is used in 4 ways
---It indicates that the previous event enabled APPRECIATION
---"AT THAT TIME" indicates a TEMPORARY situation
---It indicates CONTRAST (THEN vs BEFORE)
---It indicates that the previous event CAUSED something
COMMENT:
-------
Before presenting examples we note 4 items
* Here are statistics on the phrase AT THAT TIME
--the phrase AT THAT TIME occurs many times (18 verses)
--rashi occurs less times (6 Rashis)
--all particular cases are covered(4 cases) by Rashi
--We can then apply these 4 reasons to all 18 verses.
* Notice how our approach does NOT suffice with explaining 1
verse and 1 Rashi. Rather we must explain ALL 18 times that
the phrase AT THAT TIME occurs. Otherwise we have not
understood the Rashi
* The examples are presented in WORKBOOK form--these fill-ins
are ideal for any home or class schooling situation Ideally
a teacher could teach the GENERAL RULE and indicate one
or two examples. The other examples would then be filled
in or explained by the student with appropriate hints
in the form of supportive verses. This module could be
comfortably used for a month of lessons.
* The traditional "Dr Leibowitz" approach to Chumash would ask
for an identification of "Rashis problem". In this verse
the problem seems to be "Why the extra phrase" in the verse
"And I supplicated to God AT THAT TIME".
By contrast our approach is database oriented. The issue is
that the phrase AT THAT TIME occurs 18 times in the Bible
and is used in 4 specific ways. There is nothing bothersome
about the phrase; we are only commenting on its meaning
EXAMPLES:
--------
METHOD 1: ENABLING APPRECIATION
-------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------
In the following verses the phrase AT THAT TIME
indicates that a previous event ENABLED APPRECIATION
of a present event (There are no Rashis but there
are explicit indications in verses)
------------------------------------------------------
1) Dt04-14 After the 10 commandments, AT THAT TIME,
God commanded me to teach you laws
NOTE: It explicitly says in Ex20-17 that
"God revealed Himself to you IN ORDER THAT HIS FEAR
be on you" So the revelation of the Decalogue
ENABLED you to APPRECIATE the laws afterwards
2) Dt03-21 and I commanded Joshua AT THAT TIME, you
have seen how God conquered these 2 kings:
So will God conquer the Canaanite kings
AGAIN: The previous conquest ENABLED APPRECIATION
of the future conquests
3) Gn21-22 AND AT THAT TIME (After God had punished Avimelech
for trying to abduct Sarah (Gn20)) Avimelech came
to make a peace treaty with Abraham and said "We
see that God is with you"
AGAIN: The previous punishments by God ENABLED APPRECIATION
of Gods providence over Abraham
METHOD 2: AT THAT TIME=TEMPORARY SITUATION
------------------------------------------------------
In the following verses the phrase AT THAT TIME
indicates that the event was TEMPORARY
------------------------------------------------------
4) Dt05-05 AT THAT TIME I stood between you and God to
give you the 10 commandments
NOTE: It explicitly says in Dt06 that the Jews did not
want any further prophetic revelations because of
their frightening nature---rather the Jews returned
to their home life while Moses received prophecies.
So the phrase AT THAT TIME indicates something
temporary
5) Nu22-04c And BALAK ..was King of Moab AT THAT TIME
RASHI: "AT THAT TIME" he was king; it was a temporary
appointment
METHOD 3: AT THAT TIME indicates CONTRAST
------------------------------------------------------
In the following verses the phrase AT THAT TIME
indicates a contrast to the previous situation
------------------------------------------------------
6) Dt09-20 "And I also prayed for Aaron AT THAT TIME
concerning his sin of making the Golden calf"
THE CONTRAST: Even though Aaron had made the idol
nevertheless I prayed for him(Ex32-02:06)
7) Dt03-18 "And I commanded you(Reubenites) AT THAT TIME
(after Moses had given them the lands of Og
and Sichon (Dt03-12:15)) 'You must now help
the Jews conquer Israel'
THE CONTRAST: The Reubenites had just received the
land that the Jews conquered; NOW (At
THIS TIME) it was their turn to help
the remainder of the Jews conquer
Israel)
8) Dt02-34
9) Dt03-04
10)Dt03-08
11)Dt03-12a And we conquered the lands AT THAT TIME
THE CONTRAST: Dt02-31 states "And God said (to Moses)
SEE I ***begin*** to give you Sichons land"
It further states in Dt03-02 "You will do to
him(OG) the way you did to SICHON"
Thus I would think that only BEGINNING CONQUEST
(eg protection) was given. Instead the 4
verses state that "The Jews conquered EVERYTHING
AT THAT TIME" (In other words, God had only
promised an initial conquest but the Jews
deserved and received all)
12) Dt01-16b
13) Dt01-18 And I commanded your (newly appointed) Judges
AT THAT TIME (at the time of appointment)
"Be slow in judgement; Don't be afraid of
powerful people; treat poor and rich equally.."
THE CONTRAST: An ordinary layman has the right in his
personal business deals to "be afraid of powerful people"
or to "treat the poor and rich differently. "
However (Rashi) once you become judges you must treat
all people equally and not be afraid of any power
METHOD 4: AT THAT TIME indicates CAUSATION
------------------------------------------
14) Gn38-01a AND AT THAT TIME (After Judah advised selling
Joseph) Judah left his brothers and got involved
with heathen merchants
CAUSATION: The brothers blaimed the Joseph tradegy on Judah
since he had advised selling Joseph. Thus the
sale of Joseph (Gn37) CAUSED Judah's downfall
15) Dt03-26a (After the conquest of Sichon and OG) AT THAT TIME
I (Moses) prayed to God (for permission to enter
Israel)
CAUSATION: Moses had been punished (with Non entry into
Israel) because he had lacked deep faith in
God (Explicitly said in Nu20-12). However in
Dt03-02 God requested Moses "Don't be afraid
of these mighty powers"; thus after Moses had
conquered them Moses thought that since he
had shown faith, God had forgiven him and
therefore he could go into Israel.
16) Dt01-09b (After Moses relates how the Jews increased in
number alot Moses says) "And I said AT THAT TIME
how can I bear the sole responsibility of
judging you."
CAUSATION: The simple interpretation of this verse is
explicitly stated in Ex18-13:26---Moses could
not adjudicate all cases BECAUSE there were
so many people. Therefore Moses had to delegate
authority.(Rashi adds to this explanation a
reason why it is bad for one person to judge
every case---the possibility of Judicial error
increases and then the Judge is punished for
the error).
We close with 2 nifty cases
17) Dt10-01 After Moses had prayed that God forgive the Jewish
people for making the Golden calf AT THAT TIME
God commanded Moses to make replacement tablets
for the tablets he broke.
CAUSATION: Can you guess the connection between "Moses
praying for the Jewish people" (end of Dt09)
and God allowing him to make two other tablets.
18) Dt10-08b After relating the sins of the Golden calf and
the sin of complaints of no water at Mosayrah
AT THAT TIME, God separated out the tribe of
Levi to serve God
CAUSATION: BECAUSE Levi did not sin in the Golden calf
(Ex32-26) and BECAUSE Levi did not sin in the
complaints about water, therefore they deserved
to be picked by God for temple service.
As Rashi cleverly notes, we knew from an explicit
verse that the Levites did not sin with the
Golden calf but we have no explicit statement that
they did not sin by the complaints with water.
However the phrase AT THAT TIME shows us they
did not sin at in either case.
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: Dt09-04a
RASHIS EXPLAINED: Dt09-04a Dt09-05a
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: This is my oldest Rashi is Simple question.
It was asked by a 7th grade girl in Maimonidees
in 1971.
We will need 2 rules to understand these verses
RULE:
-----
The Hebrew word KI has 6 possible meanings.
These are listed in http://www.RashiYomi.Com/gn41-49a.htm:
-BECAUSE
-EXCEPT
-THAT
-IF
-RATHER
-QUESTION
In a compound sentence KI can very often mean RATHER to
contrast the 2 parts of the sentence
EXAMPLES
--------
(1) KI can mean BECAUSE as in Gn18-15
She denied laughing BECAUSE she was afraid
(2) KI can mean EXCEPT as in Gn31-16a
He ate our possessions EXCEPT what God left us
(3) KI can mean RATHER as in Gn18-15
And they said, No! Rather we'll stay on street *1
(4) KI can mean IF as in Ex34-09a
IF the Jews are stiff necked then forgive them
(5) KI can mean THAT as in Gn43-07d
Did we know THAT he would ask us to bring him *2
(6) KI can indicate a QUESTION as in Gn29-15a
Is being a relative an excuse to charge you nothing
NOTES
-----
*0 Note that all 6 are based on Rashis ..thus this expands
on the traditional notion that there are 4 meanings to KI.
Actually KI can denote any CONNECTIVE of 2 parts of a sentence
*1 RATHER & EXCEPT can be perceived as similar concepts
*2 IF and THAT are similar (in Hebrew) but not in English
RULE:
-----
There are 3 types of reasons
--CAUSATIVE
--CONTRIBUTIVE
--HELPING/ACCELERATING (or CATALYST)
APPLICATION: Dt07-04:06 repeat the same thing 3 times: "God did
not give Jews Israel because of Jewish righteousness"
Thus (as is explicitly stated) the Torah rejects
Jewish Righteousness as EITHER
a) a cause for conquest of Israel
b) a contributing factor or
c) even a helping/accelerating factor.
Here are the details.
EXAMPLE Why did God give us Israel?
-------
1) CAUSATIVE: (Suggested Reason)
BECAUSE "We Jews are Righteous:"
But the Torah rejects this reason (Dt07-04)
"Dont say 'Because I am righteous' (*1)
RATHER SAY 'Because the inhabitants were wicked"
2) CONTRIBUTORY: (A 2nd suggested reason)
BECAUSE "We Jews are Righteous" AND
"The inhabitants are wicked"
In other words two things were needed to
allow us to conquer the land:
But the Torah rejects Jewish Righteousness
as EITHER a cause or contributory reason(Dt07-05
"Your righteousness wasn't a (contributing)cause
RATHER
The cause was 'the inhabitants wickedness'
AND (A CONTRIBUTING CAUSE WAS)
'The promise of gift God made to the Patriarchs
*2
3) ACCELERATING: Perhaps then the REASON God gave us the land
was because of 'the inhabitants wickedness'
and 'the promise God made to the Patriarchs';
but nevertheless 'Our righteousness helped
accelerate the conquest of the land'
The Torah rejects Jewish Righteousness as an
accelerating factor (Dt07-06)
"Your righteousness couldn't have been a
reason since you are a stiff necked nation"
NOTES
-----
*1 So in this sentence the Hebrew work KI means RATHER
*2 Notice how we apply the Rashi of Dt07-04 to Dt07-05.Why?
Dt07-04 states "Do not say 'My righteousness caused conquest'
when in fact it is because of'their wickedness'
that God is sending them away from YOU."
Rashi states on this verse "Don't say 'My righteousness'
and 'their wickedness' caused this.
In other words Rashi, IF HE WAS COMMENTING only on this verse,
is reading it as follows
"Do not say 'My righteousness enabled conquest AND ALSO
the wickedness of these nations enabled MY conquest'"
The trouble with this reading of Rashi is that it violates
grammar--For the sentence does not read
"Because of their wickedness God
is sending them away from ME"
But rather
"Because of their wickedness God is
sending them away from YOU".
Thus the last clause is not part of the thought:
'Because of MY righteousness and their wickedness
God is sending them away from ME'
but rather a contrast:
Don't say "Because of MY righteousness God
is bringing me here" RATHER
"their wickedness is why God is sending
them away from YOU"
In other words the phrases ME vs YOU implies that
the 3 verses state as follows
Dt07-04 Don't say MY RIGHTEOUSNESS, rather THEIR WICKEDNESS
Dt07-05 Don't say (THEIR WICKEDNESS AND) MY RIGHTEOUSNESS
rather THEIR WICKEDNESS and PROMISE TO PATRIARCHS
Dt07-06 Your righteousness couldn't have helped at all
in conquest of land because you are stiff necked
and not righteous
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
THE 2 DOZEN RASHI-IS-SIMPLE RASHI RULES
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/rules.htm
=======================================
I: RASHI gives MEANING
======================
A: NEW MEANINGS--(eg)"on the face of"=during the lifetime
Volume 2 Number 9, http://www.rashiyomi.Com/Nu04-04a.htm
B: SPECIAL WORDS--(eg)ACH=USUALLY;USUALLY observe shabbath!
Rashi Yomi Summaries,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Ach-6.htm
C: SYNONYMS--(eg)AMR=to speak; DBR=to cite or to quote;
Volume 2 Number 1, http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Lv20-02a.htm
D: WORD MEANINGS-Thermos(TzNTzNTh)=doubly(TZN TZN) Cold(TZN)
Volume 1 Number 9,23,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Ex31-15a.htm
E: UNIFIED MEANINGS-PAAM=Repeated action:To Ring,Hammer,Step
Volume 1 Number 3,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Gn41-08a.htm
II: RASHI teaches GRAMMAR/STYLE
===============================
F: CLASSICAL GRAMMAR--(eg)QUESTION = HEY+CHATAF PATACH
Volume 3 Number 22,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Gn04-09z.htm
G: USAGE(NEW GRAMMAR)--(eg)INFINITIVE="be involved in";
Volume 5 Number 24,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Ex13-03a.htm
H: ROOT+PREPOSITION--(eg)ChZK B="to hold";ChZK M="overpower"
Volume 1 Number 7,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Ex04-04a.htm
I: THE SENTENCE--2 verses can make 1 sentence-eg Dt02-16:17
Volume 3 Number 7,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Dt19-06a.htm
J: STYLE--REPETITION denotes Endearment;eg 'Jacob Jacob'
Volume 1 Number 12,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Gn46-02a.htm
K: DOUBLE NOUNS--(eg)"GIVE GIVE";if not CHARITY then LOAN
Double Noun page, http://www.RashiYomi.Com/DN.htm
L: PRONOUNS-(eg)IMCHAH=with you; ITCHAH=Accompanying you;
Volume 3 Number 13,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Ex22-24c.htm
III: OVERALL TEXTUAL STRUCTURE
==============================
M: OTHER VERSES--Aaron SAW(Ex32-05)...the brawl(Ex32-18)
OTHER VERSE page, http://www.RashiYomi.Com/ov.htm
N: EXTRA SENTENCES-eg[GIVE HIM][WHAT HE NEEDS](Not if rich)
Volume 2 Number 20,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Dt15-08c.htm
O: DOUBLE PARSHAS-'he WILL pray'-'he WON'T pray';So Optional
Volume 3 Number 12,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Dt24-14a.htm
P: CLIMAX-(eg Dt19-11)(a)Hate, (b)spy, (c)confront,(d)Murder
Climax Page, http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Climax.htm
Q: OVERALL STRUCTURE-growing nails=despisement(from context)
Volume 3 Number 8,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Dt21-11a.htm
R: SPREADSHEETS-What is the marriage loophole in inheritance
Volume 2 Number 23,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Nu36-03a.htm
IV: BEYOND THE TEXT
===================
S: MORAL LESSONS/REASONS-God explains BEFORE punishing;
Volume 2 Number 12,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Nu12-09a.htm
T: RabbiIshmael-(eg)"When an OX gores";(Or ANY animal gores)
Volume 4 Number 21,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Dt25-04a.htm
End of Rashi-Is-Simple Digest
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*