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Surfing the Talmudic Seas
(C) RashiYomi Incorporated, 2000
Written by Dr Russell Jay Hendel
Volume 8 Number 6
Produced Nov 17, 2000
WARNING: USE FIX WIDTH FONTS (eg COURIER (NEW) 10)
Verses/Topics Discussed in This Issue with quicky explanations
THE GOLDEN RAMBAM RASHI SERIES
==============================
This unit will have its second installment next week
We are delaying it to give some items from this weeks
Parshah
WEEKLY PARSHAH SERIES
=====================
Gn19-31a Rashi reviews aspects of >how IT happens<
Gn18-05a Rashi explains several Hebrew idioms
Several of these Rashis use the {LIST} method
adopted in this email group
Rashis covered in this issue
----------------------------
VERSE RULE BRIEF EXPLANATION
===== ==== =================
Gn19-31a EXAMPLE9 Torah DEVELOPS an idea in several stages
Gn19-31b EXAMPLE9 Torah DEVELOPS an idea in several stages
Gn19-33a EXAMPLE9 Torah DEVELOPS an idea in several stages
Gn19-33b EXAMPLE9 Torah DEVELOPS an idea in several stages
Gn18-37a EXAMPLE9 Torah DEVELOPS an idea in several stages
Gn19-36a DOUBLE PARSHAS >She conceived< is a whole verse
Gn18-05a NEW MEANINGS >EAT YOUR HEARTS CONTENT<=>Have a meal<
Gn18-05b GRAMMAR Rashi indicates grammatical function
Gn18-05c NEW MEANINGS Rashi explains a complex 3 word phrase
Gn18-05d NEW MEANINGS Rashi explains a complex 3 word phrase
--------------------------------------------------------------
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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/
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VERSE: Gn19-31a
RASHIS COVERED: Gn19-31a Gn19-31b Gn19-33a Gn19-33b Gn18-37a
OVERVIEW:
========
Recall that Lot escaped from Sedom and Amorah. He and his two
daughters were in a cave. The daughters seduced Lot. Rashi
uses this opportunity to show the teleology of sin--how does
IT happen and what goes into it. Rashi uses the method of
>CLIMAX<. According to this method, the Bible sometimes develops
an idea in several stages over several verses.
In the sequel the phrase >the elder< refers to the >the elder
of Lots 2 daughters< while >the younger< refers to >the younger
of Lots 2 daughters<
{LIST}
According to Rashi sin takes place in 4-5 stages
================================================
WHICH STAGE WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS STAGE
=========== ==========================
In stage 1 One discovers >VULNERABILITY< in men(eg He is old)
In stage 2 One >EXAGGERATES FEARS(Paranoia)<(eg no men left)
In stage 3 One >uses ACCIDENTS< (eg look at the wine we found)
In stage 4 One treats a person like a >SEX OBJECT<(eg seduce)
Let us see these 4 stages in the incest of Lot.
{LIST}
Rashi uses this opportunity to show the teleology of sin--
how does IT happen and what goes into it.
================================================================
STAGE TEXT OF VERSE SHOWING STAGE IN SEDUCTION
============= ==================================================
Vulnerability And the elder said to the younger,Father is old*1
Paranoia and there are no men left in the world*2
Accidents*3 (they found some wine)--let us give wine to father
Sex-Objects She (the elder) >seduced< him *4
NOTES
=====
*1 Notice how Rashi connects the >VULNERABILITY< stage with
the >PARANOIA< stage. Rashi says
>He is old(vulnerability) and if we dont do it NOW then
we wont have another opportunity(Paranoia)<
*2 >There are no men left in the world<. This is >paranoia<
Paranoia consists of taking a legitimate fear and
>EXAGGERATING< it.
*3 If one carefully reads Rashi, the Sifsay Chachamim and the
Midrash Rabbah on which this is based one gets the
erroneous impression that there is controversy on the
daughters intention.
According to one view there was so much drinking
at this time of history that people
had to hide the wine in caves---that is where the girls
found the wine.
According to another opinion the Midrash alludes to the
great amount of wine there will be in the Messianic era
In other words the girls had >pure< intent--they wanted
to populate the world and even though they committed
incest they did have good intentions.
But there is no CONTROVERSY here. Rather Rashi is describing
sin psychology. Surely we all know that no one just goes out
and sins (After all it doesn't look right). Rather every sin
has some type of >justification and rationalization<
Also every sin utilizes accidents.
So we now understand the 2 opinions in the Midrash--they
are complementary. On the one hand everyone was drinking
wine,and THEREFORE, by accident, in the cave they were in
they found wine that had been hidden there. As is the
case with all sinners they saw this as an act of God that
would help them. On the other hand they didn't just go
and sin. Rather they said they were sinning to >populate
the word<. Like many sins, this one also had its ugliness
painted and mixed with some good intentions.
*4 Rashi uses the method of double parshas. His inferences
are justified by the two {LISTS} below
{END OF THIS LIST}
{LIST}
Rashi compares two verses to show that the elder >Seduced<
his father and treated him like a sex object
------------------------------------------------------------
Gn19-31 And the elder slept OF her father
Gn19-34 I(the elder) slept OF my father yesterday
Gn19-34 You(younger) sleep WITH him tonight
Gn19-35 The younger slept WiTH him
*a *b
------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES
=====
*a,b So we see that the >ELDER< slept >OF< her father
while the >YOUNGER< slept >WITH< her father
Throughout the Bible >SLEEPING OF< vs >SLEEPING WITH<
is used to denote >Treating a person like a sex object<
vs >having an affair<
In the case of women, treating a person like a sex
object refers to seducing the man(without his
participation)
{END OF THIS LIST}
{LIST}
Rashi further amplifies on the difference between the older and
younger daughter by showing how their respective nations were
treated later on. The attached LIST shows how the two daughters
differed in
-their sexual overtures(the older treated him like an object)
-their naming of their children(the baby was called FromDaddy)
-our obligations to them(dont harass vs dont harass war)
================================================================
WHICH DAUGHTER WHAT TOPIC LANGUAGE OF BIBLE VERSE
============== ============ =================== =======
Older sex treated like object Gn19-31
Younger sex*1 had an affair Gn19-35
Older Name of baby Named him FROMDADDY Gn19-37
Younger Name of baby Named him WITHME*2 Gn19-38
Older Relationship dont provoke war Dt02-09
Younger Relationship dont provoke *3 Dt02-19
NOTES
=====
*1 As indicated in a previous LIST the verses says
>Slept OF him< vs >Slept WITH him< denoting treating like
an object vs having an affair
*2 Thus the older daughter openly bragged in her name on what
happened--she called him >FromDaddy< while the younger
daughter called him >WithMe<(more discrete)
*3 Rashi of course is commenting on the difference between
Dt02-09 and Dt02-19: >dont provoke WAR< vs >dont provoke<
Thus the younger daughter was more protected: >dont provoke<
means >dont provoke AT ALL< (while with the older daughter
we were only prohibited in >dont provoke to WAR<
{END OF THIS LIST}
COMMENTS:
========
We have left to explain the cryptic statement in Rashi about
the >dots< in the written scrolls of the Torah, on the
word >When she got up<. Gn19-33 states that the elder slept
with her father but >lot did not know when she slept and
GOT UP<. The capped words >GOT UP< have >DOTS< over them in
the Torah.
These dots of course are only hints. There are only a few
places in the Bible where they occur. A parenthetical remark
in Rashi states that he >did know when she got up<. But this
directly contradicts the explicit verse. Surely the dots
cannot contradict what is already there (These parenthetical
remarks were not written by Rashi but inserted their by
a printer at a later date)
Rather I would suggest (as is the custom with drunkedness and
affairs) that the >dots< refer to a >hazy awareness<---the
type of groggy awareness which happens when you are just
getting out of it. So the verse says >he was stone drunk
when she slept with him but he was just COMING OUT OF IT
when she got up (and nevertheless he slept with the younger
one the next night)<
We plan to gather all the >dot verses< in one posting in
the future and show a unified treatment of them. For the
moment it suffices to concentrate on the above lists to
give us the simple meaning of the text.
RULE USED: EXAMPLE9
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VERSE: Gn19-36a
The verse states >And the two daughters of Lot conceived
from their father<
RASHI in his commentary starts giving a biology lecture on
how most women do not conceive from a first affair but
these girls did.
{LIST}
Rashi was developing the idea that this is the only time
in the Bible where a WHOLE verse is devoted to mentioning
>CONCEIVING<. Usually the Bible says >IN ONE VERSE< >She
CONCEIVED and Gave Birth<. Since this is the only verse
where it mentions conceiving by itself Rashi saw in this
an emphasis on the fact that they conceived. Here is a list
of verses mentioning conceiving *1
==========================================================
VERSE WHO GAVE BIRTH TEXT
======= ============== ====
Gn04-01 Eve She conceived and gave birth
Gn21-02 Sarah She conceived and gave birth
Gn29-32 Leah She conceived and gave birth
Gn30-07 Bilhah She conceived and gave birth
1S1-20 Chana She conceived and gave birth
Gn19-36 Lots daughter She conceived from her father
NOTES
=====
Actually there are 3 other verses (out of about 30) where
it only says SHE CONCEIVED. They are as follows
-Gn16-04 & As soon as Sarah saw that Hagar conceived she
made fun of her
Thus the reason why it says CONCEIVED vs CONCEIVED
AND GAVE BIRTH is obvious
-Gn25-21 And Isaac prayed for her and she finally conceived
Thus the reason why it says CONCEIVED vs CONCEIVED
AND GAVE BIRTH is obvious
-1Ch4-17 And SHE conceived to him ....
-1Ch4-18 But his JEWISH WIFE gave BIRTH to ....
The Radack on 1Ch4-18 interprets the verse as shown
According to Radack the first wife was non jewish
(Pharohs) daughter.
Thus by the Jewish wife it uses the term BIRTH while
by the non jewish wife it uses the term CONCEIVED
The implied insult is clear.
RASHI RULE USED: DOUBLE PARSHAS
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VERSE: Gn18-05a
The Hebrew word >SAAD< means to >MAKE WELL FOUNDED<
The Hebrew word >LAYV< means >HEART<
The combined phrase >SAAD LAYV< creates an idiom with
a new meaning >EAT A MEAL<. This is justified by the
following LIST almost all of whose verses are brought
by Rashi
{LIST} Verses where the phrase >Make a well founded heart<
means >Eat a good meal< *1
===========================================================
VERSE TEXT
===== ====
Gn18-05 I will take >BREAD< & you will >WELL FOUND YOUR HEARTS<
Ps104-15 & >BREAD< will >MAKE A MANS HEART WELL FOUNDED<
Jud19-05 And >MAKE YOUR HEART WELL FOUNDED< on >BREAD<
NOTES
=====
*1 In olden times meals were traditionally associated with
>bread< which occurs in all these verses(That is why
we make a blessing over bread before every meal) In
passing there is a nutritionaly foundation for this
practice: Bread, because it is made with yeast, is a
food that is rich in ALL B vitamins. The B vitamins
are water soluble and hence are easily lost from the
body. For this reason they must be replenished
frequently. The reason people feel >icky< when they
haven't eaten bread for a while is because the B
vitamins are missing. The Talmud (Bracoth) in fact
notes that in the Messianic era we might break meals
over specially made bears (which are also rich in B
vitamins because of the fermentation process)
However the word >Make well founded< by itself can denote
having a meal EVEN if the word bread does not occur. eg
1King13-07 >And come to my house and WELL FOUND YOURSELF<
Statistically the Hebrew root
->Samech-Ayin-Dalet< only occurs 12 times in the Bible.
It means >have a bread meal< 3 times (25%)
It means >have a meal< 4 times (33%)
RASHI RULE USED: NEW MEANINGS
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VERSE: Gn18-05c
RASHIS COVERED: Gn18-05c Gn18-05d
The following Hebrew words have the following meanings
-KI BECAUSE, SINCE
-AL ON
-CAYN YES
{LIST}
The Hebrew phrase >KI AL CAYN< creates an idiom meaning
>BECAUSE<. The phrase only occurs 6 times in the BIble.
It is used when the CAUSALITY is social. Thus if you
honor someone >BECAUSE< of something they did you would
use this phrase. Similarly if you prohibit something
>BEcAUSE< of something they did you would use this phrase
===========================================================
VERSE TEXT OF VERSE WITH A PHRASE MEANING BECAUSE
======= =============================================
Gn18-05 Let me honor you with a meal SINCE you are my guests
Gn19-08 Please dont molest them SINCE they are my guests
Gn33-10 Please take my gift BECAUSE you appear like an angel
Nu10-31 Please stay BECAUSE we honor you with being our guide
Gn38-26 Please dont punish her BECAUSE it is my fault
Nu14-43 Please dont war BECAUSE you are sinners & wont succeed
{END OF THIS LIST}
RASHI RULE USED: NEW MEANINGS
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VERSE: Gn18-05b
RASHI simply indicates the grammatical function of
the various phrases. Rashi interprets
-I will take bread
-and you will have a meal
-afterwards you can go
-because I wish to honor you since you are my guests
This Rashi is completely straightforward. As the
Rashi commentary, Sifsay chachamim points out, the
word >AFTERWARDS< could also function like the word
>AFTER<. Thus an initial attempt to read this verse
could result in the following >INCORRECT< interpretation
-I will take bread
-and you will have a meal AFTER you go-
So Rashi simply indicated that the verse should be
translated as TWO sentences vs ONE sentence. Such
commentaries, where the commentary tells us to read
a verse as TWO sentences vs ONE sentence are very
common in the books of Psalms, Proverbs and Job
This technique of interpreting as an EXTRA SENTENCE
can be very powerful.
RASHI RULE USED: GRAMMAR
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THE 2 DOZEN RASHI-IS-SIMPLE RASHI RULES
=======================================
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
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