#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
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| (C) RashiYomi Inc., Dr Hendel President |
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VERSE: Lv26-04a
RASHIS COVERED: Gn38-01a Dt10-01a Dt03-23b Dt04-14b
Nu22-04c Dt01-16b Dt10-08a Dt10-08b Lv26-04a
Dt11-14a
======================== Lv26-04a =============================
VERY BRIEF SUMMARY
------------------
This is a real peach of a Rashi. Anyone who wishes to know
- What is Rashi about?
- What were Rashis goals?
- How should we learn Rashi?
anyone wishing to know this should study this posting.
I shall explain everything clearly in a lucid manner. I shall
write it in the style of a chapter of Rambam so it will be
clear to everybody
POINT 1
--------
Know that Rashi lived on the border of two great Biblical
schools - The masorites and the commentators.
POINT 2
-------
Rashi came at the END of the period of the Masorites.
The MASORITES had as their goal the preservation of the
Biblical text. They did this by making lists and pointing
out anomalies. For example: the phrase GOD SPOKE TO MOSES
occurs 78 times in the Torah. The sister phrase GOD SPOKE
TO AARON only occurs twice. The masorites carefully commented
on such anoamalies. Otherwise a scribe thinking his predecessor
had errored would correct the phrase GOD SPOKE TO AARON into
GOD SPOKE TO MOSES. The masorites commented only thru lists--
they never explained deeper meaning and rarely gave rules
POINT 3
--------
Rashi also came at the BEGINNING of the BIBLICAL COMMENTATORS
These commentators attempted to glean moral principles from
the Biblical text. For example the commentators point out that
the Biblical chapter on the nazarite (who abstains from wine)
comes after the Biblical chapter on the Sotah (who is suspected
of committing adultery). The commentators explain that WINE
in excess leads to ADULTERY and conversely witnessing adultery
leads to fear and abstention from wine.
POINT 4
-------
As indicated Rashi lived between these two great schools. Rashi
saw his goal to harmonize the two schools. Rashi believed in
extracting moral lessons but only if they could be derived from
logical inferences from the text. Similarly Rashi believed that
the Biblical text could best be preserved by BOTH presenting
lists with anomalies as well as by explaining the WHY of the
anomalies. Hence Rashis commentary consists of moral inferences
consistent with the exceptions in Biblical lists.
POINT 5
-------
Here is a simple example. Rashi would NOT suffice with observing
that GOD SPOKE TO AARON vs GOD SPOKE TO MOSES occured only 2
times. Similarly Rashi would not suffice with a moral exhortation
that wine can facilitate adultery. Rather Rashi notes that
of the 2 times that it says GOD SPOKE TO AARON one of them occurs
in the prohibition of Priests drinking wine and serving in the
temple. This admonition comes right after Aarons 2 sons died:
Rashi EXPLAINS the oddity that GOD SPOKE TO AARON vs MOSES by
noting that Aarons 2 sons had probably gotten drunk and bragged
how they could offer incense like their father and because of this
disrespect they died. This point echoes the Midrash that they
were bachelors who were searching for identity. Thus the link
of drinking wine to impress women is there also.
POINT 6
-------
In short Rashi combines the use of LISTS WITH ODDITIES--the
tradition of the Masorites--with the use of MORAL EXHORTATION
- the tradition of the commentaries. This is Rashis unique
contribution and greatness.
POINT 7
-------
It follows that Rashis goals were to
- identify Biblical anomalies in lists
- explain these anomalies with moral and legal themes
POINT 8
-------
It follows that to properly learn and understand Rashi we must
- identify the list involved
- identify the cause of the anomalies in the list
POINT 9
-------
It immediately follows that a person who learns Rashi and
says RASHI HAD A TRADITION OF SUCH AND SUCH is only
addressing half of Rashi--namely the traditional aspect
of Rashi. But this person is totally ignoring the logical
part of Rashi and hence has not fully learned Rashi. In
fact to properly learn Rashi one must seek out Rashis lists
and explain EACH occurence in the list, whether or not
Rashi explained them or not.
POINT 10
--------
Todays example illustrates this point. The phrase AT THAT
TIME occurs only about 2 dozen times in the Bible. The phrase
AT THAT TIME signifies CAUSALITY If the Bible is discussing
EVENT A and then states: AT THAT TIME EVENT B HAPPENED then
the phrase AT THAT TIME signifies that event A CAUSED event
B. Indeed for this reason it says AT THAT TIME THE 2nd
ITEM HAPPENED--to signify that the 2nd item was CAUSED by
the 1st.
POINT 11
--------
How so? When it discusses (Dt10) the SIN and FORGIVENESS for
the golden calf and then says:-- AT THAT TIME God separated
out the tribe of Levi for Temple service---we infer that
Levis behavior during the Golden calf CAUSED the tribe of
Levi to be separated out for Temple service. .In fact
Levi abstained from worshipping the Golden calf and assisted
Moses in executing those who did worship.
POINT 12
--------
But of the 2 dozen verses with the phrase AT THAT TIME,
Rashi only explains about half of them. It is important
for the serious student of Rashi to attempt to explain
EACH and every occurence. By doing so the student practices
not only tradition but logic and learns the principle
that Rashi taught.
POINT 13
--------
This method of Rashi: Whereby Rashi explains only half the
occurences of some odd item and leaves the other half for
the student is called the WORKBOOK method. It resembles
the modern method of doing a few sample problems and
then letting the student practice the remaining problems.
The student thereby gains mastery of the principle
involved.
POINT 14
--------
Furthermore Rashi cleverly selects those verses he explains
so that nothing new or hard is left for the student. For
example there are 3 verses where AT THAT TIME refers not
to causality but rather to the BEST TIME TO DO SOMETHING
In fact the verses dont say AT THAT TIME but rather
IN THEIR TIME. The exact verse is that RAIN WILL COME
IN ITS TIME The phrase IN ITS TIME means
at the best time for rain to come (e.g. Friday nights
when everyone is home or nights in general when people
are asleep but not by day).
POINT 15
--------
The list below amply illustrates the Rashi WORKBOOK
principle. The serious student of Rashi should assiduously
study it -- both the verses he explains as well as the
verses he does not explain -- until the principle is
clear and engraved in his mind. This will lead to
the students enrichment of Rashi study.
- PRAISE BE HIM WHO CHOSE THEM AND THEIR LEARNING -
============================================================
ITEM DETAIL
============================= ==============================
RASHI RULE CLASS WORD MEANINGS
RASHI SUBRULE CLASS SPECIAL WORDS
RASHI WORKBOOK PRINCIPLE #9
----------------------------- -------------------
SEE BELOW LIST006a
List of verses with phrase AT THAT TIME*1
----------------------------- -------------------
SEE BELOW LIST006b
List of verses with phrase AT THAT TIME*1
----------------------------- -------------------
SEE BELOW LIST006c
List of verses with phrase AT THAT TIME*1
----------------------------- -------------------
SEE BELOW LIST006d
List of verses with phrase AT THAT TIME*1
----------------------------- -------------------
SEE BELOW LIST006e
List of verses with phrase AT THAT TIME*1
----------------------------- -------------------
SEE BELOW LIST006f
List of verses with phrase AT THAT TIME*1
----------------------------- -------------------
NOTES
-----
*1 The six lists illustrate different types of
causality. Eg PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSALITY, PROPERNESS
etc. See the introductions to the lists for details
============================================================
========================= LIST006a ============================
We list below the 18 or so verses with the phrase AT THAT
TIME*12 The basic idea is causal relationship.
Verses with a Rashi end with a LETTER. Verses without a
Rashi do not end in a letter (eg Gn38-01a vs Gn21-22).
This illustrates the Rashi workbook method. Rashi encourages
us to apply the principle of AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY to other
situations.
We have identified 6 themes in AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY
These are elaborated in the footnotes. The six themes are
indicated in the column with a # sign. This lists theme is
A - PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSATION (eg Judah advises brothers to
sell Joseph and then brothers throw Judah out of house
for his advice)
==================================================================
VERSE # BEFORE EVENT AT THAT TIME-AFTER WHY CAUSE
======== = =================== ==================== ==============
Gn38-01a A Selling of Joseph Judah left brothers He caused it*1
Gn21-22 A Ishmael archer*2 Avmlch seeks treaty Afraid of Isml
NOTES
-----
*1 Since Judah advised selling Joseph and Jacob was broken
up by Joseph missing it seems reasonable to see psychological
cause here--the brothers hated Judah for his advice to sell
Joseph and banished him
*2 No Rashi but the connection between the previous verse--that
Ishmael was a successful archery teacher and the present
verse--that Avimelech was afraid and wanted a peace treaty-
is an obvious connection. Here again we have psychological
causality
------------------------ LONGER FOOTNOTES -----------------------
*12 In previous postings we have outlined 4 methods
of connecting paragraphs (See our cp series on
the Rashi calendar
http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-1.htm thru
http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-9.htm
What we do in this posting is show how SPECIAL WORDS
(such as AT THAT TIME) can indicate which of the
4 methods is used
===================================================================
========================= LIST006b ============================
We list below the 18 or so verses with the phrase AT THAT
TIME*12 The basic idea is causal relationship.
Verses with a Rashi end with a LETTER. Verses without a
Rashi do not end in a letter (eg Gn38-01a vs Gn21-22).
This illustrates the Rashi workbook method. Rashi encourages
us to apply the principle of AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY to other
situations.
We have identified 6 themes in AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY
These are elaborated in the footnotes. The six themes are
indicated in the column with a # sign. This lists theme is
B - MORAL DESERVEDNESS--(eg God forgave sin; this set the
atmosphere to give the Jews the 10 commandments again)
==================================================================
VERSE # BEFORE EVENT AT THAT TIME-AFTER WHY CAUSE
======== = =================== ==================== ==============
Dt10-01a B God forgave sin*3 Renew 10 commandmnts Forgive causes
Dt03-23b B Moses wins war*4 Seeks forgive sin Forgive causes
Dt10-08a B After Golden Calf*5 Levites serve Temple No sin caused
Dt10-08b B After Golden Calf*5 Levites serve Temple No sin caused
NOTES
-----
*3 Forgiveness of sin is clearly a moral PREREQUISITE for
receiving the Torah (PREREQUISITE is a more precise word
than CAUSE)
*4 Moses thought that God enabling him to win a war against
Sichon showed that God favored Moses and would let him
go to Israel Here again we have the connection of
moral right and good favor
*5 Here again we see the moral-favor connection. The levites
did not worship the golden calf and killed those who did.
Hence they DESERVED to serve in the temple (DESERVED vs
CAUSED)*11
------------------------ LONGER FOOTNOTES -----------------------
*11 There are actually 2 Rashis here. The whole paragraph
talks about the Jews rebellion
- in the Golden calf
- in the spy incident.
The Levites did not participate in either of these.
Hence they merited to serve in the temple.
We have never shown how Rashi sees the spy incident
in this chapter. We will do so in another posting. The
purpose of this posting is to explain the term AT THAT
TIME
*12 In previous postings we have outlined 4 methods
of connecting paragraphs (See our cp series on
the Rashi calendar
http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-1.htm thru
http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-9.htm
What we do in this posting is show how SPECIAL WORDS
(such as AT THAT TIME) can indicate which of the
4 methods is used
===================================================================
========================= LIST006c ============================
We list below the 18 or so verses with the phrase AT THAT
TIME*12 The basic idea is causal relationship.
Verses with a Rashi end with a LETTER. Verses without a
Rashi do not end in a letter (eg Gn38-01a vs Gn21-22).
This illustrates the Rashi workbook method. Rashi encourages
us to apply the principle of AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY to other
situations.
We have identified 6 themes in AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY
These are elaborated in the footnotes. The six themes are
indicated in the column with a # sign. This lists theme is
C - PROPERNESS - eg when you appoint a Judge you SHOULD
immediately advise him of all his responsibilities
==================================================================
VERSE # BEFORE EVENT AT THAT TIME-AFTER WHY CAUSE
======== = =================== ==================== ==============
Dt01-16b C Appoint judges*6 Tell responsibilitis Position causes
Dt01-18 C Appoint Judges*6 People responsbility Position causes
Dt04-14b C Decalogue*7 Moses teach oral law Oral needed
NOTES
-----
*6 This illustrates not so much CAUSALITY but rather PROPERNESS
It is PROPER that when you appoint a judge that you
IMMEDIATELY tell him his responsiblities.
Similarly using the workbook method we see that when you
appoint judges you should tell the community to obey laws
and not overburden the judges (In fact Moses several
verses earlier explains that he could not bear the whole
nation himself)
*7 This again illustrates PROPERNESS. The written law(the
10 commandments) by itself is not sufficient to run
a society. One needs COMMENTARY and PRECEDENT--ORAL LAW
One already eg in Ex21 and Ex22 sees elaboration on
THOU SHALL NOT STEAL since all the laws of renters,
watchman and borrowers are there. Thus there is oral
commentary to the law in stone. This oral commentary
got written down in the Torah. But we see further
elaboration of Torahitic laws in the oral law.*13
------------------------ LONGER FOOTNOTES -----------------------
*12 In previous postings we have outlined 4 methods
of connecting paragraphs (See our cp series on
the Rashi calendar
http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-1.htm thru
http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-9.htm
What we do in this posting is show how SPECIAL WORDS
(such as AT THAT TIME) can indicate which of the
4 methods is used
*13 I think the best way to interpret Rashi is not
literally but broadly. Rashis point is that the
law in stone (the 10 commandments) needed ELABORATION
which we already see in the Torah.
But there are two types of elaboration
- the Torah elaborates on the 10 commandments
- the oral law elaborates on the Torah
===================================================================
========================= LIST006d ============================
We list below the 18 or so verses with the phrase AT THAT
TIME*12 The basic idea is causal relationship.
Verses with a Rashi end with a LETTER. Verses without a
Rashi do not end in a letter (eg Gn38-01a vs Gn21-22).
This illustrates the Rashi workbook method. Rashi encourages
us to apply the principle of AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY to other
situations.
We have identified 6 themes in AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY
These are elaborated in the footnotes. The six themes are
indicated in the column with a # sign. This lists theme is
D - CAUSED BY EMERGENCY - eg KING SICHON died and they had
no royal blood to replace him--so they appointed
someone from another country
==================================================================
VERSE # BEFORE EVENT AT THAT TIME-AFTER WHY CAUSE
======== = =================== ==================== ==============
Nu22-04c D Sichon just died*8 Balack was King Temp appoint
NOTES
-----
*8 Rashis point is subtle. Rashi could cite 4 verses
- Gn36-35 Moav and Midyan were military enemies
- Nu21-21:24 Moavs Royal family had been defeated
Yet we see that Moav asked its enemy,Midyan for help
- Nu22
The phrase AT THAT TIME implies a causal relation.
So Rashi suggests that BALAK was a Midyanite prince
who was temporarily appointed king (and hence he
had connections with them). They made an alliance
glued by anti-semitism.
In this case I would interpret Rashi broadly
vs literally.
Balak was EITHER a midyanite prince OR Balak
was a Moabite who had (business) connections
with the enemy Midyan. They appointed him king
in order for him to use his alliances to
bring help to their situation.
In this case the cause is inferred from the
phrase AT THAT TIME (rather then from something
in the verse). In other words we infer the Rashi
from the phrase without any extra support.
------------------------ LONGER FOOTNOTES -----------------------
*12 In previous postings we have outlined 4 methods
of connecting paragraphs (See our cp series on
the Rashi calendar
http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-1.htm thru
http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-9.htm
What we do in this posting is show how SPECIAL WORDS
(such as AT THAT TIME) can indicate which of the
4 methods is used
===================================================================
========================= LIST006e ============================
We list below the 18 or so verses with the phrase AT THAT
TIME*12 The basic idea is causal relationship.
Verses with a Rashi end with a LETTER. Verses without a
Rashi do not end in a letter (eg Gn38-01a vs Gn21-22).
This illustrates the Rashi workbook method. Rashi encourages
us to apply the principle of AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY to other
situations.
We have identified 6 themes in AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY
These are elaborated in the footnotes. The six themes are
indicated in the column with a # sign. This lists theme is
E - EXPLICITLY STATED - (Hence Rashi need not comment)
eg Moses tells Joshua YOU HAVE SEEN THE CONQUEST
OF THESE KINGS....GOD WILL SIMILARLY CONQUER OTHER
KINGS BEFORE YOU
==================================================================
VERSE # BEFORE EVENT AT THAT TIME-AFTER WHY CAUSE
======== = =================== ==================== ==============
Dt03-18 E God gave you land*9 Therefore fight Prior deal
Dt01-09 E Exodus-go-to-Israel Moses needs help*9 Prior explanation
Dt03-21 E Defeat of Sichon*9 Joshua leads He saw it*
Dt02-34 E God gives Sichon*9 War on Sichon Divine order
Dt03-04 E God gives Og*9 War on Og Divine order
Dt03-08 E God gives land*9 War on their land Divine order
Dt05-05 E Decalogue*9 Moses intermediary You afraid
NOTES
-----
*9 Rashi does not comment on the AT THAT TIME in these
verses because the causal link is stated explicitly
in the Bible.
eg. in Nu32 Moses complains to the Reuben-Menashe
tribes that if they dont fight for Israel then they
will behave like the spies and turn the hearts of
the Jews aside. Moses makes the same connection
(Reuben-menasheh get trans-jordan but must fight
for Israel) in Dt03-18
Similarly in Dt03-21 Moses tells Joshua YOU HAVE
PERSONALLY SEEN THE DEFEAT OF THESE KINGS AND
SIMILARLY GOD WILL DEFEAT OTHER KINGS FOR YOU
Such an emphasis in belief from seeing is
mentioned in several other verses such as
Dt04-03 or Dt11-07
Similarly several verses emphasize that the Jews
did not fight either people or land till God
commanded them
------------------------ LONGER FOOTNOTES -----------------------
*12 In previous postings we have outlined 4 methods
of connecting paragraphs (See our cp series on
the Rashi calendar
http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-1.htm thru
http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-9.htm
What we do in this posting is show how SPECIAL WORDS
(such as AT THAT TIME) can indicate which of the
4 methods is used
===================================================================
========================= LIST006f ============================
We list below the 18 or so verses with the phrase AT THAT
TIME*12 The basic idea is causal relationship.
Verses with a Rashi end with a LETTER. Verses without a
Rashi do not end in a letter (eg Gn38-01a vs Gn21-22).
This illustrates the Rashi workbook method. Rashi encourages
us to apply the principle of AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY to other
situations.
We have identified 6 themes in AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY
These are elaborated in the footnotes. The six themes are
indicated in the column with a # sign. This lists theme is
F - IN ITS TIME indicates the best time to do something
eg RAIN IN ITS TIME probably indicates the nights
==================================================================
VERSE # BEFORE EVENT AT THAT TIME-AFTER WHY CAUSE
======== = =================== ==================== ==============
Lv26-04a F Rain in ITS time at night*10
Dt11-14a F Rain in ITS time at night*10
Dt28-12 F Rain in ITS time at night*10
NOTES
-----
------------------------ LONGER FOOTNOTES -----------------------
*10 The phrase used here is IN ITS TIME vs AT THAT TIME
Rashi interprets the phrase IN ITS TIME as
- Friday nights (When people are home and not bothered
by rain)
- weekday nights (people are not at business)
I would go a step further. Notice how the two Rashis
give different interpretations (FRIDAY NIGHT vs WEEKDAY
NIGHT). This shows that Rashi was NOT particular about
which explanation he used. Rather Rashi emphasized the
basic idea that IN ITS TIME meant AT A GOOD TIME FOR
RAIN. One person may think this refers to Friday
night while another person may think this refers
to weekday nights. Both are OK explanations since they
both illustrate the main idea.
*12 In previous postings we have outlined 4 methods
of connecting paragraphs (See our cp series on
the Rashi calendar
http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-1.htm thru
http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-9.htm
What we do in this posting is show how SPECIAL WORDS
(such as AT THAT TIME) can indicate which of the
4 methods is used
===================================================================
---------------------------------------------------
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#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 17 Number 21