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VERSE: Lv28-08a
RASHIS COVERED: Lv28-08a Lv28-08b
========================= Lv28-08a ==========================
VERY BRIEF SUMMARY
-------------------
Most Rashi students are familiar with the Leibowitz-Boncheck
approach of seeing Rashi as focusing on Grammar, Meaning and
anomaly (THE QUESTION, THE THING THAT IS BOTHERING RASHI)
However in many verses nothing is bothering Rashi. Rather
Rashi focuses on style. Here, Rashi uses the Rabbi Ishmael
style rules. One fundamental style rule states that the
GENERAL-PARTICULAR-GENERAL style should be interpreted
broadly---the PARTICULAR is not exclusive but rather
a good example
EXAMPLE: Lv28-08
----------------
GENERAL Count 7 SABBATICAL YEARS
DETAILS --------------------------7 cycles of 7 years
GENERAL The 7 Sabbatical years=49
Rashi: So the DETAIL phrase---7 cycles of 7 years
is merely a good example. Ideally the Jubilee (50th
year) should come after 7, 7-year-Sabbatical periods,
in which all loans are forgiven, but if you violated
the loan-forgiveness, the Jubilee is still declared
in the 50th year.
In halachic lingo, loan forgiveness is PREFERRED
but not ESSENTIAL to Jubilee declaration.
============================================================
ITEM DETAIL
============================= ==============================
RASHI RULE CLASS RABBI ISHMAEL STYLE
RASHI SUBRULE CLASS GENERALIZED
RASHI WORKBOOK PRINCIPLE #25
SEE BELOW LIST410A
Examination of structure of Lv25-08
============================================================
========================= LIST410a ============================
We exhibit the GENERAL-DETAIL-GENERAL structure of
Lv26-08. This GENERAL-DETAIL-GENERAL structure is
a style principle and requires that the detail be
perceived as a GOOD EXAMPLE and therefore the
regulation applies to anything that is SIMILAR
to the detail. The footnotes illuminate further
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CATEGORY TEXT OF VERSE
============ ===============================================
GENERAL Count 7 Sabbatical years*1
DETAIL 7 cycles of 7 years *2
GENERAL 7 Sabbatical years=49 years*3 *10
NOTES
-----
*1 Every 7 years the calendar has a SHMITAH year. During
this period all loans are forgiven. See the following
verses for details
- Dt15-01:02
- Ex23-10:12
- Ex34-21
The Torah seems to call this 7th year the REMOVAL
year--however in Lv25-08 it is called the SABBATH
year making an analogy between the 7th year and
the 7th day.
*2 Rashis MAIN point is that the verse is talking about
a 49 year period consisting of 7 cycles of 7 years.
Very often Rashi extablishes a main point by
exaggeration
-------------------------------------
RASHI: Perhaps we could just forgive
debts 7 years in a row (instead of
7 cycles of 7 years) and then have
a Jubilee in the 50th year? Therefore
the text says: 7 Sabbatical year---49 years
-------------------------------------
It would be improper to think that Rashi really believed
that we could have 7 consecutive loan-forgiveness years.
Rather Rashi is using this example as an exaggeration---
he is showing how the absense of the DETAIL phrase
which explicitly states 49 years could cause us to
think otherwise.
Thus Rashis point is that the GENERAL idea of 7
Sabbatical-forgiveness years is DETAILED by a
requirement of 49 years. A person who understands
this understands Rashi without it being
necessary to consider the possible counterexample
of 7 consecutive forgiveness years.
*3 The GENERAL-DETAIL-GENERAL style requires generalization
of the DETAIL phrase---ANY 49 year period---even if
you violated the loan forgiveness requirement in the
7th years. *10
-------------------------- LONGER FOOTNOTES ---------------
*10 At a grammatical level Rashi could also be derived
from the famous rule that the pronoun TO YOU indicates
personal use. Hence when Lv25-08 states
---------------------------------------------
these 7 sabbaticals shall be TO YOU 49 years
---------------------------------------------
we infer that the 49 years works EVEN if
you used them FOR YOURSELVES and did not
forgive debts.
However the more mature way of reading Rashi
is to see him as inferring from the style of
the verse that ANY 49 year period works even
if the preferred loan forgiveness did not occur
See http://www.RashiYomi.com/ex18-27a.htm for
futher details.
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Volume 17 Number 18
#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 17 Number 18