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VERSE: Nu17-21a
RASHIS COVERED: Nu17-21a Gn02-09b Ex24-18a Lv24-10c
Gn01-06b Nu35-34a Lv11-33a
============================ Nu17-21a ======================
SUCCINCT SUMMARY:
-----------------
One of Rashis 6 main goals is the explanation of words
similar to the way a dictionary explains words. When Rashi
explains words we say he is using the method of WORD
MEANINGS
Rashi had 10 vehicles by which to explain words. When Rashi
uses the SYNONYM submethod Rashi is not explaining the
meaning of words--indeed the meaning is already known--
rather Rashi is contrasting the nuances of a given word
to other words with almost similar meanings.
EXAMPLE: Beth vs Tauv-Vav-Caph
------------------------------
Both the
- Hebrew letter Beth and
- Hebrew word Tauv-Vav-Caph
mean IN. Tauv-Vav-Caph, however, means CENTRALLY IN.
This nuance helps explain the following Rashis
EXAMPLE Nu17-21a
----------------
The Biblical text states
--------------------------------
All the tribes gave branches;
Aarons branch was [CENTRALLY] AMONG the branches
--------------------------------
Rashi states
-----------------------------------
The word TWK means CENTRALLY AMONG
This heightens the miracle that only
Aarons branch sprouted; if Aaron's
branch was at the side then people
would say that the sprouting happened
BECAUSE it was on the side
-----------------------------------
EXAMPLE Gn02-09b
----------------
The Biblical text states
--------------------------------
There were many trees in the
garden; the tree of life
was [CENTRALLY] IN the garden
--------------------------------
Rashi states
-------------------------------
The tree of life was CENTRALLY
IN the garden.
-------------------------------
Rabbi Cooperman, with whom I spent Shabbos,
further explained the symbolic implications
of this Rashi: He said this in the name of
his father-in-law who cited the Chafetz Chaim
-------------------------------------------
The TREE OF LIFE refers to the TORAH.
The fact that the TORAH is CENTRALLY in
the Garden of Eden means it is equidistant
from all other trees. The symbolic meaning
of this is that no matter how you approach
Torah--from whatever TREE IN LIFE you are
at--you have an equal chance/distance/access
to get to the Torah
-------------------------------------------
EXAMPLE Ex24-18a
----------------
The Biblical text states
------------------------------------------
Moses went [CENTRALLY] INTO the cloud of God
------------------------------------------
Rashi states
------------------------------------------
TWK means CENTRALLY INTO THE MIDDLE. This
teaches that God had to make a path for
Moses to enter the center of the cloud
------------------------------------------
Again we can speculate on the symbolic
meaning that prophecy requires entering
the CENTER OF THE CLOUD
----------------------------------------
Prophecy is not about obvious matters;
God for example does not say that a tree
is a tree or that the sun will rise tomorrow;
Prophecy is about matters on which we need
guidance, matters about which we are confused.
Symbolically, prophecy happens from the CENTER
OF THE CLOUD
-----------------------------------------
EXAMPLE Lv24-10c
----------------
The Biblical text states
------------------------------------
...a person - the son of an
Egyptian - [CENTRALLY] IN the Jewish
people
------------------------------------
Rashi states
------------------------------------
TWK means CENTRALLY IN. This teaches
that the person had converted
------------------------------------
EXAMPLE Gn01-06b
-----------------
The Biblical Text states
---------------------------------
And God said: Let there be a
FIRMAMENT [CENTRALLY] IN the
water and let there be a division
between water and water
---------------------------------
Rashi
--------------------------------
TWK means CENTRALLY IN. This teaches
that the firmament is CENTRALLY
IN the water and hence the firmament
literally lies MID AIR and is held
by a miracle
--------------------------------
Again we can seek symbolic meaning
----------------------------------
- WATER refers to everyday emotions.
- HEAVEN refers to spiritual matters.
- EARTH refers to physical matters.
But the border between everyday chatter
that refers to physical vs spiritual
matters is very tenuous (it lies
MID AIR!!!). For physical people
continuously see physical nuances
in the most spiritual of speeches
while spiritual people can derive
moral lessons from physical everyday
chatter. Hence indeed, the FIRMAMENT,
the divider between the physical and
spiritual lies MID AIR and is tenuous.
-------------------------------------
EXAMPLE Nu35-34a
----------------
The Biblical text states
-----------------------------
Dont tolerate bloodshed because
I, God, am [CENTRALLY] dwelling
IN the land
-----------------------------
Rashi
-------------------------------
TWK means CENTRALLY IN--hence
since God cant dwell with murderers
[who deny the Divine Image in which
we are created] therefore we must
prosecute murderers so that God
can CENTRALLY DWELL among us
--------------------------------
EXAMPLE Lv11-33a
----------------
The Biblical text states
----------------------------
As for earthenware vessels:
If a dead animal falls CENTRALLY in it;
all that is CENTRALLY IN IT
will become ritually impure
----------------------------
Rashi states
----------------------------
This teaches that earthenware
vessels both
- receive ritual impurity
- transmit ritual impurity
from their AIRSPACE
----------------------------
In other words....the transmitting
or receiving object can both be
CENTRALLY IN the vessel without
touching it and this suffices to
effectuate ritual impurity.
=================================================================
ITEM DETAIL
======================= =========================================
RASHI RULE CLASS: WORD MEANINGS
RASHI SUBRULE CLASS SYNONYMS
RASHI WORKBOOK PRINCIPLE #7
SEE BELOW LIST955z
List of Synonym pairs-(eg TWK=CENTRALLY IN;B=IN)
---------------------- ---------------------------------------
SEE BELOW LIST955j
List of verses where TWK means CENTRALLY IN vs just IN
=================================================================
========================= LIST955j ===========================
List of verses where TWK means CENTRALLY IN vs just IN
==============================================================
VERSE TEXT OF VERSE-TWK translated as CENTRALLY IN NOTE
======== ================================================ ====
Nu17-21a Aarons branch was CENTRALLY AMONG other branches *1
Gn02-09b The Tree of life was CENTRALLY IN the garden *2
Ex24-18a Moses went CENTRALLY INTO the Divine cloud *3
Lv24-10c a person-son of an Egyptian-CENTRALLY AMONG Jews *4
Gn01-06b Let there be a firmament CENTRALLY IN the water *5
Nu35-34a I, God, CENTRALLY dwell AMONG you *6
Lv11-33a Animals CENTRALLY IN earthenware defile *7
NOTES
-----
*1
The Biblical text states
--------------------------------
All the tribes gave branches;
Aarons branch was [CENTRALLY] AMONG the branches
--------------------------------
Rashi states
-----------------------------------
The word TWK means CENTRALLY AMONG
This heightens the miracle that only
Aarons branch sprouted; if Aaron's
branch was at the side then people
would say that the miracle happened
BECAUSE it was on the side
-----------------------------------
*2
The Biblical text states
--------------------------------
There were many trees in the
garden; the tree of life
was [CENTRALLY] IN the garden
--------------------------------
Rashi states
-------------------------------
The tree of life was CENTRALLY
IN the garden.
-------------------------------
Rabbi Cooperman, with whom I spent Shabbos,
further explained the symbolic implications
of this Rashi: He said this in the name of
his father-in-law who cited the Chafetz Chaim
-------------------------------------------
The TREE OF LIFE refers to the TORAH.
The fact that the TORAH is CENTRALLY in
the Garden of Eden means it is equidistant
from all other trees. The symbolic meaning
of this is that no matter how you approach
Torah--from whatever TREE IN LIFE you are
at--you have an equal chance/distance/access
to get to the Torah
-------------------------------------------
*3
The Biblical text states
------------------------------------------
Moses went [CENTRALLY] INTO the cloud of God
------------------------------------------
Rashi states
------------------------------------------
TWK means CENTRALLY INTO THE MIDDLE. This
teaches that God had to make a path for
Moses to enter the center of the cloud
------------------------------------------
Again we can speculate on the symbolic
meaning that prophecy requires entering
the CENTER OF THE CLOUD
----------------------------------------
Prophecy is not about obvious matters;
God for example does not say that a tree
is a tree or that the sun will rise tomorrow;
Prophecy is about matters on which we need
guidance, matters about which we are confused.
Symbolically, prophecy happens from the CENTER
OF THE CLOUD
-----------------------------------------
*4
The Biblical text states
------------------------------------
...a person - the son of an
Egyptian - [CENTRALLY] IN the Jewish
people
------------------------------------
Rashi states
------------------------------------
TWK means CENTRALLY IN. This teaches
that the person had converted
------------------------------------
*5
The Biblical Text states
---------------------------------
And God said: Let there be a
FIRMAMENT [CENTRALLY] IN the
water and let there be a division
between water and water
---------------------------------
Rashi
--------------------------------
TWK means CENTRALLY IN. This teaches
that the firmament is CENTRALLY
IN the water and hence the firmament
literally lies MID AIR and is held
by a miracle
--------------------------------
Again we can seek symbolic meaning
----------------------------------
- WATER refers to everyday emotions.
- HEAVEN refers to spiritual matters.
- EARTH refers to physical matters.
But the border between everyday chatter
that refers to physical vs spiritual
matters is very tenuous (it lies
MID AIR!!!). For physical people
continuously see physical nuances
in the most spiritual of speeches
while spiritual people can derive
moral lessons from physical everyday
chatter. Hence indeed, the FIRMAMENT,
the divider between the physical and
spiritual lies MID AIR and is tenuous.
-------------------------------------
*6
The Biblical text states
-----------------------------
Dont tolerate bloodshed because
I, God, am [CENTRALLY] dwelling
IN the land
-----------------------------
Rashi
-------------------------------
TWK means CENTRALLY IN--hence
since God cant dwell with murderers
[who deny the Divine Image in which
we are created] therefore we must
prosecute murderers so that God
can CENTRALLY DWELL among us
--------------------------------
*7
The Biblical text states
----------------------------
As for earthenware vessels:
If a dead animal falls CENTRALLY in it;
all that is CENTRALLY IN IT
will become ritually impure
----------------------------
Rashi states
----------------------------
This teaches that earthenware
vessels both
- receive ritual impurity
- transmit ritual impurity
from their AIRSPACE
----------------------------
In other words....the transmitting
or receiving object can both be
CENTRALLY IN the vessel without
touching it and this suffice to
effectuate ritual impurity.
============================================================
========================= LIST955z =====================
List of Synonym pairs-(eg D$A=MEADOW; &SA=Grass)
LIST955z continues LIST955a
========================================================
VERSE WORD BASIC IDEA NUANCES
======== ====== ========== =============================
Nu17-21a TWK In Centrally in *7
- - - - Beth In In
------- ----- ------ ----------------------
Gn01-11a D$A FIELD MEADOW*6
- - - - &SW FIELD GRASS*6
------- ----- ------ ----------------------
Dt28-68a ANIH BOAT Both words mean boat *5
- - - - SFINH BOAT Both words mean boat *5
------- ----- ------ ----------------------
Dt18-03c Z-R-A HAND/THROW ZRA=arm; ZRA=to scatter
-------- Y-D-H HAND/THROW YD=hand; YDH=to throw
------- ----- ------ ----------------------
Dt13-06a S-R-H FABRICATE it is REMOVED from reality*4
-------- B-D-A FABRICATE it is ISOLATED from reality
------- ----- ------ ----------------------
Dt05-17b A-V-H DESIRE*3 desire in ONES HEART-FANTASIZ
Ex20-17 X-M-D DESIRE*3 COVET-desire ACQUISITION
------- ----- ------ ----------------------
Dt11-25c P-X-D FEAR IMMEDIATE Fear-Good pimples*1
Dt11-25d M-R-H FEAR ANXIETY-LONG TERM Fear-vision
------- ----- ------ ----------------------
Dt11-14c I-R-H RAIN*2 FIRST rain-IMPREGNATES ground
Dt11-14d MLK$ RAIN*2 FINAL rain-SOFTENS Ground
------- ----- ------ ----------------------
NOTES
-----
*1 Also Rashi Dt11-25b. It seems reasonable that
- P-Ch-D comes from Poh-Chad - SHARP and would refer to
e.g. getting GOOSE PIMPLES (Sharpnesses in skin) from
fear
- MoRaH comes from Y-R-A = vision = LONG TERM
apprehension over the future.*10
*2 - YOREH seems to comes from HRH to make pregnant. It
would look at the rain as ENABLING the seeds to grow
- MALKOSH seesm to come from LKSH - TO THE HARD(KSH)
GRAIN and would refer to a final softening rain
before the produce. See LIST910i *11
*3 It is hard to absolutely prove that
- A-V-H means FANTASIZE vs
- Ch-M-D means DESIRE ACQUISITION
The verses show that
- A-V-H is an act of the HEART while
- Ch-M-D is focused on ACQUIRING OBJECTS
See LIST955h for further details
(Also see Rashi Gn27-15a Gn03-06c Gn03-06d)
*4 On Dt19-16a Rashi gives an example of REMOVED/FABRICATED
Testimony--when eg witnesses testify to a murder in NY
and other witnesses come stating that the 1st witnesses
were with them in Chicago at the time of witnessing--thus
the murder testimony is totally removed from the real word
*5 Undoubtedly there is probably a subtle difference between
ANIH/SFINH but it is not possible to determine this from
verses. An interesting statistical note is the following
- SFINH occurs ONCE in the Bible
- ANIH occurs 3 dozen times in the Bible
- But in Biblical times the frequencies were reversed
Hence, Rashi, in explaining the more frequently occurring
ANIH was responding to the rarity of this word IN HIS TIME
*6 - GRASS can refer to MANY or SINGULAR grass
- MEADOW only refers to a WHOLE MEADOW of GRASS
*7 TWK verses Beth (CENTRALLY IN vs IN)
explains several Rashis:
Nu17-21a Gn02-09b Ex24-1a Lv24-10c
Gn01-06b Nu35-34a See LIST955j
--------------------- LONGER FOOTNOTES ----------------
*10 The reader need NOT believe the above etymologies
For frequently Rashi explains synonyms without
reference to etymologies and even without reference
to verses. However some of the above etymologies seem
reasonable and may enrich our appreciation of the
synonyms.
*11 Rashi gives another etymology from the Aramaic.
However in this list we advocate the 2nd explanation
of Rashi over the 1st. Furthermore in this
particular case the 2nd explanation comes internally
from Hebrew while the 1st Rashi explanation INFERS
usage from Aramaic but does not EXPLAIN it.
========================================================
---------------------------------------------------
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Volume 24 Number 6
#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 24 Number 6