The 10 RashiYomi Rules 
Their presence in Rashis on Parshat VaYaQHayL
Vol 1#3 - Adapted from Rashi-is-Simple 
Visit The RashiYomi Website: http://www.RashiYomi.Com/
(c) RashiYomi Incorporated, Dr Hendel President, Feb. 27, 2005
English translations of the Bible come mostly from the Davka translation with changes made by me

1. RASHI METHOD: OTHER VERSES     
This example applies to Rashis Ex32-11a Ex32-11b Ex32-11c Ex32-14a
URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/ex32-11a.htm

The other verse method seeks to confirm the contents of a target verse by cross referencing other verses which either confirm the target text or add details to it.

Ex32-10:14 states And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the Lord has commanded; The tabernacle, its tent, and its covering, its clasps, and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets, The ark, and its poles, with the covering, and the veil of the screen, The table, and its poles, and all its utensils, and the bread of display. The lampstand also for the light, and its furniture, and its lamps, with the oil for the light. Rashi, quite simply, cross-references each temple item constructed by citing the verse with the original order to Moses to construct that item. We shall illustrate this cross-referencing of other verses using the three underlined items above---tabernacle, tent, the tent covering.  Ex26-14 states And you shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering above of goats’ skins; consequently, Ex26-14 illuminates the underlined phrase and its covering in Ex32-10:14. Similarly the Biblical paragraph beginning with Ex26-07 which states, And you shall make curtains of goats’ hair to be a tent upon the tabernacle; eleven curtains shall you make illuminates or cross-references the underlined term tent in Ex32-10:14. Similarly the biblical paragraph beginning Ex26-01 which states,  And you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet; with kerubim of skillful work shall you make them, illuminates the term tabernacle which is used in Ex32-10:14. The reader is invited as an exercise to look up the other items whose production is mentioned in Ex32-10:14 and attempt to find the corresponding other verses in Ex25 thru Ex27 which presents the divine order to produce them.

2. RASHI METHOD: WORD MEANINGS / 8 methods of naming  
This example applies to Rashis  Ex35-05a Ex36-05a Ex35-18a Ex39-28a 
URL reference:(c) http://www.RashiYomi.com/ex39-28a.htm

The word meaning method seeks to present dictionary meaning. Rashi uses 10 vehicles to infer word meaning. Rashi frequently identifies the meaning of a word by items related to that word. Secular scholars call this the principle of metonymy. For example the English phrase, my blood boiled when I heard about it indicates anger since anger is frequently related to faster heart beat and increased body temperature. Hence anger can be named by heat which is related to it.  We apply this metonymy rule to Ex35-05a which states Take you from among you an offering to the Lord; whoever is of a donating heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and bronze. Rashi explains the phrase donating heart as illustrating metonymy. The phrase donating heart simply means that he made a donation. Rashi paraphrased explains ...because donations are given in a calmer manner than sales or forced taxes therefore the Bible uses the phrase donating heart.[That is the calmer heart activity is related to the act of donation and hence the act of donation can be named by the heart which reflects it]. The reader is invited as an exercise to review the other Rashis cited above which also illustrate metonymy.

3. RASHI METHOD: GRAMMAR / conjugation
This example applies to Rashis  Ex35-04a
URL reference:(c) http://www.RashiYomi.com/lv01-01f.htm

The grammar method seeks to teach and apply Hebrew grammar. A major portion of Hebrew grammar is the conjugation of verbs. It is well known that Hebrew has 7 grammatical modes and 4 tenses for the Hebrew roots. We apply this theory to the phrase to say, the infinitive of the verb to speak, which throughout the Bible is attached to the end of verses: For example, Ex35-04 states And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the people of Israel, to say: This is the thing which the Lord commanded, to say. Rashi comments on the repeated use of the infinitive to say:  God gave me this prophecy for the purpose to say and relate it to you, and for you to say and spread the word to others. The ultimate purpose of these prophecies is to enable you to volunteer to the Temple.

5. RASHI METHOD: CONTRADICTION  / 2 aspects 
This example applies to Rashis Ex37-01a
URL reference: (c) http://www.RashiYomi.com/ex37-01a.htm

The contradiction method, made explicit in Rabbi Ishmael's 13 exegetical principles, seeks to infer biblical content by resolving contradictory biblical verses. Rashi used 4 methods to resolve contradiction. The following 4 sets of verses show a  contradiction in who made the Temple and its items.

•	Ex36-01:03 Then, Bezalel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all kinds of work for the service of the sanctuary, did according to all that the Lord had commanded. And Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, every one whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do it; And they received of Moses all the offering, which the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary, And they still brought to him free offerings every morning.
•	Ex37-01:02  And Bezalel made the ark of shittim wood; two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height; And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a rim of gold around it.
•	Ex36-08 And every wise hearted man among them that did the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet; with kerubim of skillful work made he them
•	Ex36-10 And he [i.e. one person] coupled the five curtains one to another; and the other five curtains he coupled one to another.

As the underlined words show some verses attribute artisanship to every wise hearted man in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding while other verses attribute the artisanship to Bezalel and Aholiab or just to Bezalel. Rashi paraphrased explains: Since Bezalel devoted his entire being to managing and integrating all parts of the temple construction; therefore their construction is given under his name [even though others participated]. Rashi's principle here corresponds to the well known concept that the manager takes credit for what his staff does.

6. RASHI METHOD: STYLE
This example applies to Rashis  Ex35-03a
URL reference:(c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/ex35-03a.htm

The Rabbi Ishmael Style rules are usually thought of as applying to technical legal matters. However in a broader sense they apply to paragraph styles. The fundamental focus of the Rabbi Ishmael style rules is to precisely delineate the relationship between paragraph themes and development details: Are the details examples of a general theme, or, do the details exhaust the paragraph theme? In other words should the examples and details be interpreted literally and exclusively or should they be interpreted broadly and generally? Still another way of looking at style is that it answers the question: How should the paragraph theme and details / examples be integrated? The biblical pargraph, Ex35-01:03 nicely illustrates the issues in the style rules.

•	Introduction: And Moses gathered all the congregation of the people of Israel together, and said to them, These are the words which the Lord has commanded, that you should do them.
•	General Principle / Theme: Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord; whoever does work in it shall be put to death.
•	Detail / Example: You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day.

Rashi, citing conflicting Talmudic opinions explores the relationship between the general prohibition of doing any work and the particular example, the prohibition of lighting fire.  Rashi cites two opinions on how to treat this general-example relationship. Rashi does not even come to a conclusion! This is characteristic of Rashi's on style---inferences on style are less mechanical then grammatical or dictionary inferences. 

Here are the two approaches to this paragraph:

#1: The example illustrates the unit of prohibition of the general rule: In other words the general principle prohibits doing work which conceivably could refer to complete projects such as building a house. The example sheds light on the general principle by clearly indicating that doing only one component of the process, for example, lighting a fire during the act of building, carries a death penalty (even though the entire building has not been completed)

#2: The example is an exception and extreme: That is, Rashi reads the verses as follows:
•	Don't do any work on the Sabbath; if you violate this law there is a death penalty
•	Don't even light a fire on the Sabbath (even though lighting a fire does not carry a death penalty but is simply prohibited)
In other words Rashi infers from the general-detail form that the example, lighting a fire, is an extreme case of prohibited work and that no death penalty is involved.

Since Rashi does not come to a conclusion the emphasis in learning these Rashis should be to develop one's acuity in perceiving style.

8. RASHI METHOD: DATABASES
This example applies to Rashis  Ex35-34a
URL reference:(c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/ex35-34a.htm

The database method seeks to discover biblical ideas using the methods of modern database theory and sequential query language (SQL). The Talmudic sages and Rashi were totally familiar and frequently used all aspects of modern database theory. In today's example we make the query: Does God select people based on form--such as seniority and lineage--or merit. The examples uncovered by the query clearly show that God selects by merit even if it contradicts seniority and lineage (Rashi: Ex35-34a).

The following verses / situations illustrate this: (#1) God selected Moses over Aaron his older brother (Ex04-10:16), (#2) David was chosen for kingship over his other 7 older brothers (1S16-07:12), (#3) Jacob was selected to continue the partriarchy over Esauv his older brother (Gn27), (#4) Saul was selected for King even though his lineage was from a non-prominent tribe, the tribe of Benjamin (1S09-21), (#5) Aholiab was chosen as the 2nd in command in temple construction even though he did not come from the distinguished tribe of Judah, which produced the chief craftsman, Bezalel (Ex35-34a).

These query examples show an underlying pattern of selection by merit over seniority and lineage. This is an important point on how God manages the world.

Conclusion

This weeks parshah does not contain examples of the alignment, bullet, symbolism and  spreadsheet methods. This concludes this weeks edition. Visit the RashiYomi website at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/ for further details and examples.