The 10 RashiYomi Rules
Their presence in Rashis on Parshat Pinechas
Vol 3#10
- Adapted from Rashi-is-Simple
Visit the RashiYomi website: http://www.Rashiyomi.com/
(c) RashiYomi Incorporated, Dr. Hendel President, Jul 13, 2006.
English translations of the Bible come from www.Davka.Com with minor emendations by me.

The goal of this Weekly Rashi Digest is to use the weekly Torah portion to expose students at all levels to the ten major methods of commentary used by Rashi. It is hoped that continual weekly exposure to these ten major methods will enable students of all levels to acquire a familiarity and facility with the major exegetical methods.

1. RASHI METHOD: OTHER VERSES
BRIEF EXPLANATION: Rashi explains one verse by citing an other verse
This examples applies to Rashis Nu27-21b
URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/nu27-21b.htm

Nu27-15:21b states And Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, Who may go out before them, and who may go in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; ... ...And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him according to the judgment of Urim before the Lord; at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the people of Israel with him, all the congregation.

    Rashi seeks to both
  • identify the precise meaning of the underlined phrases go out and go in as well as
  • explain the bolded phrase who shall ask counsel for him according to the judgement of Urim.

    Rashi accomplishes both these tasks by obtaining further details from other verses. In fact there are several other verses that explicitly show that the advice of God was sought prior to military operations-- going out to war and going in to war-- this advice was sought thru a variety of means including the Priesthood who used the Urim and Tumim to receive communication from God. We present three such verses:
  • 1S28-05:06 And when Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
  • Ju20-27:28 states And the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days, And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days, saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the sons of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the Lord said, Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.
  • 1S30-07:08 states And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I beg you, bring me here the ephod. And Abiathar brought there the ephod to David. And David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue; for you shall surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

    Note the technicality that the last citation from 1S30-07:08, speaks about seeking advice from the Ephod not from the Urim and Tumim. However the Bible explicitly identifies
  • the Ephod as holding
  • the Breastplate which in turn held the
  • the Urim and Tumim.

This connection between the Ephon, Breastplate and Urim is explicitly identified in Ex28-06:30 which states And they shall make the ephod of gold, .... And you shall make the breastplate of judgment with skilful work; after the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold,... And you shall make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.... And they shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, .... And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment, the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the Lord; ...

This other verse example was slightly more complicated than the typical Rashi using other verses. First, Rashi identified the meaning of several phrases vs. one. Second, the citations needed other citations to back them up. Thirdly the other verses also shed light on several idiomatic phrases such as stand before the priest, or the Urim & Tumim judgement.

Thus this example appears complicated. But at the heart of it all Rashi did was to clarify the meaning of one verse using citations from other verses which provided further details. This is the essence of the other verse method.

2. RASHI METHOD: WORD MEANING
BRIEF EXPLANATION: Rashi uses 10 methods to explain the dictionary meaning of words
This examples applies to Rashis Nu26-02a
URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/nu26-02a.htm

One of Rashi's 10 major methods is the word meaning method. One word meaning sub-method is the idiom sub-method. An idiom is a phrase, a collection of words, which together have a meaning which transcends the sum of the meanings of its component words.

Nu26-02a states Take a patrilineal census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward--those eligible for the military. Rashi states The literal Hebrew words used take..census...according to their father's household is an idiom meaning patrilinearly.

Noticed how we have amended the Davka English translation to directly incorporate the underlined idiom patrilineal. Such translation emendations are the best approach by which to learn (or teach) Rashis using the idiom method.

3. RASHI METHOD: GRAMMAR
BRIEF EXPLANATION:Rashi explains verses using principles of verb conjugation and grammar.
This examples applies to Rashis Nu26-01a
URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/nu26-01a.htm

The Rashi grammar rule covers a wide variety of topics. Most people are familiar with the root conjugation subrules. Rashi also had rules governing the sentence. Today we examine the Rashi rule governing paragraph/sentence connections.

Rashi had 3 methods by which to connect consecutive sentences or paragraphs: The two consecutive sentences could indicate cause, effect, or unifying theme.

    Nu25-01 - Nu26-02 states
  • And Israel stayed in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab..... And Israel attached himself to Baal-Peor; and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.... And those who died in the plague were twenty four thousand. ....
  • And it came to pass after the plague, that the Lord spoke to Moses ...Take a census of all the congregation

As the underlined words and it came to pass after the plague clearly indicate the Bible connects the two paragraphs dealing with the plague and the census. Rashi applies the cause method of paragraph development to this connection: It is analogous to the reaction of a shepard after wolves have attacked his flock: The shepard would count his flock to see how many remained and how many were lost. While the shepard analogy is not intrinsic to the Biblical text and has a distinct emotional flavor, the point of Rashi has an underlying logical motif: The plague was the cause of the census. The census indicates an act of caring by God.

Rashi could have stopped with the above since it fully explains the connection between the two paragraphs. Rashi however adds further supplemental explanation: A further point: There was a census when Moses left Egypt. Consequently when Moses completed his 40 year stay in the wilderness he had to perform another census.

Most scholars would dismiss this second comment of Rashi as unnecessary. However in reality Rashi was making two comments on two distinct aspects of the verse. By way of background we should indicate that the Bible uses spacing to indicate paragraphs. The Bible knew of two paragraph methods: The tab space and the space to the end of the line. Both these spaces indicate paragraph delineation. Occasionally a Biblical paragraph starts in the middle of a verse. Nu26-01 is an example of a paragraph starting in the middle of a verse.

    Nu25-01 - Nu26-02
  • should read as follows
    • Sentence version: Harlotry with moabites... God sent plague
    • After the plague God ordered a census
  • But instead Nu25-01 - Nu26-02 actually reads as follows with a paragraph break in the middle of a sentence!
    • Paragraph version: Harlotry with moabites...God sent plague---after the plague
    • God ordered a census
    • Moses completes his career, the giving of the law and gives his farewell address

    The two Rashi comments address the reason for paragraph consecutiveness in the two versions.
  • Sentence version: The plague was the cause of God counting the Jews. God wanted to see how many of his flock remained.
  • Paragraph version: The census was part of the completion of the giving of the law and Moses' farewell speech---Moses started his career with a counted people and counted them at the end to show he had remained faithful.

The technique we have introduced above is fundamental to understanding Rashi. Very often when Rashi presents two comments he is in fact addressing two stylistic points in the verse. A student who only notices one point may therefore err and not fully understand the second point.

In Nu27-02 Rashi explains the relationship of the census to the plague that preceded it as well as the relationship of the census to the farewell speech that followed it. The plague caused a census to show God's endearment to his people. Similarly Moses' completion of his career caused Moses to do a census to affirm his faithfullness in leadership. In both cases Rashi explains the reason for paragraph connectedness. However the different paragraph sequences require two separate explanations.

4. RASHI METHOD: ALIGNMENT
BRIEF EXPLANATION: Rashi examines minor differences in almost identical verses.
This examples applies to Rashis Nu28-07a Nu28-07c
URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/nu28-05a.htm

Background: Many Temple offerings required libations to accompany them. The libation consisted of a plant offering of flour,oil and wine in specified measures. The Bible in fact has a libation chapter where it spells the specifications out. However the Bible reviews these specifications when it discusses specific offerings. The original libation chapter and the review provide an opportunity for alignment.

    Notice the alignment indicated by the underlined phrases in the following verses, both speaking about the libation requirement.
  • Nu15-04:05 states Then shall he who offers his offering to the Lord bring
    • a meal offering of a tenth measure of flour
    • mixed with the fourth part of an hin of oil.
    • And the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering ...
  • The review of the identical libation at Nu28-05:07 states
    • And a tenth part of an ephah of flour for a meal offering,
    • mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil.
    • And the drink offering of it shall be the fourth part of a hin for one lamb; in the holy place shall you pour the intoxicating-wine to the Lord for a drink offering.

    Based on the above alignment Rashi makes two comments
  • The underlined phrase drink offering in the third bullet of Nu28-05:07 refers to the wine libation mentioned in the corresponding third bullet of Nu15-04:05.
  • Notice that the third bullet in Nu15-04:05 speaks about wine while the corresponding third bullet in Nu28-05:07 speaks about intoxicating wine. Hence the Rashi comment For the purposes of the libation either wine or intoxicating wine can be used but not wine off the press which has very little fermentation.

There are many other inferences that can be made from the minor differences in the aligned phrases. Some of these inferences are made by Rashi while others occur in technical parts of Jewish law but are not cited by Rashi. As we have indicated several times, a full understanding of Rashi requires consistent application of the Rashi method to all parts of the verse.

5. RASHI METHOD: CONTRADICTION
BRIEF EXPLANATION:Rashi resolves contradictory verses using 3 methods.
This examples applies to Rashis Nu27-21b
URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/nu27-21b.htm

    Note the contradiction indicated by the underlined phrases in the following verse discussing seeking advice from God prior to war: Nu27-21b states And he [the king] shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall
  • ask counsel for him according to the judgment of Urim before the Lord;
  • at his word shall they go out, [to war]

    We see the contradiction. Which is it? Does the advice of God come
  • from the Urim and Tumim or
  • from [the word of] Eliezer the Priest.

    Rashi resolves this contradiction using the 2 stages method of resolution. Advice from God prior to military activity is decided by
  • First, seeking advice thru the Urim and Tumim
  • Second, seeking the Priest's [Eliezer] interpretation of this advice--his word.

Perhaps some elaboration would help: The Urim and Tumim had the names of the 12 tribes written with gems and stones. All letters of the Hebrew alphabet were present. When a priest asked a question of God the letters spelling his answer lit up on the Urim. Consequently he might only receive a 1 or 2 word answer to his inquiry. This is consistent with the Jewish conception of Prophecy that Moses had a verbal relationship with God while other prophets had an image relationship with God. Clearly a one or two word response has the same level of detail as an image and differs from a full verbal response.

This raises the question of how to proceed after the priest delivers the one-two word response from God! Does the King or legislature have the right to interpret the response? Or is the interpretation of the response delegated to the inquiring priest? Rashi answers the latter. That is, the priest both delivers the message as well as interprets it. Hence Nu27-21 states that (a) the inquiry will be made of the Urim and (b) that the Priest will give his word [that is interpretation] on the Urim response.

Note that our interpretation of Rashi has also shed light on the referent of the pronoun his. The verse begins He [the King] shall stand before Eliezer and ask him ....by his word they will go to war... Thus the underlined word his could equally refer to either of the antecedents: the King or Eliezer. Our interpretation shows that it refers to Eliezer and also shows why we interpret it this way.

7. RASHI METHOD: FORMATTING
BRIEF EXPLANATION:Inferences from Biblical formatting: --bold,italics--and paragraph structure.
This examples applies to Rashis Nu27-21c Nu27-21d
URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/nu27-21c.htm

In my article, Biblical Formatting to be published in the Jewish Bible Quarterly at the end of this year or the beginning of next year I point out that any time a modern author would use bullets the Biblical Author used repeating keywords. In other words, repeating keywords is the method used by the Bible to indicate a bullet like effect. The bullet like effect in turn creates a contrastive emphasis on the bulleted items.

Biblical bulleting is frequently indicated by repeating keywords. Sometimes however the Bible will use parallel grammatical structure. Today we see such an example: The Bible lists three grammatical subjects to a sentence.

    Nu27-21c states And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him according to the judgment of Urim before the Lord; at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in,
  • both he,
  • and all the people of Israel with him,
  • and all the congregation.

  • Rashi commenting on the underlined phrases in the three bulleted items, states
  • he refers to the leader
  • people of Israel refers to the nation
  • congregation refers to the legislature.

    Rashi's identification of congregation with legislature appears startling! However Rashi is not using the word meaning method. Rashi is not asserting that congregation means legislature! Rather, Rashi is asserting that the Author bulleted three items--he, people, congregation. Bullets are used by authors to indicate a contrastive empasis. Hence, concludes Rashi, the three bulleted items must refer to King, people, legislature. The main driving force behind Rashi's interpretation is this quest to seek 3 contrasting items, a quest motivated by the 3 bullets.

    Every Rashi method has a certain flavor For example, we saw above in rule #2 that the collection of words according to one's father's household is an idiom meaning patrilineal. Such a Rashi is punchy, crisp and to the point. By contrast a bullet Rashi has a vaguer and more subjective flavor. Nevertheless, the contrastive emphasis implied by the bullets is the simple meaning of the text and intended by the Author.Every student and every commentator is obligated to ascertain the details of the Author's intention but of course will never be 100% sure.

    I have actually emended and added to the above Rashi---Rashi simply comments on the two classes people, legislature. I have added king,people,legislature. I made this emendation because the bullet method that was being used explicitly exposed 3 vs. 2 bulleted items. Such minor emendations of Rashi are encouraged when the rule he is using uncovers further items in the text.

    In passing since I believe that all Rashi's expose the simple meaning of the text, some readers, ask me how I deal with the Rashbam's statement If my grandfather had a chance to do it over again he would have changed many of his comments. I reply If Rashi had a chance to do it over again he would probably have (a) stuck to his basic thesis (b) added some extra exegesis which he sometimes omits and (c) indicated more clearly not only the meaning of the text but the why of this meaning--what rule of style he is using. Once you understand Rashi's use of style rules all his comments do become the simple meaning of text intended by the Author.

    8. RASHI METHOD: DATABASES
    BRIEF EXPLANATION:Rashi makes inferences from Database queries
    This examples applies to Rashis Nu29-35a Nu29-36a
    URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/nu29-35a.htm

    Today Rashi examines the following database query: Does the Bible give reasons for the names of the holidays? The results of the query show that the reason for holiday names are given in the Bible except for the holiday Shemini Atzereth. This leads Rashi to give a reason for the holiday name. In giving this reason Rashi uses the symbolism method. Hence the explanation of these Rashis requires use of two Rashi methods.

      First we briefly review several of the holiday names and cite verses showing that the Bible gives reason for these names.
    • Passover: The Hebrew word Pay Samech Cheth means Pass over. The Bible explicitly states that the reason for the name of the Passover holiday is because God Passed over the Jewish houses when he smote the Egyptian houses. (Ex12-13)
    • Sabbath: The Hebrew word Shin Beth Tauv, Sabbath means rest. The Bible explains that the Sabbath commemorates God resting on the Sabbath day. In English also the sabbatical refers to a year of rest. (Ex31-15:17)
    • Succoth: The Hebrew word Succoth means booths . The Bible explicitly explains that God called this holiday Succoth because I God gave the Jews booths to sit in in the desert.(Lv23-42:43)

    Armed with the results of the above query Rashi seeks a reason for the name of the Shmini Atzereth holiday mentioned at Nu29-35:36 On the eighth day you shall have an Azereth holiday; you shall do no labor in it; But you shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savor to the Lord; one bull, one ram, seven lambs of the first year without blemish;

    Azereth is the only holiday mentioned in the Bible without a reason given for its name. However, based on the results of the above database query Rashi sought a reason for its name based on the meaning of its underlying root. The Biblical root Ayin Tzade Resh means To hold back. Rashi therefore gives the following reason for the Azereth The Jews have been feasting from the beginning of the Hebrew month which marks the Jewish New Year. For the past 7 days the Jews have celebrated the Succoth holiday in Jerusalem. They have offered between 7-14 lambs per day. Now however they must leave the holy festive atmosphere and return to normal life. Many will not see Jerusalem again for over half a year on Passover. Consequently, so to speak, God asks the Jews not to leave immediately: Hold back one more day and stay with me. The offerings have steadily decreased from 14 lambs per day to 7 lambs per day. Now on the last day only 1 lamb is given. This diminuition is typical of a host who prepares his guest for leaving.

    The above Rashi is filled with emotions. The underlying logical motif is that Azereth is named because the Jews are asked to hold back one more day before returning to normal life. Symbolically the diminishing number of offerings---14,13,12,...,7,1---helps prepare for the separation.

    Rashi gives several other interpretations of the name. However we have selected the last interpretation since our belief is that when Rashi gives multiple interpretations he accepts the last and rejects the initial ones.

    We still have to classify the Rashi: Is it sermonic? Homily? The simple meaning of the text? Intended by the Author? The answer to these questions will shed light on the flavor of the database method.

    If Rashi was using the word meaning method--if all he said was that Ayin-Tzade-Resh means hold back and therefore the Azereth holiday is a day when God holds us back, if this is all Rashi said then it would be a homily. It would be something made up, something based on the meaning of a Biblical root without further support in the Biblical text or language.

    But Rashi did not do that! Rashi did not use the word meaning method. Rather Rashi used the database method. The database method shows that every Biblical holiday, except for Azereth has a reason given for its name and this reason is based on the meaning of the underlying Biblical root! The results of this database query is part and parcel of the Biblical text! The Bible is telling us that it is assumed that every Biblical holiday has a reason for its name and that reason is embedded in the meaning of the root of the name. Consequently, Rashi explained the name not because the root has a meaning but rather Rashi explained the name because the context of the Bible requires that the names of all Biblical holidays have meanings related to their underlying root. It is this distinction--- a reason based on a database method vs. a reason based solely on word meaning that gives the Rashi comment its credibility. Incredibly however Rashi omits mention of the database query. However the facts of the database query are there whether Rashi mentions them or not and for this reason we have supplemented the Rashi comment with the database query.

    9. RASHI METHOD: SPREADSHEETS
    BRIEF EXPLANATION: Inferences from a) computations, b) diagrams or c) consequences.
    This examples applies to Rashis Nu27-02a
    URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/nu27-02a.htm

    Verses Nu27-01:02 states Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and these are the names of his daughters; Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah. And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the Tent of Meeting, saying,Our father died in the wilderness....

    Rashi commenting on the underlined phrase before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, states This inquiry by the daughters of Zelafchad on whether they could inherit their father's property since he had no male descendents was made at the end of the 40 year journey in the wilderness prior to entry to Israel. We infer this dating from the fact that the inquiry was made of Moses and Eliezer vs Moses and Aaron. Apparently then, Aaron was no longer alive.

    This Rashi is straightforward. We classified this Rashi as using a spreadsheet method since Rashi does not explain or clarify the meaning or interpretation of an unknown verse nor does Rashi infer nuances from grammar, word meaning or comparisons with other verses. Rather Rashi assumes the verse is understood and proceeds to derive a consequence/additional insight from the verse. This derivation of consequence is classified as spreadsheets. The Spreadsheet method can refer to either explanations using spreadsheets or derivation of consequences.

    10. RASHI METHOD: SYMBOLISM
    BRIEF EXPLANATION: Rashi makes symbolic comments on verses and words.
    This examples applies to Rashis Nu29-35a Nu29-36a
    URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/nu29-35a.htm

    The Rashis illustrating the symbolism method have been explained above in Rule #8. Please refer to it.

    Conclusion

    This week's parshah contains no examples of the style, method. This concludes this weeks edition. Visit the RashiYomi website at http://www.Rashiyomi.com for further details and examples.