Gn24-07 states The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father?s house, and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, To your seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. Rashi explains the underlying words who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, To your seed will I give this land; by citing an Other Verse where this promise was made. Gn12-07 states And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, To your seed will I give this land; and there he built an altar to the Lord, who appeared to him. Similarly Gn15-18 states In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates;

Advanced Rashi: Rashi actually only cites one of the two verses Gn15-18 which mentions the convenant.
• But Gn24-07 mentions
  • the Lord who spoke to me
  • The Lord who swore to me (..I will give you this land...)
• Hence we should supplement Rashi by finding a second other verse
  • Gn12-07 where God said to Abraham I will give you this land (This verse is not mentioned by Rashi) and
  • Gn15-18 where God made a convenant with Abraham to give the land (This verse is mentioned by Rashi since the convenant corresponds to the oath.)

We believe that this is the proper approach to Rashi: The student must use his own methods and supplement Rashi's commentary in such a way as to explain all details of the verse.

One of Rashi's 10 major methods is the word meaning method. One word meaning sub-method is the special connective word sub-method. Examples of special connective words are if, then, also, because, since, unless,.... Rashi, when explaining a special connective word will typically list its varied usages. A knowledge of these disparate usages creates an understanding of the special connective word.

Today we examine the special connective idiom, if-not, Aleph-Mem Lamed-Aleph. If-not has the following usages
1. It can simply mean If not as in Ex04-08 And it shall come to pass, if they do not believe you, nor listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
2. It can mean otherwise as in Gn42-16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there is any truth in you; Otherwise by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.
3. It can mean unless as in Gn24-37a:38 And my master made me swear, saying, You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live unless you [first] go to my father?s house, and to my family, and take a wife for my son.
4. It can mean Is it...or not as in Gn37-32 And they sent the coat of long sleeves, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found; recognize if it is your son?s coat or not.
5. It can indicate a bifurcation of cases If you do...if you don't as in Gn34-16:17 ...Then will we give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for us, and we will live with you, and we will become one people. if you do not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.

Advanced Rashi: The most famous Rashi on Special connective words is the Rashi, citing the Talmud, presenting the 7 meanings of Kaph-Yud. We encourage the serious student of Rashi to make similar lists of usage for all Rashis on special connective words. For example, Rashi did not list the above 5 meanings; Rashi only indicated that in Gn24-37 if-not means unless. We went beyond Rashi and inferred the above 5 meanings from an examination of cases. We believe that this is the proper way to understand these Rashis.

We also believe that the serious student must apply the developed list of usages to all verses thereby giving sparkling translations. For example the idea that if-not means unless inspires the following punchy Rashi and translation of Nu14-28a Say to them the ultimatum of God: I will live unless I do as I have spoken...

All languages have rules about the naming of numbers. For example, in English, if you want to name a 3-digit number of years, you typically list
• the hundreds digit first
• the tens digit second
• the ones digit third
• you use the word year once at the end

A typical example might be 895 years which is named
• eight hundred
• ninety
• five
• years

There are exceptions to this rule when the tens digit is in the ones: For example 817 is named eight hundred seventeen. But we ignore these exceptional cases now since they will not be needed to understand the Rashi.

However Biblical Hebrew grammar has another method of naming 3 digit numbers of years. The Biblical method uses the reverse order from English!
• The ones digit is first
• the tens digit is second
• the hundreds digit is third
• the word year is used twice, after the tens and hundreds

A typical example occurs in Gn05-17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were
• 5 and
• 90 years and
• 800 years ...

Again special exceptions apply to numbers ending in teens. We however do not need these exceptions for purposes of understanding this week's Rashi.

The Biblical chapters Gn05 and Gn11 provide over 2 dozen examples applying the above principles.

Armed with these examples we review Gn23-01a which states Sarah lived
• 100 years
• 20 years and
• 7 years....

Notice that the English rule for naming numbers is used ---hundreds, tens, ones-- instead of the expected Hebrew order for naming numbers -- ones, tens and hundreds. Also notice that the word year is used 3 times instead of the required 2 times.

Because of these differences Rashi interprets the numbers adjectivally and translates the verse as follows: Sarah lived
• the 100 year life [Rashi: Throughout her life she had the maturity of a 100 year old woman]
• the 20 year life [Rashi: She always maintained the beauty of a 20 year old]
• the 7 year life [Rashi: She always maintained her innocence.]...

A similar Rashi occurs on Gn25-17a And these are the years of the life of Ishmael,
• the hundred year life [Rashi: with maturity]
• the thirty year life [Rashi: with middle age vigor]
• the seven year life; [Rashi: with innocence] ....

Advanced Rashi: Many scholars approach Rashi by asking What bothered Rashi or What is Rashi's question. A Rashi question is typically formulated in terms of the excessive word principle.So for example in Gn23-01a some scholars complain about the use of the word year three times.

The point of view of this list is that the excessive word principle is not a valid Rashi inquiry tool. For example there are no homiletic exegetics on the repetition of the word year in three digit numbers. The naming of the number 895 as 5 and ninety years and 800 years does not bother any commentary. The reason it does not bother any commentary is because it is a rule of grammar and therefore should not be the subject of commentary.

So it is not excessive words that motivates Rashi comments; rather it is violation of grammatical rules that motivate such comments. If all other numbers are named in a certain way then a deviation from this rule invites commentary. Rashi's solution is to view 100 years not as a number but rather as a quality, a modifier of life, an adjective. The Bible is telling us that Sarah lived the 100-year life connoting she had maturity.

We therefore think these examples to be excellent illustrations of the proper approach to learning Rashi.

On a nostalgic note, back in 1998 when I first started the Chumash and Rashi email newsletter that preceded my other email newsletters, rashi-is-simple, daily Rashi, and Weekly Rashi, I could find no better way to start it then with this number-naming rule and the associated Rashi. I therefore have a certain fondness for this Rashi. If any readers were on that original email group please drop me a line so that we may reminisce.

Note the alignment of the underlined words in the following verses
• Verse Gn24-22 states
  • And when the camels
  • finished (Caph Lamed Vav)
  • drinking, the man took a golden ear ring ...
• Verse Gn43-02 states
  • when they
  • used up (Caph Lamed Vav)
  • the grain their father said to them, Go again, buy ....

Rashi in rare style cites his cousin commentary, Oonkelos who translates the same Hebrew word Caph Lamed Vav in two different ways
• Finished drinking
• used up the grain.

It is not hard to see why Oonkelos selected these disparate translations.
• Gn24-22 only mentions drinking not drinking water; hence Oonkelos interprets Caph Lamed Vav as finishing drinking or quenching their thirst
• By contrast Gn43-02 mentions finished eating the grain not finished eating; hence Oonkelos translates using up the grain.

There are other approaches to this distinction in Oonkelos. For example
• The camels drank once; hence they finished quenching their thirst
• Jacob's family continually ate from the purchased grain; hence they ate until it was used up.

Sermonic points: Rashi and Oonkelos teach us the etiquette of translation. Many people think that the preferred approach to translation is a literal translation. But Rashi and Oonkelos teach us that a preferable approach is a context-sensitive translation. Translations should reflect the nuances and implications of the context.

Gn23-01 has a theme-detail-theme approach as shown
• Theme: And Sarah lived
• Details:
  • the hundred year life [Rashi: Maturity]
  • the twenty year life [Rashi: the young couple life of attraction]
  • seven years old; [Rashi: innocence]
• Theme: these are the years that Sarah lived.

Rashi comments on the paragraph structure indicated by the theme-detail-theme form: The paragraph theme,Sarah's life, is developed by 3 detailed qualities: maturity, youth,innocence. In other words Sarah uniformly had these 3 qualities during her whole life (vs. developing each one at a separate stage of life).

Sermonic points: We often speak of these 3 qualities as belonging to separate stages of life: children are supposed to be innocent, young people are suppose be attractive and older people mature. Rashi teaches us that these qualities are not assigned to separate stages of life. Rather all people at all ages may possess these qualities. How often have you heard it said, She/he is young and attractive; this is a stage; they will grow up some day. Or, You are suppose to be an adult; stop acting so innocent. Rashi demurs to these cliches; attractiveness is not inconsistent with maturity and maturity is not inconsistent with innocence. True, not all of us can be on the level of a matriarch but we can incorporate into our lives the ideal that qualities perceived as disparate can co-exist.

Note the repetition in verse Gn24-10a which states And the girl was very pretty to look upon,
• a virgin,
• no man had known her;
and she went down to the well, and filled her water jar, and came up.

The Rashi comment is obvious to any adult: She had
• no intimacy with anyone [Virgin]
• no heavy relations with anyone [no man had known her]

Advanced Rashi: The idea that the repetition creates an unspecified emphasis which we interpret to mean neither intimacy nor heavy relationship seems clear enough to everyone. The reason the interpretation of the repetition as connoting emphasis is clear in this case is because we are familiar with the sphere of male-female relations. In other spheres which we are not as familiar with, the idea that repetition connotes emphasis is sometimes scoffed at as homiletic. We therefore think this Rashi is important since it creates a paradigm of understanding the nuances implied by repetition.

All Rashi comments clarify and add further understanding and meaning to a text. However the typical Rashi comment arises from either
• word meaning or
• the rules of grammar, style and formatting or
• comparisons with other verses that indicate meaning via alignment, contradiction or responses to database queries.
• However, when the Rashi comments add clarification through either
  • Algebraic,numerical computation, or
  • geometric diagrams and pictures or
  • general logic,background material, real-world consequencs
  then we say that Rashi uses the spreadsheet method. We have chosen the name spreadsheet since spreadsheets typically present numerical/algebraic computations, or diagrams. Today's example provides a typical example of uses of background material and real-world consequences to clarify verses.

Verse Gn24-36a discussing the wealth that Isaac had (and hence his suitability for a marriage) states: And Sarah my master?s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to this son my master has given all that he owns. Rashi, using the spreadsheet method, clarifies the underlined words with a modern concept: [Rashi: He created a trust fund for him.] The trust is a means of simultaneously owning ones own assets and protecting them for ones children. In modern times the trust has tax advantages over an ordinary will.

Sermonic points: The idea of planning one's estate so that children are provided for without tax burdens is a well developed modern concept and many books have been written about it. This modern concept is echoed in the above verse since the trust confers wealth on a person even though he doesn't fully own it. In the above case the additional wealth make Isaac a more desirable marriage prospect. We see here the Biblical seeds for modern ideas.

Verse Gn24-22c discussing the gifts that Eliezer gave Rivkah states And it came to pass, as the camels finished drinking, that the man took
• a golden ear ring of half a dollar value, and
• two bracelets for her hands of
• ten shekels weight of gold;

The Rashi symbolic interpretations of these gifts seems strange:
• a golden ear ring of half a dollar value, [Rashi: corresponding to the Biblical commandment to give a half-dollar]
• two bracelets for her hands of [Rashi: Corresponding to the 10 commandments given on two stones]
• ten shekels weight of gold; [Rashi: Corresponding to the 10 commandments]

This Rashi is strange because it implies that Eliezer is prophesying that Rebekkah will be a matriarch to a people who will receive the 10 commandments and be commanded on the giving of the half-dollar. Rebekkah was in no position to know this at this stage of her life.

However the Rashi interpretations can be made plausible if we use one simple Rashi rule: Rashi does not speak using abstract concepts but rather Rashi speaks using examples of these concepts. Hence
• The concept of caring about the little man in the street is symbolized by the half dollar vs. say the $100 bill. The half dollar symbolism is also used in the commandment for every Jew to give a half dolloar symbolizing that all the little people in the nation count. Consequently instead of using the abstract concept of the little man in the street Rashi uses an example of this concept: The commandment to give a half dollar. Here we have used our understanding of Rashi's style to make his commentary plausible.
• The abstract concept of a dual emphasis on commandments between man-and-man vs. commandments between man-and-God is exemplified by the two tablets containing the ten commandments since one side the ten commandments contains commandments between man-and-God while the other side contains commandments between man-and-man.
• The abstract concept of community is symbolized by the plural number ten. One example of this is the quorom of people needed for a religious service,10, since the service must be delivered by the community. Another example might be the 10 commandments which contain the basic laws and ethics needed by the community.

Using this principle that Rashi expresses abstract concepts by using examples of them we can translate the Rashi symbolism into traditional abstract language. Rashi is explaining what Eliezer liked about Rivkah which would make her a good wife for Isaac:
• a golden ear ring of half a dollar value, [Rashi: She cared about the little man; Eliezer knew this since she gave a slave water to drink]
• two bracelets for her hands of [Rashi: She had a dual caring about both people and God---since she cared about the person, Eliezer, and also showed caring behavior to his animals(a man-God commandment)
• ten shekels weight of gold; [Rashi: Corresponding to her concerns for the community since she fed the camels which were presumably carrying commercial loads for community business]

As shown the Rashi symbolic interpretation is plausible and not far fetched. The sole tool we used to make Rashi plausible is replacing examples by the abstract concepts they exemplify. Rashi was not attributing prophetic knowledge to Rivkah or Eliezer. Rather Rashi was explaining how the events which just happened indictated personality traits desirable in a mate.

Sermonic concepts: Rashi, through these symbolic interpretations teaches us three important requirements in marriage
• Concern for the little person
• Concern for man-man and man-God commandments
• Concern for the community.
Since these ideas are well known we will not elaborate further.