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.

• Ex25 contains the command to build the temple and
• Ex35 contains the fulfillment of this command.
Hence many Rashis on Ex35 use the reference method. For example verse Ex35-10:11 states And let every wise-hearted man among you come, and make all that HaShem hath commanded:
• the tabernacle,
• its tent, and
• its covering,
its clasps, and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; Rashi references each of the underlined word with the appropriate command in Ex26
• Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains: of fine twined linen,...
• And thou shalt make curtains of goats' hair for a tent ...
• And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red....
The above citation illustrates the essence of the reference method. We followed the following 3-step procedure
• We cited Ex26 verbatim,
• We underlined each referenced term
• We typeset the Rashi comments which are in fact citations from the referenced verses.

Advanced Rashi: Many Rashi-ists seek deeper meaning in Rashi's cross references. However if one can simply identify similar terms -- tabernacle, tent, covering -- and distinguish between their make one has established a basis on which the deeper Rashi comments and analysis can be made.

Verse Ex39-03 states And they skied the gold into thin plates, and cut it into threads, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the skilful workman. Rashi explains the underlined word skied: To sky means to make flat like a sky and to beat thin. Here Rashi uses the word meaning principle of naming by form. Some other common examples of naming by form in English are
• To surf the net (alot of bumpy to and from motion.)
• To brainstorm (To bombard with many little droplets of ideas)
• To skim a book (to quickly jump on the surface without going inside)
• To run a machine (to make the machine do alot of quick motions)

One of Rashi's grammar methods focuses on the rules of paragraph development. Rashi new of 3 main methods by which sentences within one paragraph or paragraphs within a chapter could be connected:
• Connection thru cause and effect
• Connection thru contrast
• Connection thru a unifying theme

The chapter Ex35 illustrates a contrastive development of themes:
• Observe the Sabbath: 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. 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. You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.
• Build the Temple: And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the people of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying, Take you from among you an offering to the Lord; whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and bronze, And blue, and purple, and scarlet, ... And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make ... The tabernacle, ...
The contrast of Sabbath observance with Temple construction seems to say Even though you must build a temple and even though the Daily temple sacrifices must be offered on the Sabbath Nu28-09:10 nevertheless you may not build the temple on Sabbath. That is, the observance of the Sabbath contrasts and overrides the building of the Temple.

The following two verses discussing the Veil's, or Ark Cover's function to cover and border the Ark differ in one pair of words.
• Verse Ex40-03 states And you shall put in it the ark of the Testimony, and protect the ark with the veil
• Verse Ex26-33 states And you shall hang up the veil from the clasps, that you may bring in there inside the veil the ark of the Testimony; and the veil shall separate for you between the holy place and the most holy. Rashi's comment attempts to show a unifying meaning to the two contrastive underlined words: The word protects here means functioning as a border (Since the border separates the Ark from the rest of the temple).
  5. RASHI METHOD: CONTRADICTION
  BRIEF EXPLANATION:Rashi resolves contradictory verses using 3 methods.
  • (5a) Resolution using two aspects of the same event
  • (5b) Resolution using two stages of the same process
  • (5c) Resolution using broad-literal interpretation.
  This example applies to Rashis Ex37-01a
  URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/ex37-01a.htm
  Note the contradiction in the following verses discussing the construction of the desert temple:
  • Ex36-01:02 states 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;
  • Ex37-01 states 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;

  We see the contradiction. Which is it? Did Besalel make the Temple utensils or did the wise hearted menmake them? Although technically one of these verses speaks about the Ark and one speaks about the general Temple construction nevertheless we could bring in numerous similar verses showing that the construction of all Temple vessels was a group effort with however sporadic verses giving credit to individuals.

  We resolve this contradiction using the method of 2 aspects. There were 2 aspects to constructing the Temple
  • Besalel was the manager of Temple construction
  • The crafstmen were the staff of Temple construction.
  Hence the pithy Rashi comment: Managers obtain credit for the entire project since they enabled others to do its work.

  Sermonic points: In this particular example Rashi's sermonic point is embedded in the Rashi comment itself.

  There is a conceptual way to clarify the Rashi comment: Credit is not necessarily based on work but instead may be based on accomplishment. Here, the manager typically does not do all the work of Temple construction; but through his direction the manager accomplishes the entire Temple construction. Hence he can take credit for it.

  Generally, throughout Jewish literature we see an emphasis not only on personal deeds but also on the consequences of those deeds. For example, Kayin's murder of Hebel is not perceived as a murder of an individual but rather as the murder of all potential descendants of that individual. The Talmud states: He who takes a life it is as though he had destroyed a planet; and he who saves a life it is as though he had saved a planet.

  6. RASHI METHOD: STYLE
  Rashi examines how rules of style influences inferences between general and detail statements in paragraphs.
  • Example: Every solo example stated by the Bible must be broadly generalized;
  • Theme-Detail: A general principle followed by an example is interpreted restrictively---the general theme statement only applies in the case of the example;
  • Theme-Detail-Theme: A Theme-Detail-Theme unit is interpreted as a paragraph. Consequently the details of the paragraph are generalized so that they are seen as illustrative of the theme.
  This examples applies to Rashis Ex39-32a
  URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/ex39-32a.htm
  Biblical verse Ex30-32 is written in a General-Detail style as follows:
  • General: Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting finished;
  • Detail: [because] the people of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did they do.

  We have inserted the type-faced word because into the above translation to conform to Rashi's comment - Rashi sees the General clause, The Temple was completed as being clarified and explained by the detail clause, the Jews did as God commanded them.

  Advanced Rashi: The above explanation of Rashi may appear simplistic. Using it we explain a very wild Rashi presented below. We give a simple explanation to this wild Rashi making it straightforward.

  Verse Ex40-17:18 states And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was erected. And Moses erected the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and set up its boards, and put in its bars, and erected its pillars. Rashi comments on the passive was erected: After completing all the utensils the Jews could not erect the Tabernacle because of the heaviness of the boards. Moses also attempted to erect the Temple but the boards were too heavy for him. If nobody could erect the Temple how then did the Temple get erected? The verse explicitly says that the Temple was erected that is, by itself. The boards stood upright and fit together.

  Because every utensil was made exactly as commanded therefore the erection of the temple went smoothly: For example if the wood boards were not smooth they would not remain standing after erected. Precisely because they were cut properly therefore they stood in place. And precisely because the Jews worked as a team therefore, all Temple parts were made to precision. We learn this from the emphasis in Ex30-32: The Temple was erected because the Jews did as God commanded.

  Thus the miracle did not consist of boards floating upwards! Rather the miracle consisted of all staff precisely following orders so that the boards and parts fit togethere smoothly and enabled a quick efficient erection. The emphasis here is on the compliance of the Jews with Gods commands.

  Rashi citing a Midrash simply states this in a pictueresque way: The boards helped erect themselves by the spirit of God. But again: The emphasis is that the building fit together quickly and smoothly because the Jews did as God commanded.

  7. RASHI METHOD: FORMATTING
  BRIEF EXPLANATION:Inferences from Biblical formatting: --bold,italics, and paragraph structure.
  • Use of repetition to indicate formatting effects: bold,italics,...;
  • use of repeated keywords to indicate a bullet effect;
  • rules governing use and interpretation of climactic sequence;
  • rules governing paragraph development and discourse
  This example applies to Rashis Ex38-21b
  URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/ex38-21b.htm

  We have explained in our article Biblical Formatting located on the world wide web at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/biblicalformatting.pdf, that the Biblical Author indicates bold, underline, italics by using repetition. Hence we would translate Ex38-21b using underlines as follows: This is the accounting of the items of the Temple, of the Temple of Testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest. Rashi comments on the bolded repeated of the Temple: The emphasis indicated by the underline phrase of the Temple implies that the measurements of the utensils of the desert Temple utensils apply to all future Temples, such as the Temples of Solomon and Ezra.

  Sermonic points: It is well known from all the arts that numbers carry symbolic significance. By making the measurements of the Temple utensils eternal God indicates that their symbolism is independent of time. From time to time in this list we explain the symbols of various desert Temple items. Rashi assures us that these symbolisms are eternal. Those who wish the symbolic interpretation of the Temple symbols should read the Commentary of Samson Raphael Hirsch.

  8. RASHI METHOD: DATABASES
  BRIEF EXPLANATION:Rashi makes inferences from Database queries. The precise definition of database query has been identified in modern times with the 8 operations of Sequential Query Language (SQL).
  This example applies to Rashis Ex35-34a
  URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/ex35-34a.htm

  Today we ask the database query: In the Bible, does God select by lineage or merit? Surprisingly, as Rashi points out Selection for important posts was frequently done by merit not by lineage. The list below justifies this Rashi observation.

  Person	Chosen for	Who was avoided that was better	Verse support
  Moses	Prophet	Aaron his older brother	Ex04-10:16
  Ahaliav	Build Temple	Ahaliav was from Dan-not Judah	Ex35-34a
  David	King	He was youngest of 8	1S16-07:12
  Jacob	Patriarch	Esauv was older	Gn27
  Saul	King	Saul was from Binyamin-Not Judah	1S09-21

  Sermonic Points: As can be seen from the above list God in many situations choses people based on merit rather than on tribal status (Judah vs. Benjamin or Dan) or seniority (the eldest). A famous clash between Jacob and Joseph in Gn48 further emphasizes that merit takes place on lineage and form. Judaism firmly believes that our standing before God is based on our own deeds. Such a positive attitude, placing responsibility on each individual, strongly encourages good deeds and action.

  9. RASHI METHOD: SPREADSHEETS
  BRIEF EXPLANATION: The common denominator of the 3 submethods of the Spreadsheet method is that inferences are made from non textual material. The 3 submethods are as follows:
  • Spreadsheet: Rashi makes inferences of a numerical nature that can be summarized in a traditional spreadsheet
  • Geometric: Rashi clarifies a Biblical text using descriptions of geometric diagrams
  • Fill-ins: Rashi supplies either real-world background material or indicates real-world inferences from a verse. The emphasis here is on the real-world, non-textual nature of the material.
  This example applies to Rashis Ex39-03a
  URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/ex39-03a.htm
  Rashi provides the equivalent of pictures and diagrams for many Temple constructions. One example is provided by Ex39-03
  1. And they did skied the gold into thin plates,
  2. and cut it into threads,
  3. to fix it
     • in the blue,
     • and in the purple,
     • and in the scarlet,
     • and in the fine linen,
  4. a woven work.
  Hence the Rashi comment, almost mirrored by the above verse structure, depicting the production process of the threads
  1. The gold sheets were flattened
  2. the flat gold sheets were cut into gold threads
  3. One gold thread was woven with the blue, purple, scarlet and linen threads
  4. All 4 threads - the blue-gold, the purple-gold, the scarlet-gold, and linen-gold - were now woven into one thread. This one thread was used to produce certain of the Priestly garments such as the Ephod

Advanced Rashi: Rashi makes further comments on these threads consistent with the spreadsheet method:
• Notice that the Hebrew word for linen is six.
• The linen is so named because it is a six-ply thread.
• By analogy all the threads were probably six-ply.
• Each six-ply thread was mixed with one gold thread making it a seven ply thread.
• But there were 4 types of threads (Blue, purple, scarlet, linen).
• Hence the total strands per thread was 4 x 7 =28.
  Conclusion

  This week's parshah does not contain examples of the symbolism method. This concludes this weeks edition. Visit the RashiYomi website at http://www.Rashiyomi.com for further details and examples.