1. RASHI METHOD: REFERENCES BRIEF EXPLANATION: Commentary on a verse is provided thru a cross-reference to another verse. The cross references can either provide (1a) further details, (1b) confirm citations, or (1c) clarify word meaning. This examples applies to Rashis Gn18-14b URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w34n18.htm; Brief Summary: I will return to you at the APPOINTED TIME (Gn18-14b) refers to promise of birth in one year (Gn18-10)

Verse(s) Gn18-14b discussing the reiteration of the promise that Abraham would have a child states Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return to you, at this season, and Sarah shall have a son. Rashi clarifies the underlined words At the time appointed by referencing verse(s) Gn18-10 which states And he said, I will certainly return to you at this season; and, lo, Sarah your wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him Hence the Rashi comment: The promise in Gn18-14 that Abraham will have a son at the appointed season refers to the promise that Abraham will have a son a year from now made in Gn18-10.

Text of Target verse Gn18-14b	Text of Reference Verse Gn18-10
Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return to	And he said, I will certainly return to you at this season; and, lo, Sarah your wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him
Rashi comments: The promise in Gn18-14 that Abraham will have a son at the appointed season refers to the promise that Abraham will have a son a year from now made in Gn18-10.

Rashi would sometimes derive the meaning of a word from the meaning of its underlying Biblical root. Today's example illustrates this.

Verse Gn18-12b discussing Sarah's skepticism at having a child states ....after my menopause I will have periods. An alternate translation of the same verselet would be ....after my withering I will have delights. The Hebrew word Ayin-Daleth-Nun-Hey meaning female youth, (pre-menopause) comes either from the root Ayin-Daleth-Nun, meaning delight, pleasure, or from the root Yud-Ayin-Daleth meaning date, time. In other words Rashi advances the idea that Youth / pre-menopause is the time of delight, pleasure. Similarly Rashi advances the idea that Pre-menopause is the time of periods,dates, and times.

Advanced Rashi: Very often etymologies come in pairs. The idea is that even if a word had a primary etymology it very often by puns and inuendos achieves secondary etymologies. After a while both derivations become equally important.

Rashi lived before the era of Grammatical textbooks. Hence one of his functions was to teach the rules of grammatical conjugation similar to modern textbooks.

Languages distinguish between interrogative and declarative sentences. In English we recognize the interrogative sentence by the use of the "?" question mark symbol. In Biblical Hebrew we use a prefix aspirated hey punctuated with a null vowel to indicate an inquiry. Thus Gn18-25e without the question indicator states The Judge of the world does not make justice. However with the prefix aspirated "h" sound with a null syllable it is translated as Will the Judge of the world not make justice?

There are several other Rashis dealing with this technical rule. Curiously the very first question in the Bible is stated in Gn03-11, and Rashi there also enunciates the question-mark rule: Have you eaten from the tree which I have prohibited to you?

The table below presents an aligned extract of verses or verselets in Dt09-09,Dt09-19. Both verses/verselets discuss the treatment of foreign nations. The alignment justifies the Rashi comment that: Lot's younger daughter discretely named her child Amon MyNation while the older daughter indiscretely named her child Moab FromDad. The Jews were prohibited to even harass Amon but the Jews were only prohibited from having war with Moab. The younger daughter's discretion carried over to her descendants who were more discrete and earned a greater protection. The older daughter's indiscretion was carried over in her descendants who only earned the right to avoid military confrontation with the Jews (but there was no prohibition of harassment.

Verse	Text of Verse	Rashi comment
Dt09-09	And the Lord said to me, Harass not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle;	Lot's younger daughter discretely named her child Amon MyNation while the older daughter indiscretely named her child Moab FromDad. The Jews were prohibited to even harass Amon but the Jews were only prohibited from having war with Moab. The younger daughter's discretion carried over to her descendants who were more discrete and earned a greater protection. The older daughter's indiscretion was carried over in her descendants who only earned the right to avoid military confrontation with the Jews (but there was no prohibition of harassment.
Dt09-19	And when you come near opposite the sons of Ammon, harass them not, nor contend with them;

Advanced Rashi: Rashi relates the above alignment to the contrastive behavior of Lot's two daughters: One was discrete and one was loud. These verses Gn19-36:38 state Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.
• And the firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; [From-Dad] the same is the father of the Moabites to this day.
• And the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Benammi [My-Nation]; the same is the father of the Ammonites to this day.
I have suggested that Rashi was not making a statement about a one-time naming of a child, but rather he was really making a comment about upbringing and personality. If the mother is loud then the children will be loud and ultimately provoke people - hence there is no prohibition of provocation against Moab. By contrast if the mother was discrete then the children will be discrete earning them a higher spiritual standing.

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 examples applies to Rashis Gn20-12a URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w34n18.htm Brief Summary: Abraham called Sarah SISTER (Daughter of father) even though she was really NEICE (Daughter of son of father).

The table below presents two contradictory verses / verse phrases. Both verses / verse phrases talk about Sarah's relationship with Abraham. The underlined words highlight the contradiction. One verse / verse phrase says Sarah was a sister, daughter of a father while the other verse / verse phrase says Sarah was a niece, daughter of a son of a father. Which is it? Was Sarah Abraham's sister or niece? Rashi simply resolves this using the broad-literal method: Sarah was Abraham's niece. But people colloquially identify generations. Grandfathers are fathers and neices are sisters.

Summary	Verse / Source	Text of verse / Source
Sarah was a sister, daughter of a father	Gn20-12a	And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
Abraham named him Ishmael	Gn11-29	And Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah [Sarah]. [So Sarah was son of Haran who was Abraham's brother]
Resolution:	Broad-Literal	Sarah was Abraham's niece. But people colloquially identify generations. Grandfathers are fathers and neices are sisters.

Advanced Rashi: Rashi's point becomes stronger when other verses are brought in. For example a comparison of Ex02-18, Nu10-29 shows that grandparents are called parents. Here also we have two generations identified. This makes Rashi's identification of sister and niece (daugther of father vs daughter of son of father) more palatable.

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 Gn21-17a URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w34n18.htm Brief Summary: VERSE: God heard Ishmael's prayer over Hagar's prayer GENERAL: The prayers of sick people are given preference

Certain Biblical paragraphs are stated in a example form. In other words an example of a law is stated rather than the full general rule. The reader's task is to generalize the example. The idea that all Biblical laws should be perceived as examples (unless otherwise indicated) is explicitly stated by Rashi (Pesachim 6.). This is a rule of style since the rule requires that a text be perceived as an example rather than interpreted literally. The Rabbi Ishmael style rules govern the interpretation of style.

Verse Gn21-16:17a discussing the prayer of Hagar and Ishmael when Ishmael was sick states And she went, and sat down opposite him a good way off, as it were a bowshot; for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice, and wept And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, What ails you, Hagar? fear not; for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is

The Rabbi Ishmael example rule requires generalization of this passage. In this case we simply generalize from Ishmael vs Hagar to all people: The prayer of a sick person takes precedence over the prayers of other people.

Advanced Rashi: Some participants on my list demur to my using the Rabbi Ishmael style rules on non-legal passages. But as the example above shows this is justified.

We have derived the above Rashi using the Style method. However we could have also used the contradiction method since one underlined verselet says the child's mother cried while the other verselet says God heard the child's voice.

When a modern author wishes to deemphasize a concept they will strike it out. When the Biblical author wishes to deemphasize a concept He places dots over it. The dots in the Biblical version, or the strikeout in the modern version, indicate deemphasis.

There are 6 examples of dotting or strikeout in the Bible. They are presented in the list below along with the accompanying Rashi interpretation. In each case Rashi interprets the verse as if the word was Stricken out.
• Nu03-39a: All that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of HaShem, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand. Rashi: Aaron was stricken from the census--that is he wasn't counted since he was a Levite.
• Gn33-04b: And Esau ran to meet him [Jacob], and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept. Rashi: The kiss should be stricken from the record! It wasn't a real (i.e. sincere) kiss since Esau really hated Jacob. Rashi offers an alternative explanation: The kiss should be stricken from the record since it was the only sincere kiss. All other kisses were insincere.
• Dt29-29a: The secret things [sins] belong unto HaShem our G-d; but the things [sins] that are revealed belong [are visited] unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. Rashi: Revealed should be stricken. Revealed sins weren't always visited upon the community; they weren't visited upon the community till after the conquest of Israel in the time of Joshua.
• Gn37-12a: And his brethren went to shepard their father's flock in Shechem. Rashi: The word shepard should be stricken out since they didn't really go to shepard sheep; rather they went to escape their father who favored Joseph.
• Nu09-10a: Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: If any man of you or of your generations shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto HaShem; Rashi: The requirement far off should be stricken. One need not be absolutely far away - but far away enough not to be able to come to Jerusalem.
• Gn18-09: And they said to him: 'Where is Sarah thy wife?' And he said: 'Behold, in the tent.' Rashi: The phrase to him should be stricken. They said it generally, not just to him. When they met Abraham they said to him where is your spouse. Similarly when they met Sarah they said where is your spouse.
• Gn19-33c And they made their father drink wine that night; and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Rashi: The phrase nor when she arose is dotted indicating a strikeout: Lot really did know when she arose and even so did not avoid a recurrence of the incest on the 2nd night with his second daughter. [My comment: How can Rashi say he did know if the verse explicitly say he didn't know? Probably Rashi meant that e.g. he had a vivid sexual dream about the affair so he really suspected it].

We ask the following database query: What Biblical items are said to happen from heaven. The reader is encouraged to perform the query using a standard Biblical Konnkordance or search engine. This database query yields the list below. The list justifies the following Rashi inference: Heaven is the symbolic source for reward, punishment and prophecy. The list below presents the results of the database query and shows examples.

Verse	What does the Bible indicate as coming from heaven?	This is an example of...
Gn19-24e	Fire & Brimstone to destroy Sedom and Amorah	Punishment
Gn08-02	Torrential rains during flood	Punishment
Dt28-24	Drought (for non observance of commandments)	Punishment
Ex16-04	The manna food descended from heaven	Reward
Dt26-15	Blessings from God for observing the annual tithe laws	Reward
Ex20-19	The revelation of the decalogue	Prophecy
Gn21-11	An angel called Abraham to prevent killing Isaac at the Akaydah	Prophecy
Gn21-17	An angel called Hagar to answer her prayers so her child shouldn't die	Prophecy

Verse Gn21-08a discussing the growing up of infant Isaac says And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. Rashi explains: Isaac was weaned at 24 months. We have classified this Rashi as using the NonVerse method. In other words Rashi knew that Isaac was weaned at 24 months, not from any textual nuance or grammer, but rather Rashi knew it from Non Verse sources. In other words the driving force behind Rashi is the real-world fact that weaning normally takes 24 months.

In this email list we can only touch on basic symbolic ideas. Full proofs of these ideas may be found elsewhere. In my article on symbolism cited above I show that the sacrificial procedures with their rich fire and animal symbolism had as their goal the inspiration of prophetic visions such as the prophetic fire visions described in Isiah 6 and Ezekiel 1. As such the sacrifices were not primitive procedures but lofty, mature and sophisticated procedures designed to help man reach his highest goals.

Geometric symbolism is associated with prophecy. For example, heaven is above and similarly fire goes up. Prophets like Moses and Elijah were said to ascend. Moses' actual physical ascent on the mount was a metaphor for prophetic attainment.

But lo and behold God commanded Abraham to take your son and raise him for an up offering on one of the mountains which I show you Gn22-02. An old, barbaric, pre-Abrahamitic way of achieving prophetic uplifting was through the passing of children through fires. This fire-passing ceremony was not purely barbaric. On the contrary its goals were to prepare children for prophetic fire visions. During the Akaydah Abraham symbolically affirmed that don't do anything to the lad. The inspiration of prophecy can come from animal sacrifice. And indeed we find that upon sacrificing the ram the verse emphasizes Abraham offered the ram as a sacririce in place of his son. Here Abraham enunciated the principle that animal sacrifice with its fire rich symbolism can inspire prophetic fire visions. Abraham hoped that the witness of the ram sacrifice would inspire Isaac to prophecy.

And hence today we yearn for the return of the Temple and animal sacrifices so that we may renew prophecy. Our visions are not nostalgic, barbaric or primitive. Rather they are serious, mature and profound. We yearn for the highest levels of human attainment, prophecy, and the sacrificial ceremonies trigger such experiences in those who have otherwise prepared themselves spiritually and morally.