The 10 RashiYomi Rules
Their presence in Rashis on Parshat Chukath-Balak
Volume 12, Number 23
Rashi is Simple - Volume 35 Number 23

Used in the weekly Rashi-is-Simple and the Daily Rashi.
Visit the RashiYomi website: http://www.Rashiyomi.com/
(c) RashiYomi Incorporated, Dr. Hendel, President,
July 3rd, 2009

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.

FULL HOUSE THIS WEEK, ALL RASHI RULES ILLUSTRATED

    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 Nu21-27b
    URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1223.htm
    Brief Summary: Therefore the RIDDLE MAKERS say (Nu21-27) refers to non-prophets like Bilam who spoke in riddles (Nu23-07)

Verse Nu21-27b discussing the defeat of Moab states Wherefore the riddle-speakers say: Come ye to Heshbon! let the city of Sihon be built and established! Rashi notes that the underlined words, riddle-speakers references verses Nu23-07 discussing Bilam's prophecies on the Jews. Hence the Rashi comment The phrase riddle-speakers in Nu21-27b references non-prophets like Bilam who, in preparation/hope for prophecy, would practice speaking in riddles. Nu23-07 explicitly refers to Bilam's riddle style (his riddle.)

Text of Target Verse Nu21-27b Text of Reference Verse Nu23-07
Wherefore the riddle-speakers say: Come ye to Heshbon! let the city of Sihon be built and established! . And he lifted his riddle [style], and said, Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, defy Israel.
Rashi comments: The phrase riddle-speakers in Nu21-27b references non-prophets like Bilam who, in preparation/hope for prophecy, would practice speaking in riddles. Nu23-07 explicitly refers to Bilam's riddle style (his riddle.)

Advanced Rashi: To fully appreciate this Rashi we must recall that although Bilam had some prophetic visions he was not called a prophet but rather an interpreter Nu22-05. Apparently he hoped to become a permanant prophet. Towards that end he practiced speaking in riddles since most prophets communicate their prophecies in riddle-like phrases (cf Nu12-06.) So when the Nu21-27 speaks about the statements of the riddle-makers Rashi correctly identifies this with a school of non-prophets like Bilam who (incorrectly) thought that practicing riddles would prepare them for prophecy. In other words, Rashi's statement that Riddle-makers refers to Bilam is really a pejorative insult.

      2. RASHI METHOD: WORD MEANING
      BRIEF EXPLANATION: The meaning of words can be explained either by
      • (2a) translating an idiom, a group of words whose collective meaning transcends the meaning of its individual component words,
      • (2b) explaining the nuances and commonality of synonyms-homographs,
      • (2c) describing the usages of connective words like also,because,if-then, when,
      • (2d) indicating how grammatical conjugation can change word meaning
      • (2e) changing word meaning using the figures of speech common to all languages such as irony and oxymorons.
      This examples applies to Rashis Nu22-24a
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1223.htm
      Brief Summary: The Hebrew Shin-Ayin-Lamed, Shual, means a WALK: a) A forest trail,walk, b) a fox (which travels by trails/walks), c) the leg from toe to top.

When Rashi uses, what we may losely call, the hononym method, Rashi does not explain new meaning but rather shows an underlying unity in disparate meanings. Rashi will frequently do this by showing an underlying unity in the varied meanings of a Biblical root.

In my article Peshat and Derash found on the world wide web at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rashi.pdf. I advocate enriching the Rashi explanation using a technique of parallel nifty translations in modern English. Today's examples show this.

    The Heberw Biblical root Shin-Ayin-Lamed has a fundamental meaning of a walk or trail. Hence this Biblical root can mean
  • a walk or trail, such as a forest or vineyard trail
  • a fox, [ an animal who is known for his stealth and crawls on trails ]
  • the leg from toe to top [ the organ you walk with. ]

    Applying the above translation to Nu22-24a discussing the appearance of the Angel to Bilam we obtain Then the angel of God stood in a vineyard trail, a fence being on this side, and a fence on that side. In providing this English translation notice that we have used the English idiom trail which mirrors the Hebrew walk since a trail and a walk are semantically close.

Advanced Rashi: The following comments give insights into the whole drama of Biblical interpretation. There is only one verse in the entire Bible where the Hebrew Shin-Ayin-Lamed means what I have translated foot. The verse, Is40-12 states Who has measured sea [depths] with his foot or fixed the horizon with his fist... Because this verse talks about measurement some have interpreted Shin-Ayin-Lamed to refer to a cupped hand. So the verse would read Who has measured waters with his cupped hand.... These same people see a cupped hand as a hollow and then they interpret the verse in Numbers as The angel stood in a hollow between vineyards with a fence on each side. These people would then name a fox by the hollows foxes hide in.

There is no way to settle this contrversy between the hollow translation and the foot-walk translation. The reason there is no way to settle this is that there are so few Biblical verses with these terms. Appealing to other languages also does not help as these terms are rare in other languages. I brought this controversy to show the flavor of Biblcial interpretation. It is a dynamic and exciting field, begging for creativity, with researchers basing inference on extremely little evidence.

I also brought this example to show the why of this email newsletter. Both translations use the same fundamental meaning-hononym method. In other words the methods presented in this newsletters are universal rules of interpretation which all agree to.

      3. RASHI METHOD: GRAMMAR
      BRIEF EXPLANATION: Rashi explains verses using grammar principles, that is, rules which relate reproducable word form to word meaning. Grammatical rules neatly fall into 3 categories
      • (a) the rules governing conjugation of individual words,Biblical roots,
      • (b) the rules governing collections of words,clauses, sentences
      • (c) miscellaneous grammatical, or form-meaning, rules.
      This examples applies to Rashis Nu21-27c
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1223.htm
      Brief Summary: Therefore the riddle-makerS state: RASHI: The plural RIDDLE MAKERS refers to Bilam and his students like Beor.

Today Hebrew grammar is well understood and there are many books on it. Rashi, however, lived before the age of grammar books. A major Rashi method is therefore the teaching of basic grammar.

Many students belittle this aspect of Rashi. They erroneously think that because of modern methods we know more. However Rashi will frequently focus on rare grammatical points not covered in conventional textbooks.

    There are many classical aspects to grammar whether in Hebrew or other languages. They include
  • The rules for conjugating verbs. These rules govern how you differentiate person, plurality, tense, mode, gender, mood, and designation of the objects and indirect objects of the verb. For example how do you conjugate, in any language, I sang, we will sing, we wish to sing, she sang it.
  • Rules of agreement. For example agreement of subject and verb, of noun and adjective; whether agreement in gender or plurality.
  • Rules of Pronoun reference.
  • Rules of word sequence. This is a beautiful topic which is not always covered in classical grammatical textbooks.

Today we study a Rashi based on a simple grammatical rule: agreement in plurality. That is, a plural subject must refer not to one person but to several people.

Verse Nu21-27b discussing the reaction to the defeat of Moab states Wherefore the riddle-makers say: Come ye to Heshbon! let the city of Sihon be built and established! The subject of the sentence, riddle-makers, is plural. In fact in the Biblical Hebrew the verb of the sentence is also plural. The plural subject and predicate, according to the rules of grammar must refer to a plurality of people. Hence the paraphrased Rashi comment: Bilam was not the only riddle-maker. Bilam, was not a permanant prophet, but rather an interpreter (Nu22-05) Bilam however aspired to become a prophet. He did this by practicing riddle-making since God spoke to the prophets in riddle-like phrases (Nu12-05.) Apparently Bilam belonged to a school of such riddle-makers. In fact we find an explicit verse Nu24-05...the oration of Bilam, his son [student] was Beor Although Bilam's father was also named Beor (See Nu22-05) Bilam apparently affectionately named his star pupil after his father. It is extremely reasonable to assume that Bilam founded a school of riddle makers who sought by practicing riddles to know the knowledge of heavens and prophecy (Nu24-16)

    To be fair Rashi only says The plural, riddle-speakers, refers to Bilam and Beor. However what I attempted to do above, although speculative and conjectural, does have a basis.
    • I first point out that Bilam was not a prophet.
    • I then conjecture that he used riddle-styles to attempt to know God.
    • Finally I suggest that he founded a school of riddle-speakers since people who attempt to learn things usually gather in schools of people to conduct their research.
    • Based on the above I then suggest that the strange construction, Bilam, his son was Beor probably refers to his star pupil whom he named after his father.
    All these are reasonable assumptions which enrich our understanding of Rashi - it also shows that Rashi was insulting Bilam - Bilam was rather pathetic - he prepared for prophecy by studying childish riddles and thought he knew the wisdom of God.

    4. RASHI METHOD: ALIGNMENT
    BRIEF EXPLANATION: Aligning two almost identically worded verselets can suggest
    • (4a) 2 cases of the same incident or law
    • (4b) emphasis on the nuances of a case
    • (4c) use of broad vs literal usage of words
    This examples applies to Rashis Nu24-13a
    URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1223.htm
    Brief Summary: a) I will not violate the words of the LORD MY GOD b) I will not violate the words of the LORD: RASHI: He knew he sinned and could no longer call God, MY GOD

The table below presents an aligned extract of verses or verselets in Nu24-13, Nu22-18. Both verses/verselets discuss Bilam's refual to violate God's orders. The alignment justifies the Rashi comment that: Note the contrast indicated by the underlined phrases. Initially Bilam thought of himself as the person who connects to God and spoke about my God. After Bilam tried to curse the Jews he realized he misued his spiritual powers and that God was no longer my God. He realized he sinned and had fallen into disfavor. Hence when he quotes himself he leaves out the phrase, My God.

Verse Text of Verse Rashi comment
Nu22-18 ... If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more. Note the contrast indicated by the underlined phrases. Initially Bilam thought of himself as the person who connects to God and spoke about my God. After Bilam tried to curse the Jews he realized he misued his spiritual powers and that God was no longer my God. He realized he sinned and had fallen into disfavor. Hence when he quotes himself he leaves out the phrase, My God.
Nu24-13 If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not go beyond the command of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own mind; but what the Lord said, that will I speak?

Advanced Rashi: Some alignments are more explicit. For example the Decalogue speaks about the prohibition of making vs. having idols thus explicitly indicating two prohibitions: manufacture and possession of idols. By contrast some alignments are more discrete indicating their messages with omissions rather than with explicit contrasts.

I am indebted to Dr. Aviva Zornberg's new book, The Murmuring Deep: Reflections of the Biblical Unconscious, for inspiring the understanding of this Rashi. I was at the launching of this book at Pardes in June a few weeks ago. There professor David Shulman used Indian philosophy to describe Aviva's book as studying silence. The book describes several types of silences and the communications implicit in them. Aviva picked up this theme in her own talk on her book. Using Kabbalistic terminology she distinguished between voice and words Frequently the Biblical text will give voice without words and it is important to understand the implied content. You can google the book title to find reviews or purchase it.

Using these concepts we can see the omission of my God by Bilam as a silence indicating guilt and a sense of failure in his relationship with God. Note that there are emotional overtones to this awareness. Many people prefer to hint at failure - say through silences - rather than admit them outright. So the Biblical communication of this awareness of Bilam through silence is better than say a communication through explicit words. Indeed, the Bible's goal is not to make explicit everything it wishes to communicate. It is important to God to communicate emotions and feelings as well as facts. In this passage God is telling us the very interesting fact that even a wicked person like Bilam felt embarassed and ashamed by his failure; he therefore hinted at his failure through a contrastive silence of omission rather than through explicit statements.

Using the above analysis we can distinguish between the alignments presented in this newsletter and further commentary. The alignment rule points to a contrast indicated by an omission. That is the sole goal of the alignment rule; to uncover such nuances embedded in contrasts. The alignment is the objective component of the Biblical comment. Each commentary and person then uses the uncovered aligned nuances to extract important emotional and moral points that the Bible is trying to communicate.

      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 Nu22-04a Nu36-35
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1223.htm
      Brief Summary: Although Moab and Midyan were enemies they united against the Jews showing that the hatred of Jews overcame their internal hatreds.

The table below presents two contradictory verses. Both verses talk about Moab-Edomite relations. The underlined words highlight the contradiction. One verse says Moab and Midyan were at war while the other verse says Moab sought an alliance with Midyan against their common enemy, the Jews. Which is it? Were Moab and Midyan enemies or allies? Rashi simply resolves this using the 2 Aspects Method method: Moab and Midyan were enemies. But their enmity of the Jews was so great that it dwarfed their hatred and made them allies.

Summary Verse / Source Text of verse / Source
Moab and Midyan were enemies Nu36-35 And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, .... And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Avith. [Rashi: So apparently Midiam had an alliance with Edom against their common enemy, Moab.]
Moab and Midyan were enemies. But their enmity of the Jews was so great that it dwarfed their hatred and made them allies. Nu22-04 And Moab sent to the elders of Midian: Now shall this company lick up all who are around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.
Resolution: 2 Aspects Moab and Midyan were enemies. But their enmity of the Jews was so great that it dwarfed their hatred and made them allies.

Advanced Rashi: This Rashi is modern in flavor with overtones and implications for possible alliances against Israel by nations that were formerly without diplomatic relations. It also sheds light on alliances relating to holocast activities of Nazi Germany.

      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 Nu20-08a
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1223.htm
      Brief Summary: God said GIVE WATER TO THE JEWS AND TO THEIR CATTLE. Rashi: From this we GEENRALIZE and infer that God cares about Jewish property as well as Jewish lives.

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 Nu20-08a discussing God's granting the Jewish request for water states Take the rod, and gather the assembly together, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their cattles drink. The Rabbi Ishmael example rule requires generalization of this passage. In this case we simply generalize from (a) the Jews in the wilderness, (b) their cattle and (c) their need of water to (a) all Jews, (b) their property, and the property's needs: God brings the needs of Jewish property to the Jews.

Advanced Rashi: A simple search engine query shows about 200 Rashis that use the style From this text we learn.... Almost all these Rashis illustrate the Rabbi Ishmael generalization rule. In past years in this email newsletter we have seen illustrated the following Rashis: Bilam took two associates on the journey. Rashi: From this text we learn that a distinguished person should always take two associates. or Moses prayed for the nation. Rashi: From this text we learn that one should pray for somebody who insulted him (the Jews had insulted Moses) if the person apologizes.

On any of these 200 Rashis it is always possible to probe deeper and show further support for the Rashi statement. For example, in this Rashi we can cite a parallel passage where Jews seek water, Ex17-01:07. There although the Jews ask for ...water for us and our cattle the text of the passage where God grants the request only mentions ....water will go out and the nation will drink. Using the alignment method we can see that both passages invovle a request for water for the Jews and their cattle but God's responses are different in the two passages: In one the nation is mentioned while in the other the nation and their cattle. This emphasis indicated by the alignment also justifies that God specifically cares about Jewish property besides caring about Jewish lives. However even with the alignment we need the generalization rule to generalize this passage to all Jews and all property (not just cattle).

      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 Nu24-05a Nu24-05b
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1223.htm
      Brief Summary: a) Jews have beauty in personal dwellings b) Jews have beauty in their Temples

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 indicated bullets by using repeating keywords.

That is, if a modern author wanted to get a point across using bullets - a list of similar but contrastive items - then the Biblical Author would use repeating keywords. Today's verse illustrates this principle.

Bullets whether indicated through modern notation or through the Biblical method of repeating keywords always indicate contrastive emphasis - that is, each bullet is presumed to be a distinct item contrasted to the other items on the list. Very often the bullets are also used to indicate that the entire list of exhaustive of some spectrum.

    Verse(s) Nu24-05b discussing Bilams blessings that the Jewish homes and Temples are good states
  • How good are
    • your tents, Jacob
    • your Temples, Israel.
    The repeated underlined phrase your creates a bullet effect. The bullet effect in turn creates an emphasis on the distinctness of all enumerated items. Rashi interprets the distinctness as follows
    • (1) Jews have good houses: The doors and windows don't face each other facilitating privacy.
    • (2) Jews have good temples - the Priests and sacrifices atone for their sins. And even when destroyed the exile atones.

    Advanced Rashi:
  • Rashi literally says The temples when destroyed atone for the Jews. But that is now what the text says!
  • So I added the underlined phrases: The Jewish Temples have beautiful sacrificial procedures and priests that atone for Jewish sins, and even when the Temple is destroyed the destroyed Temple atones for sins.
  • We can go a step further. Although in the majority of cases the Hebrew Mishkan means Temple its primary meaning is mansion. So a full interpretation of the verse would be as follows:
    • Houses: Poor Jews have good houses, since despite their poverty they preserve privacy.
    • Mansions:
      • Rich Jews have good mansions since they give charity to the poor.
      • The Temple mansions are good since they atone on sins and
      • Even when the Temple mansion is destroyed the pain of exile atones.

But if the latter is the simple meaning of the verse why did Rashi exclusively state the destroyed Temples atone? By doing this Rashi avoids the broader meaning of the text and focuses on exceptional cases (Destroyed temples/exile). I would argue however that the simple meaning of the text - mansions, temples - is clear. Rashi's job was to add meanings not obvious. It is fallacious to assume that the Rashi comment was meant to exhaust the verse's meaning. Rather the Rashi comment was meant to supplement the verse's meaning. Rashi expected the teacher to supplement Rashi's advance meaning with the simple meaning of the text.

This approach - supplement vs exhaust - is fundamental to understanding Rashi and will enrich the Rashi experience of all students of Rashi from young to old and from novice to advanced.

      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 Nu22-09a
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1223.htm
      Brief Summary: God uses conversational styles with many prophets. The conversational openers facilitate repentance. Unfortunately in some prophets they facilitate rebellion. In some they facilitate preparation.

Today we ask the database query: Is God formal or does He use conversation openers to soften people up? The reader is encouraged to perform the query using a standard Biblical Konnkordance or search engine. These database queries yield the list below. The list justifies the following Rashi inference: God does use conversation openers and conversational styles. (1) Some prophets use these conversation openers which soften the confrontation and repent. (2) Some prophets obstinately continue their sin despite the conversation openers. (3) With some people (who did not sin) the conversational chatty style prepares them for a difficult prophecy. The list below presents the results of the database query and show examples

Verse Text of conversation opener Person involved Effect of Conversation opener
Gn04-09 Where is your brother (Abel)? Kayin Further rebellion
Gn03-09 Where are you? Adam Further Rebellion
Nu22-09 Who visited you? Bilam Further Rebellion
Is39-03 Who visited you? Chizkiyahu Repent and prepare for difficult prophecy-exile
Ez37-03 Can bones live? Ezekiel Repent and prepare for difficult prophecy-resurrection
1Sa03-04 Samuel, Samuel? Samuel Repent and prepare for difficult prophecy (Punishment of Eli)
Gn22-02b Take you 1) son, 2) only son, 3) that you love, 4) Isaac Abraham Prepare for difficult task - sacrifice of Isaac
Gn12-01f Leave a) your country, b) your birthplace, c)your fatherland Abraham Prepare for difficult task - exile

Advanced Rashi: The above Rashi is a treat. The Rashi is based upon a Midrash Rabbah. Rashi, in his usual terse style does not bring all examples. I have brought the full Midrash Rabbah to show how Rashi takes an entire Midrash and make a Rashi.

Of special note in this example is the fact that God, Himself,uses conversation openers. Rashi-ists frequently teach us that every word of the Torah must have some hidden deep meaning. This is not so! What is true is that every word is Holy. But holyness should not be equated with lack of redundancy. Redundancy in speech is an important social skill that enables us to maintain social relations. And if verbal redundancy has moral value (for our social relationships) it is a strong reason for God Himself setting an example and showing us how to use conversation openers.

Finally we point out Rashi's sense of humor. Rashi is not, like the Midrash Rabbah, a stuffy professor with elaborate database queries. Rashi also avoids playing the sermonist - that God used conversational openers to get people to repent. After all, Rashi would say, Bilam didn't repent. Indeed, he was evil. How could he repent. So Rashi humourously says God used a conversation opener to make him fail - Bilam would think God is asking the question because He didn't know and further rebel. From a psychological point of view the Rashi gives insights: Bilam was incapable of having a social life. He didn't even recognize a conversation opener when it was given to him. Everything with Bilam was an issue of power. No wonder he failed!

    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 Nu24-07b
    URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w33n24.htm
    Brief Summary: SEEDED ON PLENTIFUL WATERS. Rashi: Plants thrive especially well on watery grounds.

Verse Nu24-07b discussing the blessings of Bilam states Water shall flow from his branches, and his seed shall be on many waters; and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. Rashi comments: Plants especially thrive better in watery grounds. So the intent of the verse is his seed shall thrive especially well.

Since Rashi elucidates the meaning of the verse by citing agricultural facts we classify this Rashi as use of a non-verse method. In fact Rashi's use of agriculture here is modern in flavor, resembling the modern use of archeological findings to clarify the Biblical text. Both are examples of non-verse methods.

      10. RASHI METHOD: SYMBOLISM
      BRIEF EXPLANATION: Rashi provides symbolic interpretations of words, verses, and chapters. Rashi can symbolically interpret either
      • (10a) entire Biblical chapters such as the gifts of the princes, Nu-07
      • (10b) individual items, verses and words
      The rules governing symbolism and symbolic interpretation are presented in detail on my website.

      This examples applies to Rashis Nu24-09a
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1223.htm
      Brief Summary: a) When waging war the Jews resemble the wild bull b) When resting the Jews resemble the lion.

    Verses Nu24-08:09 presenting the blessings of Bilam to the Jewish people state
    • God brought him out of Egypt; the strength of a wild bull is his; he eats up the nations that are his enemies, and breaks their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.
    • He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion. Who shall stir him up? Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you.
    Rashi comments on the animal symbolism: Note the contrast that military activity is compared to that of the wild bull, while tranquil nesting - couching, laying down - is compared to that of a lion. There is an emphasis that even during periods of rest, the nation commands the respect due a great military power.

Advanced Rashi: There is advanced symbolism here. The lion, in secular poetry is typically the symbol of military prowess. But the Torah asks, And what do you do when you have won? Jews are not interested in leading a military life. The ability to dwell in power without fear of worrying about the next war is an important blessing (and relevant to the current modern situation).

Conclusion

This week's parshah contains examples examples of all Rashi methods. Visit the RashiYomi website at http://www.Rashiyomi.com and http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule.htm for further details and examples.