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 Ex10-13a URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1324.htm Brief Summary: (Ex10-13a) ...An EAST WIND carried the locust RASHI: The locust came FROM Israel to EGYPT which was in the SOUTHWEST of Israel (Nu34-03:05)

Verse Ex10-13a discussing the 8th plague, the locusts, states And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and HaShem brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. Rashi notes that the underlined words, east wind references verses Nu34-03:05 discussing the southern borders of Israel. Hence the Rashi comment Verse Ex10-13a states that the locusts were brought from Israel to Egypt by an east wind. This references Nu34-03:05 which describes the southern border of Israel and explicitly states that Egypt is on the southwest of Israel (and hence an Eastern wind is needed to transport locusts there).

Text of Target Verse Ex10-13a	Text of Reference Verse Nu34-03:05
And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and HaShem brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.	Then the Negev quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the border of Edom, and your south border shall be the end of the Sea of Salt on the east; (K) And your border shall turn from the Negev to Maale-Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin; and its limits shall be from the south to Kadesh-Barnea, and shall go on to Hazar-Addar, and pass on to Azmon; And the border shall turn from Azmon to the brook of Egypt and the limits shall be at the sea.
Rashi comments: Verse Ex10-13a states that the locusts were brought from Israel to Egypt by an east wind. This references Nu34-03:05 which describes the southern border of Israel and explicitly states that Egypt is on the southwest of Israel (and hence an Eastern wind is needed to transport locusts there).

A diagrammatic illustration of Israel's southern border, further clarifying this Rashi, may be found below in rule #9, NonVerse.

The special word method deals with the few dozen special connective words that exist in all languages. Familiar examples are also, when, that, if, then, all, because, only, this,.... These words are typically
• adverbs such as all,also or connective words, either
• conjunctions such as if, then, because or
• articles or demonstrative or abstract pronouns such as the, this, that or
• propositional connectives such as in,on,to,from.
Rashi's job, when he comments on a special connective words, is to enumeratively list the nuances and usages of the word.

The most famous example of the special word method is the Hebrew word Kaph Yud which can mean because, that, when, perhaps, rather, if. Sometimes Rashi explicitly gives all meanings of a connective word as happens with Kaph Yud while at other times Rashi does not give all meanings at once. In such a case the Rashi student must gather all the meanings together from various places.

One can classify the special word method as either a meaning sub-method or grammar sub-method.

Today we deal with the Hebrew special word Kuph-Lamed which can have any of the following meanings.
• all, even borderline cases for example, Nu14-01a The whole nation rebelled, [even the leaders]
• all, any part for example, Lv21-11b don't define to the whole dead body[even to organs]
• all groups for example, Gn06-12a All creatures [even non-human animals] had become corrupt
• all, emphasizing, no exceptions for example, Gn19-04b all people [without exception] in Sedom gathered (for the rape)

Applying this rule to the translation of Ex12-48b we obtain And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to HaShem, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land; all uncircumcised people [Rashi: Even if they were uncircumcised, not because of rebellion against God, but because of legitimate medical reasons] shall not eat it. As is our practice we have embedded the Rashi translation in the verse.

Most people are aware that Hebrew verbs come from three-letter roots. Each root is conjugated in the 8 dimensions of person, gender,plurality, tense, activity, modality, direct-object, and prepositional connective. For example the root Shin Mem Resh means to watch. The conjugations Shin-Mem-Resh-Tauv-Yud and Nun-Shin-Mem-Resh-Nun-Vav mean I watched and we were watched respectively.

The rules for Hebrew grammar are carefully described in many modern books and are well known. Rashi will sometimes comment when a verse is using a rare conjugation of an odd grammatical form.

When presenting grammatical Rashis my favorite reference is the appendix in volume 5 of the Ibn Shoshan dictionary. This very short appendix lists most conjugations.

Verse Ex10-02b discussing God's treatment of the Egyptian states and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, how I have mocked Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them; that ye may know that I am HaShem.' Rashi translates the Biblical word Hey-Tauv-Ayin-Lamed-Lamed-Tauv-Yud, HithAllalTi, as coming from the Biblical root Ayin-Lamed-Lamed which means to do, to act. We have conveniently embedded the Rashi comment in the translation of the verse. The conjugation rule governing this Biblical word may be found by using tables 1 or 4 (Table 10 does not apply) in the Ibn Shoshan dictionary for the interactive mode (HiTPael). In the interactive (Hitpael) mode, this root means interactive action, mocking (interactively responding to each action of the target victim with a similar action).

The table below presents an aligned extract of verses in Ex13-09c, Ex13-16 Both verses discuss the obligation to place Tefillin on the left hand. The alignment justifies the Rashi assertion that The Tefillin must be placed on the handlet - the weaker hand which in most people is the left hand.

Verse	Text of Verse	Rashi comment
Ex13-09c	And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the law of HaShem may be in thy mouth; for with a strong hand hath HaShem brought thee out of Egypt.	The underlined words require that the Tefillin be placed on presumably any hand.
Ex13-16	and it shall be a sign upon your handlet ....	The word handlet never occurs in the Bible. The contrastive alignment with hand suggests a coined term meaning the weaker hand. Hence the requirement is to place tefillin on the left hand.

Advanced Rashi: The actual aligned Hebrew words are Yud-Daleth-Caph vs. Yud-Daleth-Caph-Hey. A terminal hey in Hebrew indicates a feminine or weaker form. This explains the Rashi comment: the weaker hand, the left hand.

English however has no letter indicating the feminine. To mimic the Hebrew we used the let suffix: hand-handlet. The purpose of this construction was to give the feel underlying the Rashi.

The table below presents two contradictory verses/verselets. Both verses speak about the remaining miracles after the 9th plague. The underlined words highlight the contradiction. One verse/verselet says I will bring only one more plague, while the other verse/verselet says I will multiply by miracles in Egypt. We see the contradiction Which is it? After the 9th plague will there be one more plague or many more miracles? Rashi simply resolves this using the 2 Aspects method: After the 9th plague there was one more plague; but there were many more miracles (such as the miracles by the Reed Sea or the miracle of the Manna).

Summary	Verse / Source	Text of verse / Source
I will bring only one more plague on Egypt	Ex11-01a	And the Lord said to Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go from here; when he shall let you go, he shall certainly thrust you out from here altogether. became a nation.
I will multiply [many] miracles in Egypt.	Ex11-09	And the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh shall not listen to you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.
Resolution:	2 Aspects	After the 9th plague there was one more plague; but there were many more miracles (such as the miracles by the Reed Sea or the miracle of the Manna).

Certain Biblical paragraphs are stated in a Theme-Development form. In other words a broad general idea is stated first followed by the development of this broad general theme in specific details. The Theme-Detail form creates a unified paragraph and consequently the law or narrative statement only applies to the enumerated details but not to other cases. Today's example illustrates this as shown below.

Verses Ex12-46c discussing the requirement of eating the Pascal lamb: states
• General: It shall be consumed in one house
• Detail:
  • Don't take any meat outside
  • Don't break any [meaty] bones
The general clause states it will be consumed in one house and could mean that besides consuming the meat one must consume the marrow inside the bones. The detail clause provides specificity to the general clause and describes how it should be interpreted: Although you must consume all meat you need not break bones to expose the marrow and eat it.

Advanced Rashi: This Rashi is based on the Mechiltah which forms the basis for the Talmudic passages in Pesachim 85, 95. The Talmud adds complexity to the exegesis by bringing in an identical verse repeated in Nu09. The Talmud actually makes several inferences. My way of taking the Talmudic exegesis is as follows:
• Eat all meat of the Passover sacrifice (Ex12-08)
• But don't break bones to eat the marrow inside (Ex12-46c)
• Don't break bones with meat on the outside (since nothing should be leftover) (Nu09-12)
• It is permissable to break bones which neither have meat inside nor outside (General-Detail).

We ask the following database query: How does the Bible describe children asking about the Exodus. 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: There are 4 places in the Torah where children are spoken to about the Exodus.
• Cynical inquiry: When your son says what is this service
• Simple inquiry: When your son asks what is this
• Wise inquiry: When your son asks what are the testimonials, statutes and laws..
• Apathetic: .......Tell him [no inquiry]
As can be seen the cynical son says vs asks his question. The simple son uses the simple description this while the wise son gives details, testimonials, statutes, and laws.In summary the 4 inquiry types can be inferred from the two parameters of a) inquiry word (ask, say) and b) the detail level of question. The list below presents the results of the database query.

Verse	Inquiry type	Approximate text of verse	Inquiry word	Detail descriptor
Ex12-25:28	Cynical	When your children say to you ...what is this service	Say	Service
Ex13-14:16	Simple	When your child asks you...what is this	Asks	This
Dt06-20:25	Wise	When your child asks you ...what are these testimonials, statutes, and laws	Asks	Testimonials, statutes, and laws
Ex13-01:10	Apathetic	......tell him as follows	[no inquiry]	[no inquiry]

Todays Rashi presents a map, a geographical description, of Israeli geography and the surrounding (Biblical countries). The map is presented below and appropriate footnotes outline Rashi's comment. Because Rashi clarifies diagrammatic material we classify this Rashi as non-Verse. We have explained the Rashi Ex10-13a using two methods: The NonVerse method and the reference method. We have begun the explanation of this Rashi above in rule #1, reference.

===========================================================
MAP OF SOUTHERN BORDER OF ISRAEL (Nu34-03:05)
=========================================================== 
'  Great  |        ISRAEL        |
'  Sea    |                      |Salt
'         |                      |Sea
'         |                      |
'         |                      |
'         |Egypt River           |
' -------------------------------|            
'                Kadesh Barnaya       EDOM
' EGYPT
'
'
'                 Sinai
'                 Peninsula
'                              Ezion Geber
'

Verses Nu34-03:05 states the following
• The Salt Sea and Edom define the South-East border of Israel Nu34-03
• Kadesh Barnaya, the Egyptian River and the Great Sea define the South-West border of Israel Nu34-04:05.

The above picture shows that Egypt is on the South-West of Israel. Hence God transported locusts from Israel to Egypt via an Eastern wind (Ex10-13a) which brought the locusts to the South-West Egyptian-Israel border.