The 10 RashiYomi Rules
Their presence in Rashis on Parshat ToLeDoTh
Vol 19#8 - Adapted from Rashi-is-Simple 
(c) RashiYomi Incorporated, Dr. Hendel President, Nov. 15th, 2012
For the full copyright statement see the Appendix

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GOALS
The goal of the Weekly Rashi Digest is to use the weekly Torah portion to expose students at all levels to the ten major methods of Rashi's commentary. Continual weekly exposure to these ten major methods facilitate the acquisition, familiarity, and facility with the major exegetical methods. This year, 2012-2013, we are concentrating on the grammar rule. We acknowledge benefitting from Dr. Isseroff's book, An Introduction to Rashi's Grammatical Explanations in the Book of Genesis, 1985, Published by the Torah Education Department of World Zionist Organization, MP Press Inc, ISBN 965-222-049-3. For a full  lightning statement of all Rashi rules see the Appendix.

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Plural vs. Singular Sunday November 18, 2012

All languages have the capacity to indicate plurality - many vs one:
•	In English, the plural is indicated by a terminal s: For example, apples, would indicate many apples.
•	In Hebrew, the plural can be indicated by a terminal mem, or in the case of the Hebrew construct, by a terminal yud.

A very important exegetical point is being made here: Skeptics tend to ridicule inference of meaning from one letter or character as being far fetched and homiletic. But we see in the just-mentioned English example that certain rules of grammar naturally motivate meaning differences based on one-character - for example the "s" in "apples". The important issue therefore, is not how many characters drive the exegesis but rather the grammaticity of the inference.

Example 1: Gn25-25c, Gn25-26c
Notice the shift in plurality in the following two verses describing the birth of twins, Jacob and Esauv, to our Matriarch Rivkah.
•	The firstt infant came out ruddy like a hairy cloak, ...and they named him [already] Made
•	Afterwards his brother came with his hand grabbing Esauv's heal...and he named him WillHeel.

In translating these biblical veses I have captured the nuances of the Hebrew names
•	Esauv, literally, Made [he was already with hair and ruddy complexion]
•	Jacob, literally, Will Grab a Heel,

Rashi::
•	Esauv (Made) was so nicknamed by everybody as indicated by the plural they named him
•	Contrastively, Jacob (WillHeel) was so named only by his father, as indicated by the singular, he named him.
 
Transitive vs. Intransitive Verbs Monday November 19, 2012
 
All languages distinguish between transitive and intransitive verbs. Knowing the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs facilitates reading comprehension.

A verb is a word that refers to some type of activity.
•	Typically someone does the activity; that someone is called the grammatical subject of the verb
•	Sometimes the activity denoted by the verb is done to something; that something is called the object of the verb.
•	Sometimes however the activity denoted by the verb is not done to anything.

When an activity, denoted by a verb,
•	Is done to something, denoted by the object of the verb, we call the verb, transitive
•	Is not done to anything, we call the verb intransitive.

Some examples from English are as follows:
•	Transitive verbs: I ate the apple; She watched the TV show; We read the book
•	Intransitive verbs: I am walking; He yawned; She is sleeping; He is tall.
Note especially the last example: He is tall. Technically, tall is not an object. It is not something to which the activity (indicated by the verb is) is done. Rather it indicates an attribute (tallness) of the subject: He is tall. A word that indicates an attribute is called a participle.

The following example show how Rashi used his knowledge of transitive and intransitive verbs to facilitate a nuanced reading of the biblical text.

Example: Gn27-45
Background: Yaakov had just stolen the blessing belonging to Esauv from his father Isaac. Esauv was furious and wanted to kill Jacob. Rivkah, their mother found out that Esauv wanted to kill Jacob and therefore is counseling him to flee to a different location until Esauv's anger subsides.
Rivkah points out that if Jacob doesn't flee there might be deaths.
Biblical text: [Rivkah speaking] Why should I be become bereft? [From] both of you! In one day!
Rashi: The verb bereft is an intransitive verb. That is, Rivkah was not berefting Jacob and Esauv, but rather, she was becoming bereft from Jacob and Esauv. We therefore read the verse with an elliptical from.

Rashi's point has a philosophical subtlety. Rivkah was addressing Jacob after receiving the blessings ffrom Esauv. She in effect told Jacob: Do not think that the blessings will protect you from Esauv if he attacks you and that you will be victorious.

One Character Suffixes Tuesday November 20, 2012

In our weekly Rashi on Bereishith we saw that the addition of one character at the end of a sentence changes the meaning of that sentence from a statement to a question. Here is an example. 
•	"You walked to the store in the rain."
•	"You walked to the store in the rain?"

A very important exegetical point is being made here: Skeptics tend to ridicule inference of meaning from one letter or character as being far fetched and homiletic. But we see in the just-mentioned English example that certain rules of grammar naturally motivate meaning differences based on one-character. The important issue therefore, is not how many characters drive the exegesis but rather the grammaticity of the inference.

Several other examples of grammatical change in meaning based on one character were also presented in the Bereishith digest:
•	The difference between a proper and improper noun is indicated in English by the word the, but is indicated in Hebrew by the prefix letter hey.
•	The difference between plural and singular in both English and Hebrew is indicated by a one character suffix, s, in English (in Hebrew it is indicated by a two-character suffix).

As indicated in a past issue, in biblical Hebrew, the question is indicated not by a character - a question mark - at the end of the sentence, but rather by a letter - hey - at the beginning of the sentence. By prefixing the hey to the first word in the sentence the sentennce becomes a question rather than a statement.

Today we have a similar one-character rule which however has no parallel in English. Rashi:  Suffix hey at the end of a word meaning a place, indicates a motion towards that place.

Example 1:
Thus Gn14-10b:
•	they fled to the mountain would use the Hebrew word har for mountain; 
•	they fled towards the mountain would use the Hebrew word herah, har with a suffix hey.

Example 2 (this weeks parshah):
Rashi makes a similar point at Gn28-02b: Go towards Paden-Aram (Padenah-Aram), towards uncle Bethuel's household (baythah).

Example 3:
Rashi makes a similar point at Gn34-02b: Jacob sent angels before him to Esauv his brother, towards Seir land (artzah Seir) in the Edomite fields.

Rashi does not comment on every suffix hey meaning place. 
•	He commented on Gn14-10b to introduce the rule.
•	 He commented on Gn28-02b to extend the rule to cases when the place is indicated by a hyphenated word. 

Rashi in his comment on Gn28-02b extends this suffix hey rule by indicating that 
•	The suffix hey is placed on the first, word: padenAH aram.
But not on the second, word: The following is incorrect: paden aramAH.

Rashi's Near-Miss Method Wednesday November 21. 2012
 
Rashi lived before Grammar Textbooks, as we know them today, were available. 
•	Today you can purchase many types of Grammar books. Using these books you can learn all about verbs, their conjugations, plurality, gender and pronomial suffixes.
•	In Rashi’s time such books were rare. Furthermore, the few grammar books that did exist were not written in a student friendly manner that facilitated learning.
Hence, one of Rashi’s primary jobs in his commentary was to teach grammar. 

Rashi used an ingenious pedagogic technique, the method of near misses, to teach grammar. Basically the near-miss method requires the teacher to teach grammar, not using tables, as is currently done in modern grammar textbooks, but rather, using grammatical pairs which are identical in almost all features except one or two. Rashi then teaches the difference in meaning between these two items. I call this method the near miss method since the two forms almost equal each other and nearly miss equality. The term near miss is borrowed from the computer science artificial intelligence literature. The near miss method is a powerful method and I am surprised it is not used in more textbooks.

There are two examples of the near miss method in today's parshah. These examples will also be of interest to those who consider themselves proficient in Hebrew grammar.

Example 1: Gn27-12a
Background: Rivkah counsels her son Jacob  to disguise himself as Esauv in order to obtain (actually to steal) the blessings Esauv is to receive  from Isaac. Jacob protests that he may get caught and be cursed instead of blessed.
Biblical text: [Jacob speaking] Perhaps my father will feel me [Jacob being smooth skinned while Esauv, who hunted alot, was rough skinned] and I will appear to be mocking him; I would then bring upon myself a curse instead of a blessing.
Rashi: The following two conjugations differ in the "uh" vs "oo" sound.
•	Root Mem Shin Shin, to feel, which is conjugated Ye Mush Shay ni
•	Root Mem Vav Shin, to pursh aside, which is conjugated, Ye Moo Shay ni.
So Jacob was worried about Isaac feeling him, not about being pushed aside.

In passing we comment on the science of Hebrew grammar. Many people think there are thousands of biblical examples supporting every conjugation form. However, many conjugations are only justified by a few verses. The form for  Ye Mush Shay ni,
•	Prefix yud - first radical letter - second/third  radical letter (with dagesh indicating doubling) -suffix nun yud
this form only occurs in one other place, Psalm 139:13.
The form Ye moo Shay ni,
•	Prefix yud - first radical letter - vav - third  radical letter -suffix nun yud
this form occurs in only three places (Job 8:7,10:16 and Psalm 139:11). 

In obtaining these statistics I benefitted from Moshe Silberman's Grammatical Konkordance, form entries, 1805 and 1720.

Example 2:  Gn25-22
Biblical text:  [Describing Rivkah's pregnancy] states, The  [twin children] yitrotz tz e tzu.
Rashi:  The conjugation VaYithRotzTzeTzu could equally reflect
•	A root Resh -Vav-Tzade, to run, and would indicate the infants competing in leaving the womb
•	A root Resh-Tazde-Tzade, to destroy, and would indicate the infants fighting with each other.

Note the subtlety that Rashi is not giving homiletic and simple meanings of the text. Rather, Rashi is pointing out the intrinsic ambiguity of the conjugational form and the very real possibility that the verse could have two equally valid simple meanings.

Again we emphasize the paucity of biblical material supporting these forms. The Silberman Grammatical Konkordance only gives two other examples of this conjugation in the Bible:
(Form 4558: 1K 18:28, Chavakok 3:6).
 
One Character Suffixes Thursday November 22, 2012

What is the difference between 
•	"You walked to the store in the rain."
•	"You walked to the store in the rain?"

There is a 
•	difference in form, and a
•	difference in meaning.

The differences are as follows:
•	Form: One sentence ends in a period while the other ends in a question mark
•	Meaning: One sentence is a declarative statement while the other is a question.

Biblical Hebrew  has a similar rule for transforming declarative sentences
into interrogative questions.
•	English: You indicate a question by changing the terminal punctuation mark to a question mark
•	Hebrew: You indicate a question by prefixing the Hebrew letter hey punctuated with a chataf-patach to the first word in the sentence.

A very important exegetical point is being made here: Skeptics tend to ridicule inference of meaning from one letter or character as being far fetched and homiletic. But we see in the just-mentioned English example that certain rules of grammar naturally motivate meaning differences based on one-character. The important issue therefore, is not how many characters drive the exegesis but rather the grammaticity of the inference.
Rashi, who lived at a time when Hebrew grammar books were not accessible, saw as one of his goals in his commentary to introduce students to rules of grammar. Hence Rashi makes comments on the following biblical sentences which indicate the interrogative.

Here are several Rashi comments exploring this interrogative hey rule.

Example 1: Gn04-09c
Biblical Text: [Kayin, who just murdered his brother Hevel, responds to God's question, "Where is your brother", by stating] (Gn04-09c) I am my brother's watcher?" Rashi: Because of the prefix hey this is really a question not a statement. It should be translated, "Am I my brother's watcher?"

In this example, Rashi introduces the basic prefix hey for interrogative rule.

Example 2: Gn18-17
Biblical Text: And God said: I am concealing from Abraham what I am doing? Rashi: The prefix hey at the beginning of the sentence indicates that this is a question not a declaration.

An important point is being made here. Normally, 
•	A prefix hey punctuated with a patach indicates the English word the.
•	A prefix hey punctuated with a chataf patach indicates the interrogative.

Rashi brings comments on this example to introduce the rules for rarer cases when the interrogative hey is puctuated with a patach, not a chataf-patach. This corresponds to the following important subrule about the interrogative hey: 
•	To indicate the interrogative you usually prefix a hey with a chataf patach to the first word of the sentence
•	To indicate the interrogative when the first word of the sentence begins with a shva you prefix a hey with an ordinary patach. In this case there is no difference between hey as meaning the and hey as meaning the interrogative (since they both have the same form). Rather, meaning must be inferred from context.

Example 3: Gn27-38
Biblical Text: [Esauv, who just found out that Jacob received the blessings from Isaac. Esauv asks his father] You have a blessing? father. Rashi: Because of the prefix hey, this is really a question, not a statement. The verse should be translated: "Don't you have at least a blessing for me, father?"

Rashi brings comments on this example for an extremely rare exceptional rule about the interrogative hey that is not brought in textbooks.
The interrogative is always indicated with a prefix hey. However, the pronunciation is 
•	A chataf-patach, normally
•	A patcah, before a word beginning with a shva, with the following word taking a dagesh --- so e.g. HABbemachanim (Here the "b" of "bemachanim" receives a dagesh which requires a doubling of the letter, haB-Bemachanim.)
A patach before a word beginning with a shva, with the following word not taking a dagesh if the second letter of that word is gutteral. Hence we have ha-ve-ra-chah instead of hab-be-ra-chah. 
APPENDIX
THE 10 RASHI RULE CATEGORIES / THE 30 RASHI RULES
Copyright 2001, Rashiyomi Inc., Dr Hendel President, www.Rashiyomi.com/rules-01.htm
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I-REFERENCE: Dt26-05d We went down to Egypt with a few people explained by Gn46-27: with 70 people
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II-MEANING / Lexicography / Dictionary:  EXAMPLE (Connectives) KI means IF,PERHAPS,RATHER,BECAUSE,WHEN,THAT (Rashi on Gn18-15a Gn24-33a  ) EXAMPLE (Nuances): YDA means FAMILIAR, not KNOW (eg Dt34-10a) eg Gn04-01 Adam was FAMILIAR with his wife EXAMPLE (Idioms) ON THE FACE OF means DURING THE LIFETIME (Rashi on Nu03-04a Gn11-28a Ex20-03c Dt05-07a) EXAMPLE (Synonyms) Marchesheth means  pot; Machavath means frying pan (Lv02-05a, 07a) EXAMPLE (Hononyms) SHAMAH can mean listen, hear, understand: (Gn42-23a) They didn't appreciate that Joseph understood them (Note: They knew he was listening) EXAMPLE (Metonomy) (Lv02-11a) Don't offer ...any honey as sacrifices RASHI: honey includes any sweet fruit juice
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III-GRAMMAR:  EXAMPLE: BA-ah means CAME;ba-AH means COMING(Gn46-26a) 
EXAMPLE: Hitpael conjugation has different rules if 1st root letter is Tzade (Gn44-16a) 
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IV-PARALLELISM: (Ex20-04) Dont POSSESS the gods of others Dont MAKE idols RASHI: So both POSSESSion & MAKING of idols are prohibited
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V-CONTRADICTION: (Nu04-03, Nu08-24a)Levites start Temple work at 25;  Levites start temple work at 30. RASHI: They apprentice at 25 but start actual service at 30.
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VI-STYLE: RABBI ISHMAEL RULES: EXAMPLE: (Simple verses should be generalized): (Rashi Pesachim 6) (Dt25-04a) Dont MUZZLE an OX while THRESHING RASHI: Dont STOP any WORKING ANIMAL from eating  
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VII-FORMATTING:  EXAMPLE (BOLD indicated by Repetition): Ex12-09c) COOK COOK it in water (So COOKED-COOKED is understood the same way bold is understood by modern reader) RASHI: Prefered to COOK it in water; But COOK it at all costs(Even if you dont have water) EXAMPLE: (BULLETS indicated by Repeating keywords) (Ex03-11a) Who am I - THAT I should go to Pharaoh - THAT I should take the Jews out of Egypt  RASHI: Repeated word THAT creates BULLET effect - Pharoh was a difficult king (Bullet one) - Jews were not yet ready for freedom (Bullet two) EXAMPLE (Climax assumed in any Biblical list): (Dt19-11a) If a man HATES, SPIES, CONFRONTS & KILLS. RASHI: Bible identifies 4 stages to murder(indicated by capped words
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VIII-DATABASE: EXAMPLE: God spoke to Moses to say over introduces about 7 dozen biblical commandments; God spoke to Aaron to say over only introduces 2 commandments. RASHI: (Lv10-03b) Aaron was silent when his sons died because they served in the Temple drunk; hence he merited that the commandment prohibiting priests to work in the Temple drunk, was given to him
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IX-NON VERSE: EXAMPLE: (Use of Algebra)(Ex38-26b) Temple donations of silver were 100 Kikar and 1775 Shekel from 630,550 half-shekels RASHI: So one Kikar of silver = 3000 Shekel.
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X: SYMBOLISM: EXAMPLE: (Use of puns) (NuXX-XX) Moses made a copper snake for people to look up to when bitten by snakes (so they should pray and recover) RASHI: (Nu21-09a) The Hebrew root for copper and snake are identical (Cf. The English copperhead) Moses  made the metal snake copper colored to symbolize the snake