The 10 RashiYomi Rules
Their presence in Rashis on Parshat KiTissah-VaYaQayl-Pequday
Vol 19#22 - Adapted from Rashi-is-Simple 
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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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Verbs - Conjugation DAILY RASHI: Sunday March 3, 2013

 Hebrew 
•	Consists of three-letter-roots. 
•	The roots are conjugated by adding letters before (prefixes) and after (suffixes) the root. 
•	Each conjugation is referred to as a Binyan (a construction). 
•	Each Binyan has its own characteristic meanings.

The standard grammatical explanation of the difference in meaning between the active and causative mode are as follows
•	Qal – active – the activity done by the person
•	Hifil – causative – causing someone else to do the activity

Applying this to the biblical root, Qaph-Hey-Lamed we have 
•	Qal - Active – to congregate
•	Hifil - causative – to summon a town meeting (to cause to congregate)

Hence the use of the Hifil at Ex35-01 is translated as follow by Rashi:
Moses summoned a congregational meeting and said to them: These are the things that God commanded to do.
 
REFERENCES

A standard classical reference work on Hebrew grammar is Gesenius' grammer. There is an entire chapter devoted to hitpael and its half dozen meanings. In elementary school we teach that it means reflexive; this is one of its meanings but there are others.

[1] W. Gesenius, (T.J Conant translator, Corrections  and additions by E. Rodiger)
"Hebrew Grammar, 17th edition," D Appleton and Company, NY: 1875 Chapter 54

Verbs - Active and Passive Voice Daily Rashi: Monday Mar 4 2013 
 
All languages have the capacity to express concepts in the active or passive voice. Here are some simple examples in English.
•	Active: I ate the apple
•	Passive: The apple was eaten by me.
Both these sentences describe identical scenes. They however differ in style. 

Style conveys extra nuances of meaning. A skilled author can use style to indicate things not explictly stated in the text.  There is no one set of rules for style. As we go through the year we will tune our ears to the various nuance implicit in use of active and passive. We present below a Rashi on today's Parshah.

Today we explore an example where the passive and active have totally different meanings.

The biblical root, Caph-lamed-Aleph means
-	To jail, in the active mode
-	To restrain, stop in the passive mode.

Thus Ex36-06 states They issued a message throughout the camp, “No person need perform any further craftsmanship for the Temple and the nation was restrained from bringing. 

Of course the root Caph-Lamed-Aleph might simply have two meanings. However, Rashi’s approach was to emphasize the unity in diverse meanings:
-	A jail, restrains a person from movement
-	Hence the passive form of the root Caph-Lamed-Aleph, means to be restrained.

For a delightful discussion on the difference between approaches of maximizing the number of meanings of a biblical root vs. minimizing meanings (finding an underlying unity) see the reference below.
 
REFERENCES

Richard C. Steiner, Saadia vs. Rashi: On the Shift from Meaning-Maximalism to Meaning-Minimalism in MedievalBiblical Lexicology  The Jewish Quarterly Review, New Series, Vol. 88, No. 3/4 (Jan. - Apr., 1998), pp.213-258 

Denominatives  Daily Rashi: Tuesday Mar 5, 2013

All languages have the capacity to change a noun, naming an object, into a verb naming an activity. Grammarians call this a denominative. Here are some common examples from English as well as two Rashis.

Example From this week’s Parshah
Example 10: To leaf means to cover with leafs. Here the verb to leaf (Sacotha) comes from the noun leafs, bush, coverings (Sechach). Then using the synendoche figure of speech which says honey can refer to anything sweet, and bread can refer to any food, we infer that sacotha (to leaf) refers to any type of loose covering. Rashi applies this to Ex40-03 and leaf the ark cover over the ark.
 
The experienced Hebrew speaker will note that sacotha does not exactly mean covering with leafs. It actually refers to covering with leafy branches the type of covering used in the Succah holiday.

Example 1:
To hammer means to use the hammer in its typical way. Here the verb to hammer comes from the noun, hammer.

Example 2: 
To flower means to produce flowers. Here the verb to flower comes from the noun, flower.

Example 3:
To dust means to remove dust. Here the verb to dust comes from the noun dust. Hence from the word Deshen, referrring to animal ash, Rashi infers that the verbal LeDashno is a denominative meaning to ash, that is to remove the ash. The verbal form occurs in Ex27-03b in a discussion of utensils of the Temple altar.

Rashi notes the contrast that the same verb can give rise to contrastive denominatives: For example Ps80-10 speaks about flowers taking root while Job31:12 speaks about uprooting flowers. The driving force here is the Piel (intenstive mode) which frequently has a connotation of negation.

Example 4: 
Ex28-14b discussing the making of the Chosen states And make two bordered chains of pure gold, twisted like cords, and fasten the corded chains to the fixtures. Rashi explains that bordered is a passive denominative indicating chains placed on the borders or ends of chosen (to attach them to the main garment).

Example 5:
To right means to go to the right. Here the verb to right comes from the noun right. A similar analysis applies to the meaning of to left. This is a Rashi comment on Gn13-09 which should be translated as follows: [Abraham to Lot, when Abraham asked him to part from him] If [you go] to the left, I will right; if [you go] to the right, I will left.
Notice how all English translations avoid this punchy denominative which adds flavor to the verse.

Example 6 Gn01-22b (from parshat Breishith) 
To be fruitful means to have many children like a tree producing many fruit.Here the verb to be fruitful comes from the noun fruit and indicates an important attribute of fruit, the large number of fruit produced by each tree (Rashi: Gn01-22b)

Example 7 Gn05-28a:
From the noun, children, we derive the verb, to build a household (Rashi: Gn05-28a). Rashi's perspective is interesting here. We might erroneously translate the Hebrew word Bayit as meaning house. Rashi actually translates it meaning household. Rashi's translation is extremely precise: Compare the use of Bayit in Gn 45-02: "And word was heard in Pharoh's household that Joseph's brother's had come." As Rashi observes, "The house did not hear; rather the household heard."
 
Example 8,9: Ex01-07 (from Parshat Shemoth) Gn48-16c  
From the nouns insects and fish we derive the verbs to insectify (in English, to swarm), and to fishify; both these verbs refer to producing many children since both insects and fish tend to reproduce alot. Contrastively, fruits on trees, appear in clusters of 3 or 4 at a time. Hence the denominatives
•	to be fruitful - indicates the verb for normal reproduction
•	to swarm or to fishify - indicates the verb for excessive reproduction (large families).

This denominative illustrates a major literary method of figures of speech, common in all languages. The method is called synechdoche. Synechdoche refers to naming something by a good example of it. Some common examples of synechdoche are
•	naming sweets, honey (honey is a good example of sweets)
•	naming the 24 hour day, day (day, the 12-hour period, is a good example of the 24 hour period)
•	referring to food, using the term bread (bread is a good example of food).
•	similarly, to insectify (swarm) or to fishify names excessive reproduction by species (insects, fish) that are good examples of excessive reproduction.

Synechdoche, like other figures of speech, is a method common to all languages and is used extensively by Rashi.

Comment: Rashi on Ex01-06 literally says on the biblical text they insectified (swarmed) as follows: They had 6 children at a time. This has led some Rashi commentators to erroneously attribute this Rashi to the 6 words in the text: The Jews were (i) fruitful, and (ii) insectified (swarmed), (iii) they multiplied and they became (iv) very (v) very (vi) strong (in numbers). These Rashi commentators argue that Rashi's comment was not the simple meaning of the text but rather a pun: Rashi derives They gave birth to six children at a time from the six adverbs and verbs in the verse.

This is rediculous. For example, Moses' father, Amram, only had 3 children (Moses, Aaron and Miryam) not 6. All Rashi comments are rooted in the simple meaning of the text. The simple meaning of the text is that Rashi is commenting on the verb insectify and explaining that it means excessive reproduction.  We can reformulate this abstractly by using the modern concept of the denominative.

However Rashi chose to phrase the form of his comment as a pun. Instead of saying The word insectify means excessive reproduction  Rashi instead says They had six children at a time. The truth is however this is a pun in form not in content. Not all Jews had six children (as evidenced by Amram). However, overall the Jews had an excessive birth rate.

Verbs   Daily Rashi Wednesday Mar 6 2013

 What is the difference between the following English sentences.
•	I ate the apple.
•	I am eating the apple.
•	I eat apples
•	I will eat the apple.
•	I had eaten the apple.

The above sentences show a difference in both
•	Form and
•	Meaning. 

The differences in form, actually the form of the verb, is indicated by the underline. The sentences differ in when the apple was eaten, that is, at what time relative to the present moment was the apple eaten.
•	Past: I ate the apple.
•	Present: I am eating the apple.
•	Habitual Present: I eat apples
•	Future: I will eat the apple.
•	Past Perfect: I had eaten the apple.

We refer to the time when a verb or activity was done as the tense of the verb. For example, a past tense means the activity was done formerly, that is, in the past.

But what is the difference between
•	Present: I am eating the apple.
•	Habitual Present: I eat apples?

The difference is as follows:
•	The present refers to a one-time activity being done now;  
•	The habitual present refers to a habit of mine - for example, it might mean that I eat apples instead of oranges for breakfast. Or it might mean that when I snack I eat apples. It refers to an activity that periodically recurs. This activity refers to things done in both the past, present and future. We call it the habitual present because a habit is a prototype of something done in the past, present and future.

Notice how in English each tense has its own distinct form corresponding to that meaning. English is a rich language with 14 tenses. We refer to the form of a verb as its conjugation. 

So a grammarian would say that in English each tense has its own distinct conjugation by which the grammarian would mean that for each intention of meaning - past, present, future, etc. - there is one specific form that you should use.

By contrast, Hebrew only has 2 conjugational forms: the past and future conjugation. When speaking biblical Hebrew one has to use these conjugations not for one meaning but for many possible meanings.

Rashi in several places teaches us that the future conjugation can be used 
•	To indicate a meaning of future activity, or
•	To indicate a meaning of a present habitual activity.
Similarly, Rashi in several places teaches us that the past conjugation can be used 
•	To indicate a meaning of past activity, or
•	To indicate a meaning of a present habitual activity.

Rashi further explains: A habitual present refers to possible activities in both the past and future and consequently either the past or future conjugation can be used to indicate it.

This can be confusing, especially to an English reader, since the reader must figure out himself what the author intended. There is no one-to-one correspondence between meaning and form. But that is the way the Hebrew language is.

It is interesting that this multi-use of conjugations is often not taught in Hebrew Grades chools and university Hebrew courses. Thus even those proficient in Hebrew grammar may not be aware of this principle.

In order to understand this important principle we list several examples from the current and other Parshahs. In these examples we have underlined the translation of the literal future conjugation which is parenthetically inserted; the actual translation follows Rashi using a habitual present. In the first example we explain the Rashi in detail while in the other examples we suffice with the translation.

Example 1: (Gn18-19)
For I [God] will let him [Abraham] know in order that he commands [literally, he will command ] his children after him, [so that] they will guard the way of God to do justice and charity.

The Hebrew Ye-Tza-Veh, has the form of the future conjugation. Hence the translations improperly translate this as he will command  with a future meaning.

Not so! The intent of the sentence is not a one-time command but rather an ongoing parent-child relationship. It really refers to a habit of teaching rather than a one-time future activity. Here the future conjugation means and refers to the habitual present. To capture this nuance we would translate the verse as follows: For I [God] will let him [Abraham] know in order that he commands his children after him, [so that] they will guard the way of God to do justice and charity.

Example 2: (Gn29-02)
And he [Jacob] looked, and saw a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for from that well they watered [literally: they will water ] the flocks; and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth.

Example 3,4: (Gn29-03)
And all the flocks gather there [literally gathered there]; [so that] they [can] roll [literally: so that they rolled] the stone from the well’s mouth, and water [literally: watered] the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place.

Examples 5,6 (Ex19-15:16)
When they [the Jewish people] will have an issue [a legal matter that needs resolution], he [the litigant] came to me 

I have translated the above sentence according to the Hebrew conjugations used. (the underlined future and past words) Here is the same sentence with identical meaning translated not according to biblical usage but rather according to proper English usage.

When they [the Jewish people]  have an issue [a legal matter that needs resolution], he [the litigant] comes to me 

The technical description here the conditional habitual present. The activity in the verse
•	Is not something that occurred at one point in the past or future
•	Is not something that occurs frequently but rather
•	Is something - coming to Moses - that happens when there is a legal issue.

Although the Rashi is technical, even experienced users of Hebrew may not notice the fluctuating future and past conjugations. This is simply a matter of style. By translating into proper English we capture the meaning of the verse and Rashi's contribution.

Examples 7 (Ex33-07)
When they [the Jewish people] will have an issue [a legal matter that needs resolution], he [the litigant] came to me 

And Moses will take the tent and plant it outside the campground;...
so that any seeker of God will go to the Tent outside the camp

I have translated the above sentence according to the Hebrew conjugations used. (the underlined future and past words) Here is the same sentence with identical meaning translated not according to biblical usage but rather according to proper English usage.

And Moses takes the tent and plants it outside the campground;...
so that any seeker of God goes to the Tent outside the camp 
 
Verb Connectives Daily Rashi Thursday Mar 7 2013

Most people know that the meaning of Hebrew verbs are determined by their 3-letter roots. For example the basic Hebrew root, Shin-Mem-Resh, means to watch. So for example, ShaMaRti means I watched, while, yiShMoR means he will watch.

People are aware that the different modes of the verb (binyanim) can change meaning. For example,
•	the Qal mode of the root Beth-Vav-Aleph means to come
•	the Hifil mode (causative mode) means to bring (to cause something else to come).
 
Here the two concepts - come, bring -  
•	have the same verbal Hebrew roots  but
•	have different English roots.

In a similar manner
•	just as verbal modes can change a root meaning
•	so too the same root with differing prepositional or adverbial connectives can change meaning.

Many people however are not aware that the prepositional connective that follows a verb may determine its meaning. As we go through the weekly Parshah cycle we will examine examples of this phenomenon. This phenomenon happens in English also. See the discussion at the end.

Example from today’s Parshah

Example 5: Ex34-01
God said to Moses: Stone-carve for yourself two (new) stone tablets like the first tablets [that were broken] and I will write on the 2nd tablets the matters that were on the first tablets that you broke.

Rashi citing the midrash shows that the underlined words for yourself emphasizes a personal aspect of the stone-carving. Here is the actual Rashi which is quite detailed.

Hew for yourself: You broke the first ones. You hew others for yourself. This can be compared to a king who went abroad and left his betrothed with the maidservants. Because of the immoral behavior of the maidservants, she acquired a bad reputation. Her bridesman [the person appointed to defend the bride should any problems arise] arose and tore up her marriage contract. He said, “If the king decides to kill her, I will say to him, ‘She is not yet your wife.’” The king investigated and discovered that only the maidservants were guilty of immoral behavior. He [therefore] became appeased to her. So her bridesman said to him, “Write her another marriage contract because the first one was torn up.” The king replied to him, “You tore it up. You buy yourself another [sheet of] paper, and I will write to her with my [personal] hand [writing].” Likewise, the king represents the Holy One, blessed is He. The maidservants represent the mixed multitude. The bridesman is Moses, and the betrothed of the Holy One, blessed is He, is Israel. That is why it says: “Hew for yourself.” -[from Tanchuma 30]

Example 4: Ex19-27
And his father-in-law [Jethro] took leave of Moses, and went, for personal  reasons, to his home.

Here is the brilliant contribution of Rashi
•	The Hebrew Vayaylech means to go (went in the past tense)
•	When the adverbial phrase lo, for himself, is attached to any verb, Rashi interprets it to mean for personal reasons.

In this particular case since we have a historical record of 
•	a society of Kaynites (Judges 4:17,21)
•	that helped the Jews 
Rashi reasonably assumes that Jethro founded this society which later came 
•	to the aid of the Jews. 

Note how the Rashi proceeds in two stages:
•	Rashi always interprets the preposition  lo meaning for himself, to mean that the activity of the verb was done for personal reasons
•	Given this interpretation Rashi then finds the most reasonable interpretation of done for personal reasons.

As we go through the yearly cycle we will find about a dozen such Rashis!
However the interested reader can begin looking them up now.

Homework

Read the Rashis at Nu13-02, Ex25-02, and Nu10-01. Test the hypothesis that all these Rashi are based on the interpretation of the connective pronoun, lo, for himself, as meaning for personal reasons. Such a homework exercise sharpens the eye of the student of Rashi.

There are English parallels to the above Hebrew phenomenon. In English we distinguish between prepositional and phrasal verbs. Like in Hebrew these verbs can change meaning because of the preposition or adverb following them. Some simple examples are 
•	put off the party (postpone the party), 
•	bring up an issue (mention an issue), 
•	turn down a gift (refuse the gift).

Here the verb-adverb pairs, put-off, bring-up, and turn-down have meanings totally different than the singleton verbs put, bring and turn.

This idea was first proposed by
[1] T. F.Mitchell, "Syntagmatic relations in linguistic analysis", Transactions of the Philological Society (1958), pp. 101-18, esp. 103-6. 

For a more detailed description see
[2] A.P. Cowie and R. Mackin, Oxford dictionary of current idiomatic English. Vol. 1: Verbs with prepositions and particles (London, 1975) 

For applications to interpreting difficult biblical verses (by reinterpreting the verb-preposition or verb-adverb pair) see

[3] T. Muraoka, "On Verb Complementation in Biblical HebrewAuthor(s)",  Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 29, Fasc. 4 (Oct., 1979), pp. 425-435 

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
======================================================== 
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
=========================================================
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) 
===============================================================
IV-PARALLELISM: (Ex20-04) Dont POSSESS the gods of others Dont MAKE idols RASHI: So both POSSESSion & MAKING of idols are prohibited
===============================================================
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.
==============================================================
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  
==============================================================  
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
==============================================================  
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
==============================================================  
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.
================================================================= 
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