Ideas and Model Lessons in Learning Rashi-#1
Copyright RashiYomi Inc 2003 Adapted From Rashi-is-Simple http://www.RashiYomi.Com/
Written by Dr. Russell Jay Hendel;

A: GOALS & AUDIENCE

My purpose in this article is to share some experiences I have had in teaching Rashi, a commentator on the Chumash.
The METHODS I introduce are useful to teach Rashi in a wide variety of situations including children of ages 6-20, whether in a classroom or home-schooling situation.
The METHODS I use may overlap, modify, supplement or be different than any of a number of Rashi teaching methods currentlyin use. They do however work. We will lightly contrast the methods we use with other methods after each example.

B: EXAMPLES & NOTATION
I shall present two examples. Each example will be completely worked out and ready to use for children at any level. I will then show how the METHODS I use can be transferred to many other situations.
First a word about notation. Most people are familiar with the division of the Bible into books, chapters and verses.
Hence Dt26-05 refers to the 5th verse of the 26th chapter of the book of Deuteronomy (Dt) which reads as follows

And you will ANSWER and say before God:

An Aramaean tried to destroy my father;

so he went down to Egypt and lived there

with FEW PEOPLE
If you open a standard Chumash you will find 4 Rashi comments on this verse. Each Rashi comment starts with a boldface citation from the verse followed by a Rashi comment.
For example the first Rashi comment is as follows

ANSWER: (Rashi) This refers to a raising of the voice
Notice how the word ANSWER comes from the verse Dt26-05. This is followed by the Rashi comment.
I refer to this as Rashi "a" on the verse since it is the first Rashi. Similarly I refer to the 2nd Rashi as Rashi "b" and the 3rd Rashi as Rashi "c". The 4th Rashi on the verse I refer to as Rashi "d". It reads

WITH A FEW PEOPLE: (Rashi) 70 people
We can compactly refer to this as Rashi Dt26-05d (The 4th Rashi (Rashi "d") on Deuteronomy Chapter 26 verse 5. In the future I will not go into as much detail and will rely on the reader to check the Rashis him/herself. When necessary I will add explanatory information.

C: EXAMPLE 1 Dt26-05d

WITH A FEW PEOPLE: (Rashi) 70 people
Rashi can be best understood using another Biblical verse (Gn46-27) which states all the people of Jacobs family that came to Egypt were 70
We can summarize this as follows. Rashi illuminates the meaning of the phrase A FEW PEOPLE in Dt26-05 with another Biblical verse Gn46-27 which explains that the FEW PEOPLE were in fact 70 in number.

D: METHOD: OTHER VERSES - FURTHER DETAILS
We can summarize the above example by stating that Rashi used the METHOD of FURTHER DETAILS FROM OTHER VERSES.
We call this the OTHER VERSE (FURTHER DETAIL) method. A METHOD is something you should do
whenever you see a verse. You should ask yourself what OTHER Biblical verses speak about the same subject matter and give further details.
You can use this method to produce class material for children of any ages.

E: IDEAL LESSONS
Depending on the level of your student(s) you can create learning situations by asking them the following questions:
AT THE ADVANCED LEVEL:
Where else is Jacob coming to Egypt mentioned What do we learn from there?
AT THE INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
Review Gn46. Tell me who the people who came to Egypt were. How many people were there
AT THE ELEMENTARY LEVEL
Gn46-27 also talks about the people who came to Egypt with Jacob. How many people were there? Who were these people?

F: WHY THIS METHOD IS USEFUL
Notice how in all 3 cases the student supplemented the Rashi text. For all Rashi said was that A FEW PEOPLE meant SEVENTY PEOPLE. By contrast, at all 3 levels the students made 2 Rashi comments:
(a)The FEW PEOPLE were 70 in number
(b)the FEW PEOPLE were the children and grandchildren of Jacob
Such supplementing of Rashi texts elicits student creativity - the student APPLIES the Rashi method just learned and produces something new. Educational theory has shown that student retention and understanding is superior when the student creates rather than passively listens.
Some students may be ambitious and for example create genealogical trees of Jacobs 70 children and grandchildren. All this helps understand Rashi better.

G: COMPARISON TO OTHER METHODS
Some other popular METHODS of learning Rashi are those proposed by Dr Leibowitz*1 or Rabbi Boncheck*2. These methods suggest starting the teaching of Rashi by asking

What is Rashis question?

or

What is bothering Rashi?
The teacher or student who wants to, can begin learning Rashi this way. They can then supplement their lesson by identifying the particular METHOD Rashi uses to answer (FURTHER DETAILS FROM OTHER VERSES).
In other words we have simply given a further resource to learn by.

H: EXAMPLE 2 - Lv01-05a

Biblical Text:

(In a discussion of the Olah

offering:)

Then he shall slaughter the animal

Rashi paraphrased:

This teaches that the slaughtering may be done by a non-priest
(The following ideal lessons were inspired by the commentary of the Malbim, a nineteenth century Biblical commentator)
Here are student exercises at 3 levels
Advanced Level
Who could do the slaughtering? What other verses in Tnach shed light on this?
Intermediate Level
2C30 (2nd Chronicles, Divray Hayamim, Chapter 30) discusses the offering of the Passover sacrifice during the First temple. After reading this chapter make an inference on who was eligible to slaughter the sacrifices.
Elementary Level
Usually sacrifice procedures were done by Priests. Read 2C30-17(2nd Chronicles, Chapter 30, Verse 17). Make an inference about who is eligible to slaughter sacrifices.
After reader 2C30-17 the student can infer that non-priests, such as Levites, may slaughter sacrifices. (The students may also have questions such as how we know that Israelites can slaughter sacrifices. These are good questions. For the moment we suffice with pointing out how the METHOD of FURTHER DETAILS FROM OTHER VERSES sheds light)

I: OTHER VERSE - RESOURCES
The following urls provide further resources to give students the opportunity to practice the OTHER VERSE FURTHER DETAIL METHOD
http://www.RashiYomi.com/other-20.htm
http://www.RashiYomi.com/h17n13.htm
There was a 3 week series on the old RashiYomi calendar discussing OTHER VERSES.
You can visit the old RashiYomi calendar at http://www.RashiYomi.com/calendar1.htm
The OTHER VERSE series was presented in November of 2000.
The teacher or student can use this series to provide many exercises practicing the same METHOD. By continually practicing the same METHOD the students gains mastery over it.

J: SUMMARY OF IDEAS
We have presented above
Examples (Such as Dt26-05d, Lv01-05a)
Lessons on 3 student levels
The idea of a METHOD (something you always do on verses)
The OTHER VERSE-FURTHER DETAIL Method asks the question: What other Biblical verses sheds light on this verse
The idea of a LIST of similar examples
The idea of MASTERY of a method
The RashiYomi website http://www.RashiYomi.com/

K: FUTURE ISSUES
We hope b'ezras Hashem (God willing) to introduce other METHODS of
learning Rashi in future issues

Bibliography
[1] Leibowitz, Nechama. Studies in the Torah. Volumes 1-5. Translated by Aryeh Newman.4th Edition, World Zionist Organization. 1980-1981
[2] Boncheck, Avigdor. What Bothering Rashi. Volume 1-5. New York. Feldheim. 1997-Present