Rabbi Ishmael Example Method:#25 of 36
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REFERENCE:
----------
Todays unit is extracted from Rashi is Simple volume 7
Number 4. To see this particular posting please visit
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/dt15-19b.htm


RABBI ISHMAEL'S 13 EXAMPLE RULES
--------------------------------
Recall that we just showed that the principle of CLIMAX is
really an example of the Rabbi Ishmael GENERAL-DETAIL
style. This rule demands seeing details as examples which
should be generalized.

We therefore are spending 3 issues on Biblical
examples which are generalized. We will then spend
3 issues on Biblical examples that are specific.

We will then be able to summarize these 6 issues as
well as all the examples on Climax into a set of rules
which deal with how Biblical EXAMPLES should be treated.
Along the way we will clarify and classify the many
CLIMAX examples that we have done.

In these 3 issues we deal with Biblical EXAMPLES which
should be totally generalized.


#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#

VERSE:  Dt13-07f
        Dt15-19b
        Dt25-04a


The following is a direct citation from Volume 7 Number 4
of Rashis is simple.


BACKGROUND:
-----------
In this volume, volume 7, of Rashi is Simple, we are presently
reviewing Rabbi Ishmael's Biblical rules of interpretation. Our
basic position is that Rabbi Ishmael's 13 rules of Biblical
interpretation govern EXAMPLES. Thus when learning the Chumash
you have to know
--Rules of GRAMMAR
--Rules of LOGIC
--Rules of STYLE & NUANCES
--Rabbi Ishmael's rules of EXAMPLES



The simplest illustration of Rabbi Ishmael's rules occurs
in Ex21-28a which states
  "When the OX of an adult gores the ox of another person
   ...then payment shall be made (for damamges)"
A literal reading of the text would suggest that payment
is ONLY made if an OX did the goring. Of course, the law
is that you make payment if ANY animal of yours did damage.




In other words, the EXAMPLE, OX, is generalized to mean
any ANIMAL. Rashi on the tractate Pesachim 6 explicitly
states the rule



RULE:
-----
Every Biblical example of a law SHOULD be generalized
(unless otherwise indicated).*1




EXAMPLES
--------

(73) Dt13-07f When someone seduces you IN PRIVATE to worship idols
    RASHI: These laws apply even if the seduction was in public
    The Torah used 'IN PRIVATE' because that is the normal way
    seduction takes place (steathily)

(74) Dt15-19b Don't WORK with 1stborn of OX,
             Don't SHEAR 1stborn SHEEP
    RASHI:It is also prohibited to WORK with the 1stborn of SHEEP
    or to SHEAR the hide of an OX. But the Torah used 'WORK..OX'
    and 'SHEAR..SHEEP' because this is the typical usage.


(75) Dt25-04a Don't muzzle an OX while it works
    RASHI: It is prohibited to muzzle ANY ANIMAL while it works
    The Torah used 'OX' because this is the typical animal owned


NOTES
-----
*1 This rule appears strange and contradicts the usual notion
   that every 'letter and word' in the Bible has SOME meaning
   Actually though Rabbi Ishmael had a dictum that
   the Bible uses human style--it prefers a good example, like
   "ox" to an abstract concept like "animal".



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