(C) July 2006, RashiYomi Incorporated
This lesson is part of the Rashi Short Guide, the HTML Book version, (C) July 2006, RashiYomi Incorporated. The entire HTML-Book is located on the World Wide Web, at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/RashiShortGuideHTMLBook.zip and is a free download.


Lesson 5 of 6


Example 2.5a
OTHER VERSES - further details - REVIEW


We continue our review of Rashi methods from previous lessons. Verse Ex12-21c states Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Draw out and take a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. Quite simply Rashi clarifies the meaning of the underlined phrase according to your families by citing an other verse which provides further details Verse Ex12-03 states Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house;

Rashi only cited the last phrase of Ex12-03 a lamb for a house. We have expanded Rashi by citing the full other verse. Notice how straightforward this Rashi comment is. Each Rashi method has its own flavor. The other verse method is characterized by straightforwardness.

This situation is typical: In verses Ex12-03:04 God commands Moses to command the Jews and then in Ex12-21 Moses carries out this commanded command to the Jews. Such a situation with a delegated command naturally lends itself to cross referencing of Other Verses. We shall also apply this cross referencing idea to the other Rashis on this verse.


Example 9.5a
FORMAT - bullets - REVIEW


    We can derive the other two Rashis on this verse Ex12-21a,b by using the format-bullet method with further support from the Other verse method. Ex12-21 states Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them,
  • Drag and
  • take a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb.

    The bulleted list of activities, drag, take prompts the following Rashi comment:
  • Drag Rashi: From your own property
  • Take Rashi: Buy in the market place.

To fully explain this Rashi we note that Rashi is not using the word meaning method. That is, Rashi is not asserting that drag intrinsically refers to ones own property. Similarly, Rashi is not asserting that take intrinsically refers to purchase in the market place. How then should we understand Rashi? Rashi is simply observing that a bulleted list suggests intent by the Author to an exhaustion of mutually exhaustive and exclusive possibilities. So Rashi takes this intent and lists the possible ways of acquiring sheep: from one's own property or by purchase.

    In this case further supportive text for Rashi's bulleted list can be found from the Other Verses found at Ex12-03:04 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month
  • Every man shall take a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house;
  • And if the household is too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the souls; according to every man’s eating shall you make your count for the lamb.

The original command also speaks about two possibilities (a) for one's own family or (b) in partnership with other families. Rashi supplements these two possibilities with two further possibilities: The sheep--whether for oneself or in partnership--can be (a)one's own sheep or (b) purchased sheep.


Example 6.5
WORD MEANINGS - synonyms - REVIEW


Example 6.5a: We continue our review of methods from previous lessons by reviewing the synonym sub-method of the word meaning method. Verse Ex14-10c states And when Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were very afraid; and the people of Israel screamed out to the Lord. Rashi paraphrased states The underlined word screamed means prayer. Rashi actually states more The Jews imitated their patriarchs who also prayed when in danger. Rashi also states other verses where the patriarchs prayed. These other verses use other words for prayer.

Rather then cite the full Rashi and analyze each text we cite the Midrash Rabbah on Dt03-23 which lists 10 specific synonyms for prayer. These synonyms include pray, cry, scream, supplicate, seek grace, bump into, and others.

Our goal in explaining this Rashi was to identify the underlying skill competency,synonyms needed to understand it. The other points of Rashi---for example, that the Jews when in trouble sought to follow their role models, the patriarchs, who also prayed ---these points have important moral validity but are not directly related to the methods and skill competencies needed to understand Rashi.

Example 6.5b: A standard translation of verse Ex15-08f states And with your anger the waters were heaped together , the floods stood upright, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea The English translation we are using is good---it translates the Hebrew root Kuph-Pay-Aleph as meaning congealed. Rashi confirms this translation using the synonym method: The Hebrew root Kuph-Pay-Aleph which is translated as congealed only occurs half a dozen times in the Bible. In Jb10-10, Have you not poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese? this root means curdled. This suggests the following translation of Ex15-08 And with your anger the waters were heaped together, the floods stood upright and the depths were curdled in the heart of the sea Rashi continues on the point of using the translation curdled or congealed: The words heap, curdled suggest that the waters, when they split, hardened like a heap or curdled cheese. Consequently when the Egyptians were thrown on the water they fell on something hard as a rock and were injured.

Notice here how a knowledge of Hebrew is not necessary to appreciate this Rashi. A good English translation uses the word congealed. We can easily look up the English translation of the verse from Job cited by Rashi and see the translation curdled. We then immediately see the close relationship between congealed, curdled. If we can read Hebrew we can also identify the same root kuph-pay-aleph in both verses.


Example 3.5
WORD MEANINGS - noun-verb - REVIEW


We continue with our review of methods from previous lessons by reviewing the noun-verb word meaning rules. A standard translation of verse Ex15-10b is You blew with your wind, the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Here the Biblical root Tzade-Lamed-Lamed is translated as Sank. Rashi comments The noun form of the root Tzade-Lamed-Lamed is Mem-Tzade-Vav-Lamed-Hey which means whirlpool. Hence Rashi would translate Ex15-10 as follows You blew with your wind, the sea covered them; they whirlpooled down as lead in the mighty waters.

This is an excellent example of the usage of Rashi methods to provide superior translations.


Example 15.5
WORD MEANINGS - idioms


We introduce a new word meaning sub method today--the idiom method. An idiom refers to a collection of words which together, as a whole, have a meaning that is different and distinct then its individual component words. Every language has idioms. Linguists tend to think of idioms as separate entries in the dictionary since a native speaker must learn each idiom the same way they learn each word.

Example 15.5a: Verse Ex14-27a states And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength at the turn of morning and the Egyptians fled towards it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Rashi comments The underlined phrase the turn of morning means dawn. In other words Rashi translates the verse as follows And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength at dawn and the Egyptians fled towards it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

When commenting on idioms Rashi will frequently explain the etymology of the idiom. Here Rashi paraphrased explains that when you turn a corner you swiftly begin to appear to people on that side of the corner; this explains the metaphor turn of morning since it appears as if the dawn was turning and appearing to us. Such explanations of idioms are instructive and very often add content. However the primary goal of Rashi is simply to explain the idiom meaning. If the student understands the meaning of the idiom then Rashi is understood.

Example 15.5b: Very often the idiom sub method will combine with the metonymy method explained above in examples 11.4a-11.4f of lesson 4.

Verse Ex15-08a states And with the spirit of your nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as a heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. Rashi comments The underlined phrase spirit of nostrils is an idiom meaning anger. Consequently Rashi would translate Ex15-08 as follows And with your anger the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as a heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.

We have not given the entire text of Rashi. Rashi makes numerous other comments that are extremely important. First: Rashi points out that this idiom is a metonymy: When a person gets angry and loses his temper his breathing becomes heavier. Hence nose activity is related to anger. Consequently the metonymy principle--naming by related items--would name anger using the word nose.

Rashi also deals with the issue of anthropomorphism--the ascription of physical attributes--such as nose, breathing -- to God. However our primary goal in this short monograph is the clear presentation of Rashi methods--hence we avoid philosophical issues however interesting.

Finally, Rashi dwells at great length on finding further support for idioms relating anger to nose. Although an exhaustive analysis of other verses where idioms relate nose to anger enriches our appreciations of the idiom, nevertheless it is not necessary. To fully understand an idiom it suffices to translate the phrase just once.


Example 11.5a
WORD MEANINGS - metonymy(FFF)


We continue with our review of methods covered in previous lessons by reviewing the metonymy(FFF) method. We present below an etymology that names by function.

Ex15-26c states And said, If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and will do that which is right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord that heals you. Rashi comments The Biblical root for the Biblical word meaning ear is the same Biblical root of the word meaning scales. Here the ear is named by its function---to weigh all sides of a matter and be precise. Consequently Rashi would translate Ex15-26 as follows And said, If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and will do that which is right in his sight, and carefully weigh and be precise about His commandments, and keep all his statutes, then, I will put none of these diseases upon you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord that heals you.

In passing etymologists amusingly point out that ears have both the form and function of scales---since the two ears, hanging as it were, on each side of the head, appear as a set of balance scales. Such double puns are common in linguistic analysis and make the subject more enjoyable.


Example 9.5b
FORMAT - bullets - REVIEW


    We continue our review of previous rules. Verse Ex14-04a states And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored
  • through Pharaoh, and
  • through his whole army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so

    Here the Rashi comment is obvious and straightforward. The repeating underlined keyword through creates an effect of bullets. The bulleted list emphasizes that God visited punishment on two entities
  • on Pharoh, the King, who instigated the slavery
  • on his army, who carried out his decrees.


Example 16.5
ALIGNMENT - 2 nuances


We introduce a new method, the alignment - nuance method which we briefly looked at in example 4.4d. Recall that the alignment method seeks to align pairs of clauses with almost identical language to infer nuances from the minor differences between these clauses. We briefly review the example we covered in example 4.4d and then present another example. Every Rashi method has so to speak a flavor to it. We discuss the flavor of the alignment - nuance method below.

    Example 16.5a: We can align the clauses in verse Nu14-01a as follows
  • And the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried;
  • and the people wept that night.

    The above alignment exposes two contrasts
  • congregation vs. people
  • That night

    A simply way of explaining this contrast is that congregation refers to the structured community, and hence refers to the judges, leaders etc. By contrast the people would refer to the masses. Perhaps we can even see a progression
  • First the spies who were the leaders of each tribe slandered Israel
  • Then the congregational leaders cried
  • Then at night, after their leaders and judges had cried, the people also cried.

    Example 16.5b: An alignment of the following two verses discussing the groups of Egyptians smitten during the plague of the firstborn shows one subtle difference in the list of groups smitten.
  • Ex11-05a states And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die,
    • from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sits on his throne,
    • even to the firstborn of the maidservant who is behind the mill;
    • and all the firstborn of beasts.
  • Ex12-29 states And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,
    • from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne
    • to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon;
    • and all the firstborn of beasts.

    As the underlined words show the three groups smitten were
  • firstborn of Pharoh
  • firstborn of maidservant, captives
  • firstborn of beasts

    Rashi (Ex11-05a, Ex11-05b, Ex12-29d) comments on the use of maidservant in Ex11-05 vs. the use of captives in Ex12-29. Rashi points out that each group smitten had a specific misuse of the Jews that had to be punished
  • Pharoh thought he owned the Jews--hence his firstborn was smitten
  • Rashi conjectures that the maidservants were punished because Egypt had a tiered slave hierarchy--Jews were a level 2 slave while other servants were level 1 slaves. Hence since the maidservants used the Jews as slaves they were punished also. Rashi points out that it would be reasonable that the captives were praying to their own deities to save them from Egypt. Had their firstborn not been punished they would have ascribed victory to their deity rather than the Jewish God.

The above analysis shows the flavor of the alignment method. Something is pointed to--in this case maidservant vs. captive-- but we are not explicitly told why the difference is emphasized. Consequently Rashi's job is to steer the reader in the proper direction through reasonable conjectures. Very often other competing midrashim will comment on the alignment but give alternate competing explanations which are equally reasonable. So the flavor of alignment Rashis is typically exploratory.

I have found the following stratagem useful when dealing with the alignment method: I ask students to come up with reasonable explanations of why separate emphases are given. Frequently students come up with explanations highly similar to Rashi. This stratagem makes Rashi more acceptable to them.

In my article Biblical Formatting to appear in the Jewish Bible Quarterly at the end of 2006 (or the beginning of 2007) I have pointed out that the alignment method despite its exploratory flavor is still the simple intended meaning of the text. I cite a beautiful analogy of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch who in effect compares alignments to footnotes. If for example the Biblical text stated the firstborn of the captives were smitten and the Bible used a footnote on the underlined word captives indicating that the firstborn of both captives and maidservants were smitten then in such a case we would regard the emphasis captives and maidservants as intended by the author. Indeed, the author explicitly indicated this intended remark in a footnote. Rav Hirsch's point of view is that the Biblical Author used alignments of almost identical verses to indicate footnotes. That is, any place a modern author would use footnotes the Biblical Author used alignments of repeated verses with minor differences. Consequently, the two aligned verses with the aligned words captive, maidservant point to an intentional footnote by the author.

As we have frequently pointed out above we emphasize that knowledge of Hebrew is not necessary to understand a Rashi alignment.


Example 12.5
GRAMMAR - root conjugation - REVIEW


We continue our review of Rashi methods. Recall that Rashi's goal in the GRAMMAR - root conjugation rule is to explain the various ways of conjugating verbs. Let us illustrate with an elementary example. Hebrew grammar is based on three letter roots. So for example the root Shin-Mem-Resh means to watch. Hebrew grammar teaches how to conjugate this root in various forms each with a different meaning. Thus Shin-Mem-Resh-Tauv-Yud means I had watched while Yud-Shin-Mem-Resh means he will watch. Here the underlined prefix and suffix letters indicate future or past and first person vs. third person action, I had watched vs. He will watch.

Very often these conjugation meanings are already embedded in the translation of the text. In the examples below we underline the conjugation translations and suffice with pointing out that Rashi's comment indicates the underlying conjugation.

Prior to presenting the examples we explain the conjugation issues addressed by Rashi. It is well known that prefixing the letters Aleph,Tauv,Yud before a verb indicates the future. An example was given in the preceding paragraph: Prefixing a Yud before the root to watch created a conjugation meaning he will watch. Rashi points out that the prefix Yud besides indicating the future also indicates the jussive, cohortive, and habitual present. Before presenting the verses let us carefully illustrate what these terms mean.

    Here are some examples of English sentences illustrating the above terms.
  • I will eat indicates something I definitely will do in the future.
  • I wish to eat or I intend to eat indicates something I hope to do in the future. Grammarians use fancy terms and call this the jussive/cohortive. The student need not learn these terms. It suffices if the students recognize the difference between will and wish. One method of indicating this wish conjugation is to place a prefix Hey at the end of a word. Rashi points out that sometimes the future conjugation indicates the wish, intend mode.
  • I am eating a sandwich indicates the simple present.
  • I eat a sandwich every day indicates the habitual present. That is it is something I am doing both now, in the past and in the future. Rashi points out that the future conjugation can also indicate the habitual present.

    We now present three Rashi examples illustrating the above. We again emphasize that no knowledge of Hebrew is necessary. It suffices if the reader understands the concept in English and can recognize its application in the underlined phrases in the verse.
  • Example 12.5a: Jussive-wish mode:Ex15-01a Then Moses and the people of Israel wished to sing this song to the Lord, and spoke, saying, I wish to sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider has he thrown into the sea.
  • Example 12.5b: Habitual present - ongoing activity Ex15-06d Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power; your right hand, O Lord, always dashes the enemy in pieces.
  • Example 12.5c: Habitual present - ongoing activity: Ex15-07b And in the greatness of your excellency you always overthrow those that rose up against you; you sent forth your anger, which consumed them as stubble.

Acknowledgement is given to the older of my two younger sisters for many dialogues on applications of English grammar to understanding Rashi.


Example 11.5b
WORD MEANINGS - metonymy(FFF)


We continue our review of methods from previous lessons. Verse Ex14-07a states And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. Rashi comments on the underlined word chosen: Chosen has a connotation of one of a kind. Using the metonymy principle--naming by something related-- and using our knowledge of English synonyms as well as the context I would suggest the translation elite. Hence I would suggest the following translation of the verse based on the Rashi comment And he took six hundred elite chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.

Notice that the above Rashi analysis was done in English, not in Hebrew. Furthermore, Rashi never used the word elite. However Rashi's comment seemed to seek the nuances of chosen. We therefore searched for an appropriate semantic model based on our knowledge of context and English. The resulting translation 600 elite chariots is punchy, to the point, and fully consistent with Rashi.

The idea of approaching Rashi by seeking an appropriate semantic model was first advocated in my article Peshat and Derash: A New Intuitive Analytic Approach which appeared in Tradition and may be found on the world wide web at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rashi.pdf.


Example 2.5b
OTHER VERSES - further details


We continue our review of methods learned in previous lessons. The example we present below is controversial. We shall attempt to understand it by apply 4 Rashi methods. These attempts show the type of give and take necessary when understanding a difficult Rashi.

Verse Ex14-10b states And when Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, Egypt marched after them; and they were very afraid; and the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. Rashi comments on the underlined word Egypt: Egypt refers to the guardian Angel of Egypt (The Jews saw not just Egypt, but the guardian angel of Egypt fighting for them and therefore they were very afraid.)

    We offer 3 possible explanations to this Rashi. We present each explanation and then indicate why we reject it.
  • Explanation 1: Rashi used the Grammar method. Notice that the underlined word Egypt is singular. Hence it could not refer to the Egyptian people. Instead it must refer to something singular--the guardian Angel of Egypt.
       We reject this explanation since use of the singular to refer to a nation is common in military operations-- The singular in military operations connotes a unified army approach.
  • Explanation 2: Rashi used the Spreadsheet principle. This principle allows Rashi to infer consequences and causes to verse statements. Since the verse states that the Jews were very afraid Rashi explains that they had nightmares and flashbacks in which they saw the Egyptian deity. (Part of slavery is intimidation and arousal of fear). We reject this explanation since it is not needed. The Jews were very afraid because they had just left Egypt and now Egypt was pursuing them. We need not find any extra reasons.
  • Explanation 3: Rashi could be using the special connective word principle. The verse says that the Jews were very afraid. Hence Rashi suggests that besides seeing Egypt they also saw the Egyptian deity. Again we reject this explanation because it is not necessary. The word very could indicate that besides being afraid of death they were also afraid of being re-enslaved. It is not necessary to seek other explanations.

Explanation 4: My suggestion of Rashi is to use the other verse method. Verse Ex14-19 states And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them; I follow the Rambam's position on angel visions that they are seen in dreams. Consequently if the angel of God moved they must have seen this move in a dream vision. Thus this other verse sheds light and gives further details---the Jews were not only viewing physical events they also had visions and flashbacks. If they dreamt of angels of God then their dreams probably had fights between the angel of God and the guardian angel of the Egyptians.

In expounding the above explanation I have not really used anything from Ex14-10. And indeed the other verse method makes its derivations from other verses. I have however utilized the reasonable supposition that slaves frequently had flashbacks and dreams or pursuit from the guardian angels of their masters.

We can summarize as follows:Ex14-10 says the Jews were very afraid because Egypt was pursuing them. This is understandable by itself. However because an other verse Ex14-19 speaks about vision dreams of the guardian angle of the Jews, it is therefore reasonable that the Jews had flashbacks and dreams of the guardian angel of the Egyptians. Such flashbacks and dreams were probably typically used by masters to instill fear in their slaves.

One of the students in my class picked up my assertion that the statement that the angel moved from the front to the back of the camp is a statement about a dream vision. That is, the verse means that they dreamt simultaneously that the angel moved from the front of the camp to the back.

What ensued is a lively discussion about angel dreams. I first cited the Rambam's position that such incidents as Bilam's donkey talking to an angel happened in a dream. But then I retracted. The Rambam didn't simply have a position. Rather that position emanated from analysis of verses. The technical Rashi rule used is databases. So I asked my students to come up with verses supporting that angels communicate via dreams. I present below the list of examples they came up with. Such side-discussions on Rashis are common. It is important in my opinion to be able to deal with such issues by making appropriate database queries. Such an approach greatly enriches our understanding of Rashi and enables us to successfully deal with difficulties when they arise.

We list visions to Angels that happened in dreams. In the following examples the Bible explicitly identifies the communication as happening in a dream. (In the last case the communication is identified as happening at night, before morning).This database list justifies the Rambam's position that all communications involving angels happen in dreams.

    Here is the list, of angel visions which the Bible explicitly says happened in dreams, that my students came up with:
  • Avimelech Gn20-03
  • Laban Gn30-24
  • Yaakov Gn31-10
  • Daniel Dn07-01:28
  • Bilam Nu22-09:13