RASHI: Ex22-19b Death penalty for offering to idol & SIMILAR ACTS

VERY BRIEF SUMMARY:
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Ex22-19b states that someone who OFFERS SACRIFICES to idolatry
is put to death. A General principle is that all simply
stated Biblical examples SHOULD BE GENERALIZED. Thus any act
LIKE OFFERING SACRIFICES when done for idolatry should also
carry a death penalty. Some simple examples of acts that
are LIKE OFFERING SACRIFICES are (a) OFFERING INCENSE or
(b) POURING WINE LIBATIONS (All 3 of these acts have the
important properties that they must be done in the Temple
and climaxes of temple services).

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TODAYS RASHI RULE:       THE RABBI ISHMAEL STYLE RULES
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE:    GENERALIZATION STYLE
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF RULE AND SUBRULE
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Some Rashis deal with GRAMMAR or MEANING. But other Rashis
deal with STYLE. The Great Talmudic Sage Rabbi Ishmael,
laid down 3 style rule classes which divide into a dozen
or so rules.

Today we deal with the GENERALIZATION style.
When using this style the verse simply states an example
of a prohibition.

The Rabbi Ishmael Style rules then demand that the verse
be interpreted BROADLY as applying to any similar example
This requirement of BROAD interpretation is not because
of grammar or meaning or even because some word in the
verse is extra: Rather, it is a requirement of style.


STANDARD EXAMPLE
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The simplest example I could find occurs at Dt25-04

Dont MUZZLE an OX while it is THRESHING

STUDENT EXERCISES:
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-- Which items in the verse are SPECIFIC?

-- How would you GENERALIZE these examples?


RASHIS SOLUTION
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-- The 3 capped words MUZZLE, OX and THRESHING
refer to SPECIFIC EXAMPLES (That is they are not
abstract concepts but concrete items or procedures)

-- Rashi following the Talmud performs 3 generalizations
a) You shouldnt muzzle ANY ANIMAL (not just an OX)
while it is doing its work

b) You shouldnt do ANY ACTIVITY that present eating
(MUZZLING is just one example of a preventative
activity)

c) You shouldnt muzzle the animal while it is doing
ANY TYPE OF WORK (threshing is just one example)


STANDARD REFERENCES FOR THIS RULE

http://www.Rashiyomi.com/example3.htm

http://www.RashiYomi.com/ishmael.htm


TODAYS LIST
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Several examples illustrating this method are presented