#######################################################
#       12 YEAR Ayelet DAILY-RASHI-YOMI CYCLE         #
#                    Jan 08, 2007                     #
#                    YEAR 8 of 12                     #
#                                                     #
#           VISIT THE RASHI YOMI ARCHIVES             #
#           -----------------------------             #
#         HOME   http://www.RashiYomi.Com             #
# WEEKLY RASHI   http://www.RashiYomi.Com/rule.htm    #
#  DAILY RASHI   http://www.RashiYomi.Com/calendar.htm#
#                                                     #
#  Reprinted with permission from WEEKLY RASHI,       #
#  (c) 1999-2007, RashiYomi Inc., Dr Hendel President #
#   Permission to reprint with this header PROVIDED   #
#          it is not printed for profit               #
#                                                     #
#######################################################
#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc. 2007, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#
8. RASHI METHOD: DATABASES
BRIEF EXPLANATION:Rashi makes inferences from Database queries
This examples applies to Rashis Gn41-12a
URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/gn41-12a.htm

Today we ask the following database inquiry: How should people who do you favors be referred to? Invariably we find that people who do favors are referred to in good laudatory terms.

    Here are some typical examples with the references to the people doing the good deeds underlined:
  • Verse 2C28-09:11 discussing advice of a prophet to treat captured people nicely states But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the army that came to Samaria, and said to them, Behold, because the Lord God of your fathers was angry with Judah, he has delivered them into your hand And now you intend to keep the people of Judah and Jerusalem as male and female slaves to you. Do you not have sins of your own against the Lord your God? And now hear me, and send back the captives, whom you have taken captive of your brothers; for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.
  • Verse 2K04-08 discussing the hospitality of an upper class woman states And it happened one day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where there was a upper class woman and she urged him to eat bread. And so it was, that whenever he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread.
  • Verse 1S01-03 describing the Temple functions of Eli's sons calls them priests of God: And this man went out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.

In all these examples the people doing the good deed are referred to positively. Hence we understand the Rashi on Gn41-12 describing Joseph's favor to the minister of bread: Verses Gn48-12:13 states And there was there with us a youth, a Hebrew, a slave to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret. And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored to my office, and him he hanged. Rashi comments: Notice how the minister of bread describes Joseph in pejorative terms, youth, Hebrew, slave, despite the fact that he did a favor. This shows the poor manners and bad personality of the minister of food.

Sermonic points: This Rashi implies the obvious ethical motif that people who do us favors should be praised. This applies equally to adults, co-workers, subordinates and even children. Most people have learned this important character trait, the trait of gratitude in various ways and at various stages of their lives.

9. RASHI METHOD: SPREADSHEETS
BRIEF EXPLANATION: Inferences from a) computations, b) diagrams or c) consequences.
This examples applies to Rashis Gn43-33a Gn43-10a
URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/gn43-33a.htm

    When Rashi fills in commentary on a verse that is not inferred from word meaning, grammar or other verses we say that Rashi uses the Spreadsheet method. A typical example of fill ins is when Rashi makes numerical inferences from a spreadsheet of Biblical facts. Another typical example is when Rashi supplies geometric diagrams. Any of these three methods
    • filling in numerical clarifications from a spreadsheet
    • filling in geometric clarifications
    • filling in with reasonable background information
    is called use of the spreadsheet method.

    When Rashi gathers a collection of verses and infers from numerical computations we say Rashi uses the Spreadsheet method. The Table below shows it reasonable that Rivkah was 15 years old when she married Isaac. After reviewing the table we will explain its rows line by line.

Biblical verses Gn43-32:33 describes how the Egyptian food minister assigned seating to Jacob's children at a meal: And they served him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, who ate with him, by themselves; because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked at one another in amazement. Rashi ties these verses to other verses in the next paragraph dealing with the magic of his goblet. Verses Gn43-12,15 states And he searched, and began at the eldest, and ended at the youngest; and the goblet was found in Benjamin’s sack. ...And Joseph said to them, What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that such a man as I can certainly divine?

Rashi comments on the above verses by giving reasonable and plausible background fill ins: How did Joseph assign seats for the meals? He would tap his goblet and pointed e.g. to Reuven and say "He is the eldest of one wife." He would tap his goblet again and pointed to Shimon and say He is the 2nd oldest of this wife. He would continue and identify the chronological position of each set of children from the 4 wives. Since the brothers hadn't given this information they were amazed The underline words in this Rashi fill in correspond to underlined words in the above Biblical citation.

Advanced Rashi: Every Rashi method has a flavor. A word meaning or grammar method is typically punchy and to the point. On the other hand a spreadsheet method by its very nature and definition--- a method which does not make inferences from the Biblical text---has a speculative flavor. Here is another perspective: We need not (as religious Jews) believe that Joseph actually tapped his cup and assigned seats. But given the story this is such a reasonable interpretation it is believable and it would be foolish to deny it.

There are sermonic points to the story. The story shows how Joseph got the brothers to confess: Joseph played on the emotions of the brothers. He uses superstitions (the goblet) to evoke anxiety in the brothers. These techniques are also used in modern police, detective and court work to evoke confessions.


#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2007, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#

, and you have