#######################################################
#       12 YEAR Ayelet DAILY-RASHI-YOMI CYCLE         #
#                    Apr 23, 2009                     #
#                    YEAR 10 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) 1999-2009, RashiYomi Inc., Dr Hendel President #
#   Permission to reprint with this header PROVIDED   #
#          it is not printed for profit               #
#                                                     #
#######################################################


#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc. 2009, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#
      2. RASHI METHOD: WORD MEANING
      BRIEF EXPLANATION: The meaning of words can be explained either by
      • (2a) translating an idiom, a group of words whose collective meaning transcends the meaning of its individual component words,
      • (2b) explaining the nuances and commonality of synonyms-homographs,
      • (2c) describing the usages of connective words like also,because,if-then, when,
      • (2d) indicating how grammatical conjugation can change word meaning
      • (2e) changing word meaning using the figures of speech common to all languages such as irony and oxymorons.
      This examples applies to Rashis Ex06-02a
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w35n3.htm
      Brief Summary: (a) The Biblical root DALETH-BETH-RESH means to CITE. (b) The Biblical root ALEPH-MEM-RESH means to SAY.

When Rashi uses the synonym method he does not explain the meaning of a word but rather the distinction between two similar words both of whose meanings we already know.

    The following Hebrew words all refer to communication.
  • Daleth-Beth-Resh, DBR, to cite;
  • Samech-Pay-Resh, SPR to relate a story;
  • Nun-Gimel-Daleth, NGD, to tell,
  • Aleph-Mem-Resh, AMR, (general) speaking.

In our article Peshat and Derash: A New Intuitive and Logical Approach, which can be found on the world-wide-web at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rashi.pdf we have advocated punchy translations of Biblical verses as a means of presenting Rashi comments. The following translation of verse Ex06-02a embeds the Rashi translation And God cited Moses and said to him "I am God."

Advanced Rashi: Normally we think of a citation as something a traffic officer does when giving you a ticket. The word cite literally refers to a quotation. We will see in rule #3 below that God did actually cite Moses and in effect gave him a ticket.

The Talmud (and Rashi quotes this) explains that Daber is harsh talk while Amar is soft talk. This Talmudic statement is consistent with my explanation that Daber means cite while Amar means (general) speaking. Indeed, to go back to the traffic officer example, when an officer cites a regulation to an offender the officer is being apodictic, and not allowing further discussion. The offender violated a written regualtion and hence must be cited. On the other hand if the officer did not cite but instead spoke - for example, if the officer said Did you know you were doing 70 in a 55 mile hour zone the officer is not being as harsh. The officer is leaving room for discussion and response, for example, Well the road is empty, the weather is clear, and I am in a rush to an important meeting which will affect many people. In other words there is a difference between talking, speaking about a violation, leaving room for response and feedback, vs. citing which is rather final and not subject to discussion.

So in summary, Daber meaning cite and citation is a harsh form of communication. When the Talmud said Daber is harsh it was not indicating a translation of Daber but rather indicating that the meaning of daber connotes a harsher form of communication.

This approach - Daber means cite - to the Talmudic passage Daber is harsh emanates from the method proposed by me in the above mentioned article - the method of punchy English translations.

This Rashi is continued in rule #4, alignment. There we discuss what Moses was cited for.


#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2009, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#