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    4. RASHI METHOD: ALIGNMENT
    BRIEF EXPLANATION: Aligning two almost identically worded verselets can suggest
    • (4a) 2 cases of the same incident or law
    • (4b) emphasis on the nuances of a case
    • (4c) use of broad vs literal usage of words
    This examples applies to Rashis Lv21-01e
    URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w33n17.htm
    Brief Summary: Don't DEFILE/COME to dead souls [IN THE NATION] But if he accidentally BUMPED into dead ON ROAD he buries

The table below presents an aligned extract of verses in Lv21-01e,Lv21-11. Both verses discuss the prohibition of priests becoming ritually impure by contact with a dead person The alignment justifies the Rashi assertions that The priest should not come to a dead body in ordinary funerals in the country. But if he bumped into the dead body (strewn on say a road) the priest should defile himself and bury the person.

Verse Text of Verse Rashi comment
Lv21-01e
  1. to a soul
  2. in the country
  3. the priest should
  4. not become defiled
  • He shouldn't come to ordinary funerals in the country
  • But if he bumps unexpectedly to a dead person on the road then he should bury it.
Lv21-11
  1. to any dead soul
  2. -----
  3. the High priest should
  4. not come
  • He shouldn't come to ordinary funerals in the country
  • But if he bumps unexpectedly to a dead person on the road then he should bury it.

Advanced Rashi: In our analysis we have emphasized the two contrastive aligned pairs come-defile and in the country indicated in bullets (2) and (4) in the above table. The combined nuances of these two bullets - come vs. bump into- and - in the country vs on the road - make it plausible that the Bible makes an exception if either the priest or High Priest bumped unexpectedly into a dead body on the road with no one attending to the person to bury it. In such a case the Priest must defile himself and bury the body. In presenting this explanation we have deviated from Rashi's literal statement that we infer this law from the extra phrase in the country (bullet #(2)). We instead offer a combined approach come vs bumped into unexpectedly (bullet #(4)) and in the country vs on the road (bullet #(2)). The combined approach makes Rashi more plausible. Such a reading of Rashi where we interpret Rashi's statement we learn from here to mean We learn from a variety of places inclding here is consistent with the approach to Rashi laid down in rule #1, references above.

There are some further subtleties in this Rashi which we have not gone into. For example the Bible splits the aligned nuances between the chapters dealing with Priest and High Priest. The High Priest should not come to a dead body but he may defile himself to a dead body he bumps into unexpectedly. Similarly the ordinary priest should not let himself be defiled for funerals in the country; but for a dead body on the road he may or even should let himself be defiled. It is my opinion that Rashi simply noted one difference in the country. He expected each student to supplement this one observation with other differences.


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