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      3. RASHI METHOD: GRAMMAR
      BRIEF EXPLANATION: Rashi explains verses using grammar principles, that is, rules which relate reproducable word form to word meaning. Grammatical rules neatly fall into 3 categories
      • (a) the rules governing conjugation of individual words,Biblical roots,
      • (b) the rules governing collections of words,clauses, sentences
      • (c) miscellaneous grammatical, or form-meaning, rules.
      This examples applies to Rashis Lv22-02b
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1216.htm
      Brief Summary: Speak to Aaron and his sons, Let them separate [when impure] from the HOLY sacrifices of Jews WHICH THEY MAKE HOLY TO MY NAME and thereby they will not descecrate My Name, I am God.

Today, students of the Bible learn grammar from Biblical Hebrew grammar textbooks. These textbooks organize material by topics. Grammatical topics include a) verb mood and conjugation, b) plurality and gender agreement, c) pronoun reference, d) subject-verb-object sequencing, e) sentence structure and type, f) the possessive and g) connective words, and many other topics.

However in Rashi's time gramamr was just beginning. There were no official grammatical textbooks and tables. One of Rashi's functions was to teach grammar. Rashi did not write a grammar textbook but instead left grammatical explanations appended to each verse.

In today's example Rashi explains rules about dangling modifiers. This rule is similar to English - the rule states that generally, modifiers and modifier phrases should be proximate to the nouns and verbs they modify.

    Using this Rashi principle we examine verse Lv22-02 discussing the requirement for priests to separate from the holy sacrifices when they are impure. The verse states
    • Speak to Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the people of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name that they hallow to me; I am the Lord.
    Rashi in effect notes that The underlined phrase that they hallow to me is an adjectival phrase modifying the underlying nominal phrase the holy things of the people of Israel. However this adjectival phrase is dangling and distant from the nominal phrase that it modifies. This phrase is proximate to the noun-phrase my holy name and can cause some confusion to the reader. The meaning of the verse is clearer if we make the adjectival phrase proximate to the nominal phrase it modifies. The verse would then read as follows:
    • Speak to Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the people of Israel, that they hallow to me; that they profane not my holy name I am the Lord.

Advanced Rashi: The verse is certainly clearer if the phrases are rearranged. Why then was the verse written the way it is. My opinion is that whenever verses violate the dangling modifier rule the intent is to create a pun or double meaning in the verse. By making proximate the phrases my holy name that they hallow to me; the verse puns that the priests share with the owners in sanctifying the sacrifices to God. That is the priests are not passive bystanders implementing the owner's dedication but rather the priests share with the act of sanctification. In 2010 an article of mine, The Priest as Vocational Counselor will appear in the Jewish Bible Quarterly discussing and showing how the Priest actively functioned in the Temple as someone ##### 


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