|
We ask the following database query:
How long - how many words - are in each of Moses' prayers.
The reader is encouraged to perform the query using a standard Biblical Konnkordance or search engine.
This database query yields the list below.
The list justifies the following Rashi inference:
Of all Moses' prayers, his prayer for his sister's recovery was the smallest - 5 words.
It is reasonable to conjecture that Moses, as a public figure, did not want to create
a situation where the public could point a finger at him and argue that he was spending
excessive time on personal matters (prayers for his sister) and less time on communal matters.
The list below presents the results of the database query and shows examples
| Verse
| Topic of Prayer
| Length
| Prayer Category
|
| Ex04-01
| Request for signs for Jews
| 11
| Exodus
|
| Ex04-10
| Complaint - Moses didn't want Job
| 19
| Complaint
|
| Ex05-22
| Complaint - Moses didn't want his job
| 19
| Complaint
|
| Ex06-30
| Complaint - Moses didn't want his job
| 8
| Complaint
|
| Ex17-04
| Complaint - Moses fearful for his life
| 7
| Complaint
|
| Nu11-11:15
| Complaint - Moses prefers death to national service
| 64
| Complaint
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Ex32-31:32
| Prayer for Jewish welfare (Golden calf)
| 19
| Jewish welfare
|
| Ex33-12:13
| Prayer for knowledge of God's way
| 37
| Jewish welfare
|
| Ex34-09
| Prayer for God walking with Nation
| 15
| Jewish Welfare
|
| Nu14-13:19
| Prayer for Jewish Welfare (Spy incident)
| 90
| Jewish Welfare
|
| Ex32-11:13
| Prayer for Jewis Welfare (Golden calf)
| 56
| Jewish Welfare
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Nu12-13c
| Prayer for sister's recovery
| 5
| Personal Prayer
|
Advanced Rashi:
We have emphasized several times in this email newsletter that frequently Rashi will
indicate only one conclusion of application of a Rashi method and the student must
complement Rashi by applying the method fully and making further conclusions. As can
be seen from the above table, prayers for Jewish welfare were significantly long. We also
see Rashi's point that the prayer for his sister's recovery was short. But we find additional
commentary. We find that Moses' prayer complaints were also short. Such discoveries are fully
consistent with the reading and learning of Rashi and enhance the Rashi learning experience. In
fairness to Rashi we note that there is one complaint (prayer for death) that took 64 words -
perhaps Moses was unusually upset there!
We also point out that our count was not an absolute count of all words but a count
of hyphenated words (So each hyphenated word has a count of 1 even if several words were
involved in the hyphenated pair).
Finally we note that this Rashi has a modern flavor. Modern journal studies frequently
study a domain of discoure - such as Moses' prayers - by computing attributes of forms
such as word length. Because word length is objective such studies frequently uncover
meaningful commentary. It is interesting that Rashi was aware of this very modern technique.
|