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    7. RASHI METHOD: FORMATTING
    BRIEF EXPLANATION:Inferences from Biblical formatting: --bold,italics, and paragraph structure.
    • Use of repetition to indicate formatting effects: bold,italics,...;
    • use of repeated keywords to indicate a bullet effect;
    • rules governing use and interpretation of climactic sequence;
    • rules governing paragraph development and discourse
    This example applies to Rashis Ex30-19a
    URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1405.htm
    Brief Summary: Aaron and his sons will wash: a) their hands, b) their legs. Rashi: If they inadvertently washed hands and legs separately their Temple worship is satisfactory.

We have explained in our article Biblical Formatting located on the world wide web at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/biblicalformatting.pdf, that the Biblical Author indicated bullets by using repeating keywords.

That is, if a modern author wanted to get a point across using bullets - a list of similar but contrastive items - then the Biblical Author would use repeating keywords. Today's verse illustrates this principle.

Bullets whether indicated through modern notation or through the Biblical method of repeating keywords always indicate contrastive emphasis - that is, each bullet is presumed to be a distinct item contrasted to the other items on the list. Very often the bullets are also used to indicate that the entire list is exhaustive of some spectrum.

    Verse(s) Ex30-19a discussing the requirement for priests to wash their hands and legs states states And Aaron and his sons shall wash from it [the lavere]
    • eth their hands
    • eth their legs
    The repeated underlined phrase (the Hebrew word) eth creates a bullet effect. The bullet effect in turn creates an emphasis on the distinctness of all enumerated items. Rashi interprets the distinctness as follows Although it is preferred for Priests to wash their hands and legs together (as indicated above in rule #4) nevertheless if they washed their legs separately and their hands separately it is a valid washing.

Advanced Rashi: Rashi does not actually say this interpretation. Furthermore, Rambam, in his great legal code, in the laws of Coming to the Temple, Chapter 5, throughout, especially law 14, does not explicitly (or implicitly) mention the above law. My thinking however is as follows. We have always seen that bullets create distinct emphasis. The distinct emphasis here would be that hands are washed separately and legs are washed separately. However as shown above in rule #4, alignment this is not the preferred method. We would then conclude that if they did wash hands and legs separately it did not invalidate the Temple service that followed. At any rate this is a novelty not discussed, nor contradicted, elsewhere in Jewish sources.

It might be worthwhile to approach this matter symbolically. The legs symbolize ones social circle the people one walks with. The hands symbolize ones actions. It is preferable to sanctify ones action and social circle together; after all ones actions are not typically done solo, rather, #####


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