#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
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VERSE: Dt01-23c
RASHIS COVERED: Dt01-23c Nu13-02b Nu13-03b
======================= LEVITES DIDNT PARTICIPATE IN WARS =======
VERY BRIEF SUMMARY
------------------
Dt01-22:23 mentions how the Jews asked to send spies to find out
how to conquer the land--and Moses then picked 12 spies, one
per tribe. On a simple literal level, since only 12 spies
were selected--one per tribe--it follows that the Levites did
not send spies. On a deeper level, the spies were sent to find
out how to best conquer the land. But the Levites did not
participate in the wars of conquest for they did not inherit
land(They worked in the temple)--this is explicitlys stated 3
times in the Torah. Hence they had NO NEED for spying. Hence
we infer that the Levites saw no need for spying.
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TODAYS RASHI RULE: ALIGNMENT
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE: FURTHER NUANCES
----------------------------------------
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF RULE
-------------------------
Many Rashis do NOT focus on an internal analysis of the verse.
There may be nothing bothering Rashi in THAT verse. The words
used may all be normal.
But when the given verse is compared with another verse--that
is, when the two verses are ALIGNED together-- we see blatant
differences.
The ALIGNED verses therefore suggest that these ALIGNED
DIFFERENCES were deliberately placed there to emphasize
certain nuances. The standard example will illustrtae this.
STANDARD EXAMPLE
----------------
Recall that the Moabite King BALAK was apprehensive about
Israel journeying throught its territory. It wanted Israel
banished. It hired a professional curse-man, Bilam who would
curse the Jews. Bilam however describes his job SLIGHTLY
differently. Here are the verses.
-----------------------------------------------
BALAK: Nu22-06 I will banish Jews FROM THE LAND
BILAM: Nu22-11 ...... banish Jews -------------
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EXERCISE
--------
To fully appreciate Rashi perform the following 2 exercises
- What is the minor difference between the aligned verses?
- What NUANCE do YOU think this implies?
RASHIS SOLUTION
---------------
BALAK only wanted Jews away from his land; his goals were
political. By contrast, BILAM wanted them DESTROYED. Hence...
BALAK wanted Jews BANISHED FROM THE LAND. But Bilam wanted
them BANISHED PERIOD (That is destroyed).
STANDARD REFERENCES FOR THIS RULE
---------------------------------
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/align-58.htm
This summary may be a bit too terse. You can browse the
57 postings leading up to by going to
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/align-1.htm
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/align-2.htm etc.
Or you can visit the Rashi Yomi Calendar at
http://www.RashiYomi.com/calendar1.htm
This calendar presents a day by day listing of Rashis.
The ALIGNMENT series occurs between 7-28-01 and 10-10-01.
HOW TO USE THESE LISTS FOR SCHOOL PROJECTS
------------------------------------------
You can use the LISTS referenced above for
school projects. Here is how. If you are a
teacher then you can present the two aligned
verses and ask the students to perform the
following exercises
-- What are the minor differences between the verses
-- What nuances do they imply
The students can then compare their analysis with that
of Rashis. This leads to greater appreciation of Rashi.
TODAYS EXAMPLE
--------------
We align the two parshas that talk about the spies in the
LIST below. As can be seen the emphasis in Dt is on sending
spies for purpose of conquest. Hence it follows that the
Levites that did not participate in conquest were not at all
involved in the spying.
=================================================================
Dt01-22:23 Nu13-02:20
=================================== =============================
People approached God said
Lets send distinguished people*1 Send the princes of the tribe
who will spy the land to spy the land
And tell us how to conquer See how fortified they are
ANd I(Moses)thought this idea good Send if you want*2
And I took 12 people-1 per tribe*3 1 person per tribe
NOTES
-----
*1 Rashi Nu13-03b shows that the nuances of the word ISH
means a DISTINGUISHED PERSON. We are simply supplementing
this observation with the explicit statement that God
ordered Moses to send the PRINCES
*2 Rashi Nu13-02b derives this from the use of the indirect
object TO which when used with a verb always denotes
personal activity.
*3 Of course there is an added emphasis in Dt--1 per tribe
TWELVE PEOPLE. But a more direct approach is the
emphasis in Dt on PEOPLE WANTING TO KNOW WHICH CITIES
TO CONQUER FIRST--HOW TO CONQUER (This request is absent
in Nu).
It follows that the SPYING is directly linked, in Dt,
to CONQUEST. Hence since the LEVITES did not participate
in CONQUEST or in division of land--see Dt18-01:02 or
Dt10-08:09, Nu18-23:24, it follows that they did not
participate in the SPYING*10
----------------------- LONGER FOOTNOTES -----------------------
*10 It is interesting that on Rashis comment
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The Bible states TWELVE TRIBES--ONE PER TRIBE---
this teaches that the Levites did not participate
in the SPYING.
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The great Rashi commentator, RAAM, states that
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But I could have simply counted the 12 tribes
mentioned in Numbers 13...In other words I
could have inferred this detail of Rashi from
Nu13. Why then does Rashi state what he does
------------------------------------------------
The Sifsay Chachamim, another great Rashi
commentator brings this down and answers
-----------------------------------------------
From Nu13 I would infer that the Levites did
NOT WALK TO ISRAEL TO SPY.
From Dt01 I infer that the Levites did not
agree INTELLECTUALLY WITH THE SPIES
This is consistent with Rashis language that
the LEVITES DID NOT FOLLOW THEIR ADVICE
(Thus Rashi is not speaking about NOT GOING
with the spies but not following advice)
-----------------------------------------------
I would go a step further. The above distinction
-- NOT GOING vs NOT AGREEING -- can also be
inferred from the nuances obtained by aligning
the Parshah.
=================================================================
RASHI RULE USED: ALIGNMENT
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WARNING: The following additional references may be too wordy
However they frequently contain additional information & lists
The hyperlinks only work on the main website
Volume 14 Number 18
#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 14 Number 18