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VERSE: Dt26-01a
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RASHIS COVERED: Dt26-01a Ex12-25a Nu15-18a
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REFERENCES:
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http://www.RashiYomi.Com/align-29.htm
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/nu15-18a.htm
======== BIBLICAL LAWS WHEN WE COME TO ISRAEL ===================
BACKGROUND
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In about 10 commandments we find the Biblical law stated as
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WHEN YOU COME to the land promised to you then you should do
such and such
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THE TEXT
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A Variety of textual phrases are used to describe coming to
Israel
-- IN COMING to the land
-- WHEN you come to the land
-- WHEN you come to the land and CONQUER and INHABIT it
The difference in phrases can be inferred from an alignment
THE RASHI
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Rashi learns nuances from each different phrase.
- First: Rashi learns that these commandments are ONLY
obligatory when we come to the land but not in the desert*1
- Next: Following the Rabbi Ishmael style rules, Rashi
infers that these commandments were only obligatory
AFTER BOTH conquest and inhabitance
- Finally from the verse with the phrase IN COMING TO THE LAND
Rashi learns that only CONQUEST (but not inhabitance) is
required for Challah, the commandment spoken about
THE LIST
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Further details are supplied in the footnotes. Here is the LIST
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VERSE LAW PHRASE1 PHRASE2
======== ======================== ============= =================
Ex12-25a Passover Sacrifice When you come
Lv19-23 3 year Tree abstention When you come
Lv23-10 Omer Sacrifice When you come
Lv25-02 Shmitah Laws When you come
Nu34-01 Levite Cities When you come
Dt07-01 Destruction of 7 nations When you come
Dt17-04 Making a King *2 When you come &Conquer &Inhabit
Dt18-09 Witchcraft prohibitions When you come
Dt26-01a First Fruit sacrifice*2 When you come &Conquer &Inhabit
Nu15-18a Chalah Laws In coming
Differs *2 *3
NOTES
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*1 As a general rule of thumb if the law begins WHEN YOU COME
TO THE LAND then the law is not applicable in the wilderness
For example the Jews observed the Passover of Egypt but
did not observe Passover again in the wilderness. *10
*2 Note the contrast
-- MOST verses begin: When you come to the land
-- Nu15-18a begins: In coming to the land
Rashi/Sifrah/Sifray, therefore concludes, that the two
phrases must have distinct meanings.
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- WHEN you come to the land MEANS after conquest/inhabitance
- IN coming to the land MEANS after conquest *11
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*3 Rashi notes about the above list that
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--in 7 verses it states WHEN YOU COME
--in 2 verses it states WHEN YOU COME, CONQUER & INHABIT
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We therefore use the Rabbi Ishmael LIST EXCEPTION RULE
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- If you have a LIST of similar phrases (eg WHEN YOU COME)
- and a few of them are different (eg COME CONQUEST..)
- then these few phrases dont just shed light on themselves
- but rather they shed light on the WHOLE LIST
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So every commandment in the list is only obligatory when
you COME CONQUEST & INHABIT. See footnote *12 for more details
------------------ LONGER FOOTNOTES ----------------------------
*10 However a few laws that begin WHEN YOU COME TO THE LAND
are applicable even BEFORE the Jews came to the land.
For example the witchcraft prohibitions (Dt18-09) state
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WHEN you come to the land DO NOT LEARN to act like the
residents. Do not use witchcraft THE WAY THEY DO; rather
behave simply with Your God
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Note the capped words THE WAY THEY DO:
So we see that the reason that the prohibitions begin
with the phrase WHEN YOU COME TO THE LAND is to
indicate HOW the Jews differ from the Non-Jews.
In fact, the Sifrah/Sifray states that
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The reason the paragraph begins with WHEN YOU COME TO
THE LAND is to indicate the REASON and MERIT by which
the Jews will inherit the land -- namely, they will
behave DIFFERENTLY then the non-jewish inhabitants
which practice witchcraft
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See Malbim who makes a similar point. The above
explanation also applies to Dt07-01.
*11 We make 3 points
First we have the following law:
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After they conquered the land they were
immediately obligated to separate challah
even though they had not yet inhabited
the land
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Next we point out that the proof that WHEN YOU COME
TO THE LAND refers to both CONQUEST and INHABITANCE
will be presented in footnote #3.
Finally we point out the nature of the logic:
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-- WHEN you come MEANS AFTER conquest & inhabitance
-- IN coming MEANS AFTER conquest
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Rashi does NOT attach special meaning to WHEN vs IN. Rather
Rashi simply assumes that IN COMING must have a DIFFERENT
meaning to WHEN YOU COME. Since WHEN YOU COME means 2
things (conquest/inhabitance) therefor IN COMING means
just 1.
(This is my approach. Malbim however suggests
that IN COMING has special nuances of immediacy. THerefore
they were immediately obligated when they came to the
land. At the present writing I cannot find a list to
support Malbim and hence I dont support him yet).
*12 Let me recap. In this case we
- have a list (Commandments whose obligation start in Israel)
- a few exceptions (when you come CONQUEST & INHABIT). Hence
- These exceptions dont just apply to those particular verses
- Rather they apply to the whole list. HENCE, all commandments
in the LIST are only obligatory when we COME CONQUEST INHABIT
Thus we have used a methodology of clarifying the meaning
of MANY VERSES using SPECIFICITY in one verse.(That is,
one verse says when YOU COME & INHABIT & CONQUER while
the other verses say WHEN YOU COME)
This method is developed in the following URL:
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/lv09-07d.htm which provide
examples of deriving meaning of non-specific
phrases based on a ONE VERSE OCCURENCE WITH
SPECIFICITY. Here are a few more examples
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* EGEL means YOUNG COW;one verse says EGEL=1 YEAR
* BLOOD ON HIM means death; 1 verses says it means STONING
* CONFOUNDED means confusion;1 verse says it means BY NOISE
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Thus in each case the SPECIFIC VERSE sheds light on the
whole list of verses where this phrase occurs. So here
too: THe verses that say CONQUEST & INHABIT shed light
on the whole LIST.
In passing both Rashi and the Sifrah/Sifray speak about ONE
VERSE WHERE IT MENTIONS CONQUEST & INHABITANCE. Actually,
there are TWO verses (Both listed above). It would appear
to me that this is simply a generalization based on 2
verses.
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RASHI RULE USED: DOUBLE PARSHAS
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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 11 Number 15
#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 11 Number 15