#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
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| (C) RashiYomi Inc., Dr Hendel President |
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VERSE: Ex13-20a
RASHIS COVERED: Ex13-20a Ex16-01a Ex16-02a Ex16-04b
=========== ALIGNMENT OF Nu vs EX on JOUNREYS ===================
BACKGROUND
----------
Recall that the Jews left Egypt, travelled for 40 years in
the desert and then came to Israel
THE TEXT
--------
There are 2 different accounts of these Journeys. One account
is given in Nu33 and one account is scattered thru Exodus.
THE ALIGNMENT
-------------
The alignment of these two versions is interesting.
-- only 3 of the several dozen Journeys are time-stamped. Why?
-- several journeys are missing from the Exodus version. Why?
THE RASHI
---------
It is easy to explain why several journeys are missing from
the Exodus version. The PURPOSE of Exodus is to tell the STORY
of the Exodus. Hence it skips over journeys without STORIES.
By contrast the PURPOSE of Numbers is to tell the HISTORY
of the journeys. Hence ALL Journeys are mentioned in Numbers.
As for the dates, Rashi gathers several obscure verses and
paints a beautiful picture of the Manna commandment.
-- Rashi shows that the typical Jew took out 3 cartons of
bread when they left Egypt and this food lasted a month.
-- Rashi also shows how this prepared them for the Manna
experience of an Omer of food per day.
-- Finally Rashi beautifully shows a fundamental principle
of Jewish philosophy in this Manna commandment:
A major Goal of Judaism is to teach DELAYED
GRATIFICATION.
Here is the list. The footnotes present the beautiful ideas
just mentioned.
=================================================================
Nu33 DEPART FROM ARRIVE AT Ex Date
======== ============= =================== ======= ==============
Nu33-03 Egypt RaamSayth ---*1--
Nu33-05 RaamSayth Succoth Ex12-37 15th Nissan
Nu33-06 Succoth Aytham Ex13-20
Nu33-07 Aytham Chiroth-Migdol-Zion Ex14-02
Nu33-08 Chiroth Red Sea Ex14-15
Nu33-08 Red Sea Aytham/Shur Desert Ex15-23
Nu33-08 Aytham Desert Marah Ex15-24
Nu33-09 Marah Aylim Ex15-27
Nu33-10 Aylim Red Sea ---*1--
Nu33-11 Red Sea Sin Desert Ex16-01 15th Iyar
Nu33-12 Sin Desert Dafkah ---*1--
Nu33-13 Dafkah Alush ---*1--
Nu33-14 Alush Refidim Ex17-01
Nu33-15 Refidim Sinai Desert Ex19-01 1st Sivan
NOTES
-----
*1 Note that although the Raamsayth Succoth journey is not
mentioned in Ex13-20 it is mentioned in Ex12-37. Also
note that although Rashi only comments on the missing
RAAMSAYTH-SUCCOTH journey nevertheless there are other
missing journeys as noted in the list above(Ex13-20a)
Thus this Rashi should be taken, not as focusing on
one journey but rather as indicating a general rule
for any missing Journey in Exodus.
*2 Only 3 places in the journey are time stamped.
Rashi explains that since the Bible relates that
- the Jews complained about lack of food here
- the Jews had travelled one month
it seems reasonable to assume that they took one months
supply bread with them. (This would be the volume of 3
Grocery cartons per person *10) Hence they complained
when they ran out of food(Ex16-01a,Ex16-02a)
-------------- LONGER FOOTNOTES --------------------------------
*10 The computations are simple
-- A person eats One OMER of food in a day (Ex16-18)
-- An OMER is the volume of 43.2 eggs (Ex16-34)
-- An egg has a volume of 3-5 fluid onzes
-- A fluid onze fills 2-3 cubic inches
-- Hence 30 days food equals
---- 30 days x
---- 43.2 eggs per day (One omer) x
---- 3-5 fluid onzes of volume per egg x
---- 2-3 cubic inches per onze [Divided by]
---- 1728 cubic inches per cubic foot [Divided by]
---- 2.5 cubic feet per Grocery carton
(A grocery carton = 24 in x 16 in x 12 inches)
The above comes out to 3-4 cartons per person
Such an analysis gives credibility and richness to
the Egyptian exodus. It also shows that God prepared
them for the Manna experience by putting them in a
situation where they, ALREADY FOR A WHOLE MONTH, had
to eat only an OMER of food per day.
Thus it would seem that the Manna experience embodied
the fundamental Biblical theme of DELAYED GRATIFICATION
IN COMMANDMENTS INVOLVING PLEASURE *11
*11 Rashi (Ex16-04b) explains the Biblical sentence
---------------------------------
I give them the Manna to test if
they will walk in my Torah or not
---------------------------------
Rashi explains
----------------------------------------------------
The manna tested whether the Jews watched such
commandments as
-- not leaving over Manna from day to day (Ex16-19)
-- Not gathering Manna on Shabbath (Ex16-26)
----------------------------------------------------
This Rashi APPEARS to interpret the Biblical text
narrowly. It appears to suggest that the Manna tested
whether Jews could observe Gods MANNA laws.
But I would go a step further. I would suggest that
the Manna commandments were archetypical of Biblical
commandments. Many Jewish Philosophers have argued
that the purpose of Biblical commandments is not to
destroy mans pursuit of pleasure but rather to destroy
the desire for INSTANT GRATIFICATION.
In other words mans pursuit of pleasure should be
controllable (but still enjoyable). Here are some
major commandment classes that encourage DELAYED
GRATIFICATION
--------------------------------------------------------
COMMANDMENT GOAL
------------- ------------------------------------------
Kosher Dont eat EVERYthing you see
Family purity Dont sleep with your wife EVERY DAY
Shabbath You dont have to work ALL days of the week
Charity Dont hoard EVERY dollar--give to the poor
Learning Dont work EVERY minute; learn every day
Manna Dont HOARD the manna; new manna tomorrow
Shabat-Manna Dont work EVERY day;God gives extra time
--------------------------------------------------------
Thus these great commandments of (Orthodox) Judaism teach
lack of delayed gratification. This is in fact the
focal point of the Manna commandments--the emphasis
on being satisfied with WHAT YOU NEED and not HOARDING
or WORRYING about the future(one day at a time and
no work on Shabbath)
In other words I would interpret the above Rashi
broadly. God was testing, using the Manna as a good example,
whether Jews could observe commandments focusing
on delayed gratification.
In passing this lesson is derived from the ALIGNMENT
of Ex and Nu. The fact that dates are not given for journeys
but the date is given by the start of the manna shows that
the Bible emphasized the need to see the Manna experience as
a continuation of the 3 grocery cartons per person that the
Jews took out of Egypt
================================================================
RASHI RULE USED: ALIGNMENT
---------------------------------------------------
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Volume 12 Number 22
#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 12 Number 22