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  |      Rashi is Simple Version 2.0                         |
  |      (C) RashiYomi Inc., Dr Hendel President             |
  |       http://www.RashiYomi.Com                           |
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VERSE: Ex25-02d

RASHIS COVERED: Ex25-02d Ex25-02c Ex25-02b

============== THERE WERE 2 TEMPLE TAXES =======================

BACKGROUND
----------
The Torah required building a Temple of Holiness symbolic of
Gods dwelling among the Jewish people

THE TEXT
--------
But the Torah seems to use contradictory language.
- Some verses speak about a REQUIRED FIX TAX
- Some verses speak about a VOLUNTARY NON-FIXED TAX

THE RASHI
---------
Rashi resolves these contradictions using the Rabbi Ishmael
method of CONTRADICTION. Rabbi Ishmael outlined 5 methods for
resolving contradictory passages: The simplest approach is
to assume that the two contradictory passages are talking
about two aspects of the same thing.

Thus Rashi-is-Simple: There were 2 types of Tax:
- VOLUNTARY
- FIXED.
Each of these taxes had specific purposes*10

THE LIST
--------
We present several verses below: Some point to a voluntary
tax while others point to a required tax. Some of these
verses are commands while others are implementations of
these commands. Along the way we have occasion to examine
how Rashi inferred the meaning of certain words. These
inferences are examined in the longer footnotes

REFERENCES
----------
http://www.RashiYomi.com/ri-14.htm RIshmaels contradiction method
http://www.RashiYomi.com/means-32.htm (methods to infer meaning)
=================================================================
VERSE   TEXT OF VERSE DEALING WITH TAX                  TAX TYPE
======= =============================================== =========
Ex25-02 Take GIFTS*1                                    Voluntary
Ex25-02 Take ..from people who VOLUNTEER*2 to give      Voluntary
Ex35-05 Take GIFTS from VOLUNTEERS                      Volunteer
Ex35-21 All of GOOD HEART,with the SPIRIT of VOLUNTEER  Volunteer
Ex35-36 Women whose SPIRIT MOVED THEM, wove for temple  Volunteer
Ex36-29 All who VOLUNTEERED, brought gifts              Volunteer
------- ----------------------------------------------- ---------
Ex30-13 Levi a half dollar tax for atonement            Required
Ex38-26 The half-dollar tax was used in silver utensils Required

NOTES
-----
*1 Rashi (Ex25-02b) explains that the Hebrew TERUMAH means GIFT
   A close examination of verses shows that it refers to a sort
   of TOKEN GIFT. Here are some typical verses
   ------------------------------------------------------------
   VERSE   TERUMAH REFERS TO    COMMENT
   ------- -------------------- -------------------------------
   Lv07-32 the THIGH gift       FROM SACRIFICES
   Nu15-19 the DOUGHT gift      FROM BAKED ROLLS/bread
   Ex30-13 the HALF DOLLAR gift FROM ALL ONES WEALTH
   Nu31-41 0.5% military gift   FROM ALL BOOTY
   Prv29-4 SMALL BRIBE GIFTS    DESTROYS JUSTICE
   ------------------------------------------------------------

   The method used here is inferring PROPERTIES FROM VERSES
   See http://www.RashiYomi.Com/means-32.htm

*2 Rashi Ex25-02c explains that the Hebrew verb N-D-V means
   VOLUNTEER. Rashi did this because other verses speak about
   a REQUIRED tax. Hence Rashi had to make it clear that
   NADAV does mean VOLUNTEER as it is usually translated
   Here are some typical verses
   ---------------------------------------------------------------
   VERSE   How verse indicates that NADAV means VOLUNTEER/GENEROUS
   ------- -------------------------------------------------------
   Nu15-08 NDV(VOLUNTEER) is contrasted to NEDER(OATH)
   1C29-17 NDV(VOLUNTEER) is according to how your HEART feels
   Dt16-10 You NDV(VOLUNTEER) according to how much you-re BLESSED
   Isa32-5 The opposite of NDV(GENEROUS) is NAVAL(DISGUSTING)
   P107-40 The opposite of NDV(GENEROUS) is BOOZ(DESPICABLE)
   ---------------------------------------------------------------

   The method used here is inferring PROPERTIES FROM VERSES
   See http://www.RashiYomi.Com/means-32.htm

------------------------ LONGER FOOTNOTES ----------------------

*10 It is profitable to compare the derivation here to the
    derivation in http://www.RashiYomi.com/ex30-12a.htm

    Both Rashis derive multiple taxes but they do so from a
    different perspective.

    The MAIN focus of the Rashi in Ex25-02d is on the
    CONTRADICTION between verses requiring VOLUNTARY vs
    REQUIRED taxes. Rashis main contribution here is that
    there were 2 types of taxes: VOLUNTARY & REQUIRED.

    By contrast the MAIN focus of the Rashi in Ex30-12a is
    on the general principle that EVERY CENSUS IS DONE
    BY COLLECTING A REQUIRED HALF-DOLLAR TEMPLE TAX(The
    amount of money corresponded to the number of people)
    Rashis main contribution on Ex30-12a, Ex30-15a, Ex30-16a
    and Ex30-16b is that (a) the first census tax was used
    to purchase the silver temple utensils mentioned in
    Ex35-25:26 (b) the consequent census taxes were used
    to purchase sacrifices to atone for poor people who
    could not afford them.

    TAKEN TOGETHER these two sets of Rashis say there
    were 3 taxes
    - the 1st-required-census-tax for the SILVER UTENSILS
    - future census taxes used to purchase SACRIFICES
    - voluntary gifts used to make GOLD-COPPER UTENSILS

    Rashi in fact mentions these 3 taxes BOTH on Ex30
    and on Ex25. Thus it can falsely appear that Rashi
    derived the 3 types of taxes from one of these
    verses alone. The simple approach adopted above
    shows that
    - Ex25-02d derives VOLUNTARY vs REQUIRED TAXES
    - Ex30-15a derives 2 TYPES OF VOLUNTARY TAXES.

    Such an approach is logically sound and uses
    two different Rashi rules
    - Ex30-15a uses the GENERAL-SPECIFIC-GENERAL style rule
    - Ex25-02d uses the Rabbi Ishmael CONTRADICTION method
=================================================================

RASHI RULE USED: RabbiIshmael
---------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The following additional references may be too wordy
However they frequently contain additional information & lists
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Volume 13 Number 2


#*#*#*#*#  (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 13 Number 2