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  |      Rashi is Simple Version 2.0                         |
  |      (C) Dr Hendel, Summer 2000                          |
  |       http://www.RashiYomi.Com                           |
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VERSE: Ex25-16b


RASHIS COVERED: Ex25-16b Ex40-20a

RASHI
=====
RASHI translates Ex25-16b and Ex40-20a to mean that
>Moses placed the 10 commandments in the ark< Such
a translation is consistent with other Torah verses.


COMMENT:
=======
This is a peach of a Rashi since it shows HOW NOT TO TREAT RASHI
Sometimes it is very dangerous and even criminal to harp on
every nuance in Rashi. Rashi was the king of databases but
otherwise Rashi could be very lose in his use of words!


THE OTHER VERSES
================
Several verses explicitly state that only the 10 commandments
written on the two tablets were in the Holy Ark. Here are a
few such verses

---------------------------------------------------------
Dt10-01 Make new tablets and an ark and I(God) will write
        the same items (ie the 10 commandments) that I
        originally told you...And God wrote on the tablets
        the words he spoke in Fire Visions and I (Moses)
        placed the tablets in the ark.

Dt31-26 Take the scroll of the Torah and place it on the
        SIDE of the ark.

1K8-9   There was nothing in the ark Except the 2 tablets
        of stone that Moses had placed there in Chorev
        (Which contained the 10 commandments)


RADACK  Radack (on 1K8-9) points out that this verse
        refutes the idea that the broken tablet peaces
        or a copy of the scroll of Law was also in the
        ark since the verse explicitly says >THERE WAS
        NOTHING IN THE ARK EXCEPT THE 2 TABLETS OF STONE<
        (Radack brings other proofs)

RALBAG  Ralbag (on 1K8-9) dissents from the Radack. Ralbag
        agrees that from Biblical passages only the 10
        commandments were in the ark. But Ralbag argues
        that certain items like the Manna might have also
        been in the ark since it says about the Manna that
        >Aaron left it before God< (Ex17-34)
-------------------------------------------------------------


SUMMARY
=======
With this background of >OTHER VERSES<, which explicitly
state that the ark only had the two tablets, we can now
review the verses, Rashis and commentators. Everything
is clear.


* Ex25-16 The Torah says >Place the TESTIMONY in the ark<
* Ex40-20 The Torah says >Moses placed the TESTIMONY in the ark<
* Rashi Ex40-20a: >THE TESTIMONY< = >THE TWO TABLETS< with
  the 10 commandments. (Rashi inferred this from the explicit
  statement made in all the verses above)
* Rashi Ex25-16: >THE TESTIMONY< = >The TORAH< which is
  a testimony to Israel.

It is this Rashi comment on Ex25-16 which drove the Rashi
commentator Sifsay Chachamim into a frenzy. Notice how
the Rashis on Ex40-20a and Ex25-16b differ: One says that
he placed the >TORAH< while the other says that he placed
the >TABLETS<. The sifsay Chachamim following other Rashi
commentators comes to the conclusion that BOTH the Torah
and Tablets were in the ark! After all Rashi says so!

As I indicated earlier we see here the danger of emphasizing
nuances in Rashi! Yes it is true that in one place he
says >The TABLETS were in the ark< while in another place
Moses says >The TORAH was in the ark<.

But this contradicts the explicit statement of many verses
that ONLY the tablets were in the ark.

The simplest way of interpreting Rashi is that
        >The Tablets were in the ark which contain the
        10 commandments which encompass the whole Torah
        which is a testimony for Israel (eg Cf Dt31-26)
        In other words the 2 tablets encompassed the
        Torah and the Torah is called a testimony(Dt31-26)
        Hence it is legitimate to call the Tablets a
        testimony.<
Thus Rashi had no intention of violating several verses
and claiming that something besides the tablets were in
the ark.

Finally in response to the Sifsay Chachamims question that
the verse Ex25-16 says >And you should place in the ark
the TESTIMONY that I WILL give you< indicating that this
refers to the TORAH which WILL be written (at the end of
40 years) I refer to my comments at
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/ex24-01a.htm which shows that
Ex24-01 explicitly says that this whole set of chapters
was said >BEFORE< the completion of the 40 days and hence
before the 10 commandments were given in stone.

Therefore the verses statement >Place the TESTIMONY that
I will give you in the ark< is consistent with what happened


SUMMARY
=======
Rashi is best understood by reviewing database queries.
By contrast, the attempt to invest meaning in every word
of Rashi is dangerous and criminal. Rashi never went
beyond the simple meaning of the text as illuminated by
database queries and further nuances should not be
read into Rashi UNLESS of course the database methods
support it.

RASHI RULE USED: OTHER VERSES
---------------------------------------------------
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 9 Number 10


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