FULL-DEFICIENT:3 methods:#10 of 12
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# 10 YEAR Ayelet DAILY-RASHI-YOMI CYCLE #
# May 28, 2000 #
# Rashis 66-69 Of 7800 (0.9%) #
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# Reprinted with permission from Rashi-is-Simple, #
# (c) 1999-Present, Dr. Hendel #
# http://www.shamash.org/rashi #
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In this series we will review all Rashis on
>FULL &
>DEFICIENT SPELLINGS
A person completing this module will be able, him or herself,
to naturally produce the same interpretations as Rashi and
Chazal. There are two methods which we now define and
exemplify.
METHOD 1
--------
The word
>SLEEP
can be spelled
>SLE P (deficiently spelled without the extra e)
>SLEEP (fully spelled with all e's)
In METHOD 1 if a verse said
>He tried to get some SLE P
the proper midrashic response would be
>He tried to get a good night SLE P
but
>did not succeed.
The argument would be
>Since the word SLE P is spelled deficiently
>we learn that the sleep itself was deficient.
In other words in METHOD 1 we transfer the
>deficiency in the SPELLING (SLE P)
to a
>deficiency in the OBJECT or ACTIVITY spoken about
>(Can't sleep)
METHOD 2
--------
The word
>KITE
can be spelled
>KIT (Deficiently--it is missing (deficient)
1 letter e)
or
>KITE (Fully--with the E)
In METHOD 2 we interpret the deficiently spelled word as a
pun. We actually give the sentence a double meaning. Thus
if a sentence said
>The father bought his son a KIT to fly in the park
Then since KITE is spelled KIT, we would midrashically
interpret this to mean
>The father bought his son a KITE
>The father also bought his son a KITten!
Rashis position is that this interpretation of FULL vs
DEFICIENT is a grammatical rule and is part of the
intended meaning of the sentence.
In this issue we review as well as introduce several
examples of method 2, puns.
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#
EXAMPLE (From Previous Issue): Gn24-39a
---------------------------------------
The Bible is discussing how Abraham ordered Eliezer to
obtain a wife for his son. Abraham sent him to Canaan,
to obtain Rivkah. Eliezer then protests
>Gn24-39 >MAYBE she will not come back with me
>RASHI: >The Hebrew word
----- >MAYBE
>is written deficiently so that it spells
>TO ME
>
>This creates a PUN, an extra sentence
>TO ME
>
>In other words, Eliezer wanted Abraham to
>marry his daughter. In effect Eliezer said
>TO ME, should you come
EXAMPLE (From Previous Issue): Gn16-05a
---------------------------------------
Sarah could not (at first) have children from Abraham.
So she gave Abraham her maid, Hagar. When Hagar gave
birth Sarah became jealous. She blamed her husband
and said to him
>Gn16-05b >May God judge between me and YOUU
>RASHI: >This is the only time in the
----- >Bible that The Hebrew word
>YOUU
>is spelled FULLY. As such it looks
>like the Hebrew word
>YOUU (Feminine YOU)
>
>This creates a pun. Besides being
>angry at her husband Sarah said
>
>May God judge between me & YOU(Hagar!)
In other words Sarah was just taking it out on everybody.
EXAMPLE 21: Ex03-15a
----------
Moses asked God his real NAME and God responded by revealing
to Moses the Tetragrammaton. God said
>Ex03-15a >This is my name FOREVER
>RASHI: >The Hebrew word
>FOREVER
>is spelled deficiently
>As such it looks like the word
>HIDDEN
>
>This suggests a pun. We can also read
>My name (should be) HIDDEN
>
>In other words, we learn from this that
>Gods ineffable name should not be
>pronounced.
EXAMPLE 22: Ex23-02c
----------
The text is talking about Court procedures. The Torah
admonishes judges
>Ex23-02c >Don't answer a DISPUTE by saying
>'I will follow the majority'
>RASHI: >The Hebrew word
>DISPUTE
>is spelled deficiently.As such it
>looks like the Hebrew word
>RABBI
--------------------------------------------------
|QUESTION 16: |
|----------- |
|Doesn't this suggest a pun? If you substitute |
|the word |
| >RABBI |
|for the word |
| >DISPUTE |
|in Ex23-02c, what sentence do you get? What law |
|does this suggest? See if you can modify it to |
|to make it punchy. |
|The ANSWER is on bottom. |
--------------------------------------------------
EXAMPLE 23: Gn08-21a
--------------------
After the flood God promised not to destroy the world.
He said
>Gn08-21a >I will not destroy the world because
>man is evil from his youth
>RASHI: >The Hebrew word
>From his youth
>is spelled deficiently. As such it looks
>like the verb
>to shake, romp.
>This suggests a pun. We can also read
>the sentence as
>(The) Evil (passion is) from
>(the time of his) romping and
>shakings.
The Torah compares the evil passions to the stages an
infant goes thru.
>First: An infant shakes and romps
>Then: It gradually develops its motor skills
>Till: The infant can walk and grab well
This same process can be used to deal with Passions as
an adult goes thru life.
>First: One has desires but cannot implement
them properly
>Then: The adult gradually learns the proper
procedures by which to fulfill these
desires
>Till: The adult can deal with his/her desires
in a mature manner.
------------------------------------------------------------
ANSWERS: #16: The pun sentence is
------- >Don't answer a Rabbi
This is actually applied to Kings---the
prohibition of disagreeing with a King comes
from this verse (The King is compared to a Rabbi)
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*