FULL-DEFICIENT:3 methods:#11 of 12
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# 10 YEAR Ayelet DAILY-RASHI-YOMI CYCLE #
# May 29, 2000 #
# Rashis 70-71 Of 7800 (0.9%) #
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# Reprinted with permission from Rashi-is-Simple, #
# (c) 1999-Present, Dr. Hendel #
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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 the previous issue we saw examples of method 2
where the PUN sentence was totally distinct from
the actual Biblical verse. In this issue we review
method 2 where the PUN sentence COMBINES with the
actual BIblical verse.
Tomorrow we will finish this exciting unit with a grand
summary.
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#
EXAMPLE (From a previous issue) Gn06-02b
----------------------------------------
>Gn06-02 >And they (The (evil) Judges) saw the
>good looking girls and they took whomever
>they wanted
>RASHI: >The Hebrew word
>GOOD LOOKING
>is spelled deficiently.
>
>This suggests a pun. The word looks
>like the verb form
>To FIX up
>
>Thus the verse should be interpreted
>And they saw the good looking girls
>at those times (eg weddings) when
>they fixed themselves up and they
>took whomever they wanted
In other words the pun heightens the sin of these judges
by showing their vulgarity that they would go into wedding
halls and break up marriages for their own desires.
EXAMPLE 24: Nu22-05f
----------
The Bible is relating how Balak, King of Moab was nervous
about the Jews sitting near his border. He was afraid of
a military move by them. He asked a non Jewish prophet,
Bilam for help
>Nu22-05f >...curse this nation (the Jews)
>for they are sitting OPOSITE me
>RASHI: >The Hebrew word
>OPOSITE
>is written deficiently--as such it
>looks like the verb form
>To OPPOSE
>
>This suggests a pun
>
>The text should really be read
>They are sitting opposite me
>in military formation ready
>to oppose me (and therefore
>I need help)
EXAMPLE 25: Nu07-19a
--------------------
The Bible in Nu07 relates how the 12 tribes brought their
gifts to the temple consecration. The question naturally
arises as to what order they should use--who should offer
first, second, third etc.
-------------------------------------------
|QUESTION 17: |
|----------- |
|What order would you use? One possible |
|order is the order in which the tribes |
|were born. Can you find this order in the|
|Bible? Is this the same order used in the|
|presentation of gifts? Why not? |
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
|QUESTION 18: |
|----------- |
|Rashi actually found another listing of |
|the tribes that is identical to the order|
|by which they gave the gifts. Rashi |
|suggests that the order in which the |
|tribes camped is the same as the order |
|by which they presented their gifts. |
| |
|Where would you find the order in which |
|the tribes camped? What are the first |
|4 Tribes mentioned in the camping order? |
|Are they the same 4 tribes mentioned |
|in the gift presentation |
-------------------------------------------
The first temple gift was offered by the tribe of
>JUDAH
from which the royal line came. But the 2nd tribe
to offer was
>YISACHAR.
On this verse we have the following Rashi.
>Nu07-19a >He offered his sacrifice/gift...
>RASHI: >The Hebrew word
>OFFERED
>is spelled deficiently. As such it
>looks like the COMMAND form
>OFFER it!
>
>This suggests a pun.
>
>Yisachar offered his sacrifice because
>he was ORDERED to
----------------------------------------------------
|QUESTION 19: |
|----------- |
|Besides the deficient spelling which suggests a |
|pun there are other peculiarities in this verse |
|which indicate that the pun was intentionally |
|meant as part of the simple meaning of the text. |
|Can you, by comparing the 12 prince gifts, find |
|this other anomaly. |
----------------------------------------------------
------{LISTS NOTES and other technicalities}---------------
NOTE:
------
Notice how Rashi identifies
>the fact that God commanded the order of gifts
with
>a sibling jealousy between Reuven, the first born
>and Yisachar ('He shouldn't go 2nd, I, the 1st
>born, should go 2nd, after Judah from whom the
>kingship comes.
Such exaggerations are common in Rashi and help us
remember the Rashis. But the main point in Rashi is
>grammatical
>God ordered the gifts to be given in a certain order
------------------------------------------------------------
ANSWERS:
--------
#17 The order of the prince gifts was JUDAH, YISACHAR,
ZEVULUN. The order of the births is found in Gen29 and
is REUVEN, SHIMON, LEVI, JUDAH (A different order)
#18 The order of the tribes in camping is found in Nu03
and is JUDAH, YISSACHAR, ZEVULUN, etc. This coincides
with the camping order
#19 The other 11 tribal gifts begin
>and his offering was...
However by Yissachar it says
>He OFFERED his offering....
This different order suggests that the word
>OFFERED (Spelled deficiently)
was intentionally put there to indicate some extra
nuance
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*