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GRAND SUMMARY: The rule of FILL-IN
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We introduce a new Rashi Rule: The RULE of FILL-IN:
According to this rule a Biblical text may have a MINOR
PROBLEM---the text may have 2 or 3 possible references
and Rashi simply clarifies, based on context, which
meaning is operative.
For example if the Bible says HE WILL DO SUCH & SUCH
the Rashi may clarify WHO is the HE referring to.
Similarly if the Bible says A, AND B, AND C AND D
then Rashi may clarify whether the word AND can
mean OR, IF THEN etc (Examples of this are given below)
Similarly in discussion of computations Rashi may
clarify the computed items with clear definitions or
examples
To introduce this principle we use Lv25-28, which deals
with the law of redeeming real estate. Here is an overview:
If you sell your estate then there are 3 possibilities:
--a relative can help you redeem the field
--you yourself acquired money and can redeem the field
--no one can redeem the field (So God does in Jubilee)
The LIST below presents the
--BIBLICAL VERSES on the left
--and RASHIS CLARIFICATIONS on the right
--Since the CLARIFICATIONS are stated tersely the footnotes
further clarify
I have also added SECTION HEADINGS to facilitate reading
the Biblical text
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| The Biblical Text Lv25-25:28 | Rashis clarification |
| ------THE CASE------------- | --------THE CASE---------- |
| If your brother becomes poor | Only sell estate if poor*1 |
| and sells [PART of] his estate | SELL FROM= SELL PART*2 |
| ------SITUATION #1--------- | ------SITUATION #1*3------ |
| [IF] is his relative redeemer comes | The word AND means IF *3 |
| [THEN] he can redeem the field | The word AND means THEN *4 |
| ------SITUATION #2--------- | ------SITUATION #2 *3----- |
| IF [SITUATION #1] DOESNT HOLD *4 | No relative AND no redemption |
| THEN IF he personally can pay off | |
| THEN compute the YEARS | YEARS from SALE to JUBILEE *5 |
| and return the DIFFERENCE*6 | Years to Jubilee-Years he had |
| to whom [THE ORIGINAL BUYER] sold | The word HE= ORIGINAL BUYER*7 |
| and [THE ORIGINAL BUYER] returns | |
| ------SITUATION #3--------- | -----SITUATION #3------ |
| IF [SITUATIONS #1,#2] dont hold | Cant pay off whole value *8 |
| THEN the buyer will keep the field | |
| till the [BEGINNING OF THE]*9 | Contracts read restrictively |
| year of the Jubilee | |
| but the field exits at Jubilee | |
| and returns to the owner | |
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| COMMENTS |
*1 Lv25-25a
See the LIST below. There are many Biblical Paragraphs
dealing with sales. Some begin with the phrase
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If your brother becomes poor and sells
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while some begin
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If you sell
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Rashi explains that when the beginning phrase is
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If your brother becomes poor
---------------------------------
the Torah indicates the typical case, that one should
only sell real estate when he is poor.
Actually Rashi only teaches this on Lv25-25a but based
on Jewish Law it is proper to generalize it to other
cases.
A LIST below compactly presents several such paragraphs
and their opening sentences. Thus this Rashi uses the
concept of DOUBLE PARSHAS (Alignment of Parshas)
*2 Lv25-25b
The Bible actually says
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and he sells FROM his estate
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but Rashi interprets this as
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and he sells PART of his estate
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Remarkably this is the only time in the Bible when the
preposition FROM is used with SELL. THe normal usage
is SELL AN OBJECT. Hence Rashi interprets SELL FROM
HIS ESTATE to mean SELL PART OF HIS ESTATE
The LIST below shows several examples of verses with
SELL. Thus this Rashi uses the rule of ROOT+PREPOSITION
*3 Lv25-25c
The actual Biblical text consists of a series of phrases
separated by the word AND (VAV). However Rashi skillfully
interprets the word AND as meaning IF/THEN.. as appropriate
Rashi does this by studying the OVERALL STRUCTURE of
the paragraph (Perhaps the Malbim rule of usage of KI
vs IM might help here).
In general the Hebrew word VAV can mean any BOOLEAN
CONNECTIVE such as OR, AND, IF, THEN etc. Its meaning
is therefore determined by context.
Although Rashi only mentions this principle at the
beginning of the paragraph it applies to all VAV
in the paragraph.
Aaron Bitman of my Shomrey Emunah class was fond of
seeking out those VAVs that have meanings other than
AND and OR.
Although Rashi uses the rule of FILL-IN here, we
can be more specific and perceive Rashi as using
the rule of SPECIAL MEANINGS here since VAV has
special meanings.
*4 Lv25-26a
3 points will clarify this Rashi
1st: The OVERALL STRUCTURE of the paragraph clearly
shows 3 SITUATIONS:
--a relative redeems the field
--the original owner redeems the field
--noone redeems the field
2nd: The verse actually says
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and if the original owner have no redeemer
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3rd: Rashi deviates from the literal meaning of the text
and interprets the above phrase as follows
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and if the original owner have no redeemer OR
he has a redeemer-relative but that relative has no money
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Thus Rashi reinterprets the verse to be consistent with
the OVERALL STRUCTURE.
*5 Lv25-27a
Rashi here uses the rule of FILL-IN:
According to this rule a Biblical text may have a MINOR
PROBLEM---the text may have 2 or 3 possible references
and Rashi simply clarifies, based on context, which
meaning is operative.
Thus the verse says
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Let him compute THE YEARS
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Which YEARS?
Rashi answers: The years FROM the sale TILL the Jubilee
So if he sold the field in year 10 then there are 40
years (50-10=40) left to the Jubilee year (Year 50)
*6 Lv25-27b
Rashi here uses the rule of FILL-IN:
According to this rule a Biblical text may have a MINOR
PROBLEM---the text may have 2 or 3 possible references
and Rashi simply clarifies, based on context, which
meaning is operative.
Thus the verse says
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And the Original owner returns the DIFFERENCE
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What DIFFERENCE?
Rashi answers: You do the following
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Subtract: Total years to jubilee
minus: years buyer had the field
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So if he sold the field in year 10 and redeems it in year
30 then
* Years of sale = Years to Jubilee = 40 (50 - 10)
* Years he had the field = 20 (30-10)
* The Difference = 40-20=20.
OR, there are 20 years of usage left to the buyer which
the original owner has to redeem and pay off.
Implicit in here is use of a straight line method.
So if the field cost $400, was sold in year 10 and
redeemed in year 30 then the redemption price is $200.
*7 Lv25-27c
Rashi here uses the rule of FILL-IN:
According to this rule a Biblical text may have a MINOR
PROBLEM---the text may have 2 or 3 possible references
and Rashi simply clarifies, based on context, which
meaning is operative.
Thus the verse says
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And HE returens the difference to the person HE sold to
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Who is HE referring to?
Rashi answers: HE refers to the original owner.
So the verse reads
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And the ORIGINAL OWNER returns the difference to
the person that the ORIGINAL OWNER sold to
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*8 Lv25-28a
Recall that we allow REDEMPTION. For example, if the field
cost $400 and half the time had elapsed you need $200
to redeem it.
But you need $200 to redeem the WHOLE FIELD.
Can the owner pay $100 to redeem HALF OF THE FIELD?
In other words is REDEMPTION an ALL-OR-NOTHING option.
Rashi answers this by using the rule of DOUBLE PARSHAS
and comparing the two verses that speak about redemption
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Lv25-26 And he acquires money and finds enough to redeem
Lv25-28 --------------------- finds enough to redeem
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The alignment clearly suggests that the issue is
* NOT acquiring money but rather
* FINDING ENOUGH to redeem
Hence the rule: REDEMPTION is an ALL-OR-NOTHING option.
*9 Lv25-28b
This is one of the Rashis that causes the greatest confusion
The verse simply says
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The buyer shall keep the field UNTIL THE JUBILEE YEAR
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This could have 2 interpretations:
* The buyer keeps the field TILL THE BEGINNING of Jubilee
* The buyer keeps the field TILL the anniversay of buying
(So if he buyer bought the field on Purim then the buyer
keeps the field till Purim of Jubilee)
Rashi says that the buyer keeps the field till JUBILEE
The question is how does Rashi know this?
Many people seek to find some obscure grammatical
point.
I would however use the Rashi rule of REASONS/IMPLICATIONS
Rashi is not bothered by anything, he has no problem
and he is not deriving anything from the verse.
Rather Rashi is simply reporting something EXTRA.
In other words the interpretation of the verse as referring
to the beginning of the Jubilee year is NOT a derivation
from the Bible. Rather it is derived from the following
Talmudic logic found in Chapter 25 of Rambam, Loans.
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A general principle of Jewish law is that a contract
is always interpreted restrictively. Indeed, the person
who owns the contract is using the contract to obtain
funds or objects from this fellow man. The general
principle then is that the burden of proof is on the
person who wants to extract money. For this reason
all contract language is interpreted restrictively
since the owner of the contract seeks to extract funds
then it is he who must prove his case (and if not he loses)
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So we now easily understand Rashi and easily understand
that nothing grammatical is happening here.
There are two intepretations to BUYER KEEPS THE FIELD
TILL JUBILEE YEAR and therefore we interpret this
phrase restrictively and make him return it at the
Beginning of the Jubilee year. True, there is another
possible interpretation, but we have no proof for it
Thus Rashi is Simple: The derivation is something extra
beyond the Biblical text and is derived from contract
law
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