#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
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  |      Rashi is Simple Version 2.0                         |
  |      (C) Dr Hendel, Summer 2000                          |
  |       http://www.RashiYomi.Com                           |
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VERSE: Gn19-31a


RASHIS COVERED: Gn19-31a Gn19-31b Gn19-33a Gn19-33b Gn18-37a


OVERVIEW:
========
Recall that Lot escaped from Sedom and Amorah. He and his two
daughters were in a cave. The daughters seduced Lot. Rashi
uses this opportunity to show the teleology of sin--how does
IT happen and what goes into it. Rashi uses the method of
>CLIMAX<. According to this method, the Bible sometimes develops
an idea in several stages over several verses.

In the sequel the phrase >the elder< refers to the >the elder
of Lots 2 daughters< while >the younger< refers to >the younger
of Lots 2 daughters<




{LIST}
According to Rashi sin takes place in 4-5 stages
================================================
WHICH STAGE  WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS STAGE
===========  ==========================
In stage 1   One discovers >VULNERABILITY< in men(eg He is old)
In stage 2   One >EXAGGERATES FEARS(Paranoia)<(eg no men left)
In stage 3   One >uses ACCIDENTS< (eg look at the wine we found)
In stage 4   One treats a person like a >SEX OBJECT<(eg seduce)


Let us see these 4 stages in the incest of Lot.




{LIST}
Rashi uses this opportunity to show the teleology of sin--
how does IT happen and what goes into it.
================================================================
STAGE         TEXT OF VERSE SHOWING STAGE IN SEDUCTION
============= ==================================================
Vulnerability And the elder said to the younger,Father is old*1
Paranoia      and there are no men left in the world*2
Accidents*3   (they found some wine)--let us give wine to father
Sex-Objects   She (the elder) >seduced< him *4

NOTES
=====
*1 Notice how Rashi connects the >VULNERABILITY< stage with
   the >PARANOIA< stage. Rashi says
   >He is old(vulnerability) and if we dont do it NOW then
   we wont have another opportunity(Paranoia)<

*2 >There are no men left in the world<. This is >paranoia<
   Paranoia consists of taking a legitimate fear and
   >EXAGGERATING< it.

*3 If one carefully reads Rashi, the Sifsay Chachamim and the
   Midrash Rabbah on which this is based one gets the
   erroneous impression that there is controversy on the
   daughters intention.

   According to one view there was so much drinking
   at this time of history that people
   had to hide the wine in caves---that is where the girls
   found the wine.

   According to another opinion the Midrash alludes to the
   great amount of wine there will be in the Messianic era
   In other words the girls had >pure< intent--they wanted
   to populate the world and even though they committed
   incest they did have good intentions.

   But there is no CONTROVERSY here. Rather Rashi is describing
   sin psychology. Surely we all know that no one just goes out
   and sins (After all it doesn't look right). Rather every sin
   has some type of >justification and rationalization<
   Also every sin utilizes accidents.

   So we now understand the 2 opinions in the Midrash--they
   are complementary. On the one hand everyone was drinking
   wine,and THEREFORE, by accident, in the cave they were in
   they found wine that had been hidden there. As is the
   case with all sinners they saw this as an act of God that
   would help them. On the other hand they didn't just go
   and sin. Rather they said they were sinning to >populate
   the word<. Like many sins, this one also had its ugliness
   painted and mixed with some good intentions.


*4 Rashi uses the method of double parshas. His inferences
   are justified by the two {LISTS} below

{END OF THIS LIST}






{LIST}
Rashi compares two verses to show that the elder >Seduced<
his father and treated him like a sex object
------------------------------------------------------------
Gn19-31     And the elder  slept  OF   her father
Gn19-34       I(the elder) slept  OF   my  father yesterday
Gn19-34       You(younger) sleep  WITH him        tonight
Gn19-35       The younger  slept  WiTH him
                  *a              *b
------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES
=====
*a,b So we see that the >ELDER<   slept >OF<   her father
     while          the >YOUNGER< slept >WITH< her father

     Throughout the Bible >SLEEPING OF< vs >SLEEPING WITH<
     is used to denote >Treating a person like a sex object<
     vs >having an affair<

     In the case of women, treating a person like a sex
     object refers to seducing the man(without his
     participation)

{END OF THIS LIST}


{LIST}
Rashi further amplifies on the difference between the older and
younger daughter by showing how their respective nations were
treated later on. The attached LIST shows how the two daughters
differed in
-their sexual overtures(the older treated him like an object)
-their naming of their children(the baby was called FromDaddy)
-our obligations to them(dont harass vs dont harass war)
================================================================
WHICH DAUGHTER   WHAT TOPIC   LANGUAGE OF BIBLE    VERSE
==============   ============ ===================  =======
Older            sex          treated like object  Gn19-31
Younger          sex*1        had an affair        Gn19-35
Older            Name of baby Named him FROMDADDY  Gn19-37
Younger          Name of baby Named him WITHME*2   Gn19-38
Older            Relationship dont provoke war     Dt02-09
Younger          Relationship dont provoke *3      Dt02-19

NOTES
=====
*1 As indicated in a previous LIST the verses says
   >Slept OF him< vs >Slept WITH him< denoting treating like
   an object vs having an affair

*2 Thus the older daughter openly bragged in her name on what
   happened--she called him >FromDaddy< while the younger
   daughter called him >WithMe<(more discrete)

*3 Rashi of course is commenting on the difference between
   Dt02-09 and Dt02-19: >dont provoke WAR< vs >dont provoke<
   Thus the younger daughter was more protected: >dont provoke<
   means >dont provoke AT ALL< (while with the older daughter
   we were only prohibited in >dont provoke to WAR<
{END OF THIS LIST}




COMMENTS:
========
We have left to explain the cryptic statement in Rashi about
the >dots< in the written scrolls of the Torah, on the
word >When she got up<. Gn19-33 states that the elder slept
with her father but >lot did not know when she slept and
GOT UP<. The capped words >GOT UP< have >DOTS< over them in
the Torah.

These dots of course are only hints. There are only a few
places in the Bible where they occur. A parenthetical remark
in Rashi states that he >did know when she got up<. But this
directly contradicts the explicit verse. Surely the dots
cannot contradict what is already there (These parenthetical
remarks were not written by Rashi but inserted their by
a printer at a later date)

Rather I would suggest (as is the custom with drunkedness and
affairs) that the >dots< refer to a >hazy awareness<---the
type of groggy awareness which happens when you are just
getting out of it. So the verse says >he was stone drunk
when she slept with him but he was just COMING OUT OF IT
when she got up (and nevertheless he slept with the younger
one the next night)<

We plan to gather all the >dot verses< in one posting in
the future and show a unified treatment of them. For the
moment it suffices to concentrate on the above lists to
give us the simple meaning of the text.

RULE USED: EXAMPLE9
---------------------------------------------------
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 8 Number 6


#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
Volume 8 Number 6