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  |      (C) Dr Hendel, Summer 2000                          |
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VERSE: Gn26-08b



BACKGROUND
==========
Recall that Isaac had come to a strange town and claimed that
his wife was his sister. The story continues that one day



THE VERSE
=========
Gn26-08 >Avimelech peered out the window and he saw and behold
         Isaac was flirting with his wife<

The verse is clear enough. But Rashi explicitly says that
>He saw them during intimacy<

The Sifsay Chachamim, a commentator on Rashi, asks >This
requires investigation: Maybe Avimelech just saw them kissing
and hugging<. To resolve this problem the Sifsay Chachamim
starts contriving ingenious grammatical explanations.


(In other words the Sifsay Chachamims problem is that he
interpreted Rashi literally that Avimelech saw them during
intimacy..but it is unlikely that Isaac and Rivkah were
fully intimate in public)

THE POINT
=========
I would say quite simply that Avimelech saw them flirting
the way a husband and wife flirt. Rashis statement that
>He saw them during intimacy< would still be true since
the wider interpretation of the word intimacy means all
acts connected with intimacy. I think (in response to the
sifsay chachamim that it is well known that certain types
of flirting only husbands and wives do)

The actual derivation of Rashi would come from the Hebrew
root used: Tz-Ch-K in the active mode means to >LAUGH<
certainly not something that only husbands and wives do; by
contrast, in the intense mode >Tz-Ch-K< means >FLIRT or
INTENSE LAUGHTER<. Thus Rashi was simply commenting on the
grammatical form. He wasnt trying to suggest that Isaac
and Rivkah were cohabiting in public. For a full discussion
on the dozen or so examples where the root >Tz-Ch-K< occurs
see http://www.RashiYomi.Com/gn21-09a.htm from Volume 4
Numbers 4 and 5. As can be seen from the following list
>Tz-Ch-K< means more to >flirt< than to have full fledged
intimacy.

EXAMPLES OF Tz-Ch-K
-------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------
  In the following verses Tz-Ch-K refers to SEXUAL TEASING
----------------------------------------------------------------

VERSE   ROOT  MEANS TEXT
======= ===== ===== ==============================================
Gn39-17 TzChk Sex   This slave came to TEASE with me(Potiphera)
Gn39-14 TzChK Sex   You brought a slave to TEASE with us?
Gn26-8  TzChK Sex   Isaac and his wife were PLAYING (sexually)*3

------------------------------------------------------------------
  In the following verses Tz-Ch-K refers to making fun of, MOCKERY
------------------------------------------------------------------

Ju16-25 ShChK Mock  Call SAMSON and let him be a MOCKERY before us
Ju16-25 TzChK Mock  And Samson was a MOCKERY before them
Gn19-14 TzChK Mock  He looked like he was MOCKING them

-----------------------------------------------------------------
   Tz-Ch-K refers to wild physical activity,a BRAWL
-----------------------------------------------------------------
2Sa2-14 ShChK Brawl Let the soldiers PLAY A WAR GAME
Ex32-06 TzChK Brawl And they (at the Golden calf) made a BRAWL*2
Gn21-09 TzChK Brawl Ishmael and Isaac were playing*1
2Sa6-21 ShChK Brawl And I will DANCE WILDLY before God*3

NOTES
-----
*1 Rashi.

*2 Rashi. Note that the interpretation of Ex32-06 as referring
to murder is supported by the explicit other verse Ex32-18

 "And (Moses) Said: It is not the shouts of people upset nor is it
 the shouts of a victory but rather it is the shouts of shouting(a
 brawl)". Please examine the verse yourselves.

This helps establish that a murder took place. The fact that
CHUR was killed is guessed at because we never find him
mentioned again. NOTE: Rashi did NOT derive the fact that
Chur was killed from the absence of his name---rather Rashi
derived that someone was killed from the above explicit verse
Ex32-18 and the use of the term BRAWL.


*3 Although this verse looks like it is saying that Isaac and
Rivkah were "playing" nevertheless the connective word used
is "slept OF" (vs the usual "Slept WITH")--this suggests that
it was a teasing behavior.

2Sam6-21 "I will dance wildly before God" does not look perjorative
Perhaps the dance symbolically made fun of Gods enemies. Michals
protests also seem to indicate that the dance was not appropriate



RASHI RULE USED: GRAMMAR
---------------------------------------------------
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Volume 8 Number 9


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