#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
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VERSE: Gn35-01a
RASHIS COVERED: Gn35-01a Gn33-13c Gn33-14a Gn35-22a
==================== Gn35-01a ==============================
SUCCINCT SUMMARY
------------------
One of Rashis 6 main goals is to explain
Grammar the same way modern textbooks do.
We call this the Rashi rule of GRAMMAR
Although a major part of GRAMMAR deals
with the conjugation of verbs, there are other
parts of GRAMMAR. One important GRAMMAR SUBRULE
in the rule governing either
- how PARAGRAPHS are ORGANIZED in an essay or
- how SENTENCES are ORGANIZED in a paragraph
That is, why does one sentence or paragraph
come after another sentence or paragraph?
Rashi knew 4 methods of connecting consecutive
paragraphs or consecutive sentences
- CAUSE
- ENABLEMENT
- CONTRAST
- UNIFYING THEME
EXAMPLE Gn35-01a
----------------
A rough summary of Gn31 - Gn35 is as follows
--------------------------------------------
- Gn31 God orders Jacob to return to his fathers house
- Gn32 But Jacob is afraid of Being with Brother Esauv
- Gn33 Jacob journeys instead to Succoth
- Gn34 Dinah gets raped
- Gn35 God tells Jacob to return to BethEl
-------------------------------------------
Rashi notes that
-----------------------------
If Jacob had IMMEDIATELY fulfilled the order
of Travelling to his fathers house he
wouldnt have stayed in Succoth and his
Daughter would not have gotten raped.
------------------------------
Thus Rashi sees a CAUSAL connection
between the chapters. Dinah was raped
because Jacob did not IMMEDIATELY fulfill
the prophetic order.
EXAMPLE Gn31-13c Gn31-13d
----------------
Gn31-13:15 states that
----------------------------------------------
Esauv requested of Jacob: Let us travel to
father together.
Jacob responds: But the children and cattle
are young; [If] [I were to go with you] and
the cattle are rushed even one day
[then] the cattle could die.
Jacob continues: Therefore you Esauv [by
contrast with me], [go at your own pace even
if you] leave me behind, and I will travel
gently till I get to father.
----------------------------------------------
In translating these verses I have inserted
bracketed expressions corresponding to the
way Rashi interprets the text. The bracketed
words inserted by Rashi emphasize both
- the causal nature(rushed sheep lead to death)
- the contrasting nature(I go gently;you normally)
Thus Rashi is applying the PARAGRAPH CONNECTIVE
PRINCIPLES of causality and contrast. Other
Rashis illustrating causality and contrast are
presented in LIST061a and LIST061b below.
============================================================
ITEM DETAIL
======================== ===================================
RASHI RULE CLASS: GRAMMAR
RASHI SUBRULE CLASS: CONSECUTIVE CHAPTERS
RASHI WORKBOOK PRINCIPLE #9
SEE BELOW LIST061a
A list of paragraphs having CAUSAL connection
----------------------- -------------------------------
SEE BELOW LIST061b
A list of paragraphs having a CONTRASTING connection
============================================================
================= LIST061a ================================
A list of paragraphs having CAUSAL connection
===========================================================
VERSE TOPIC IN 1st CHAPTER TOPIC IN 2nd CHAPTER
======== ===================== ============================
Gn35-01a Dinah is raped Prophetic order to leave*6
Gn33-13c Young Sheep IF pushed they will die*7
Gn29-01a God WITH Jacob Jacob travelled SMOOTHLY*5
Nu06-02a Adulterous wife rite Nazaarite from wine*1
Gn38-01a Brothers sell Joseph Judah leaves brothers*1
Gn23-03c Abraham offers Isaac Sarah dies*1
Gn02-20a Adam Eve are Naked Snake gives Eve Apple*2
Lv10-02a Non-allowed sac Death of Aarons sons*3
Lv10-02a Death of Aarons sons No wine to serving priest*3
Lv10-03d Death of Righteous God honored*4
NOTES
-----
*1 Thus "whoever see the humiliating Adulterous wife rite"
will be so shocked that he will abstain from wine
Similarly "Judah advised his brothers to sell Joseph"
and so when they regretted it they blaimed him and he
had to "separate from them."
Similarly "Sarah died" from the shock that "Abraham
offered Isaac."
*2 In other words because the snake saw Adam and Eve naked
therefore he became Jealous and wanted Adam killed so
he could marry Eve.
ALthough this sounds a bit wild there is strong supporting
evidence. Gn04-01 uses the past perfect form
"And Adam HAD BEEN FAMILIAR with his wife & they had
a child"
So the sequence of chapters is
"Adam was lonely"
"God makes Eve"
"Adam and Eve are naked"
------------------------"Snake tempts Eve"
"Adam has a child with Eve"
Thus the sequence of chapters (Naked--->child) is
clearly interrupted by the Snake story.
*3 As explained above Rashi sees these two views as
complementary
- First they drank wine and got drunk
- While drunk they thought it permissable to offer
sacrifices which should not be offered
Hence they died for both crimes
*4 Rashi explains the Causal connection
- when the masses see that God EVEN kills the righteous
for sins
- then they are aware how they must also observe
Gods commandments
- This leads to more honor for God
*5 So GOOD NEWS facilitates/causes SMOOTH TRAVEL(Rashi)
*6 The full sequence of chapters is as follows
--------------------------------------------
- Gn31 God orders Jacob to return to his fathers house
- Gn32 But Jacob is afraid of Being with Brother Esauv
- Gn33 Jacob journeys instead to Succoth
- Gn34 Dinah gets raped
- Gn35 God tells Jacob to return to BethEl
-------------------------------------------
Rashi notes that
-----------------------------
If Jacob had IMMEDIATELY fulfilled the order
of Travelling to his fathers house he
wouldnt have stayed in Succoth and his
Daughter would not have gotten raped.
------------------------------
Thus Rashi sees a CAUSAL connection
between the chapters. Dinah was raped
because Jacob did not IMMEDIATELY fulfill
the prophetic order.
Note Rashi expresses the same theme
-------------------------------------------------
Because he delayed doing the prophecy immediately
therefore he was punished that certain bad
occurrences happened to him
-------------------------------------------------
Rashi expresses this same theme on Gn35-22a
where we find that Reuven inteferred with his
fathers marital life.
*7 Rashi can be better understood with the EXPORT-IMPORT LAW
of logic. The EXPORT-IMPORT law states that
----------------------------------------------------
IF [it rains] then if [I go out] THEN [I will get wet]
----------------------------------------------------
has the same meaning as
----------------------------------------------------
IF [it rains] and [I go out] THEN [I will get wet]
----------------------------------------------------
In other words Rashi identifies the two sentence forms
- IF p THEN IF q THEN r
- IF p & q THEN r
This identification of NESTED CONDITIONALS with a
CONJUNCTIVE HYPOTHESIS is called the EXPORT-IMPORT law.
The actual Biblical text reads
---------------------------------------------
The cattle is young
AND they will be pushed one day
AND they will die
---------------------------------------------
Rashi simply points out (Using EXPORT-IMPORT) that
we can interpret this as either
---------------------------------------------
[IF] The cattle is young
AND they will be pushed one day
THEN they will die
---------------------------------------------
or
---------------------------------------------
IF The cattle is young
IF they will be pushed one day
THEN they will die
---------------------------------------------
The above two translations use the well known Biblical
principle that the Hebrew letter VAV can refer to
any connective.
=================================================================
======================== LIST061b =================================
A list of paragraphs having a CONTRASTING connection
===================================================================
# VERSE TOPIC IN 1st CHAPTER TOPIC IN 2nd CHAPTER
==== ========== ======================== ==========================
(09) Lv26-01a Being a slave to Non Jew Prohibition of Idolatry*1
(10) Dt29-12a Curses We are before God*2
(11) Lv19-03c Fear Parents Watch Sabbaths*3
(12) Dt22-12a No Shaatnez Tzitzith*4
(--) Dt09, Dt10 Jews rebel against God But God still loves Jews*5
(--) Gn31-13d I will go GENTLY You will PASS ME*6
NOTES
-----
*1 Rashi not only connects 2 paragraphs. He also connects
all Biblical paragraphs in this chapter. See
footnote *10 for further details
*2 Dt28 gives a long list of curses if the Jews violate
the commandments.
Dt29-12 says "You are all STANDING before God today" In
other words despite the curses for disobediance you are
still here before God(The implication being that no
matter how angry God gets he will not destroy you)
A further support for this theme can come from the
General-particular-General form
Dt28 GENERAL: Curses for disobediance
Dt29-12 PARTICULAR: You are standing here before God
Dt29-19 GENERAL: Curses for disobediance
Thus the General-Particular-General form shows that Gods
curses still allow us to "Stand before him"--in other
words they are educative curses not punitive.
*3 In other words (always) "Observe the Sabbaths"
DESPITE a request to the contrary "By your parents"
This can happen if eg your parents ask you to
desecrate the Sabbath. You must observe the
Sabbath even if your parents request to
the contrary.
And this can be generalized to all Torah laws(that
they take precedence over your parents request)
*4 Wear Tzitzith DESPITE the fact that they may have Shaatnez
Wool and linen together (In the priestly garments made of
Linen the Tzitzith were made of wool--thus the commandment
of Tzitzith OVERRIDES the prohibtion of wearing wool and
linen)
*5 More specifically Rashi (Dt10-12a) states
---------------------------------------------
Despite the 5 rebellions that the Jews did
against God, nevertheless, God still loves
the Jews. In fact Dt10-12 states that all
the Jews need do to earn this love is to
revere God
---------------------------------------------
*6 Rashis point is that Jacob did not ask Esauv
----------------------------
Past me and leave me behind
----------------------------
Rather Jacob suggested contrast
------------------------------------------------
- I must go at a gentle pace
- you go at a normal pace
------------------------------------------------
A logical consequence of this contrast is that
Esauv would pass Jacob and leave him behind.
---------------------- LONGER FOOTNOTES ----------------------
*10
On a superficial level Rashi seems to be connecting 2
verses.
Avoid idolatry DESPITE your being a slave to a non jew
(who encourages its violation). Do not think "I will
worship idols now and when I am free I will go
back to believing in God"
On a profound level Rashi sees a unifying theme to this
whole chapter. The chapter encourages observing the
shimitah laws which encourage abstaining from agriculture
once every 7 years so that people can devote themselves
to God and study. If one violates these laws he is
progressively punished. Here is the sequence of
punishments
{LIST} {Paragraphs in BEHAR}
-------------------------------------------------------
VERSE LAW
------------ ------------------------------------------
Lv25-01:12 Observe the 7 and 50 year Land sabbaticals
Lv25-13:24 If not you will have to sell your MOVABLES
Lv25-25:28 If not you will have to sell your LAND
Lv25-29:34 If not you will have to sell your HOUSE
Lv25-35:38 If not you will have to LOAN
Lv25-39:46 If not you will have to become a SLAVE
Lv25-47:54 If not you'll become a NONJEWISH SLAVE
Lv26-01:03 If not you'll be tempted to IDOLATRY
---------------------------------------------------------
Thus Rashi does not merely teach juxtaposition of verses
but he also teaches juxtaposition of ALL paragraphs in
the chapter.
================================================================
---------------------------------------------------
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Volume 24 Number 2
#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 24 Number 2