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  |      Rashi is Simple Version 2.0                         |
  |      (C) Dr Hendel, Summer 2000                          |
  |       http://www.RashiYomi.Com                           |
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VERSE: Gn35-11a

RASHIS COVERED: Gn35-11a Gn43-14b Gn49-25b Gn28-03a Gn17-01a

RULE
====

{LIST}
God has many names in the Bible. Each name has a different
nuance and emphasis. For example: the name >ADONAI< means
>LORD< and refers to God in His capacity as our OWNER. The
name >SHADAI< refers to God as being >CAPABLE OF KEEPING
ANY PROMISE<. This name of God is used very rarely; Only
nine times in the Torah*1. It is only used when there is
great danger as shown in the following examples*2
===========================================================
VERSE      EVENT WHERE THE NAME >SHADAI< IS USED
=====      ================================================
Gn17-01a   God invites Abraham to walk before him*2
Gn28-03a   Isaac invites Jacob to to to Aram to get a wife
Gn35-11a   God blesses Jacob that he will inherit Israel
Gn43-14b   Jacob sends Benjamin down to Egypt
Gn49-25b   Joseph abstained from seductions of his master*3

NOTES
=====
*1 The name of God, >SHADAI< occurs very rarely in the Bible
   In the Torah itself it only occurs 9 times.
   --It occurs the 5 times mentioned in the above table
   --It occurs in Ex06-03 and Gn48-02 as a >CROSS REFERENCE<
     eg Ex06-03 says >I appeared to the Patriarchs as SHADAI<
     Similarly Gn48-02 says >Shaddai appeared to me(Jacob)<
     which cross references Gn35-11
   --It occurs twice by the evil prophet Bilam in Nu24-04,Nu24-16
     My hunch is that Rashi did not want to emphasize God being
     all powerful by Bilam since he succeeded in recommending
     actions against the Jews which resulted in the death of
     24000 people.

*2 The danger in the 5 examples presented should be obvious
   --In Gn28-03 and Gn43-14 perilous journeys were being made
   --Gn17-01 and Gn35-11 promises the military conquest of Israel
   --In Gn49-25 Joseph refuses his master's wife  & gets thrown
     into Jail

*3 Actually all the verse says is >And God(SHADAI) is with you<
   However, consistent with the other 4 verses where the word
   >SHADAI< occurs, Rashi interprets this verse as referring
   to God as being all powerful---hence, it refers to Josephs
   refusal to be seduced by Potipherahs wife, a refusal which
   required enormous help and protection (Since he got thrown
   into jail)
{END OF LIST}



COMMENT
=======
The above LIST defends the meaning of >SHADAI< by >USAGE<
In other words we infer its meaning from the way it is
>USED< in Tnach.

This defense by >USAGE< can be supplemented with some
popular etymologies. One such etymology says that
>SHADAI< refers to God in his capacity >THAT<(Sh)
He has >SUFFICIENT(DAI)< force.

The above etymology is given by the Midrash. I would
prefer an etymology based on other meanings of the
root >Shin-Dalet-Yud<. This root also refers to >BREAST<
in its capacity to meet all nourishment requirements
of the infant. Hence >SHADAI< would look at God as
>NURSING (Shadai=breast)< us (where we are perceived
as infants before Him).

In any event (if you dont like any of the above
etymologies) you can always resort to the fact
that the above meaning is consistent with Biblical
>USAGE<


RASHI RULE USED: UNIFIED MEANING
---------------------------------------------------
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Volume 8 Number 10


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