`          Whats new and hot in this issue?

VERY BRIEF SUMMARY
------------------
Dt21 discusses the UNKNOWN MURDER CEREMONY. The chapter
concludes that YOU WILL RECEIVE ATONEMENT AND BURN THE EVIL
FROM YOUR MIDST. It simplistically sounds that BURN THE EVIL
is simply an echo or fancy way of saying we will receive
atonement. However an examination of the several times this
phrase occurs shows that IT ALWAYS refers to a COURT ORDERED
EXECUTION. So Rashi-is-Simple and concludes that even if we
find the murderer after the atonement ceremony nevertheless
we must BURN THE EVIL and execute him/her.

----------------------------------------
TODAYS RASHI RULE:     OTHER VERSES
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE:  INFERRING MEANING
----------------------------------------

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE RULE and SUBRULE
-----------------------------------------
The rule of OTHER VERSES simply means that Rashi
is explaining one verse by citing an OTHER VERSE

One usage of other verses is when an enigmatic word
occurs in several verses. If just one of these verses
contains more detail then we can infer the meaning of
this enigmatic word (This rule is also one of the 13
Rabbi Ishmael Style rules which states that
------------------------------------------------------
If one verse stands out from a collection of verses
then it doesnt just stand out for itself but for
the whole group of verses; This justifies transference
of meaning to the other verses
------------------------------------------------------

STANDARD EXAMPLE
----------------
Todays example is as good as any other
---------------------------------------------------------------
Dt01-19a ... this GREAT & AWESOME desert
Dt08-15  ... this GREAT & AWESOME desert with SNAKES..SCORPIONS
---------------------------------------------------------------


EXERCISE:
---------
Before reading Rashi
-- WHAT PHRASE is repeated in both verses
-- Using a Konkordance or search engine, does this phrase
occur elsewhere in the Bible
-- What clarification does Dt08-15 give to the phrase
GREAT & AWESOME desert


RASHIS SOLUTION
---------------
Rashi simply explains that GREAT & AWESOME desert means
a desert with SNAKES & SCORPIONS


STANDARD REFERENCES FOR THIS RULE
---------------------------------
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/other-20.htm

OR
Navigate to the Rashi calendar at
http://www.RashiYomi.com/calendar1.htm

The OTHER series was presented in November of 2000.
You can directly navigate to
http://www.RashiYomi.com/other-1.htm
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/other-2.htm etc

COMMENT:
--------
Note: That this method is almost the same as the use
of the ALIGNMENT method to discover meaning (The
difference being that ALIGNMENT applies even in the
same verse while the OTHER VERSE method applies to
2 distant verses)

HOW TO USE THESE LISTS FOR SCHOOL PROJECTS
------------------------------------------
You can use the LIST below for school projects.
Here is how, if you are a teacher then when you
find an enigmatic phrase you can instruct your
student to
-- search for similar phrases elsewhere in the Bible
A Konkordance or search engine will help on this

-- try and find one verse where MORE DETAIL is given
on the meaning of this verse

-- try and transfer this meaning to the other verses

The students solution can then be compared with Rashis.
Very often the student can do as well as Rashi. This
inspires confidence in the students since they see
that Rashis commentary emanates from scholarship, not
from authority.

TODAYS LIST
-----------
We present half a dozen verses where the phrase BURN THE EVIL
is used. In 5 of them this is a clear reference to a COURT
ORDERED EXECUTION. Hence we are justified in transferring
this meaning to the 6th case*1 *10

VERY BRIEF SUMMARY:
-------------------
Dt17-01:02 contains two verses
The 1st verse gives a death penalty for VIOLATING
GODS CONVENANT (which could include anything). The 2nd
verse gives a death penalty only for WORSHIPPING IDOLS
Thus the two verses use a GENERAL-SPECIFIC style--
first the GENERAL concept of VIOLATING THE CONVENANT;
2nd the SPECIFIC concept of WORSHIPPING IDOLS
The Rabbi Ishmael style rules require, in such a case,
that the law of death penalty only apply to the specific
case of idol worship(and not to any other convenant violation)


------------------------------------------------------
TODAYS RASHI RULE:       THE RABBI ISHMAEL STYLE RULES
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE:    GENERAL-DETAIL STYLE
------------------------------------------------------

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF RULE AND SUBRULE
-------------------------------------
Some Rashis deal with GRAMMAR or MEANING. But other Rashis
deal with STYLE. The Great Talmudic Sage Rabbi Ishmael,
laid down 3 style rule classes which divide into a dozen
or so rules.

Today we deal with the GENERAL-DETAIL style.
When using this style the verse first states something
GENERALLY and then repeats the requirement SPECIFICALLY.

The Rabbi Ishmael Style rules then demand that the verse
be interpreted STRICTLY as applying to ONLY THE DETAILS
This requirement of STRICT interpretation is not because
of grammar or meaning or even because some word in the
verse is extra: Rather, it is a requirement of style.


STANDARD EXAMPLE
----------------
The simplest example I could find occurs at Nu05-12
-----------------------------------------------------------
GENERAL:         When a woman DESCECRATES her marriage
DETAIL:          [by] committing ADULTERY
-----------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT EXERCISES:
-----------------
-- Suppose you didnt want to interpert the verse strictly?
How could you interpret the verse BROADLY? (The answer to
this question facilitates understanding what not to do)

-- How would you apply the Rabbi Ishmael requirement
of STRICT INTERPRETATION to Nu05-12



RASHIS SOLUTION
---------------
-- WE FIRST SHOW HOW TO INTERPRET THE CHAPTER BROADLY
The chapter if not interpreted strictly COULD refer
to a woman who descecrates her marriage by (a) insulting
her husband in public or (b) flirting with other men.
That is, if we werent required to interpret the chapter
strictly we COULD HAVE required the suspected-woman
ceremony to ANY descecration of marriage.

-- WE NEXT SHOW HOW TO  INTERPRET THE CHAPTER STRICTLY
The above chapter (Nu05) dealing with the Suspected
woman ceremony ONLY APPLIES IF THE WOMAN WAS SUSPECTED
OF COMMITTING ADULTERY. For example if the woman descecrated
her marriage by insulting her husband or flirting with other
men there is no justification for performing the suspected
woman ceremony. IN other words Nu05-12 is interpreted STRICTLY

STANDARD REFERENCES FOR THIS RULE
---------------------------------
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/example4.htm

You can also revu the whole Rabbi Ishmael style
series at http://www.RashiYomi.com/ishmael.htm

Finally you can visit the Daily Rashi calendar at
http://www.RashiYomi.com/calendar1.htm The Rabbi Ishmael
series occured during August and September 2000.

To related documents on the GENERAL-DETAIL style are
http://www.RashiYomi.com/example5.htm
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/example6.htm


HOW TO USE THESE LISTS FOR SCHOOL PROJECTS
------------------------------------------
You can use the LISTS referenced above for
school projects. Here is how. If you are a
teacher then you can present the verses with
the general-specific-general style
and ask the students to perform the
2 student exercises listed above.

The students can then compare their analysis with that
of Rashis. This leads to greater appreciation of Rashi.

TODAYS LIST
--------------
Please find below examples of verses in the GENERAL-DETAIL
form taken from http://www.Rashiyomi.com/example4.htm.
The GENERAL term is CAPPED in the 2nd column---the STRICT
INTERPRETATION of this general term is CAPPED in the 3rd column
The ew example is listed in the first row

VERY BRIEF SUMMARY
------------------
By aligning the various idol prohibitions in the Torah
we see that the Torah prohibited all aspects of idol involvement.
-- Dont OWN idols (Ex20-03)
-- Dont MAKE idols (Ex20-03)
-- Dont WORSHIP idols (Ex20-03)
-- Dont MANUFACTURE idols (Ex34-19)
-- Dont MAKE idols (For others) (Lv26-01)
Because of this context, when the Torah prohibits making tree
idols Rashi assumes the same comprehensiveness of prohibition
--that is we shouldnt PLANT, OWN, WORSHIP tree idols

----------------------------------------
TODAYS RASHI RULE:       ALIGNMENT
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE:    FURTHER NUANCES
----------------------------------------

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF RULE
-------------------------
Many Rashis do NOT focus on an internal analysis of the verse.
There may be nothing bothering Rashi in THAT verse. The words
used may all be normal.

But when the given verse is compared with another verse--that
is, when the two verses are ALIGNED together-- we see blatant
differences.

The ALIGNED verses therefore suggest that these ALIGNED
DIFFERENCES were deliberately placed there to emphasize
certain nuances. The standard example will illustrtae this.


STANDARD EXAMPLE
----------------
Recall that the Moabite King BALAK was apprehensive about
Israel journeying throught its territory. It wanted Israel
banished. It hired a professional curse-man, Bilam who would
curse the Jews. Bilam however describes his job SLIGHTLY
differently. Here are the verses.

-----------------------------------------------
BALAK: Nu22-06 I will banish Jews FROM THE LAND
BILAM: Nu22-11 ...... banish Jews -------------
-----------------------------------------------


EXERCISE
--------
To fully appreciate Rashi perform the following 2 exercises
- What is the minor difference between the aligned verses?
- What NUANCE do YOU think this implies?


RASHIS SOLUTION
---------------
BALAK only wanted Jews away from his land; his goals were
political. By contrast, BILAM wanted them DESTROYED. Hence...

BALAK wanted Jews BANISHED FROM THE LAND. But Bilam wanted
them BANISHED PERIOD (That is destroyed).


STANDARD REFERENCES FOR THIS RULE
---------------------------------
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/align-58.htm

This summary may be a bit too terse. You can browse the
57 postings leading up to by going to
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/align-1.htm
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/align-2.htm etc.

Or you can visit the Rashi Yomi Calendar at

http://www.RashiYomi.com/calendar1.htm

This calendar presents a day by day listing of Rashis.
The ALIGNMENT series occurs between 7-28-01 and 10-10-01.

Todays posting was previously analyzed at
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/lv19-03b.htm

HOW TO USE THESE LISTS FOR SCHOOL PROJECTS
------------------------------------------
You can use the LISTS referenced above for
school projects. Here is how. If you are a
teacher then you can present the two aligned
verses and ask the students to perform the
following exercises

-- What are the minor differences between the verses
-- What nuances do they imply

The students can then compare their analysis with that
of Rashis. This leads to greater appreciation of Rashi.

TODAYS LIST
-----------
We align the verses prohibiting idol worsihp and examine the
nuance of each one. Using this list we see a deeper meaning
to the Rashi comments on the verse of making tree-idols.

VERY BRIEF SUMMARY
-----------------
The Bible in Dt17 states that it is prohibited to have
-- excessive MONEY,
-- excessive WIVES
-- excessive HORSES
The exact phraselogy is
-- The King should not have alot FOR HIMSELF
The phrase FOR HIMSELF when combined with a Hebrew verb always
denotes PERSONAL USE. Hence Rashi simply states that
-- Kings can have MONEY, WIVES and HORSES for regal use but not
-- for personal display.Other verses help illustrate how much

--------------------------------------------------------
TODAYS RASHI RULE:      GRAMMARR
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE:   INDIRECT PRONOUN (FOR HIMSELF)
--------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------
TODAYS RASHI RULE:      OTHER VERSES
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE:   FURTHER DETAILS
--------------------------------------------------------

Brief description of rule
--------------------------
In Hebrew, adding the indirect pronoun (FOR ME, FOR HIMSELF)
denotes that the activity is done FOR PERSONAL REASONS. For
many illustrations of this principle see the following posting
(reproduced below)

http://www.RashiYomi.htm/nu10-02a.htm

Very often when a verse states a general principle--e.g. a
king should not have TOO MUCH of women, money horses--we
can infer further details by examining OTHER VERSES which
shed light on the definition.

TODAYS LISTS
------------
We list the 3 items prohibited to Kings. We provide other
verses showing that Kings can have AS MUCH AS NECESSARY
FOR REGAL USE. Hence we interpret the verses as THEY
CANT HOWEVER HAVE FOR PERSONAL USE. Footnotes amplify
the supporting verses

A second verse shows how FOR YOU or FOR HIM indicates
personal use.

The following LIST contains many verses where FOR YOU refers
to PERSONAL use.