COMMENT: Welcome to the New Year and a new
-------- Compact form. Hope you like it


QUESTION (Yitz Lowenstein-Baltimore)
--------
You claim that Rashi only gives simple meaning.
But Ex02-05c states PHAROHS DAUGHTER SENT HER
MAID TO GET THE CHILD while Rashi cites a
talmudic translation PHAROHS DAUGHTER STRETCHED
HER HAND TO TAKE THE CHILD. Rashi then refutes
this talmudic interpretation. Doesnt this prove
that the Talmudic interpretation is not the
simple meaning.

ANSWER
------
Good question. Actually however the Talmudic
interpretation IS the simple meaning. Here is
how Rashi interprets the verse
- PHAROHS DAUGHTERS MAIDS
- WERE WALKING BY THE NILE
- PHAROHS DAUGHTER SAW THE ARK WITH THE BABY
- AND SHE SENT HER [PERSONAL] MAID TO TAKE IT
Notice how the first part of the verse speaks
about PHAROHS MAIDS (plural) while the 2nd part
of the verse speaks about her MAID (Singular).
So Rashi-is-Simple: The MAID she sent was her
personal maid that she trusted with risky tasks
(The King had forbidden saving Jewish babies and
hence only a special maid could be used). Chazal
use the term HAND MAID to indicate PERSONAL MAID*1

Inferences based on plural-singular contrast
See posting Ex02-05c
Pharohs daughter had many maidS but she only
sent one maid(singular) to get the baby on the
Nile

QUESTION:
---------
The verse says ARRANGE WOOD ON THE ALTAR. How does
Rashi infer that THE WOOD MUST BE EXACTLY ON THE
ALTAR WITHOUT IT  PROTRUDING OVER THE EDGE

ANSWER
------
Lv01-07:08 states
- THE PRIESTS SHALL PLACE A fire on the altar
- AND THEY SHALL ARRANGE wood on the fire
- AND THEY SHALL ARRANGE THE SACRIFICE ORGANS....
- ON THE wood on the fire on the altar
Notice how the small case words repeat the phrase
ON THE ALTAR. We use Rashi Workbook principle #18:
REPEATED PHRASES can imply restrictive meaning.
Hence the wood must be EXACTLY on the altar
without any protrusions.

RULE:       REPETITION
-----

SUBRULE:    RESTRICTIVE MEANING
--------

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF RULE
-------------------------
The Chumash frequently repeats words or phrases.
There are a variety of Rashi techniques to deal
with such repetitions. For example sometimes
Repetition can indicate a broader, non-standard
meaning. By contrast sometimes, repetition can
indicate a restrictive literal meaning. Todays
example illustrates this.

In Todays example the phrase WOOD ON FIRE ON ALTAR
is repeated twice within 3 verses. The Bible
uses REPEATED WORDS the same way a modern typist
would use CAPS or BOLDS. In other words the repeated
words are as if it was written
-- wood on fire ON ALTAR
The CAPPED phrase, ON ALTAR (or equivalantly the
bold phrase ON ALTAR) would indicate EMPHASIS of
some sort.

STUDENT EXERCISES
-----------------
- If the phrase -- wood on fire ON ALTAR -- is
emphasized then what would you, the reader, think
this emphasis is.

RASHIS SOLUTION
---------------
Rashi suggests that the wood must be EXACTLY on
the altar without wood protruding over the sides
(Traditional bonfires have wood protruding from
the main bonfire).

STANDARD REFERENCES
-------------------
The DOUBLE NOUN series occured in Dec-2000--Jan-2001
Visit the old Rashi Yomi calendar at
http://www.RashiYomi.com/calendar1.htm

Equivalantly visit the summary of examples at
http://www.RashiYomi.com/doubl-14.htm

TODAYS LIST
-----------
We give examples where REPEATED WORDS denote
emphasis*3.

QUESTION:
---------
There are 3 sin offerings: For RICH
people, POOR people and VERY POOR people. How
does Rashi infer that if you eg set aside $100
for a RICH offering and then become POOR that you
are allowed to use only say $30 of the $100 to
purchase a POOR offering. But in the reverse case
where you set aside $30 for a POOR offering and
then became RICH then you must add $70

ANSWER
------
We use Rashi Workbook Principle #10: ALIGNMENT
of verses can show 2 cases. Here are the verses:
-Lv04-35(RICH) He will atone IN ADDITION to his
[money for a] sin offering
-Lv05-06(POOR) He will atone FROM his [money
for a] sin offering
-Lv05-13(VERY POOR) He will atone FROM his
[money for a] sin offering.
The CAPPED aligned phrases clearly show 2 cases:
Sometimes he ADDS to set aside money & sometimes
he only takes FROM the set aside money.

Alignment of verses on sin offerings
See Posting Lv05-13a above

The contrasting phrases affect payments
when a persons economic status changes

QUESTION
--------
Ex01-05a states that PHAROHS DAUGHTER WAS WALKING ON THE NILE
But Rashi states that the Hebrew word AYIN-LAMED means NEAR.
Thus Rashi translates the verse: PHAROHS DAUGHTER WAS WALKING
NEAR THE NILE. Is this the real meaning of AYIN-LAMED? Can
other examples be produced.

ANSWER
------
The Hebrew word AYIN-LAMED which is usually translated as
ON in fact has half a dozen meanings in addition to the special
idiomatic meanings it has with other words. Here are some
examples: AYIN-LAMED can mean a) ON, b) WITH, c) AT THE TIME OF
d) TOWARDS, e) FOR, f) NEAR, g) BESIDES. Furthermore in
conjunction with other words it can have idiomatic meaning--for
example it can mean a) DEPRESSED, b) THEREFORE or SINCE.

We present verses with the Hebrew word AYIN-LAMED
AYIN-LAMED has 7 basic meanings and several idiomatic meanings
Today we start simply with verses where AYIN-LAMED means ON