Whats new and hot in this issue?

VERY BRIEF SUMMARY
------------------
A revu of OATHS taken in the Bible shows that they are
expressions of seriousness. Hence they are typically
accompanied by symbolic affirmations. Here are examples
-Gn26-30:31 Oath of peace AFFIRMED by a party
-Gn31-52:53 Oath of separation AFFIRMED by symbolic stone border
-Gn21-30:31 Oath of territorial respect AFFIRMED by possesions
-Gn24-02    Oath of power of attorney AFFIRMED by hand surrender
-Gn47-29c   Oath of power of attorney AFFIRMED by hand surrender

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TODAYS RASHI RULE:             DATABASES
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE:          DATABASES
----------------------------------------

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF RULE
-------------------------
Many Rashi are based on database queries. Rather then give
abstract theory we explore this particular example. Rashi
performs a database query: WHICH VERSES IN CHUMASH DEAL
WITH OATHS. WHAT, BESIDES MENTION OF OATH, IS CONTAINED
IN THESE VERSES.  Such queries can be elegantly expressed
in the database language, SQL. To put it simply a review
of verses with OATHS shows they are accompanied by ACTS
OF AFFIRMATION.

STANDARD REFERENCES FOR THIS RULE
---------------------------------
A rather technical account (in advanced SQL for those
who know it) occurs in the following unpublished paper
http://www.RashiYomi.com/database.htm

TODAYS EXAMPLE
--------------
We present the database query of OATHS and ACTS OF AFFIRMATION

VERY BRIEF SUMMARY
------------------
In Gn37-01 Jacob gave Joseph a special coat. This caused
jealousy and led to the attempted murder of Joseph and the
breakup of the family.
In Gn47-29 Jacob entrusted only Joseph to bury him in Israel.
This time however no jealousy or attempted murder took place.
The reason being that Joseph had the power to implement
Jacobs request.
Thus we see that favoritism based on merit does not lead to
jealousy while that based on fondness does so lead.

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TODAYS RASHI RULE:                  ALIGNMENT
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE:               2 CASES
----------------------------------------------

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.

A nifty way of explaining the ALIGNED verses is to think
of ALIGNMENT as the vehicle that the Biblical Author uses
to indicate FOOTNOTES. That is, a modern writer might use
FOOTNOTES to indicate details; the Biblical Author instead
used REPEATED ALIGNED VERSES with DIFFERENT DETAILS.

The simplest case of ALIGNMENT is when the differences
CLEARLY and EXPLICITLY show that we are dealing with
two cases each with different details. The STANDARD
example below from the 10 commandments illustrates this

STANDARD EXAMPLE
----------------
Perhaps the simplest example of an alignment revealing
two cases and two laws occurs in the 10 commandments.
Ex01-02:03 states

----------------------------------------------
Ex20-02 you shall NOT HAVE  the gods of others
Ex20-03 you shall NOT MAKE  idols
----------------------------------------------

STUDENT EXERCISES:
------------------
-- What is the SAME in the ALIGNED verses
-- What is DIFFERENT in the ALIGNED verses
-- State the 2 CASES you infer from the aligned differences

RASHIS SOLUTION
---------------
- Both verses begin YOU SHALL NOT. In other words
they are negative prohibitions.

- One verse prohibits HAVING idols while the 2nd verse
prohibits MAKING idols

- THere are 2 separate idolatry prohibitions: MANUFACTURE
(even if you dont keep them) and OWNERSHIP/POSSESION
(even if you dont make them)

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.


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
3 student exercises listed above.

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

TODAYS LIST
-----------
We align the two chapters dealing with favoritism
to Joseph over the other children

VERY BRIEF SUMMARY
------------------
Although the status of JEW, refers to ALL descendants of Jacob,
nevertheless, the 12 DIRECT children of Jacob, had a special
status--each established its OWN tribe, had its OWN leader etc
For example when the Temple was consecrated ONE PRINCE of each
TRIBE brought a temple gift.The list below contains PRIVILEGES of
each tribe. Jacob allowed Josephs two grandchildren to have this
Tribal status. This follows from the interpretation of Gn48-05:06
-(Jacob to Joseph)Your 2 children will belong to me--they will be
like Ruven/Shimon---your other children will be ordinary Jews

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TODAYS RASHI RULE:                 WORD MEANINGS
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE:              NEW MEANINGS(idioms)

-------------------------------------------------

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

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TODAYS RASHI RULES
---------------------------------------
Let me first clarify what the concept of an IDIOM means
Take a phrase like ON THE FACE OF. Note that each word
in this phrase-- on, face, of--is understood. But the
phrase as a whole is not understood. In fact as Rashi
points out, ON THE FACE OF, means, DURING THE LIFETIME,
a meaning that is not at all obvious from the phrase-s
component words.

It is in this sense that the phrase is an IDIOM--that
is, it is a collection of words whose overall meaning
transcends the meaning of its individual words.

Proving that ON THE FACE OF means DURING THE LIFETIME
is straightforward. We simply gather the 5 places
where this phrase occurs and revu the Rashis which
explain each verse. In other words, we revu a LIST
of verses which has the phrase ON THE FACE OF. For a list
of such verses see http://www.RashiYomi.com/dt05-07a.htm

The situation in Gn48-05 however is different. We have
the phrase YOUR CHILDREN BELONG TO ME which forms an
idiom. BELONGS TO ME means that these children have
TRIBAL STATUS like direct children of Jacob.

But the proof is not a LIST of verses using this phrase.
In fact, this is the only time this phrase occurs in Tenach
How then can we prove its meaning(if we dont have a list?)

A commentator on Rashi answers this with a parenthetical
insert: We can prove the meaning of the phrase by examining
a LIST of places where the TRIBES include Josephs children.
This LIST, presented below shows that Josephs children
BELONG TO JACOB AND ARE LIKE RUVEN/SHIMON.

Thus todays rule uses a combined rule: NEW MEANINGS-OTHER
VERSES.

THE LIST
--------
Here is the list of places where Josephs children
are enumerated with tribal status

VERY BRIEF SUMMARY
------------------
This posting affords us an opportunity to examine how languages
other than Hebrew can facilitate understanding Chumash & Rashi.
Gn49-03 should be translated as
- Reuven you are
- - my 1st born
- - the beginning of my VIRILITY
Here, the Hebrew root ALEPH-NUN is translated as VIRILITY.
Actually Rashi translates ALEPH-NUN as A LANGUAGE OF STRENGTH.But
by using English words, we can give more specificity and focus:
ALEPH NUN does not mean ANY strength--it means VIRILITY

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TODAYS RASHI RULE:                      WORD MEANINGS
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE:                   WORD MEANINGS
------------------------------------------------------

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF RASHI RULE
-------------------------------
One of Rashis 6 main goals is translating words the same way a
dictionary translates words.  One of the goals of this email
list is to give precision, focus and specificity to some of
Rashis translations. For example, in this posting we translate
ALEPH-NUN which Rashi ROUGHLY translates as STRENGTH, but
we translate as VIRILITY---this gives more precision,focus and
specificity.

STANDARD REFERENCES FOR TODAYS RASHI RULE
-----------------------------------------
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/words.htm

TODAYS LIST
-----------
We list verses with the Hebrew root ALEPH NUN and show that
the translation VIRILITY fits nicely. Footnotes further
amplify the nuances.