Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List VISIT the RASHI DATABASE archives AT http://www.RashiYomi.com/ Surfing the Talmudic Seas (C) RashiYomi Incorporated, 2003 Written by Dr Russell Jay Hendel Volume 17 Number 21 For the WORD QUALITY HTML VERSION click here ----------------------------------- http://www.Rashiyomi.com/h17n21.htm ----------------------------------- Produced May 7th, 2003 WARNING: USE FIXED WIDTH FONTS (eg COURIER (NEW) 10) |
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-03 | ||
Whats new and hot in this issue? | ||
ITEM | WHATS NEW & HOT IN THIS ISSUE | |
Why Rashi | What were Rashis Goals? How should we learn it | |
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*1 A real peach of a Rashi. A must for anyone who seriously wants to become a Gadol. Do you think you know how to LEARN Rashi? Do you seriously wish to study Rashi. Then the essay in the main posting is for YOU--it is must for the serious student of Rashi. |
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-03 | |||
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VERSE | RULE | BRIEF DESCRIPTION | |
======== | =============== | ======================================= | |
Lv26-04a | SPECIAL WORDS | AT THAT TIME implies CAUSAL relationshp | |
Gn38-01a | SPECIAL WORDS | AT THAT TIME implies CAUSAL relationshp | |
Dt10-01a | SPECIAL WORDS | AT THAT TIME implies CAUSAL relationshp | |
Dt03-23b | SPECIAL WORDS | AT THAT TIME implies CAUSAL relationshp | |
Dt04-14b | SPECIAL WORDS | AT THAT TIME implies CAUSAL relationshp | |
Nu22-04c | SPECIAL WORDS | AT THAT TIME implies CAUSAL relationshp | |
Dt01-16b | SPECIAL WORDS | AT THAT TIME implies CAUSAL relationshp | |
Dt10-08a | SPECIAL WORDS | AT THAT TIME implies CAUSAL relationshp | |
Dt10-08b | SPECIAL WORDS | AT THAT TIME implies CAUSAL relationshp | |
Lv26-04a | SPECIAL WORDS | AT THAT TIME implies CAUSAL relationshp | |
Dt11-14a | SPECIAL WORDS | AT THAT TIME implies CAUSAL relationshp | |
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#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc.2003, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#
VERSE: Lv26-04a
RASHIS COVERED: Gn38-01a Dt10-01a Dt03-23b Dt04-14b
Nu22-04c Dt01-16b Dt10-08a Dt10-08b Lv26-04a
Dt11-14a
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-03 | ||
VERY BRIEF SUMMARY ------------------ This is a real peach of a Rashi. Anyone who wishes to know - What is Rashi about? - What were Rashis goals? - How should we learn Rashi? anyone wishing to know this should study this posting. I shall explain everything clearly in a lucid manner. I shall write it in the style of a chapter of Rambam so it will be clear to everybody POINT 1 -------- Know that Rashi lived on the border of two great Biblical schools - The masorites and the commentators. POINT 2 ------- Rashi came at the END of the period of the Masorites. The MASORITES had as their goal the preservation of the Biblical text. They did this by making lists and pointing out anomalies. For example: the phrase GOD SPOKE TO MOSES occurs 78 times in the Torah. The sister phrase GOD SPOKE TO AARON only occurs twice. The masorites carefully commented on such anoamalies. Otherwise a scribe thinking his predecessor had errored would correct the phrase GOD SPOKE TO AARON into GOD SPOKE TO MOSES. The masorites commented only thru lists-- they never explained deeper meaning and rarely gave rules POINT 3 -------- Rashi also came at the BEGINNING of the BIBLICAL COMMENTATORS These commentators attempted to glean moral principles from the Biblical text. For example the commentators point out that the Biblical chapter on the nazarite (who abstains from wine) comes after the Biblical chapter on the Sotah (who is suspected of committing adultery). The commentators explain that WINE in excess leads to ADULTERY and conversely witnessing adultery leads to fear and abstention from wine. POINT 4 ------- As indicated Rashi lived between these two great schools. Rashi saw his goal to harmonize the two schools. Rashi believed in extracting moral lessons but only if they could be derived from logical inferences from the text. Similarly Rashi believed that the Biblical text could best be preserved by BOTH presenting lists with anomalies as well as by explaining the WHY of the anomalies. Hence Rashis commentary consists of moral inferences consistent with the exceptions in Biblical lists. POINT 5 ------- Here is a simple example. Rashi would NOT suffice with observing that GOD SPOKE TO AARON vs GOD SPOKE TO MOSES occured only 2 times. Similarly Rashi would not suffice with a moral exhortation that wine can facilitate adultery. Rather Rashi notes that of the 2 times that it says GOD SPOKE TO AARON one of them occurs in the prohibition of Priests drinking wine and serving in the temple. This admonition comes right after Aarons 2 sons died: Rashi EXPLAINS the oddity that GOD SPOKE TO AARON vs MOSES by noting that Aarons 2 sons had probably gotten drunk and bragged how they could offer incense like their father and because of this disrespect they died. This point echoes the Midrash that they were bachelors who were searching for identity. Thus the link of drinking wine to impress women is there also. POINT 6 ------- In short Rashi combines the use of LISTS WITH ODDITIES--the tradition of the Masorites--with the use of MORAL EXHORTATION - the tradition of the commentaries. This is Rashis unique contribution and greatness. POINT 7 ------- It follows that Rashis goals were to - identify Biblical anomalies in lists - explain these anomalies with moral and legal themes POINT 8 ------- It follows that to properly learn and understand Rashi we must - identify the list involved - identify the cause of the anomalies in the list POINT 9 ------- It immediately follows that a person who learns Rashi and says RASHI HAD A TRADITION OF SUCH AND SUCH is only addressing half of Rashi--namely the traditional aspect of Rashi. But this person is totally ignoring the logical part of Rashi and hence has not fully learned Rashi. In fact to properly learn Rashi one must seek out Rashis lists and explain EACH occurence in the list, whether or not Rashi explained them or not. POINT 10 -------- Todays example illustrates this point. The phrase AT THAT TIME occurs only about 2 dozen times in the Bible. The phrase AT THAT TIME signifies CAUSALITY If the Bible is discussing EVENT A and then states: AT THAT TIME EVENT B HAPPENED then the phrase AT THAT TIME signifies that event A CAUSED event B. Indeed for this reason it says AT THAT TIME THE 2nd ITEM HAPPENED--to signify that the 2nd item was CAUSED by the 1st. POINT 11 -------- How so? When it discusses (Dt10) the SIN and FORGIVENESS for the golden calf and then says:-- AT THAT TIME God separated out the tribe of Levi for Temple service---we infer that Levis behavior during the Golden calf CAUSED the tribe of Levi to be separated out for Temple service. .In fact Levi abstained from worshipping the Golden calf and assisted Moses in executing those who did worship. POINT 12 -------- But of the 2 dozen verses with the phrase AT THAT TIME, Rashi only explains about half of them. It is important for the serious student of Rashi to attempt to explain EACH and every occurence. By doing so the student practices not only tradition but logic and learns the principle that Rashi taught. POINT 13 -------- This method of Rashi: Whereby Rashi explains only half the occurences of some odd item and leaves the other half for the student is called the WORKBOOK method. It resembles the modern method of doing a few sample problems and then letting the student practice the remaining problems. The student thereby gains mastery of the principle involved. POINT 14 -------- Furthermore Rashi cleverly selects those verses he explains so that nothing new or hard is left for the student. For example there are 3 verses where AT THAT TIME refers not to causality but rather to the BEST TIME TO DO SOMETHING In fact the verses dont say AT THAT TIME but rather IN THEIR TIME. The exact verse is that RAIN WILL COME IN ITS TIME The phrase IN ITS TIME means at the best time for rain to come (e.g. Friday nights when everyone is home or nights in general when people are asleep but not by day). POINT 15 -------- The list below amply illustrates the Rashi WORKBOOK principle. The serious student of Rashi should assiduously study it -- both the verses he explains as well as the verses he does not explain -- until the principle is clear and engraved in his mind. This will lead to the students enrichment of Rashi study. - PRAISE BE HIM WHO CHOSE THEM AND THEIR LEARNING - | ||
ITEM | DETAIL | |
RASHI RULE CLASS | WORD MEANINGS | |
RASHI SUBRULE CLASS | SPECIAL WORDS | |
RASHI WORKBOOK PRINCIPLE | #9 | |
----------------------------- | ------------------- | |
SEE BELOW | LIST006a | |
List of verses with phrase | AT THAT TIME*1 | |
----------------------------- | ------------------- | |
SEE BELOW | LIST006b | |
List of verses with phrase | AT THAT TIME*1 | |
----------------------------- | ------------------- | |
SEE BELOW | LIST006c | |
List of verses with phrase | AT THAT TIME*1 | |
----------------------------- | ------------------- | |
SEE BELOW | LIST006d | |
List of verses with phrase | AT THAT TIME*1 | |
----------------------------- | ------------------- | |
SEE BELOW | LIST006e | |
List of verses with phrase | AT THAT TIME*1 | |
----------------------------- | ------------------- | |
SEE BELOW | LIST006f | |
List of verses with phrase | AT THAT TIME*1 | |
----------------------------- | ------------------- | |
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*1 The six lists illustrate different types of causality. Eg PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSALITY, PROPERNESS etc. See the introductions to the lists for details |
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-03 | |||||
We list below the 18 or so verses with the phrase AT THAT TIME*12 The basic idea is causal relationship. Verses with a Rashi end with a LETTER. Verses without a Rashi do not end in a letter (eg Gn38-01a vs Gn21-22). This illustrates the Rashi workbook method. Rashi encourages us to apply the principle of AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY to other situations. We have identified 6 themes in AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY These are elaborated in the footnotes. The six themes are indicated in the column with a # sign. This lists theme is A - PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSATION (eg Judah advises brothers to sell Joseph and then brothers throw Judah out of house for his advice) | |||||
VERSE | # | BEFORE EVENT | AT THAT TIME-AFTER | WHY CAUSE | |
Gn38-01a | A | Selling of Joseph | Judah left brothers | He caused it*1 | |
Gn21-22 | A | Ishmael archer*2 | Avmlch seeks treaty | Afraid of Isml | |
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*1 Since Judah advised selling Joseph and Jacob was broken up by Joseph missing it seems reasonable to see psychological cause here--the brothers hated Judah for his advice to sell Joseph and banished him *2 No Rashi but the connection between the previous verse--that Ishmael was a successful archery teacher and the present verse--that Avimelech was afraid and wanted a peace treaty- is an obvious connection. Here again we have psychological causality | |||||
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*12 In previous postings we have outlined 4 methods of connecting paragraphs (See our cp series on the Rashi calendar http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-1.htm thru http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-9.htm What we do in this posting is show how SPECIAL WORDS (such as AT THAT TIME) can indicate which of the 4 methods is used |
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-03 | |||||
We list below the 18 or so verses with the phrase AT THAT TIME*12 The basic idea is causal relationship. Verses with a Rashi end with a LETTER. Verses without a Rashi do not end in a letter (eg Gn38-01a vs Gn21-22). This illustrates the Rashi workbook method. Rashi encourages us to apply the principle of AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY to other situations. We have identified 6 themes in AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY These are elaborated in the footnotes. The six themes are indicated in the column with a # sign. This lists theme is B - MORAL DESERVEDNESS--(eg God forgave sin; this set the atmosphere to give the Jews the 10 commandments again) | |||||
VERSE | # | BEFORE EVENT | AT THAT TIME-AFTER | WHY CAUSE | |
Dt10-01a | B | God forgave sin*3 | Renew 10 commandmnts | Forgive causes | |
Dt03-23b | B | Moses wins war*4 | Seeks forgive sin | Forgive causes | |
Dt10-08a | B | After Golden Calf*5 | Levites serve Temple | No sin caused | |
Dt10-08b | B | After Golden Calf*5 | Levites serve Temple | No sin caused | |
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*3 Forgiveness of sin is clearly a moral PREREQUISITE for receiving the Torah (PREREQUISITE is a more precise word than CAUSE) *4 Moses thought that God enabling him to win a war against Sichon showed that God favored Moses and would let him go to Israel Here again we have the connection of moral right and good favor *5 Here again we see the moral-favor connection. The levites did not worship the golden calf and killed those who did. Hence they DESERVED to serve in the temple (DESERVED vs CAUSED)*11 | |||||
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*11 There are actually 2 Rashis here. The whole paragraph talks about the Jews rebellion - in the Golden calf - in the spy incident. The Levites did not participate in either of these. Hence they merited to serve in the temple. We have never shown how Rashi sees the spy incident in this chapter. We will do so in another posting. The purpose of this posting is to explain the term AT THAT TIME *12 In previous postings we have outlined 4 methods of connecting paragraphs (See our cp series on the Rashi calendar http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-1.htm thru http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-9.htm What we do in this posting is show how SPECIAL WORDS (such as AT THAT TIME) can indicate which of the 4 methods is used |
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-03 | |||||
We list below the 18 or so verses with the phrase AT THAT TIME*12 The basic idea is causal relationship. Verses with a Rashi end with a LETTER. Verses without a Rashi do not end in a letter (eg Gn38-01a vs Gn21-22). This illustrates the Rashi workbook method. Rashi encourages us to apply the principle of AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY to other situations. We have identified 6 themes in AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY These are elaborated in the footnotes. The six themes are indicated in the column with a # sign. This lists theme is C - PROPERNESS - eg when you appoint a Judge you SHOULD immediately advise him of all his responsibilities | |||||
VERSE | # | BEFORE EVENT | AT THAT TIME-AFTER | WHY CAUSE | |
Dt01-16b | C | Appoint judges*6 | Tell responsibilitis | Position cause | |
Dt01-18 | C | Appoint Judges*6 | People responsbility | Position cause | |
Dt04-14b | C | Decalogue*7 | Moses teach oral law | Oral needed | |
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*6 This illustrates not so much CAUSALITY but rather PROPERNESS It is PROPER that when you appoint a judge that you IMMEDIATELY tell him his responsiblities. Similarly using the workbook method we see that when you appoint judges you should tell the community to obey laws and not overburden the judges (In fact Moses several verses earlier explains that he could not bear the whole nation himself) *7 This again illustrates PROPERNESS. The written law(the 10 commandments) by itself is not sufficient to run a society. One needs COMMENTARY and PRECEDENT--ORAL LAW One already eg in Ex21 and Ex22 sees elaboration on THOU SHALL NOT STEAL since all the laws of renters, watchman and borrowers are there. Thus there is oral commentary to the law in stone. This oral commentary got written down in the Torah. But we see further elaboration of Torahitic laws in the oral law.*13 | |||||
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*12 In previous postings we have outlined 4 methods of connecting paragraphs (See our cp series on the Rashi calendar http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-1.htm thru http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-9.htm What we do in this posting is show how SPECIAL WORDS (such as AT THAT TIME) can indicate which of the 4 methods is used *13 I think the best way to interpret Rashi is not literally but broadly. Rashis point is that the law in stone (the 10 commandments) needed ELABORATION which we already see in the Torah. But there are two types of elaboration - the Torah elaborates on the 10 commandments - the oral law elaborates on the Torah |
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-03 | |||||
We list below the 18 or so verses with the phrase AT THAT TIME*12 The basic idea is causal relationship. Verses with a Rashi end with a LETTER. Verses without a Rashi do not end in a letter (eg Gn38-01a vs Gn21-22). This illustrates the Rashi workbook method. Rashi encourages us to apply the principle of AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY to other situations. We have identified 6 themes in AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY These are elaborated in the footnotes. The six themes are indicated in the column with a # sign. This lists theme is D - CAUSED BY EMERGENCY - eg KING SICHON died and they had no royal blood to replace him--so they appointed someone from another country | |||||
VERSE | # | BEFORE EVENT | AT THAT TIME-AFTER | WHY CAUSE | |
Nu22-04c | D | Sichon just died*8 | Balack was King | Temp appoint | |
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*8 Rashis point is subtle. Rashi could cite 4 verses - Gn36-35 Moav and Midyan were military enemies - Nu21-21:24 Moavs Royal family had been defeated Yet we see that Moav asked its enemy,Midyan for help - Nu22 The phrase AT THAT TIME implies a causal relation. So Rashi suggests that BALAK was a Midyanite prince who was temporarily appointed king (and hence he had connections with them). They made an alliance glued by anti-semitism. In this case I would interpret Rashi broadly vs literally. Balak was EITHER a midyanite prince OR Balak was a Moabite who had (business) connections with the enemy Midyan. They appointed him king in order for him to use his alliances to bring help to their situation. In this case the cause is inferred from the phrase AT THAT TIME (rather then from something in the verse). In other words we infer the Rashi from the phrase without any extra support. | |||||
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*12 In previous postings we have outlined 4 methods of connecting paragraphs (See our cp series on the Rashi calendar http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-1.htm thru http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-9.htm What we do in this posting is show how SPECIAL WORDS (such as AT THAT TIME) can indicate which of the 4 methods is used |
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-03 | |||||
We list below the 18 or so verses with the phrase AT THAT TIME*12 The basic idea is causal relationship. Verses with a Rashi end with a LETTER. Verses without a Rashi do not end in a letter (eg Gn38-01a vs Gn21-22). This illustrates the Rashi workbook method. Rashi encourages us to apply the principle of AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY to other situations. We have identified 6 themes in AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY These are elaborated in the footnotes. The six themes are indicated in the column with a # sign. This lists theme is E - EXPLICITLY STATED - (Hence Rashi need not comment) eg Moses tells Joshua YOU HAVE SEEN THE CONQUEST OF THESE KINGS....GOD WILL SIMILARLY CONQUER OTHER KINGS BEFORE YOU | |||||
VERSE | # | BEFORE EVENT | AT THAT TIME-AFTER | WHY CAUSE | |
Dt03-18 | E | God gave you land*9 | Therefore fight | Prior deal | |
Dt01-09 | E | Exodus-go-to-Israel | Moses needs help*9 | Prior explanat | |
Dt03-21 | E | Defeat of Sichon*9 | Joshua leads | He saw it* | |
Dt02-34 | E | God gives Sichon*9 | War on Sichon | Divine order | |
Dt03-04 | E | God gives Og*9 | War on Og | Divine order | |
Dt03-08 | E | God gives land*9 | War on their land | Divine order | |
Dt05-05 | E | Decalogue*9 | Moses intermediary | You afraid | |
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*9 Rashi does not comment on the AT THAT TIME in these verses because the causal link is stated explicitly in the Bible. eg. in Nu32 Moses complains to the Reuben-Menashe tribes that if they dont fight for Israel then they will behave like the spies and turn the hearts of the Jews aside. Moses makes the same connection (Reuben-menasheh get trans-jordan but must fight for Israel) in Dt03-18 Similarly in Dt03-21 Moses tells Joshua YOU HAVE PERSONALLY SEEN THE DEFEAT OF THESE KINGS AND SIMILARLY GOD WILL DEFEAT OTHER KINGS FOR YOU Such an emphasis in belief from seeing is mentioned in several other verses such as Dt04-03 or Dt11-07 Similarly several verses emphasize that the Jews did not fight either people or land till God commanded them | |||||
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*12 In previous postings we have outlined 4 methods of connecting paragraphs (See our cp series on the Rashi calendar http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-1.htm thru http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-9.htm What we do in this posting is show how SPECIAL WORDS (such as AT THAT TIME) can indicate which of the 4 methods is used |
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-03 | |||||
We list below the 18 or so verses with the phrase AT THAT TIME*12 The basic idea is causal relationship. Verses with a Rashi end with a LETTER. Verses without a Rashi do not end in a letter (eg Gn38-01a vs Gn21-22). This illustrates the Rashi workbook method. Rashi encourages us to apply the principle of AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY to other situations. We have identified 6 themes in AT THAT TIME=CAUSALITY These are elaborated in the footnotes. The six themes are indicated in the column with a # sign. This lists theme is F - IN ITS TIME indicates the best time to do something eg RAIN IN ITS TIME probably indicates the nights | |||||
VERSE | # | BEFORE EVENT | AT THAT TIME-AFTER | WHY CAUSE | |
Lv26-04a | F | Rain in ITS time | at night*10 | ||
Dt11-14a | F | Rain in ITS time | at night*10 | ||
Dt28-12 | F | Rain in ITS time | at night*10 | ||
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*10 The phrase used here is IN ITS TIME vs AT THAT TIME Rashi interprets the phrase IN ITS TIME as - Friday nights (When people are home and not bothered by rain) - weekday nights (people are not at business) I would go a step further. Notice how the two Rashis give different interpretations (FRIDAY NIGHT vs WEEKDAY NIGHT). This shows that Rashi was NOT particular about which explanation he used. Rather Rashi emphasized the basic idea that IN ITS TIME meant AT A GOOD TIME FOR RAIN. One person may think this refers to Friday night while another person may think this refers to weekday nights. Both are OK explanations since they both illustrate the main idea. *12 In previous postings we have outlined 4 methods of connecting paragraphs (See our cp series on the Rashi calendar http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-1.htm thru http://www.RashiYomi.com/cp-9.htm What we do in this posting is show how SPECIAL WORDS (such as AT THAT TIME) can indicate which of the 4 methods is used |
*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2003, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#