Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List VISIT the RASHI DATABASE archives AT http://www.RashiYomi.com/ Surfing the Talmudic Seas (C) RashiYomi Incorporated, 2004 Written by Dr Russell Jay Hendel Volume 22 Number 1 For the WORD QUALITY HTML VERSION click here ----------------------------------- http://www.Rashiyomi.com/h22n1.htm ----------------------------------- Produced May 19-th, 2004 WARNING: USE FIXED WIDTH FONTS (eg COURIER (NEW) 10) |
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-04 | ||
Whats new and hot in this issue? | ||
ITEM | WHATS NEW & HOT IN THIS ISSUE | |
Paragraphing | A beautiful example of Rashi-ing from structure | |
Intro FAQ | We begin a month project on an INTRO FAQ*1 | |
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*1 Several people have asked me for a website FAQ telling people where to go for various things. Accordingly I am going to do one Q&A (Question and Answer) per issue until the FAQ is ready. IF DURING THIS PROCESS YOU WOULD LIKE A PARTICULAR ISSUE ADDRESSED (eg How do I...) FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME AT rjhendel@Juno.com. (The question will be published in your name unless you ask me to preserve anonymity) Todays Q&A may be found in the green footnote section in footnote *10 | ||
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*10 QUESTION: Where can I find the Rashi RULES you use. ANSWER: On the Rashi website we use 20-30 Rules which naturally divide into 5-10 classes. There are at least 5 sources for the Rashi rules. SOURCE#1: http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rules-01.htm DESCRIPTION: A compact 6 page summary of the 6 major Rashi rule classes with numerous examples. UTILITY: Short; Comprehensive; Complete; Compact I highly recommend this SOURCE#2: http://www.Rashiyomi.com/wbook_01.pdf DESCRIPTION: A set of 30 chapters written in the golden style of the Rambam explaining the 30 Rashi rules. UTILITY: Only 5 units have been written. The project is estimated to take 5 years. Each unit is about 4 pages. The content is excellent--it is clearly and lucidly explained with worked out exercises that can be used in classrooms. Other units are located at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/ The workbook series is in the center left. SOURCE#3: http://www.RashiYomi.com/rules33.htm DESCRIPTION: A QUICK reference of 20 Rashi rules with brief examples and hyperlinks to more thorough discussions An earlier version of the QUICK reference guide is http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rules22.htm UTILITY: This is a quick reference. It is good for someone who already knows the rules; however it is not recommended to start with this. SOURCE#4: http://www.Rashiyomi.com/workbook.htm DESCRIPTION: A list of 30 Rashi rules divided into 10 classes. Each rule is hyperlinked to a more thorough discussion with one example (A few rules still lack links) UTILITY: Reading the entire hyperlinked set is the equivalant of reading 20-30 pages. But it will give you a good idea of the rules. SOURCE#5: http://www.Rashiyomi.com/ris.htm DESCRIPTION: This allows hyperlinking to all Rashi digests. Each Rashi digest contains RULE DESCRIPTIONS in the BROWN section at the top. UTILITY: Browsing will give you a good idea of the rules; but they are not comprehensively laid down compactly in one place and consequently it will take a while before you digest all the rules. |
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-04 | |||
Lighting summary of Rashis with emphasis on Rashi rules*10 | |||
# | LIST | BRIEF SUMMARY OF RASHI EMPHASIZING USE OF RASHI RULES | |
26 | 106w | Kehathite Job:TEMPLE UTENSILS-ark,table,..,altar..HOLY OBJECTS | |
7 | 871d | The INVITED=The DISTINGUISHED;RAISE/LOWER a building | |
9 | 070e | Gershon--with the Livni & Shimi families--had 7500 people | |
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*10 The explanation of the list should be clear - The first column gives the NUMBER of the RASHI RULE used All Rashi rules may be found with examples at http://wwww.Rashiyomi.com/workbook.htm - The second column gives the LIST ID (eg LIST210z) which contains many examples of a particular Rashi technique and includes the example presented in the third column - The third column gives a lightning summary of the Rashi with particular emphasis on the Rashi rule used. |
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-04 | |||
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VERSE | RULE | BRIEF DESCRIPTION | |
======== | =============== | ===================================== | |
Nu04-12a | BULLETS | HOLY OBJECTS:Ark,table,..altar:HOLY | |
Nu04-13a | BULLETS | HOLY OBJECTS:Ark,table,..altar:HOLY | |
Nu04-15a | BULLETS | HOLY OBJECTS:Ark,table,..altar:HOLY | |
Nu04-15b | BULLETS | HOLY OBJECTS:Ark,table,..altar:HOLY | |
Nu01-16a | WORD MEANINGS | INVITED=distinguished;RAISE the bldng | |
Nu01-51a | WORD MEANINGS | INVITED=distinguished;RAISE the bldng | |
Nu03-21a | GRAMMARr | Gershon--Livni/Shimi familities-7500 | |
--------- | ---------------- | ------------------------------------- |
*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2003, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#
VERSE: Nu03-21a
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-04 | ||
VERY BRIEF SUMMARY ------------------ One of Rashis 6 main goals is to explain Grammar the same way modern Grammar books do. Grammar deals with many topics In this posting we deal with the grammatical rules governing sentences. Most Biblical verses are complete sentences. However in certain rare cases TWO Verses form ONE sentence. EXAMPLE: Nu03-21:22 ------------------- - As for Gayrshon - ---------who had the Livni/Shimi subfamilies - (This is all of Gayrshon;) - Their (total) census - (of all males at least one month) - was 7500 people In other words Rashi sees this as a complex sentence with several parenthetical clauses The main theme is that Gayrshon had 7500 people; a subtheme is that the 7500 people were grouped into the Livni and Shimi subfamilies. | ||
ITEM | DETAIL | |
RASHI RULE CLASS: | GRAMMAR | |
RASHI SUBRULE CLASS | MULTI-VERSE SENTENCES | |
RASHI WORKBOOK PRINCIPLE | #9 | |
SEE BELOW | LIST070e | |
List of clauses in | Nu03-21:22 |
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-04 | ||
List of clauses in Nu03-21:22 | ||
VERSE | TEXT | |
Nu03-21 | GAYRSHON had | |
Nu03-21 | The Livni,Shimi families | |
Nu03-21 | (This is GAYRSHON;) | |
Nu03-22 | and their total census | |
Nu03-22 | (of all males at least 1 month) | |
Nu03-22 | was 7500 people |
*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2004, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#
VERSE: Nu04-12a
RASHIS COVERED: Nu04-12a Nu04-13a Nu04-15a Nu04-15b
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-04 | ||
SUCCINCT SUMMARY ---------------- The BULLET method refers both to - use of PARAGRAPH structure to indicate content - use of BOLD, ITALICS, UNDERLINE etc to indicate meaning A paragraph with a THEME followed by a BULLETED list of DETAILS invites Rashi comments that explain the distinctness of each detail as well as the groupings of the bulleted items into subgroups. EXAMPLE 1 -- Nu04 ----------------- Nu04-04 Kehathites are tasked with the TEMPLE OBJECTS Nu04-05:06 ---- The Ark and curtain Nu04-07:08 ---- The Table and utensils Nu04-09:10 ---- The Candellabrah and utensils Nu04-11:12 ---- The Golden altar and utensils Nu04-13:14 ---- The Copper Altar and utensils Nu04-15 Kehathites tasked with the HOLY and its UTENSILS Rashi ----- The bulleted list clearly suggests that ALTAR in Nu04-13:14 refers to the COPPER altar. The bulleted list also suggests that the utensils mentioned in Nu04-12 are the Golden altar utensils. the bulleted list so suggests because we assume all items distinct. Similarly the bulleted list suggests that HOLY refers to eg the ARK and ALTARS while UTENSILS refers to the TABLE and CANDELLABRAH. Again all this is inferred from the THEME-BULLETS-THEME structure of the list. | ||
ITEM | DETAIL | |
RASHI RULE CLASS: | BULLETS | |
RASHI SUBRULE CLASS | EMPHASIS METHODS | |
RASHI WORKBOOK PRINCIPLE | #26 | |
SEE BELOW | LIST106w | |
List of items in | Nu04 -- The Holy Temple Objects |
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-04 | |||
List of items in Nu04 -- The Holy Temple Objects | |||
VERSE | PARAGRAPH | Text of item in verse | |
Nu04-04 | GENERAL | Kehathites are tasked with the TEMPLE OBJECTS | |
Nu04-05:06 | BULLET | ---- The Ark and curtain | |
Nu04-07:08 | BULLET | ---- The Table and utensils | |
Nu04-09:10 | BULLET | ---- The Candellabrah and utensils | |
Nu04-11:12 | BULLET | ---- The Golden altar and utensils*1 | |
Nu04-13:14 | BULLET | ---- The Copper Altar and utensils*2 | |
Nu04-15 | GENERAL | Kehathites tasked with the HOLY*3 and UTENSILS*3 | |
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*1 The structure implies that UTENSILS refers to the utensils of the Golden altar (Rashi: Nu04-12a) *2 The assumed distinctness of the bullets suggests that ALTAR refers to the OTHER (non-golden, copper) altar. (Rashi Nu04-13a) *3 The verse classifies the 5 bulleted items as HOLY vs UTENSILS One reasonable classification scheme would be - HOLY = Ark and Altars (Rashi: Nu04-15a) - UTENSILS = Table and Candellabrah (Rashi: Nu04-15b) |
*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2004, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#
VERSE: Nu01-16a
RASHIS COVERED: Nu01-51a Nu01-16a
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-04 | ||
SUCCINCT SUMMARY ---------------- One of Rashis 5 main goals is the explanation of meaning the same way a dictionary explains meaning. Rashi had a variety of vehicles to explain meaning. Example 1 Nu01-51a ------------------ LOWERING the Temple would mean TAKING IT DOWN (English metaphor) (Similarly RAISING the temple would mean BUILDING it) Example 2 Nu01-16a ------------------ The INVITED people means the DISTINGUISHED people (Since you typically INVITE distinguished people to affairs). Here we name DISTINGUISHED by a RELATED property (frequent INVITATION). This technique of naming is called METONOMY | ||
ITEM | DETAIL | |
RASHI RULE CLASS: | WORD MEANINGS | |
RASHI SUBRULE CLASS | 8 Methods of Naming | |
RASHI WORKBOOK PRINCIPLE | #7 | |
SEE BELOW | LIST871d | |
List of idioms using | Metonomy (e.g. LOWER=take apart) |
(C) Dr Hendel, Jan-04 | |||
List of idioms using Metonomy (eg Egypt=Egyptians) | |||
VERSE | TEXT OF VERSE | METONOMY(ITEM means RELATED ITEM) | |
Nu01-51a | LOWER Temple | TAKE IT DOWN (analogy;RAISE it=BUILD it) | |
Nu01-16a | The INVITED | The DISTINGUISHED(you always invite them | |
Gn25-22e | Seek GOD | Seek PROPHETIC ADVICE of God*8 *10 | |
Ex18-15b | Seek GOD | Seek PROPHETIC ADVICE of God*8 *10 | |
Ex18-09a | He SHARPED*11 | Mirth at SHARP word or TWINGED from pain | |
Ex14-24a | MORNING WATCH | Guard Duty at DAWN*7 | |
Ex14-25c | EGYPT-the land | Egyptians-the people*6 | |
Gn49-09c | ABOVE plunder | REMOVED from plundering (Above it)*5 | |
Gn49-05b | VIOLENT TOOLS | Criminal behavior*4 | |
Gn45-18b | FAT of land | BEST of land | |
Gn45-08a | FATHER to Phrh | FRIEND/ADVISOR to Pharoh | |
Gn43-34a | He gave LIFTS | LIFTED THEIR SPIRIT-i.e. gifts | |
Gn41-35b | HAND of Pharoh | DOMAIN of Pharoh*2 | |
Gn24-18a | pitchr on HAND | she lowered pitcher on her ARM | |
Gn37-26b | COVER blood | CONCEAL murder | |
Gn37-26b | cover BLOOD | conceal MURDER | |
Ex30-13c | HOLY coins | Coins used in HOLY TEMPLE matters | |
Dt18-01c | FIRES of God | SACRIFICES offered on temple Fire | |
Dt29-19a | SMOKING anger | Anger that makes person HOT | |
Gn13-02a | Abraham HEAVY | Abraham-s assets NUMEROUS | |
Gn13-02a | ABRAHAM heavy | ABRAHAM-S ASSETS numerous | |
Lv26-10b | *9 | Sign of PLENTY(have to remove old for nu | |
Lv26-04a | *9 | Sign of PLENTY-threshing seasn in HARVST | |
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*1 Many examples in this list come from previous list in the metonomy series (LIST871a, LIST871b, LIST871c) *2 See LIST871e for 6 Rashis mentioning this HAND=DOMAIN theme *3 See LIST871f for verses where NSA means GIFT *4 Rashi citing the Midrash Rabbah states ------------------------------------- Your violence is something you VIOLATED from Esauv (You are killing like Esauv) ------------------------------------- But I see no reason to see this Midrash as the PRIMARY simple meaning of the verse. The PRIMARY meaning of the verse is that Shimon and Levi were criminals The Midrash is simply adding a pun to this observation. *5 See LIST871g for some examples *6 This is a common metonomy that occurs in English (eg America-Americans etc). Rashi is cute here: He EXPLAINS the metonomy ---------------------------------------------- When the soldiers die at sea their loved ones back in Egypt also suffer and in effect are smitten by God ---------------------------------------------- Rashi does not contradict the metonomy--he simply shows why it is convenient to identify the LAND and PEOPLE. *7 The night was traditionally divided into three times of Guard duty. The GUARD DUTY near dawn was called the MORNING WATCH (Cf Ju07-19 for confirmation that there was a BEGINNING WATCH, MIDDLE WATCH and DAWN WATCH) *8 The phrases SEEK GOD, SEEK IN GOD, occur in several verses and denote SEEKING ADVICE OF GOD. Compare for example (1S09-09, 1K22-08 or even 2K01-03 (Seeking advice of idolatrous gods). For alternate meanings see note *10. *9 The exact verse text is -------------------------------------------------- You will have to remove the old grain for the new -------------------------------------------------- This means --------------------- You will have plenty --------------------- In other words removal of the OLD for the NEW is simply something RELATED to PLENTY. The main theme is plenty. Similarly the Biblical text ------------------------------------------------------ The threshing season will bump into the harvest season ------------------------------------------------------ means -------------------- you will have plenty -------------------- Again the fact that we are STILL threshing when the harvest comes is something RELATED to having plenty. The main point is that there is PLENTY. | |||
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*10 On Gn25-22e there is a delightful Ramban Rashi controversy Ramban points out that SEEK GOD can mean PRAYER. Rashi holds it means PROPHETIC ADVICE. I brought about a dozen verses which clearly show that - SEEK GOD can and does refer to PRAYER - SEEK GOD can and does refer to PROPHETIC ADVICE - SEEK GOD can and does refer to BOTH Prayer/Prophecy Hence I regard Ramban not as disagreeing with Rashi but rather as complementing him. For further details see http://www.Rashiyomi.com/gn25-22d.htm *11 Clearly the Hebrew YeeChad comes from the root CHAD which means SHARP. Rashi brings two opinions - It means HE SHARPED (Mirthed at a SHARP WORD) - It means HE TWINGED (Upset at PAINFUL news) But Radack brings STRONG support that CHAD means mirth. Indeed, in other verses, CHAD does mean MIRTH (As in eg Neh08-10 or P021-07). This controversy between Rashi and Radack can be resolved Grammatically. The grammatical form of VaYeeChad (Chirik, Patach) could come from either - INTENSE MODE of 1-2-Hey roots(Cheth-Daleth-Hey) or - PASSIVE MODE of 1-2-2 roots(Cheth-Daleth-Daleth) In the intense mode CHAD means MIRTH(Radack) But in the PASSIVE MODE it would correspond to RECEIVING (PASSIVE!) a SHARP twinge at hearing bad news. Hence the controversy is on the root and mode of the word. This explanation makes both viewpoints respectable since Rashi would concede that CHEDVAH which definitely comes from Cheth-Daleth-Hey means MIRTH; Rashi could still maintain that Yee-Chad means TWINGED since it comes from a different root Rashi also points out that the translation TWINGED would show that despite Jethros happiness he still felt sorry for the Egyptians thus showing the conflict between his past(non-jew) and future (friend of Jews) |
*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2004, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#