SUCCINCT SUMMARY
----------------
One of Rashis 5 main goals is the clarification of meaning
the same way the dictionary clarifies meaning. Rashi will
frequently comment on special connective words such as IF,
BECAUSE, PERHAPS.


EXAMPLE
--------------------------------
Very often Hebrew connective words can take
on multiple meanings. The Hebrew pronoun
O-Tho normally refers to the object: For example
------------------
He hit HIM (O-Tho)
------------------
However the Hebrew pronoun O-Tho can also
mean WITH HIM or TOWARDS HIM. In short O-Tho
can refer to any type of participation in an
activity whether as
- OBJECT (It),
- PARTICIPANT (With him) or as
- GOAL( Towards him)
This is similar to the Hebrew conjunction VAV
which can mean
- AND
but can more generally refer to ANY RELATION
between two sentences such as
- OR
- IF
The following verses show non-standard
uses of O-Tho
---------------------------------------------------------
Gn37-04b ...they could not speak WITH HIM peacefully

Gn37-18a ...they plotted TOWARDS HIM

Gn21-02 ... at the time that God spoke WITH HIM

Ez02-01 ....stand on your feet and I will speak WITH YOU

2C18-22 ...How did Gods spirit go from me to speak to YOU
---------------------------------------------------------

Note that in many of these verses the translation
WITH can be replaced with TO e.g.
-------------------------------------------------------
Ez02-01 ...stand on your feet and I will speak TO YOU
-------------------------------------------------------

LIST005s summarizes these examples.

List of verses with      AKH meaning MOSTLY

SUCCINCT SUMMARY
----------------
Some Rashi comments deal with FORMATTING.
Modern authors FORMAT using such techniques as
BULLETS, PARAGRAPHING, BOLD, ITALICS and UNDERLINE.
The Biblical Author achieved these effects but thru
different means.

For example a modern author might hilight distinct
items using BULLETS. The Biblical Author hilights
distinct items using REPEATING KEYWORDS.

We call this the Rashi rule of FORMATTING with the Rashi
subrule of KEYWORDS AS BULLETS

EXAMPLE 1 Gn37-08a
------------------
The brothers hated Joseph
- ON ACCOUNT OF his dreams
- ON ACCOUNT OF his slander

By repeating the KEYWORD, ON ACCOUNT OF, the Bible creates
a BULLET LIKE EFFECT. The two bullets emphasize that there
are TWO REASONS for the Brothers to hate Joseph

EXAMPLE 2 Gn37-23a Gn37-23b
---------------------------
When Joseph came to his brothers they stripped him
- OF his daily coat
- OF his special coat

Again the repeated KEYWORD, OF, indicates that the
brothers stripped Joseph of two items.

List of                  Bulleted items in Gn37-08a

List of                  Bulleted items in Gn37-23a

SUCCINCT SUMMARY
----------------
One of Rashi's 10 main goals is to explain Grammar
the same way Hebrew textbooks explain Grammar.
One grammar method that overlaps with word
meaning is the NOUN-VERB-ADJ-TRANSFORMS method.
This method studies how words can change from
OBJECTS (noun) to ACTIVITIES (verbs) to ATTRIBUTES
(adjective).

EXAMPLE Gn37-25a
----------------
Gn37-25 states
-------------------------------
As the brothers sat down to eat bread
they looked up and saw a
CARAVAN (Aleph-Resh-Cheth) of Arabs
-------------------------------

Rashi explains
----------------------------------------------
- The Hebrew root Aleph-Resh-Ceth means PATH
- PATH is an OBJECT (Noun)
- When made into an ATTRIBUTE (Adjective)
- Aleph-Resh-Ceth means PATH-PEOPLE--a CARAVAN
----------------------------------------------

LIST050d studies other words whose meaning
changes due to shift in grammatical function

List of words with Grammatical function shift=Meaning shift

SUCCINCT SUMMARY
----------------
Rashi will very often take a verse whose
meaning is ALREADY understood and ADD a consequence
to the verse. We call this the SPREADSHEET
method since SPREADSHEETS are very often
used to derive consequences of otherwise
understood data.  The SPREADSHEET method
is also used when Rashi gives COMPUTATIONAL
or GEOMETRIC diagrams to clarify the meaning
of the verse.

EXAMPLE Gn37-14a Gn37-14b
-------------------------
Gn35-14 states
--------------------------------------------------------
And he said to him: 'Go now, see whether it is well
with thy brethren, and well with the flock; and bring
me back word.' So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron,
and he came to Shechem.
--------------------------------------------------------
Note that the meaning of this verse is perfectly clear.
However Rashi supplements the verse's clear meaning with further thoughts. For this reason we classify this Rashi
as using the spreadsheet method.

It is well known that PLACE AROUSES.
Here is a simple example: A man sins with a woman in a certain city; he is more likely to repeat the
sin if he meets her in the same city then if he meets her elsewhere.

The Joseph story is clear. He bragged, thru his dreams,
that he wanted to reign over his brothers. His brothers
in turn were infuriated. Finally when they were away from their father, 2 of the brothers suggested the ultimate
solution, murder.

Rashi simply points out that Schem, where Joseph's
murder was plotted, is the same place where the would be
be murderers, Shimon and Levi, murdered a whole city for
ignoring the rape of their sister, Dinah.

We see Rashi's point: They wanted to kill him anyway. But
their being in Schem, the place where they learned to solve
problems thru murder, helped arouse them---it made the emotion stronger.

That is all Rashi is doing: He is not attributing the
desire to kill to Schem--it was there anyway. All Rashi
is doing is saying that PLACE AROUSES.

A similar analysis can be made on the verse's point that
Jacob sent Joseph from the valley of Chevron. Rashi, read
literally,states that there is a contradiction to the fact that Chevron is on a mountain: But every mountain
has a valley nearby (or it would not be a mountain).

Rather, Rashi's real point is that Abraham was buried
in Schem and place arouses. Abraham's most famous prophecy
is Verse Gn15-13:14 which states   And He said unto Abram:
---------------------------------------------------------
Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a
land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they
shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and
afterward shall they come out with great substance.
----------------------------------------------------------

We are never told why the Jews had to suffer in Egypt
for 400 years. After all it is unlike the merciful
Jewish God to make anyone suffer even for a second, and
even when it is deserved. Certainly, if there was a sin
people could repent.

Rashi's point is that by comparing the BEFORE and AFTER of
Egypt we find out the WHY of Egypt. What changed before
and after Egypt was respect for prophecy.

Before Egypt Joseph was made fun of. His prophetic
dreams were irrelevant. Nay, they were overshadowed by
his teenage immaturity which ultimately led to a 12
year prison sentence.

After Egypt, at least momentarily, the Jews respected
prophecy (with intermediate lapses). When Moses told
them they were going to be redeemed they did not sneer
at Moses for being an Egyptian outsider. When Moses
told them to slaughter the lamb, the Egyptian god, they cheerfully obeyed.

It took 200 years of lack of prophecy--and all that is
associated with it such as class distinctions, lack of
regard for human feeling and life, etc.--to make the
Jews realize that hating Joseph was a mistake; all
prophecy---including mere dreams which only have spiritual content--should be respected.

To recap: Jacob did not send Joseph because he was in
Chevron. We know why he sent him. But PLACE AROUSES --
the famous prophecy of Grandpa Abraham lurked in the
recesses of Jacob's mind-- if the brothers wanted to
try and erase prophecy then they deserved the Egyptian slavery to make them appreciate prophecy,
- absolutely,
- from all, and
- at all costs.

LIST690a below presents other Rashis using the SPREADSHEET
principle.

List of Rashis using     Spreadsheets/Algebra

Lighting summary of Rashis with emphasis on Rashi rules*10