Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
http://www.shamash.org/rashi/index.htm
Volume 2 Number 11
Produced Jun, 02 1999
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Topics Discussed in This Issue
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v0602--Hilights--FREE DOWNLOADS || Volume 1 Rewritten || Web site
v4a8-2 Chapters 7,8 have one theme: What each tribe did for Temple
v4a8-4 The 3 Mitzvoth where God said "THIS" (so He showed Moses)
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v0602 Hilights
* Go to the website to get a free download of volume 1 (autoexplode)
* Volume 1 Numbers 1 thru 13 have been rewritten. ALthough there is
no new content they now conform to the many user comments and
are easier to read. Please check them out on the website
* The website was redone--many new verses have been added that
were omitted and principles and verse citations have been
checked for accuracy.
* I have studied statistics on those browsing the web site
Many of you browse in the early afternoon (during work)
I am therefore adjusting the format so you can get the most
from these postings
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*** READING TIPS ***
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IF YOU ARE READING QUICKLY then
WE RECOMMEND READING ONLY THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS
* VERSE:
* RASHI TEXT:
* BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
For more detail read the comments on RASHIS FORM SECTION.
BUT "HOW DO I FIND QUICKLY A SPECIFIC SECTION?"
ANSWER: Use your FIND menu
For example: FIND VERSE:
takes you to the beginning of the next section.
Similarly
FIND NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
takes you to the brief explanation of Rashi.
IS THERE AN EASY WAY TO GO TO EACH VERSE AND POSTING?
Yes. Use your FIND menu.
"FIND #*#*#*#" takes you to the next posting
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VERSE: v4a8-2
v4a8-2 Tell Aharon...When you light the Candellabrah
RASHI TEXT:
This paragraph continues the previous chapters. In the
previous chapters all the tribes (except Levi) brought
consecration presents. Since the Levi Tribe did not bring
Aaron was upset: "Maybe I am not worthy". Therefore God
immediately told him: "On the contrary, you will light the
Menorah."
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
Rashi points out that Chapters 7 and 8 have a common theme:
They deal with how the tribes recognized the building
of the Temple (see {LIST1}}:
---The other 11 tribes brought consecration gifts
---Aaron(Tribe of Levi) was in charge of the daily lighting of the
Menorah in the temple.
I however brought this Rashi to fully explore the form by which
Rashi communicates ideas. The above paragraph is the ABSTRACT
approach. It takes a concept: RECOGNITION OF THE BUILDING OF THE
TEMPLE; and then shows how both 4-7 and 4-8 are INSTANCES of this
general principle--the tribes brought consecration gifts while
Aaron was in charge of kindling the Menorah.
However as I have indicated many times Rashi rarely taught by
abstract principles since they are easily forgotten. Rather Rashi
taught by punchy examples, fanciful associations, & exaggerations.
While the CONTENT of each Rashi can be fully defended by LISTS
and databases the FORM of each Rashi is more imaginative.
So too in this Rashi. Instead of telling us the abstract
principle Rashi pictures a Mother telling say her 5 year old
child:
>>How would you feel if at your birthday party I gave all the
>>children cookies but left you out.
The child might tearfully respond:
>>>>>>But why would you leave me out<<<<<<<<<<<
The mother might then comfort the child and say
>>Because I saved for you the special birthday cake<<
Rashi uses this simple Mother and child
paradigm, so powerfully emotionally charged, so that his point
will be remembered with much more poignancy than if he just
used an abstract principle.
Rashi portrays Aaron like a little child who is "upset that
everybody else brought consecration gifts" and wants to
know "why he was left out". God then promises him that "He
will get the biggest piece and light the Menorah" and then
Aaron's mind is appeased.
So indeed, Rashi Is Simple. His form is directed at capturing
the imagination so that people will remember the basic ideas.
If by contrast Rashi had only stated the abstract commanality
I don't think people would remember the principle.
I believe that this Rashi is one of the clearer examples of how
Rashi used FORM to convey ideas.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
See the BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION section
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {How each of the tribes RECOGNIZED the building
of the temple}
TRIBE VERSE HOW THEY RECOGNIZED THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE
===== ===== ==============================================
Judah 4-7-12 By bringing consecration gifts
Yschar 4-7-18 By bringing consecration gifts
Zvulun 4-7-24 By bringing consecration gifts
....
Levi 4-8-2 By kindling the Temple candellabrah
CROSS REFERENCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
OVERALL STRUCTURE
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VERSE: V4a8-4
v4a8-4 And **this** is the build of the Candellabrah
v2a30-13 **This** is what people will give...half a shekel
v2b12-2 **This** month will be for you the month beginning
v3c11-2 Tell the Jews **These** are the Kosher animals
v2z13-8 Because of ***this*** did God do for me at the Exodus
RASHI TEXT:
v4a8-4
The word **this** teaches us that God showed Moses the
build of the Candellabrah in a prophetic vision
v2a30-13
The word **this** teaches us that God showed him a coin in
a prophetic vision which weighed half a shekel and God said
"This is what they should give."
v2b12-2
Moses found it difficult to understand which forms of the
moon would be considered "new moon"(beginning of the month).
So God showed him a moon in the sky and said "Like **this**
when it is seen, will you declare a new month"
v3c11-2
**This** teaches us that Moses "held" up each animal for
demonstration and said "**this** is Kosher and these are
not Kosher". Similarly you find by the fishes, and birds
"**This** may you eat" teaching that Moses "held" them
and showed them to the Jews.
v2z13-8
**This** implies that at the Passover seder one must point
to the Matzoh, Maror and Passover Sacrifice and say "**this**
is why God freed me"
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
The word **this** in Hebrew, like in English, connotes that
something is being pointed to. Therefore any verse with the word
**this** denotes that something is being referred to.
So
a) If Moses says to commemorate Passover by saying "Because
of **this** did God save me" then the Passover symbols--Matzoh
Maror, etc--must be there to be pointed to.
b) If Moses is told by God to tell the Jews "**This** is what
is Kosher" then Moses had to show them each type of Kosher
animal, fish and bird
c) If God told Moses "**This** is what the Jews should give"
or "**This** is the build of the Menorah" or "**This** is
how the month begins" then it also must be the case that God
**showed** him these objects (Presumably by a prophetic vision)
So we see that indeed Rashi is Simple--this means something is
pointed to.
Some further ideas that consolidate these principles should be
mentioned.
First, although there are many verses with the word **this** in
the Bible,nevertheless there are only 3 commandments where God
said **this**. These 3 commandments are the first 3 verses
listed above: the Candellabrah build, the half shekel mitzvah,
and the begin month mitzvah. This list, reproduced in {LIST1}
is presented in the Bamidbar Rabbah on this verse and cited
by Rashi.
The remaining comments may be found in the COMMENTS ON RASHIS
FORM section.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
Second: in other commandments with the word "this" someone else
(besides God) is doing the talking. So e.g. God tells Moses to
tell the Jews "**This** is Kosher". Similarly the Passover Mitzvah
is to tell your son "Because of **this** God took me out of Egypt".
Thus while "this" has one meaning---something pointed to---
nevertheless the **type** of pointing varies: If God is doing the
pointing then "this" refers to a prophetic vision while if people
are doing the pointing it might just mean showing. In short
THIS means a POINTING TO and then each situation is taken to have
the appropriate meaning.
It would therefore appear to me that Rashi only brought down
those verses where what was being pointed to was clear. As
an example of a verse where what is being pointed to is not
clear consider 5-21-20 "**This** son of ours is rebellious".
Rambam in Mamrim 7:10 says that the **this** means that the
parents are not blind (and can point to their son) while in
Mamrim 7:7 Rambam says that **this** means that the judges
involved in the WARNING STAGE of the rebellious son must
be present at the TERMINAL STAGE trial (so **THIS** indicates
RECOGNITION by the judges from an earlier trial). It would
appear to me that because of the ambiguity (whether THIS
refers to lack of blindness or to recognition by the judges)
that Rashi left out any comment on this verse.
Finally it would appear to me that we are justified in applying
these principles of Rashi on the meaning of this as "pointing to"
to other verses with THIS even if Rashi did not explicitly
comment on them. In particular all the verses in Leviticus that
speak about the sacrifices --**this** is the law of the Olah
offering (3-6-2), **this** is the law of the Minchah offering
(3-6-6), **this** is the consecration offering (3-6-13)--probably
meant that Moses **SHOWED** the sacrificial procedures (just
as Moses showed the Jews each type of Kosher animal).
Support for this suggested generalization of **showing** objects
and procedures, explicitly indicated by Rashi in Kashruth, &
extended by us to all sacrificial procedures comes from 2 sources:
First: it is well known that for Rabbinic mastery of Nidah laws
one must see actual specimens with different color stains so as
to know which ones are Tahor and which ones are Tamay. Thus
the word THIS in the Niddah laws 3-15-32 intimates that people
are actually shown the various colors.
Second: The Rambam in his introduction to the commentary on the
order of Holiness dealing with the Sacrificial laws explicitly
states that "Even the Rabbinic leaders do not understand
the sacrificial laws because there are no physical activities,
like sacrifices, today that help understand them"--thus we see
that SHOWING PROCEDURES helps people in understanding.
One final point about the 3 commandments that God showed Moses.
An obvious question is WHY THESE THREE. Rashi following the
Midrash Rabbah offers the obvious point that Moses was showed them
because he had difficulty understanding them. Still the question
remains--what is common in these 3 mitzvahs that Moses had
difficulty understanding?
It would appear to me that the common denominator in these 3
mitzvahs is THE OVERCOMING OF IMPERFECTION. Since Moses was an
Angel and had arisen to Prophetic Perfection he couldn't empathize
with people who were overcoming imperfection since he had never
really experienced it.
Thus
--The new moon commandment symbolizes how a person "without light"
at the beginning of his life can advance to "full brightness"
--Similarly the "giving of the half shekel" symbolizes a frequent
theme in the Temple---that when we approach God all joyous and full
of ambition nevertheless we can sometimes only achieve HALF our life
goals (and nevertheless this achieving of "HALF" is not a failure
but an accomplishment, something pleasing to God.
--Similarly the Candellabrah symbolizes the intellectual growth
and education from infancy to 18 (See volume 1 number 19 for
the full symbolism of the Menorah---the Menorah was 18 inches (tfch)
and each tfch symbolized a year of life---the 18 inches symbolize
the educational paradigm during the first 18 years of life--it shows
how an infant can "grow up"
To recap: Moses because of his perfection could not empathize
with a) a person without light becoming full, b) an intellectual
infant growing up c) a person donating only HALF his desires to
God but not all of them. Hence God had to show him these matters
prophetically.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {Of commandments where God said "THIS"--indicating that
He showed Moses something in a prophetic vision}
COMMANDMENT VERSE TEXT OF THIS
=========== ===== ============
Menorah 4-8-4 THIS is the Menorah build
Half Shekel 2-30-13 THIS is what should be given
New Moon 2-12-2 THIS is the month beginning
CROSS REFERENCES:
Bemidbar Rabbah 4-8-4
Rambam Mamrim
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
SPECIAL WORDS
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NOTATIONAL CONVENTIONS
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e.g. v5b2-1 means as follows:
The "v" means verse
The "5" means Deuteronomy--the 5th book
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The "1" means The 1st verse
The "b" means The second rashi on that
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Seir)
Similarly v5-2-1 would mean Dt 2:1 and probably refer to all
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