Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
http://www.shamash.org/rashi/
Volume 2 Number 14
Produced Jun, 11 1999
Topics Discussed in This Issue
------------------------------
v0611 Request for more reader questions. || Chaiim Brown issue
v4a12-1 **HAD** married implies DIVORCED;Meaning of KSH from CONTEXT
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
v0611
This issue is devoted to Chaiim Brown's question--why
did Rashi translate KUSH the way he did.
Chaiim indicated he had his own theories and we hope to
hear from him some more (There is at least one occasion
when I had to change my suggested explanation of Rashi
because of points I overlooked and Chaiim pointed out.
This is your email group. Please feel free to ask your
own questions on your favorite Rashi that you don't
feel has been explained adequately. We invite further
reader queries.
***************************
*** READING TIPS ***
***************************
IF YOU ARE IN A HURRY WE RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS:
* VERSE:
* RASHI TEXT:
* BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
"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
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v4a12-1
v4a12-1 And she spoke, Miriam--
v4b12-1 and Aaron also--
v4c12-1 regarding the beautiful (Kushite) woman he had taken
v4d12-1 regarding the beautiful (Kushite) woman he had taken
v4e12-1 regarding the beautiful (Kushite) woman he had taken
v4f12-1 regarding the beautiful (Kushite) woman he had taken
v4g12-1 because indeed he'd taken a beautiful (Kushite) woman
v4h12-1 because indeed he'd taken a beautiful (Kushite) woman
v4b12-2 Did God only speak to Moses; Didn't he speak to us..
RASHI TEXT:
v4a12-1 The root DBR denotes impersonal speech while
The root AMR denotes personal interactive speech
v4b12-1 Miriam INSTIGATED the dialogue and hence she was punished
while Aaron was drawn into it
Miriam knew about Moses divorce because when Eldad &
Maydad became prophets Miriam was heard saying "I hope
the wives of these men don't suffer the way I have
suffered (because my husband separated from me so he
could always be ready to receive prophecy)
v4c12-1 KUSHITE=Beautiful (Just as all recognize the BLACKNESS of
skin of an Ethopian so all recognize the beauty of a
KUSHITE woman)
v4d12-1 KUSHITE equals in Gematria BEAUTIFUL WOMAN
[Moderator: Gematria means you
*MAP the letters of the alphabet on to numbers A=1, B=2,&
*MAP each WORD onto the SUM of its numbers(so CAB=3+1+2=6)
*INTERPRET the concept of WORD EQUALITY to refer to
the NUMERIC EQUALITY of the mapped words (
so e.g. Lady "D" = "Baa" "Baa" black sheep (since
D=4th letter of the alphabet and "BAA"=2+1+1=4)
Using the above set up, KUSHITE = BEAUTIFUL WOMAN]
v4e12-1 The Biblical phrase SPOKE REGARDING MOSES means SPOKE
concerning his divorce
v4f12-1 THE BEAUTIFUL WOMAN: She was DOUBLY beautiful--both in
looks, personality and deeds
v4g12-1 KUSHITE (Meaning BLACK SKINNED with BLACK denoting the
absence of LIGHT ) can also denote BEAUTIFUL. For example
a person can call someone he loves by an
ambiguous/pejorative term in a teasing manner
showing that their relationship transcends words &
also to avoid an overshow of emotion that
people would notice
v4h12-1 The Biblical Text "The wife he HAD taken" emphasizes
that she was now divorced.
v4b12-2 "Is it only to Moses that God spoke; doesn't He
speak to us also (and we haven't separated from
our wives)
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
This sparse Biblical text certainly seems at variance to the rich
interpretation traditionally given to it. To make Rashi as simple
as possible I have brought all the Rashis together and will explain
them step by step.
The first idea is the principle that secular science already knows
--Roughly 50% of our knowledge of words is NOT taught by Tradition
but rather INFERRED from CONTEXT.
This principle--of learning meaning thru context---was used in
v3b5-21, v2n13 to translate the Biblical phrase "Something put
in hand" to mean "loans", partnerships or investorships. This
meaning was NOT learned from tradition or etymology but rather
from the context of the verse 3-5-21 which also speaks about
----Deposits, Thefts, Witholdings, Losses--clearly a context of
MONETARY RELATIONSHIP. Thus the Biblical phrase SOMETHING IN
HAND which occurs in this verse must refer to some other type
of monetary relationship(like loans or partnerships.)
Note that this method of LEARNING FROM CONTEXT is different
from MAKING A REASONABLE GUESS. For when I look at a story
amd make a reasonable guess at what happened I am not sure.
By contrast in the above verse I am very sure that we are
speaking about a monetary relationship. We will use this
method of meaning from context later on. In passing this method
overlaps with the 13 principles of Rabbi Ishmael since many of
the rules focus on finding a commanality in verses.
The second thing to observe in 4-12-1 is that A WHOLE SENTENCE
is repeated. First it says REGARDING THE KUSHITE WOMAN WHOM
HE HAD TAKEN and then it repeats it: FOR HE HAD TAKEN A KUSHITE
WOMAN. Rashi Is Simple. He is not bothered by the proverbial
"extra word" or "it could have been shorter"---rather he is
bothered by the repetition of a whole extra sentence. We have
already explained {LIST1} that repetitions denote EMPHASIS
either thru limitation or extension. In this case the repetition
HE HAD TAKEN, HE HAD TAKEN places an emphasis on the word HAD:
He **HAD** TAKEN her but was no longer married to her. Thus it
is from this REPETITION of HAD TAKEN that we infer that Moses
had divorced his wife.
We are now in a position to state the Real reason that we know
that KUSHITE means BEAUTIFUL--we learn it from CONTEXT. In fact
this is the typical type of reading comprehension question given
on college entrance exams. Suppose you are told there is an
unknown attribute of people called Z -- Z could mean happy, sad,
evil, pretty etc. You don't know. But you are told that
Moses divorced his Z wife. Moses' brother and sister
were bewildered: "Who does he think he is...he isn't
the only prophet that speaks to God (which requires
marital separation (cf 2-19-15)); God spoke to us also.
Upon hearing this God becomes enraged, asks Moses'
brother and sister for an explanation for their actions
(which they don't have) and then severly punishes Miriam.
Based on context you could easily infer that his Z wife means
she was a religious woman, or attractive woman, or good wife
or some similar nuance (and that therefore he shouldn't have
divorced her). The suggestion that his divorce was to enable
him to be prepared for prophecy is due to the explicit
statement by Moses in 2-19-15 that temporary separation from
a wife is a prerequisite to prophecy (Rashi on v4b12-2).
Rashi further learns that it was Miriam who started this dialogue
from the fact that the verb TO SPEAK is singular while the
the subject is PLURAL. The principle here is that if two people
do something together then the plural verb is used: On the other
hand if of the two people one pushed for the activity to be done
while the other person just tagged along then a singular verb
would be used. Thus the proper translation of this verse is
>>And Miriam spoke---Aaron also.
So far we have shown that
--Moses had divorced his wife (REPETION OF HE **HAD*** MARRIED)
--His wife was religious;he didn't have to divorce her (context)
--Miriam initiated this conversation (single verb; plural subject)
But we have not yet proved that Miriam spoke badly about the
Divorce. Maybe she was just trying to help? Maybe she thought that
Moses was taking prophecy to seriously and she got together with
Aaron to find out how to best remedy the situation?
But Rashi is simple.As {LIST2},{LIST3} shows,there are 2 words for
SPEAK in Hebrew: DBR which denotes impersonal speaking vs
AMR which denotes personal interactive speaking. If Miriam was
really trying to solicit Aaron to help bring Moses and his wife
back together she should have had a personal, searching,
interactive dialogue. By using an impersonal apodictic mode of
speech she indicated a condescending attitude.
The preceding question and answer are fundamental to the legal
implications of this chapter which are brought down by the
Chafetz Chaiim in his classical work WATCHING TALK which
contains a detailed description of all laws connected with
the Biblical prohibition of slander. The Chafetz Chaiim
notes that it is permissable to speak about somebody to help
them out--however there is a provisio that your tone should
contain an element of doubt. Therefore even though Miriam
intended to help Moses she was punished for being so
convinced that he was separating from his wife because of a
haughty attitude that he had to be continuously ready for
prophecy. This moral point--that even Miriam who wanted to
help her brother was severely punished for slander--is
brought down both by the Chafetz Chaiim, Rashi, and the
Sifray.
This completes our initial primary explanation of the Biblical
text. Using the above 4 concepts
--Repetition denotes emphasis (he **had** taken connotes divorce)
--Meaning is inferred form context (Kushite means beautiful)
--Single predicate-plural subject (She instigated the dialogue)
--DBR vs AMR (she spoke perjoratively)
we can infer the primary flow of the story.
There are however 4 supplemental points as well
as 3 points on Rashis form which must also be dealt with.
I suspect however that many readers will be content to stop
here.
The first of the 4 points is that KUSHITE is repeated:
"REGARDING THE KUSHITE WOMAN HE TOOK"
"FOR HE TOOK A KUSHITE WOMAN"
Again {LIST1} repetition denotes EMPHASIS: Here the emphasis
is that KUSHITE means DOUBLY (pun intended!!) beautiful.
she had a double beauty: Physical-emotional; Physical-spiritual;
Emotional-spiritual etc. (Rashi on v4f12-1)
The second of the 4 points is the etymology of KUSHITE (whose
meaning we learn from context). Now KUSHITE comes from KUSH
or Ethiopia. There are two possible ways (thru lists) that
Ethiopia could mean beautiful:
METHOD 1: Ethiopia was known for its gem and mineral riches{LIST4}
Hence a Kushite woman would mean a GEMMED or JEWELREYED woman.
METHOD 2: {LIST5} brings several examples where KUSHITE does
mean beautiful. Hence it could apply in this verse.
Unfortunately {LIST4} and {LIST5} do not have many examples.
We have explained many times that Rashi did not unilaterally
cite the Sifrah/Sifray (from which {LIST4} & {LIST5} come).
Rather he only cited them when they could be backed by lists.
In passing we note that the Sifray explicitly lists all 4
verses mentioned in {LIST5}. Furthermore the Sifrah suggests
that Miriam knew that Moses had separated from Tzipporah
from the fact that Tzipporah use to wear alot of jewelry
and all of a sudden stopped (This Jewelry explanation is
then supported by {LIST4}). At any rate since {LIST4} and
{LIST5} are weak Rashi decided not to cite them.
The 3rd point is HOW Miriam knew about Moses divorce. There
are 3 approaches:
METHOD 1: Rashi (v4h12-1) explicitly states that Moses DIVORCED
Tzipporah which we learn from the double repetition of HE HAD
TAKEN. (Other authorities say that he separated from her but
did not fully divorce her).
METHOD 2: The Sifrah as mentioned above infers from {LIST5}
that KUSHITE means Jewelreyed because Ethiopia was known
for its gems. It is then reasonable to suppose that if Tzipporah
stopped wearing Jewelry that "something must be going on".
As noted above, Rashi rejects this because {LIST5} does not
have that many examples.
METHOD 3: The previous chapter 4-11 deals (among other things)
with the selection of the 70 elders and Eldad and Maydad
becoming prophets (4-11-26). So to explain the insertion of
this chapter 4-12 after chapter 4-11 it is suggested that
Tzipporah said "I hope Eldad's and Maydad's wives aren't
separated from their mates the way I was".
It is true that Rashi brings METHOD 3 down (v4b12-1) but he
later brings down METHOD 1(v4h12-1). Thruout this list we
have emphasized that Rashi **always** rejected 1st
explanations and **preferred** 2nd explanations. In this
case the idea that Miriam knew of Moses divorce from the
fact that he was actually divorced (Vs separated) is clear
and lucid. The idea that she may have had some "womans
conversation" with Eldad's and Maydad's wife is fantasy.
It is critical in the learning of Rashi to distinguish
between lucidity and fancy and to see what can be solidly
based on lists and what cannot be.
The fourth and final supplemental point is a question raised
by the sifsay chachamim: Why does Rashi repeat the inference
that Moses was divorced (v4e12-1 and v4h12-1).
However Rashi is Simple: v4h12-1 learns the divorce from
the repeated sentence THE WIFE HE HAD TAKEN FOR INDEED HE
HAD TAKEN A KUSHITE WIFE---the repeated sentence creates
an emphasis on HAD which connotes that he HAD married her
but was now divorced.
By contrast, Rashi on v4e12-1 is commenting on the fact
that although Miriam and Aaron were speaking about the
divorce nevertheless the Biblical text says AND MIRIAM
and AARON SPOKE ON THE TOPIC OF MOSES. Were they speaking
about MOSES or about TZIPPORAH?
Rashi relies on the different meanings of the verb DBR with
different prepositions. SPEAK B means SPEAK ON THE TOPIC
OF. SPEAK WITH means have a dialogue. SPEAK TO means to
command {LIST6}. Therefore Rashi is simply explaining that
the phrase THEY SPOKE ABOUT THE TOPIC OF MOSES means they
spoke about Moses in light of his divorce. This can be seen
in 4-12-2
"Who does he think he is (separating from his
wife)--is he the only prophet that God spoke to; God spoke
to us and we didn't separate from our mates"
Thus the TOPIC is Moses but the fuel for the talk is his
divorce.
This completes the explanation of all Rashis in this verse.
Some further comments are made on Rashis form which deals with
Chaiim Brown's original question---why does Rashi cite
the 3 explanations he cites about Kushite. Please see the
COMMENTS ON RASHIS FORM section.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
We have to explain v4c12-1, v4d12-1 and v4g12-1 which
deal with explanations by Rashi of the word KUSHITE.
This in fact is the essence of Chaiim Brown's question
which we still haven't answered.
We have already explained above that the meaning of
KUSHITE is learned from context:"Moses married a
KUSHITE woman; then divorced her; Miriam complained
that the divorce was unnecessary since she too was
a prophet and didn't divorce her husband and God
then punished her." The context suggests that KUSHITE
WIFE means a religious wife, or attractive wife, or
good wife etc.
Rashi now makes 3 points:
1) Rashi cites a Gematria: KUSHITE=BEAUTIFUL.
As we have explained many times Rashi never believed
that a Gematria was the REASON for a midrash but rather
he cites gematrias because they are MEMORABLE--they are
punchy and cute and enable one to remember
the Midrash. (See our very first Rashi is Simple--v1n1,
v1-32-4 for this classical approach to Gematrias in
Rashi as taught by Rabbi Dr Soloveitchick).
2) Even if we learn that Kushite means Beautiful from
context we nevertheless must still ascertain not WHAT
the meaning of Kushite is but WHY does it mean this.
We have already seen that Rashi rejected two attempts
at answering WHY. {LIST4} suggests that Ethiopia was known
for its rich gems so that KUSH=ETHIOPIA and KUSHITE=
A "JEWELERYed" WOMAN. Rashi rejected this (even though
the Sifray likes it) because there are too few examples.
Similarly Rashi rejects {LIST5} which attempts to create
a list of verses where KUSH means beautiful (See the
footnotes below for possible refutation of list members).
So Rashi rejected two possible explanations.
Rashi however supplies a 3rd explanation (also brought
down by the Sifrah).
The 3rd explanation of WHY Kushite means beautiful in
effects translates KUSHITE as NOTICEABLE or ATTRACTIVE
(like the ENGLISH ATTRACTIVE = ATTRACTS ATTENTION).
Just as a black skinned person (KUSHITE) stands
out in a crowd so a beautiful woman stands out
Hence the emphasis would be that Kushite doesn't mean
so much beautiful but rather STANDS OUT or IS NOTICEABLE
or IS ATTRACTIVE
3) Finally we have left to deal with the
oddity that a word KUSHITE=ETHIOPIAN=BLACK SKINNED
which deals with a DEFICIENT COLOR (Black is the absence
of light) should also mean such a GOOD quality as
beauty or noticeability.
Rashi suggests as an answer that frequently
people who like each other alot will use perjorative
terms or ambiguous terms so that there should not be
an ostentatious display of emotion which would
attract unwanted attention to the relationship
(Evil eye).
In summary:
* Rashi believed that KUSHITE=Beautiful is learned from context
Nevertheless Rashi then gives
* A Gematria, KUSHITE=BEAUTIFUL, to help remember the meaning
* An etymology--KUSHITE=Noticeable, like a black in a crowd
* An explanation of ambiguity--strong emotions are sometimes
expressed with words that possibly are pejorative to protect
the strong emotions from visibility and unwanted noticeability.
As we have noted many times: Rashi will frequently give
a gematria to make his point remembered rather than give
abstract theoretical explanations.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {Of Repeated nouns in the same verse (Courtesy of Malbim)*1}
THE NOUN REFERS APPLICATION
TO TWO OBJECTS OF THIS
VERSE REPEATED NOUN THAT ARE SIMILAR PRINCIPLE
(Is in Caps) THESE 2 OBJECTS ARE OF TWO OBJECTS *2
----- ------------- ------- -----------
3-1-5 Offer BLOOD Blood in vessel Even spilled blood
Throw BLOOD Blood spilled on floor can be thrown
on altar (not just
blood properly
collected)
3-27-14 Sanctify HOUSE House=House These sanctify/
3-27-15 Redeem his HOUSE House=Possesions redeems laws apply
Either to a house
or a house with
possessions
3-23-32 On EVE of 9th Eve = After Sunset Don't eat on the
From the EVE Eve = During Sunset day prior to Yom
Kippur right up
to sunset. Rather
start the fast
prior to sunset
FOOTNOTES
* 1
See Chapter 15 of Malbims beautiful Morning Star for a long list of
verses with double nouns--Morning Star occurs at beginning of his
commentary on Leviticus.
* 2
Nouns are never repeated if you can use a pronoun or suffix. There
are a variety of methods of treating double nouns. One of them being
that each noun refers to a DIFFERENT item (as shown in the list
below). In general repetition denotes EMPHASIS. The emphasis can
be by limitation or even by extension. For example, BLOOD BLOOD
denotes ANY blood even if it was spilled out of the temple vessel
HOUSE HOUSE denotes ANY aspect of the house (including its contents).
{LIST2} {List of meanings of DBR,AMR--courtesy or RDK
As can be seen all of them simply mean a collection
of things WITHOUT ANY NECESSARY RELATIONSHIP to
other things. So DBR is a COLLECTION of words--
it is impersonal and not responsive to a situation
By contrast AMR denotes a BRANCH of something--that
is it relates to other items. So AMR is an interactive
speech that is a branch or reacts to particular
situations. For further details see {LIST3} which
shows the paragraphs in the book of NUMBERS that start
with A GOD SPOKE (AMR) TO MOSES vs AND GOD SPOKE (DBR)
TO MOSES, all have an element of RESPONSIVENESS}
ROOT MEANING VERSE EXEMPLIFYING MEANING VERSE
==== ======= ========================== =======
DBR SPEAK No one spoke to him Job2-13
DBR HERD An herd in gait *5 Mic2-12
DBR SWARM (of bees) a swarm of bees Jud14-8
DBR RAFTERS *1 Sea rafters 1R5-23
DBR PLAGUE *2 A strong plague 2-9-3
AMR BRANCH *3 The top Branch Isa17-6
AMR SPEAK *4 & God spoke to Moses 4-15-37
FOOTNOTES
*1 A Rafter is a collection of logs
*2 A Plague is a collection of dead bodies
*3 Branch also refers to social branch--e.g. a new state,city
or national entity (eg 5-26-18)
*4 Cf the English BRANCH of THOUGHT
*5 eg Ibn Ezra takes DBR to refer to the gait of the animals
"like the rafters at sea"--the idea of collection is
still emphasized
{LIST3}
{Of the paragraphs in the book of NUMBERS that start
with GOD SPOKE (AMR) TO MOSES vs AND GOD SPOKE (DBR)
TO MOSES, They all have an element of RESPONSIVENESS
By contrast, the usual AND GOD SPOKE (DBR) TO MOSES
SAYING denotes an apodictic command without further
dialog with the people *1
This list is used to show that AMR vs DBR denotes
personal interactive speech while DBR is just a
"statement" without further regard to the situation}
PARAGRAPH ELEMENT IN PARAGRAPH
BEGINNING SHOWING A TALKING
AT THE BACK
FOLLOWING
VERSE WHICH
SAYS "& God
spoke(AMR) to
Moses saying"
============ ======================================================
4-32-20:33 Dialog on whether 2.5 tribes could inherit transjordan
4-31-25 Dialog on taxes from booty in war. Note the unusual
4-31-49 in which voluntary atonement gifts were given
4-27-6 Dialog on whether the female daughters of Tzlafchad
could inherit (The question was one of only 5
questions asked by people to Moses)
4-18-25 Dialog on whether Aaron is really the Priest chosen
by God or whether people like Korach could be Priests
also
4-14-11 Dialog (Prayer) on whether the Jews should be
destroyed because of the sin of the spies
FOOTNOTES
*1 We do not review all verses in the book. Certain chapters
like e.g. 4-15-37 speaking about the Tzitzith or 4-26-1
speaking about the census would require longer explanations
as to why AMR was used.
{LIST4} {Verses suggesting that KUSHITE WOMAN
may mean JEWELERYed woman *1}
VERSE WHY VERSE IMPLIES THAT KUSH=GEMS
===== ================================
Job28-19 Verse speaks about the opals of Kush
Ps68-32 A sequence of verses ending in Kush and speaking
about nations bring riches and fat things to God
Isa45-14 Verse speaks about Kushite Commerce *1
FOOTNOTES
As can be seen there are only a few verses in the list and
not all of them are that clear. Hence Rashi rejected the
idea behind this list.
{LIST5} {Verses suggesting that KUSH=Beautiful
This list was brought by the Sifrah but
rejected by Rashi because it wasn't a strong list.
This list would support the idea that Tzipporah was
a KUSHITE=JEWELERYed woman}
VERSE WHO THE VERSE IS SPEAKING ABOUT
===== ===============================
Ps7-1 King Saul
4-12-1 Tzipporah, Moses wife
Am9-7 The Jews are a distinguished people *1
Jer38-7:12 Verse speaks about Baruch Ben Neriah *1
FOOTNOTES
*1 The list as is, is small. Furthermore the individual records
aren't all that clear. For examples see Radack on Jer38-7:12
who suggests that the Kushi referred to a black slave that
worked for the king (or someone nick-named Kushi)
{LIST6} {Analysis of the meaning of DBR in the presence of various
prepositions. Normally when we discuss VERB+PREPOSITION
we give an exhaustive list of all prepositions. However
in this case because of the large number of meanings of
DBR we only give DBR B, ETO and EL. This list will be
developed further as we go along. Our basic thesis is
that
DBR B= Speak concerning some TOPIC
DBR ETO = Some type of DIALOG
DBR EL = Speak to (nothing special)
In the future we will refer to lists like these as
partial lists}
VERSE PREPOSITION TEXT
======= =========== ====
1-17-23 ITO *1 Dialog treaty of circumcision (1-17-1:7)
1-21-2 ITO *1 Dialog concerning having children(1-17-15:21)
1-35-13 ITO *1 Dialog treaty with Jacob (1-35-1:14)
1-42-30 ITO *1 Dialog of Joe & brothers (1-42-9:18)
2-6-28 EL *2 ..when God spoke to Moses in Egypt
3-10-11 EL *2 ..to teach all commandments spoken to Moses
Jer51-12 EL *2 ..God is doing what he decreed on Babel
5-20-2 EL *2 ..the Priest will Sermonize(?) the army...
Jud16-10 EL *2 ..you told me falsehoods
5-6-7 B *3 Speak about Torah topics
1S25-39 B *3 Spoke about the Topic of marrying Avigail
Job19-18 B *3 I was the topic of their conversation
4-21-5 B *3 THey spoke about the topic of God and Moses
4-12-1 B *3 Miriam & Aaron spoke about the topic of Moses
FOOTNOTES
*1 In all these verses the two parties speak BACK & forth
as shown in the text
*2 Each of these verses has some different nuance (Sermonize,
decree, command). But there is nothing common
*3 Each of these verses connotes SPEAKING ABOUT SOME TOPIC
CROSS REFERENCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
To Chaiim Brown for raising this question (v4q12-1)
The idea that singular predicates with plural subjects means
that the first person instigated the action and the other
tagged along was taught to me by Rabbi Dr Joseph Soloveitchick
and is mentioned in my Tradition article, Pshat and Derash.
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
SYNONYM
USAGE
OVERALL STRUCTURE | WORD MEANINGS | CONTEXT
OVERALL STRUCTURE | WORD MEANINGS | CONTEXT
ROOT + PREPOSITION
USAGE
OVERALL STRUCTURE | WORD MEANINGS | CONTEXT
USAGE
OTHER VERSES
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
COMMUNICATIONS
--------------
Send via email SUBMISSIONS/responses/contributions to
rashi-is-simple@shamash.org
If you want your communication published anonomously (without
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they can be published as is or with editing)
NOTATIONAL CONVENTIONS
----------------------
e.g. v5b2-1 means as follows:
The "v" means verse
The "5" means Deuteronomy--the 5th book
The "2" means The 2nd chapter
The "1" means The 1st verse
The "b" means The second rashi on that
verse ("we rounded mount
Seir)
Similarly v5-2-1 would mean Dt 2:1 and probably refer to all
Rashis. (These conventions start with issue 14---beforehand
the notation is similar and will be updated retroactively
in the future)
Asterisks (*,#) in a list usually refer to footnotes that follow it
Parenthesis with the word List and a number--[LIST3] refers to
LISTS in the LIST section of each posting.
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OUR GOALS
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RASHI-IS-SIMPLE
* will provide logical explanations to all 8,000 Rashis on Chumash.
* the preferred vehicle of explanation is thru list of verses and exceptions
* These postings will be archived in Shamash in Quartuplet
-- By Volume and Number
-- By Verse
-- By Grammatical Rule
-- By quicky explanation
* Rashi-Is-Simple should prove useful to
layman, scholars, rabbis, educators, and students
* Although this list is orthodox we welcome all logical
--explanations
--contributions
--modifications
--questions
--problems
provided they are defended with adequate examples.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
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For further information on the character of this list
* read your welcome note from Shamash
* read PESHAT and DERASH: TRADITION, Winter 1980 by Russell Hendel
End of Rashi-Is-Simple Digest
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*