Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
http://www.shamash.org/rashi/
Volume 2 Number 18
Produced Jun, 25 1999
Topics Discussed in This Issue
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v4a17-23 CLIMAX is used here: 1st) Flowers, 2nd)Fruit bud,3rd)Ripen
v4a17-25 2 New principles of grammar are presented
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*** READING TIPS ***
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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
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VERSE: v4a17-23
v4a17-23 ..he took Aarons stick & it had blossomed flowers
v4b17-23 ...it had sprouted fruit (TZTZ)
v4c17-23 ...it had ripened (GML) almonds
RASHI TEXT:
v4a17-23 It had blossomed flowers
v4b17-23 TzTz can mean to sprout fruit
after the flowers fall
v4c17-23 GML means to wean (as in the weaning of children)
It can equally refer to weaning of children or fruit
What is the significance that it became almond
fruit in contrast to other fruit: Because almonds
MATURE FASTER than any other fruit. So almonds are
a symbol of FAST MATURATION. This would symbolize
that those who attack the Priesthood have FAST
retribution (like Uziyahu who attacked the
priesthood and was swiftly punished.(2Ch26)
The Targum (also) translates it as "it became a
almond cluster".
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
Rashi is using the principle of CLIMAX here. The principle of CLIMAX
states that when there is a list of 3,4 or more items then that list
should be interpreted as a DEVELOPMENT TOWARDS A CLIMAX.
The 3 items in 4-17-23 are FLOWER, SPROUT, WEAN. Using the principle
of CLIMAX Rashi interprets FLOWER as FLOWER, SPROUT as the SROUTING
of fruit after the flower falls off, and WEAN as the MATURATION of
fruit {LIST1}. Thus the verse is developed climatically using the
dimension of time.
Notice how this conclusion should be reached BEFORE checking
dictionary meanings and verse usage.Indeed, it is a legitimate
literary activity to infer meaning from context just as it is a
legitimate literary activity to infer meaning from usage and the
dictionary. Nevertheless, after making a preliminary review of the
matter it is proper procedure to CONFIRM that initial estimate by
reviewing verse usage and dictionary meaning.
Rashi performs this confirmation procedure on the two remaing
roots in the verse: GML and TZTZ.
The root GML occurs 14 times in TNACH: 12 of them refer to human
weaning and 2 (14%) refer to weaning (maturation) of fruit{LIST2}.
We should also mention the 52 occurences in Tnach of Camel which in
Hebrew is GML from the root GML (Because a Camel because of its
storage capacity of water looks like it has been weaned). Thus the
root GML truly refers to the Human, Animal and Plant.
Rashi defends his treatment of the root TZTZ, not here in 4-17-23
where he is silent, but rather in his commentary on Jer48-9. There
Rashi explicitly states that the root TZTZ refers to "anything
that is HANGING and PROTRUDING from a HUMAN or ANIMAL (or Plant)"
Thus according to this Rashi, SPROUT can equally refer to the
budding of plants or the budding of fruit.
In passing we note that the RADACK disagrees with Rashi. For a
full treatment of this Rashi-RADACK controversy, as well as the
side comments made by SIFSAY CHACHAMIM, see the foonotes to
{LIST3} which presents the various usages of TZTZ in Biblical verses
A short comment on the symbolism at the end of Rashi. A definitive
work on symbolism was written by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch,
Groundlines for a Jewish Symbolism which you can find in his
collected works, printed by Feldheim.
In this essay Rav Hirsch asked the fundamental questions:
--Do we ever HAVE TO interpret a verse symbolically
--If so what are the criteria that force us to so interpret
--If we must interpert symbolically then how are we to do so
Rav Hirsch then gives 3 criteria when we are FORCED to interpret
symbolically. The first is obvious: You must interpret a verse
symbolically if the Bible tells you interpret it symbolically--
that is if the Bible calls it a SYMBOL (OTH).
But that is exactly what God calls this in 4-17-25---OTH.
Rav Hirsch also answers the question: Given that we have to
interpret a verse symbolically, how should we proceed. Rav Hirsch's
answer is that we use the symbolic meaning of the objects and
procedures as given by the Bible itself.
But the Hebrew language is very clear that the root SHKD can
simultaneously mean ALMOND or QUICK (Because almonds mature QUICKLY)
Furthermore God explicitly uses ALMONDS as a symbol of
swiftness (As in Jer1-12).
In summary we conclude that
---ALMOND must be interpreted symbolically (4-17-25)
---The symbolic interpretation of ALMOND in Hebrew is QUICKLY.
We shall have occasion in other Rashis to exercise Rav Hirsch's
definitive symbolic tools.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {The list items in 4-17-23. As is shown this list is
developed climatically thru the dimension of time:
First there is the flower stage, then the fruit bud
state and finally the fruit maturation stage. This is
consistent with the principle of CLIMAX}
Items in Corresponding items Temporal position
4-17-23 in plant growth in plant growth process
======== =================== =======================
Flower Flower 1st
Sprout Sprouting of fruit 2nd
Wean Maturation of fruit 3rd
{LIST2} {This list shows that the root GML can equally refer to
the weaning of humans or the maturation of fruit *1}
If human,
Text-the root GML means either Human/ what was
Verse WEANED (for humans) or MATURE(plants) Plant*1 his/her name
======= ===================================== ====== ============
1-21-8 And the lad grew and was WEANED human Yitzchak
1S1-22 I'll wait till the lad is WEANED human Shmuel
Hos1-8 And she weaned NoMercy human NoMercy *2
4-17-23 it sprouted..it MATURED to almonds Plant
Isa18-5 ..the unripened fruit will MATURE Plant
FOOTNOTES:
*1 Besides the HUMAN and PLANT meaning of GML we should also
mention the ANIMAL form of GML, the Camel, which occurs 52
times in TNACH.
*2 NoMercy was the name of a child in a prophetic vision which
symbolized that God would have No Mercy in punishment
{LIST3} {The list of meaning of the root TZ, courtesy of RADACK.
The footnotes elaborate on the RASHI-RADACK controversy}
Verse
Meaning of with
the root TZTZ example
of this
meaning The text of the verse with this meaning
============= ======= =======================================
Flower bud Ez7-10 The branch buds, the iniquity FLOWERS
Head band 2-28-36 & you will make a golden HEAD BAND
Wing/Branch*1 Jer48-9 Give a WING to Moab
FOOTNOTES:
*1 The formulation "Wing/Branch" is RADACKS. Rashi however
formulates as follws: "Anything that is HANGING & PROTRUDING
in a PERSON or ANIMAL". This interpretation of Rashi is
consistent with the Rashi on 4-17-23: SPROUT can refer to
eiter a BUD or to a FRUIT since they are both HANGING
and PROTRUDING on a member of the PERSON/ANIMAL/PLANT kingdom
Notice how I am superimposing Rashi's interpretation on the
RADACKS list. In fact 4-17-23 is a controversy between RASHI
and RADACK. For RADACK explicitly classifies in the book ROOTS
the word SPROUT in 4-17-23 as a sprouting of buds. The SIFSAY
CHACHAMIM also notes that SRPOUT usually means a sprouting of
buds.
Rashi however consistently disagrees. In 4-17-23 he explicitly
says that SRPOUT refers to the SRPOUTING of fruit. Similarly
in Jer48-9 he formulates TZTZ not as "wing/branch" but rather
as ANYTHING that hangs and protrudes in a human/animal/plant.
Hence, according to Rashi, sprout can equally refer to
the sprouting of buds or the sprouting of fruit.
But now we must go a step deeper. WHY does Rashi disagree with
RADACK. After all, as SIFSAY CHACHAMIM points out TZTZ usually
means a sprouting of buds, not a sprouting of fruit.
The answer lies in the principle of CLIMAX which DEMANDS that
a list in a verse be translated in a developmental order
towards CLIMAX. Thus the principle of CLIMAX actually creates
meaning even when the dictionary or usage does not confirm it.
Furthermore in this case, usage does confirm it. For example,
even according to the RADACK, TZTZ can refer to the locks of
hair or the TZITZITH on garments. Rashi Is Simple---the locks
are HANGING PROTRUSIONS and hence TZTZ refers to them. RADACK
by contrast has to say that locks resemble branches. Thus
Rashis approach is simpler. Because of this simplicity and
also because of the principle of climax we prefer Rashi to
RADACK in this matter. If anyone has a further defense of
RADACK please email it in.
CROSS REFERENCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
CLIMAX
CLIMAX
CLIMAX | MORAL REASONS
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VERSE: v4a17-25
v4a17-25 ..& their complaints(TLNTH)on me will cease(TCL)
v3a26-42 And I will remember my treaty with Jacob
RASHI TEXT:
v4a17-25 TCL is a singular, feminine,3rd person, future
form of the intensive tense--the verse means
that their complaints will cease
Complaints (TLNTH) is spelled FULLY with a VAV:
T-L-N-O-TH vs T-L-N-TH
This is the rule for FULL vs DEFICIENT spellings:
-If the noun is spelled FULL then it means a
collective noun--in this case a collection of
similar complaints.
-If the noun is spelled DEFICIENTLY then it means
just itself (just one complaint issue though
possibly by many people).
v3a26-42 Jacob is spelled FULL (with a VAV) five times
in the Bible. Elijah is spelled DEFICIENTLY
(without a VAV) five times in the Bible. Jacob
took one VAV from Eliyahu as a surety that
Elijah will come and fortell the redemption of
his children.
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
Rashi is explaining simple grammar. Let us therefore review
Grammar basics. Even if the reader thinks they know these things
I would still suggest they read this since a new principle of
grammar is expounded here that is not taught in current textbooks.
This proves that not all grammar is known; it is subject to the
same CHIDUSHIM--new ideas--that all other Torah areas are. Therefore
anyone who wants to can do research and discover new principles.
Grammar teaches that every verb has a 3 letter root. When you want
to use a verb in a sentence you CONJUGATE this root--that is you
make it take on a specific form. The conjugation depends on 8
criteria: {LIST1} Person(I, you,he), Gender (male, female),
Plurality (I,we), Tense (Past,present,future,command,infinitive),
mode(QL, NIFAL, PIEL...), Suffixes (eg the verb was done to me, you
them etc), Connective preposition (IN, TO, FROM, OF..), and Weak
Letters.
As a simple example if I wanted to say "I watched you" (babysitting)
then I would use the root SHMR--to watch. I would then use the QL
mode, 1st person (I), singular (I), male, past (Watched), and a
second person, male, singular suffix (I watched you). Hence I would
say ShMRTiChA
It is well known that the conjugation of the verb depends on
how many weak letters are in the root. Thus a root whose last letter
is HEY is conjugated differently then a root without any weak letter
Students are very familiar with the TABLE approach to grammar by
which they memorize tables of all the possible conjugations. There
are many popular summaries of these conjugations. A quick reference
occurs at the end of the IBN SHOSHN dictionary which has all verb
conjugations and a large table of noun conjugations. There are also
popular books such as the 201 Hebrew verbs etc.
If we look up in these books how to conjugate CLH in the Piel mode
with 3rd person, singular, female, future we get TeChaLeH. But
the form used in v4a17-25 is TeChaL. If we look thru even a large
database the TeChaL form does not occur in any table.
In fact Rashi introduces a new rule here: A verb whose 3rd letter
is HeY and whose 2nd letter is LaMeD may receive EITHER the
traditional conjugation in Piel future or may receive that same
conjugation without the terminal letter Hey. There are many examples
both with the root CLH as well as with other verbs (e.g. VaYChaL
(1-2-1), VaYChaL (2-32-12), TGaL (Prv25-9)){LIST2}.
Undoubtedly there is probably some subtle nuance between the
HEY form and the NON-HEY form of these doubly weak roots. However
Rashi contents with mentioning the principle. Indeed, Rashi Is
Simple here...there are at most 22 such roots (since the 3rd letter
must be a HEY and the 2nd letter must be a LaMeD) and not all of
these materialize. But it is nevertheless worthwhile seeing the
conjugation as part of an overall principle that applies to
many cases. So Rashi just states that both forms are possible.
Again the emphasis here is on encouraging other people to do
grammatical research and formulate other rare rules.
The second part of Rashi is also a new grammatical rule. It deals
with collective nouns. This has to do with the fact that PLURALITY
can be both EXTENSIVE and INTENSIVE--both QUALITATIVE and
QUANTITATIVE.
To illustrate this we use the 3 complaints that the Jews had in
the Bible {LIST3}.
In 2-16-12 and 2-16 we see complaints from MANY Jews on ONE issue;
the lack of good food.
By contrast in 4-14-27 and 4-14-23 we see complaints from MANY Jews
on MANY issues. Indeed, God explicitly states that "They have
tested me(complained about my Providence) 10 times.
So that is the rule: If MANY are involved but there is ONE type then
we use the DEFICIENT spelling (no VAV). If MANY are involved and
there are MANY TYPES we use the FULL spelling (with VAV).
This principle applies to all nouns. It is a pity it is not taught
in Grammar books. We shall have many occasions to use it in the
future. Rav Hirsch, for example, used it to explain the very
difficult Talmudic discussion about altar horns in Sanhedrin (We
will explain this in a future issue--for the while let us complete
the present explanation).
4-17-20 is FULL because the Korach rebellion involved several
TYPES of complaints--the initial complaint that anyone could
be a priest 4-16-3 and the 2nd complaint that the death of
Korach and his associates was Moses' fault 4-17-6.
By contrast 4-17-25 speaks about warning/stopping any future
complaints--hence the DEFECTIVE spelling is used (In general
nouns are perceived as UNI-TYPE unless proven otherwise--in
this case the emphasis is ANY complaint (even on one issue)
will be stopped).
As commented, this principle applies to many other verses.
I have selected just one for now: v3a26-42---Jacob of course
symbolizes the EXILE of the Jews (Since Jacob had to live
with Laban which symbolized how we would be treated in the
exiles). So Jacob spelled DEFECTIVELY would symbolize
many exilic experiences of ONE TYPE. Jacob spelled FULLY
symbolizes MANY TYPES of exilic experiences (eg both the
suffering and the redemption). Since it is spelled FULL
in this verse the TREATY OF JACOB must refer to the REDEMPTION.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
Rashi on v3a26-42 does not cite the same principle he cited
in v4a17-25. He rather creates a pun: Jacob is spelled FULL 5
times and ELIJAH is spelled DEFECTIVE 5 times. So Jacob is
pictured as borrowing a VAV as a guarantee that his children
will be visited by Elijah who will bring news of the redemption
As we have seen many times Rashi lived before the printing press
and his goal was that people should MEMORIZE his comments. Towards
this end a witty punchy Gematria is more effective than some boring
analytic grammatical rule.
So Rashi expressed the idea as a Gematria. But the true reason
is the grammatical rule he enunciated on v4a17-25. For further
examples of Rashi avoiding rules and using Gematrias see 1-32-4.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {The 8 parameters in the conjugation of verbs}
PARAMETER EXAMPLE EXAMPLE EXAMPLE EXAMPLE EXAMPLE
============ ======= ======= ======= ======= =========
PERSON I HE YOU
PLURALITY I WE
GENDER MALE FEMALE
TENSE PAST PRESENT FUTURE COMMAND GERUND
MODE QL NIFAL PIEL HIFIL HITHPAEL
PREPOSITION B L M ETH
SUFFIX TO ME TO YOU TO HIM TO THEM TO US
WEAK LETTERS END HEY VAV YUD ALEPH LAMED
{LIST2} {This list illustrates the following rule: If the 3rd
letter of a root is a HeY and the 2nd letter is Lamed
then it is permissable in PieL to leave out the
final HeY}
ROOT FORM VERSE TEXT
===== ===== ======= =====================================
GLH TGL Prv25-9 Don't UNCOVER the secrets of others
GLH YGLH 5-23-1 Don't UNCOVER your fathers nakedness
GLH YGL 4-22-31 And God UNCOVERED Bilams eyes
ChLH YChL 2-32-11 And Moses SUPPLICATED GOD
CLH YChLH Is10-18 From souls to flesh will END
CLH YChL 1-17-22 And He ENDED speaking with him
{LIST3} {These verses illustrate the following new principle of
grammar: If a noun is spelled FULL, with a VAV, then
the noun refers to MANY items of MANY types--for
example, many people complaining about many similar
issues. If a noun is spelled DEFICIENT, without a VAV,
then the noun refers to MANY items of ONE type}
VERSE WITH/WITHOUT VV TEXT
======= =============== ==================================
2-16-12 Defective Complaints about lack of food *1
4-14-27 Full 10 complaints on Gods providence *2
4-17-20 Full Several complaints about Korach *3
4-17-25 Defective Any future complaint *4
FOOTNOTES
*1 There was only one complaint here---the lack of food.
Since there was only ONE ISSUE the spelling is defective
*2 See 4-14-23 where it explicitly identifies the complaint of
the spies as the culmination of 10 similar complaints about
Gods Providence. Since there were 10 issues the spelling is
FULL.
*3 Korach's initial complaint was that anyone could be a Priest
(4-16-3). Then Moses and Aaron were blamed for the death
of Korah and his associates (4-17-6). Since there were
several issues the spelling is FULL.
*4 The verse indicates that the purpose of the miracle of the
sprouted staff is that any future complaints should stop--
the intent therefore is that even one complaint should stop
Since the emphasis is that even one complaint should stop
the spelling is DEFECTIVE.
CROSS REFERENCES:
v1-32-4 Rashi prefers Gematrias to grammar to express ideas
Nevertheless there is always a solid grammatical
point
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
USAGE | FULL-DEFECTIVE
USAGE | FULL-DEFECTIVE
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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 "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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