SUCCINCT SUMMARY
----------------
An advanced Rashi method is the use of symbolism to explain
Biblical chapters. The general guidelines for symbolic
interpretation are compactly presented in my essay GENESIS
ONE SPEAKS ABOUT THE CREATION OF PROPHECY NOT THE CREATION
OF THE WORLD which may be found at URL
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/gen-1.htm We call this the Rashi
method of SYMBOLISM / symbolism.

As pointed out in the above essay, Rav Hirsch emphasized
that one cannot whimsically apply symbolic methods. Rather
the Biblical text must demand or require the use of symbolism.

EXAMPLE Nu07-23b
----------------
Nu07-12:86 contains the gifts of the 12 princes
that were made at the CONSECRATION of the Temple.
These 12 gifts were identical. They consisted of
the following items listed below.

Following Rav Hirsch's method of seeking a unified
theme, we see the gifts as SYMBOLIZING HUMAN
HISTORY culminating in the building of the Temple.
Each distinct item is therefore linked, by a
conspicuous attribute, to a major event in human
history. Here is the association.

------------------------------------------------------------
ITEM             CONSPIUOUS    LINKING
ITEM             ATTRIBUTE     VERSE   SYMBOLIZES
------------------------------------------------------------
Silver bowl      Weight = 130  Gn05-01 Adam
Silver ThrowPan  ONE           Gn11-01 Noach(One world)
-------          Weight =70    Gn10    70 Nations
Flour Offering   Non animal    Ez01    Lower prophecy
Gold ladel       Weight =10    Ex20    Higher Prophecy(DECalogue)
Ox,Ram,Lamb      3 fold order          3 Patriarchs
He goat          goat          Gn37-31 Joseph
2 Peace Oxen     2 Ox=Leaders          Moses,Aaron
Ram,BigLamb,Lamb 3 fold order          Jew,Levy,Priest
5 Rams,5 Lambs.. 5             Lv27-06 New born nation
------------------------------------------------------------


LIST975t summarizes this argument and presents other
details in the footnotes.

List of                  Symbolism of Consecration Gifts

SUCCINCT SUMMARY
----------------
One of Rashi's 10 major methods is the use of OTHER
VERSES to clarify existing verses. Rashi can use
OTHER VERSES to a) provide more details b) justify
citations and cross references and c) to infer meaning.
We call this the RASHI METHOD of OTHER VERSES and
the RASHI SUBMETHODS of FURTHER DETAILS, CITATIONS,
and INFERRED MEANING.

EXAMPLE Lv23-05b Ex12-11c
-------------------------
The verse Lv23-05b which states
----------------------------------
On the 14th of Nissan celebrate a
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Pass-over holiday to God
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
----------------------------------

Rashi explains this phrase by
cross-referencing an OTHER VERSE
which sheds light and illuminates
this verse. Ex12-11:13 states
----------------------------
God will PASS THRU Egypt
and smite the first born
of the Egyptians...but when
I see the blood on your
doorposts I will PASS-OVER
the Jewish houses
----------------------------

Hence this OTHER VERSE Ex12-11c
explains the meaning of the
phrase PASS-OVER in Lv23-05.

LIST250a below gives other examples of inferring meaning
from OTHER VERSES.

List of verse pairs with one verse shedding meaning on words

SUCCINT SUMMARY:
----------------
One of Rashi's 10 major goals is the explanation of GRAMMAR
the same way modern textbooks explain GRAMMAR. There are three
major GRAMMAR submethods:

(a) The goal of the ROOT submethod is to explain all
conjugations and meanings of Biblical roots.
Biblical roots are conjugated with letter prefixes and suffixes
to indicate (i) tense (ii) person (iii) gender (iv) plurality
(v) mode (vi) object (to whom the activity is done) and (vii)
mood. Each of these conjugations has a specific meaning.
Furthermore, these conjugations take on different forms for
roots with weak letters.

(b) The SENTENCE submethod deals with grammatical attributes
of sentences such as (i) word arrangement (Verb Subject vs
Subject Verb) (ii) sentence type  (interrogative, command)
(iii) compound sentences (iv) apposition and (v)
paragraph / sentence development.

(c) The MISCELLANEOUS grammatical methods deal with
(i) agreement (in gender and plurality), (ii) the construct
(iii) pronoun reference (iv) ellipsis (v) noun-verb transforms
(e.g. to dust) (vi) special word usage(e.g. how to use
numbers) (vii) suffix-prefixes (e.g. terminal HEY means
towards).

The SENTENCE submethod presents 3 means of DEVELOPMENT of
consecutive sentences or consecutive paragraphs.
- CAUSE, ENABLEMENT,
- CONTRAST
- UNIFYING THEME.

EXAMPLE Lv27-33a
----------------
Lv27-33 states
------------------------------------------------
All tithes of Ox and herds
All that go under the [DYED] rod
each tenth one will be [MARKED BY DYE AND]
made holy to God
------------------------------------------------

Rashi inserts the CAPPED, BRACKETED comments.
That is Rashi adds that
- the ROD was DYED
- the 10th sheep was MARKED BY DYE and SET ASIDE

Here Rashi connects the two sentence phrases
using the connective method of ENABLEMENT
----------------------------------------
All that go UNDER THE ROD
ENABLES by dying red that
each tenth one will by marked and
made holy to God
---------------------------------------

LIST061b below presents other paragraph sequences with
a CAUSAL,ENABLEMENT connection.

A list of paragraphs     having CAUSAL connection
LIST061c continues LIST061a

SUCCINCT SUMMARY
----------------
One of Rashis 10 main methods is the explanation of meaning
the same way a dictionary explains meaning. We call this
the WORD MEANING method.

----------------------------------------------
Rashi had 10 vehicles to explain meaning. The SYNONYM
submethod takes words with known meanings and shows the
similarity and nuances in each term.
----------------------------------------------

EXAMPLE 1: Nu15-39b
-------------------
Nu15-37:39b states
-------------------------------------------------
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the
people of Israel, and bid them that they make them
fringes in the borders of their garments throughout
their generations, and that they put upon the
fringe of the borders a thread of blue; And it
shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look
upon it, and remember all the commandments of
the Lord, and do them; and that you
DON'T EXPLORE YOUR DESIRES AND EYE-CONTACTS
which incline you to go astray;
---------------------------------------------------

Rashi comments:
-------------------------------------------
As the CAPPED translation indicates
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
DON'T EXPLORE YOUR DESIRES AND EYE-CONTACTS
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
the Hebrew word used means to EXPLORE
or to SPY OUT. This paints a poetic
metaphor of the eye as SPY. If the eye
contact is on something desirable then
an intelligence report is sent by the
eyes to the body who will initiate conquest.
--------------------------------------------

While Rashi, following the midrash,
has been poetic his main point is that
the Hebrew word used means to spy,explore.
Consequently the traditional English
translations
-----------------------------------
don't go after your hearts and eyes
-----------------------------------
doesn't really capture the full flavor
of the Biblical verse. In translating
this verse, besides following Rashi's
advice of using the translation EXPLORE,
I have also tranlated HEART as DESIRE and
EYE as EYE CONTACTS. The resulting
translation
----------------------------------------
don't explore your desires and eye contacts
----------------------------------------
has a certain sparkle and accuracy to it.
For example, desires and eye contacts
are not prohibited--indeed they are natural.
What is prohibited is their exploration
and follow up.

Notice that this IDIOM--explore desires--
exists simultaneously in both Hebrew and
English.

The above is an excellent example of how
focus on the exact nuances of a synonym
leads to an accurate translation of a Biblical verse.


LIST955y presents other Rashis commenting on SYNONYMS

List of                  Synonym pairs
LIST955y continues LIST955z
LIST955z continues LIST955a

SUCCINCT SUMMARY
----------------
Rashi will frequentlly make a comment by making broad
database inquiries. A database inquiry is simply a question
addressed to a large databank---typically a large collection
of verses. Thus DATABASE methods typically span many diverse
verses.

EXAMPLE Nu07-14b
----------------
Today Rashi studies the following DATABASE query
----------------------------
List all Temple offerings
of the INCENSE
----------------------------

The database query returns 4 results
--------------------------------------------------------------
Verse        Offering                        Comments
--------------------------------------------------------------
Ex30-01:08   Daily Incense offering          Gold altar
Ex30-09      High Priest offering-Yom Kippur Gold altar
Lv16-12:13   High Priest offering-Yom Kippur Gold altar
Lv10-01:02   Nadav & Avihu offer incense     Punished by death
Nu07-14b     Consecration Gift Offerings     Outer Altar
--------------------------------------------------------------

Hence Rashi's comment
--------------------------------------------------
The Nu07-14 incense offering
is the only incense offered
on the OUTER ALTAR
--------------------------------------------------

More comments on this database query are indicated
in the footnotes to
LIST606q below which summarizes this argument

EXAMPLE Lv25-35a
----------------
Rashi makes the following database query
----------------------------------------
Find all verbs in verses requiring
giving charity to needy, poor people
----------------------------------------

The database query uncovers the following results
------------------------------------------------------------
VERSE      WORD/VERB     NUANCE                COMMENT
---------- ------------- --------------------- -------------
Dt15-08    Open Open     Monetary charity
Dt15-08    Laden laden   Food,clothing Charity non monetary
Dt15-10    Give Give     Monetary loans        Gets it back
Lv25-35    Strengthen    Business association  No loss
------------------------------------------------------------

LIST606r summarizes this database query with
supplementary comments.

List of                  verses with INCENSE offering

List of                  verses with charity requirements

Lighting summary of Rashis with emphasis on Rashi rules*10