Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
http://www.shamash.org/rashi
Volume 3 Number 25
Produced Oct, 22 1999
Topics Discussed in This Issue
------------------------------
v1q22-2
Question on the interpetation of Rashi on 1-22-2. Rashi
says God was chatty ('your son, your precious one....)
to encourage Abraham to like the Mitzvah. I said God was
chatty because God liked Abraham. Why the disparity
v1-3-9
(A)God CARES about peoples feelings (Abraham 1-15-1,
Yaakov 1-46-3).(B)God even GIVES sinners time to repent
(a)Adam (1-3-9), b)Kayin (1-4-9), c)Balak (4-22-9)).
(C)God appears suddenly (& FRIGHTingly) to wicked people
(a)Snake 1-3-14 b) Balak 4-23-4
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
***************************
*** 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: v1q22-2
From: Paul Rothbart
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 11:06:09 -0400 (EST)
To: rashi-is-simple@shamash.org
Subject: Re: RASHI-IS-SIMPLE digest 74
I did not understand your explanation of Rashi on
22-2. I thought that the love that Rashi was talking
about was to make Avraham have a love for
the mitvah, not to show that Hashem loved Avraham.
(Also in Lech LEcha) (Like to build up his excitement
for it etc.)
Shraga Rothbart
[Moderator: Yasher coach Shraga for an excellent thought
provoking question that requires a WHOLE issue to answer.
We of course welcome other such questions from other
Rashi Is Simplists--this is your email list---if you don't
fully like an explanation simply say so]
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v1-3-9
======
v1-3-9 And God said to Adam 'Where are you'
v1a4-9 And God said to Kayin 'Where is Abel your brother'
v4-22-9 And God said to Bilam 'Who are these people'
v4a23-4 And God appeared suddenly to Bilam
v1-46-3 (God said to Jacob) 'Don't fear Jacob'
v1b15-1 (God said to Abraham) 'Don't fear Abraham'
v1z3-14 & God said to the Snake..because you have..
RASHI TEXT:
==========
v1-3-9 When God said to Adam 'Where are you'--He knew where
Adam was but God wanted to 'start a conversation'
so that Adam should not be frightened to repent
which is what would have happened if God punished
him suddenly. We find similar GENTLE conversation
openers by God by Kayin, Bilam and Chizkiyahu
{LIST1}
v1a4-9 God asked Kayin 'Where is your brother' in order to
start the conversation gently so that Kayin might
repent and confess 'I killed Abel and sinned'
v4-22-9 When God said to Bilam 'Who are these people' His
intention was to trap him so that Bilam would
think 'There are things God doesn't know. Therefore
I will try and find a time He doesn't know about
and curse the Jews then.
v4a23-4 When it says that God SUDDENLY appeared to Bilam
the word SUDDENLY denotes DEROGATORY, NON-
PERMANANT, TAMAY---in other words the prophetic
vision was with difficulty and with despisement
(And the only reason that God appeared to Bilam
by day was out of respect for the Jews)
v1-46-3 When God said to Jacob 'Don't be afraid from going
down to Egypt' it was because Jacob was UPSET that
he had to leave Israel.
v1b15-1 When God said to Abraham 'Don't be afraid' it was
because Abraham had just killed many people (in the
war liberating his nephew) and thought that he might
have sinned. Similarly since MalkiTzedeck pestered
Abraham to accept the war booty Abraham was worried
that perhaps God was making him wealthy and this
would detract from Abraham's spiritual endeavors.
So God responded and said 'Not to worry' since
Abraham had much reward for his good deeds (despite
his wealth) and was helping many people.
v1z3-14 God spoke SUDDENLY to the snake (while,by contrast,
to Adam and Chava he spoke gently). This is because
the snake was wicked and tried to get other people
to sin and therefore the snake did not deserve a
chance (Indeed, if God gave him a chance the snake
would simply say 'What do you want from me; Why
did they listen to me but not to You, God?'Therefore
God punished him without warning.
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
========================================
As {LIST2} shows, when God speaks prophetically to people he likes
he sometimes uses a chatty repetitive style. For example God gave
Jacob a prophetic vision and began by calling him
>Jacob Jacob (1-46-2)
Similarly God called
>Abraham Abraham
or
>Moses Moses
or
>Samuel Samuel
(See {LIST2}). By contrast God frequently has prophecies and does
not address the receiving persons name even EVEN ONCE. Thus
God spoke to the SNAKE, LABAN and BILAM suddenly without addressing
them {LIST1}.
We can summarize the above with the principle of TONE that
>REPETITION or CHATTINESS DENOTES ENDEARMENT
>TERSENESS DENOTES COLDNESS/FORMALITY
We in fact applied this principle last week to such phrases as
> Take your SON,
> your PRECIOUS ONE,
> that you LOVE,
> Isaac
or
> Leave your land,
> and go to the place
> that I will eventually show you
We suggested that the CHATTINESS of these phrases indicates LOVE
and ENDEARMENT between God and Abraham {LIST3}.
But, as Shraga Rothbart correctly asked in v1q22-2 ----
>Rashi didn't say that. Rather Rashi claimed
>NOT that God loved Abraham but rather that
>God was increasing Abrahams love for the Mitzvah involved
>Thus God wanted to increase Abrahams love for Israel
>Or God wanted to increase Abrahams love for the Akaydah
To use Talmudic lingo Paul is pointing out that
>CHATTINESS in the above verses denotes
>Endearment in the THING SPOKEN ABOUT(the Akaydah,Israel),
>NOT IN THE PEOPLE DOING THE SPEAKING.
But this is an easy question to answer---we simply generalize
and combine the various themes of ENDEARMENT. In other words
we will assert that CHATTINESS and REPETITION can denote any
of several types of ENDEARMENT, whether between the people
speaking, the things spoken about, etc. We in fact will exhibit
5 types of ENDEARMENT or CONCERN manifested by a chatty,
repetitive or conversational style.
#1) CHATTINESS/ REPETITION Denotes liking the PERSON SPOKEN TO
--------------------------------------------------------------
Thus {LIST2} shows
>ENDEARMENT BETWEEN GOD and the PERSON SPOKEN TO
which manifests itself in REPETITION such as
>Jacob Jacob
#2) CHATTINESS/REPETITION denotes liking WHAT IS SPOKEN ABOUT
-------------------------------------------------------------
Simlilary {LIST3} shows
>ENDEARMENT BETWEEN the SPOKEN TO and the THING SPOKEN ABOUT
which ALSO manifests itself in CHATTINESS such as
>take your son, your precious one, that you love, Isaac
#3) CHATTINESS/REPETITION denotes caring about a persons' FEELINGS
------------------------------------------------------------------
We may generalize further by examining the examples in {LIST1}.
We see that God said to both Jacob and Abraham
>Don't be afraid
In other words God showed concern for their feelings.This too--
showing concern for feelings of others--is a sign of
ENDEARMENT/LIKING. It is more focused then just caring about the
person spoken to----since God is caring about specific negative
feelings of that person.
#4) CHATTINESS/REPETITION facilitates a sinner REPENTING
--------------------------------------------------------
Finally {LIST1} shows that God spoke in a chatty fashion
to several sinners such as to Adam
>Where are you?
or to Kayin (who killed his brother Abel) God said
>Where is your brother?
or to Bilam who wanted to curse the Jews God said
>Who are these people?
God used this CHATTY CONVERSATIONAL approach in the hope
of not frightening these people and getting them to repent.
#5) CHATTINESS/REPETITION prepares a listener for a SENSITIVE TOPIC
-------------------------------------------------------------------
{LIST1} has two examples where the CHATTINESS/REPETITION allowed
the person to prepare themselves for what was about to be told them.
Thus God repeatedly (3 times) called
>Samuel Samuel
even though Samuel thought it was Eli that was talking. This was
in fact Samuel's introducion to prophecy and furthermore it must
have been emotionally difficult to find out that God was punishing
Samuel's teache,r Eli. The 3 fold repetition of the calling--Samuel
Samuel-- in fact prepared BOTH Eli and Samuel for this difficult
prophecy. In a similar vein when God wanted to tell the righteous
King Chizkiyahu that Babel would destroy the Israelite kingdom and
hold captive the Kings sons, God introduced this in a gradual
conversational manner
>Who were these people that visited you?
>Why were they here?
The questions are delicately phrased in such a way as to suggest
that perhaps they weren't just visiting Chizkiyahu after his
sickness but spying on his royal wealth.
Again helping a person PREPARE for a sensitive topic (by using
a CHATTY/CONVERSATIONAL style) is a more focused statement of
HOW God likes the person he is speaking to.
We may summarize these 4-5 types of
>CHATTINESS,REPETITION,CONVERSATIONAL = ENDEARMENT
by noting that a CHATTY REPETITIVE CONVERSATIONAL style denotes
>liking WHOM you are speaking to (eg JACOB JACOB), or
>liking WHAT you are speaking about (Your son,precious one..
>caring about a person's feelings ('Dont be afraid'), or
>Being discrete and enabling a person to repent.
>Being discrete and preparing a person for a difficult topic
These 5 connotations of ENDEARMENT are compactly summarized
in {LIST4}
Having exhibited examples of the principle that
>Chattiness, Conversationalism, repetition shows endearment
we now turn to {LIST1} for 4 contrasting demonstrations that
>terse, short speeches denote coldness.
#1) Not mentioning a persons name when God speaks to them=Coldness
------------------------------------------------------------------
True, God said
>Jacob Jacob
but to Laban, Balak and the Snake God spoke suddenly WITHOUT
mentioning their name.
#2) If a sinner doesn't repent Gods style will become cold
-----------------------------------------------------------
Note the beautiful contrast between 4-22-9 and 4-23-4. God DID
give Bilam a chance to repent. But when Bilam became even more
wicked God stopped treating him nicely. Hence in 4-23-4 God
appeared SUDDENLY to Bilam.
#3) God encourages some to repent; but some are discouraged
------------------------------------------------------------
{LIST5} exhibits the beautiful contrast between Adam,
Chava and the snake in the Garden of Eden. God spoke gradually
to Adam and Eve but suddenly to the snake who maliciously instigated
them to sin (and hence was deprived of his right to repent).
#4) Some recipients reject, vs some accept, Gods discreteness
-------------------------------------------------------------
Finally note the beautiful contrast brought in the Genesis
Rabbah between Adam, Kayin, Bilam, Chizkiyahu and Ezekiel.
God asked all 5 of these people
>Where are you? or Who are your guests?
or some typical conversational opener. God did this so that
the conversation should be INFORMAL and thus give these
people time to repent. The Midrash wrly notes the different
ways in which these people used this opportunity to repent.
>Adam blaimed his sin on his wife
>Kayin claimed innocence (Am I my brothers keeper)
>Bilam became arrogant (They are hiring me to curse)
>Chizkiyah was factual
>Ezekiel behaved properly (by answering to the question
can these bones live with
>You know God...it is in your hands.
This contrast is summarized in {LIST6}.
Finally we conclude by noting that we have interchanged the
following terms
>REPETITION
>CHATTY
>CONVERSATIONAL
even though they each have different (but overlapping) meanings.
Note that certain examples are characterized more by repetition
>Jacob Jacob
while others are characterized either by chattiness or a
conversational approach (Conversation openers)
>Where are you? Who are your guests?
It is for this reason I have interchageably used all 3 phrases,
>REPETITION, CHATTY and CONVERSATIONAL
to indicate any non terse wordy style.
Remaining comments may be found in the COMMENTS ON RASHIS FORM
SECTION.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
========================
Our main theme was expounded above. In addition to this
main theme there are 4 other comments Rashi made which we
now comment on. I especially emphasize comment #4 which
deals with Rashis strange Comment on 4-22-9 that God tried
to entice Bilam to sin (instead of the standard explanation
that God tried to get Bilam to repent).
#1) Several reasons for Repetition
----------------------------------
Rashi on 1-22-2 notes 2 (not 1)reasons for the chatty style
>To help prepare Abraham for the order to sacrifice his son
>To make the commandment likable to him
#2) Meaning of SUDDEN and PROPEHCY by day in 4-23-4
---------------------------------------------------
On 4-23-4 Rashi gives the nuances of
>God SUDDENLY appeared to Bilam or
>God HAPPENED on Bilam
Rashi also explains that despite Gods hatred of Bilam he
appeared to Bilam by day (Inferred from the fact that
Bilams prophecys were after his meeting with Balak
and construction of altars which presumably happened
by day). By contrast God appeared to Laban, Avimelech
and Pharoh by NIGHT {LIST7}
To explain this anomaly Rashi simply suggests that God
appeared to Bilam by day out of respect for the Jewish
people (on whom Bilam later prophesized
>How good are your tents... 4-24-5
#3) What was Abraham afraid of? Why mention reward (1-15-1)
------------------------------------------------------------
Quite simply 1-15-1 happens after 1-14, the war between Abraham
and the kings where Abraham with only 318 people defeated a
powerful army. This undoubtedly changed people's perception of
Abraham. He no longer was the nomadic ALIEN who CALLED PEOPLE TO
GOD. He knew how to fight and everyone wanted to get him on
their side. Thus from the fact that Abraham had to sware
not to accept any booty (1-14-22) it would appear that there was
'pressure on him' to accept the booty and become recognized as
a distinguished military man.
So Abraham was worried that he killed many people in the war
>Maybe there would be retaliation (cf Yaakov who
>was worried about retaliation after the war with
>Schem (1-34-30))
>
>Maybe Abraham had sinned by killing innocent people
In other words I think Abraham was worried BOTH about retaliation
and killing someone innocent. So God answered him DON'T BE AFRAID
BECAUSE I PROTECT YOU.
Similarly because people were trying to get Abraham to accept wealth
and befriend Abraham (because of his military Genious)
>Maybe he would spend more time on money & less on outreach
>Maybe God no longer wanted Abraham's outreach
>Maybe Abraham couldn't go back to his nomadic life
Again, I think there was a double concern that perhaps his life
style was going to switch from the nomadic God-Caller to a wealthy
established person who would have to spend alot of time on asset
management. Therefore God confirmed to him that he (Abraham ) was
protected by God (so he could go back to his nomadic style) and
God also confirmed that Abraham had much reward from his calling
on the name of God (So that was still a preferred activity).
I again emphasize that these feelings of Abraham were NORMAL.
Gods reassurance to Abraham in a prophecy was a sign that God
liked Abraham (since most prophets do not get visited by God
on personal matters).
Finally I point out that
>the experiences of the Patriarchs are symbolic for the children
Many people involved in outreach may
>sometimes be tempted to join a more lucrative profession
>sometimes have doubts about their accomplishments.
Therefore these people are encouraged to emphasize and follows
Abraham's life style.
#4) Why did Rashi say that GOD TRYED TO TRAP BILAM
--------------------------------------------------
Our explanation of chattiness is COMPREHENSIVE and CLEAR. It is
supported by many Rashis. Why then did Rashi on 4-22-9 say that
>The chatty conversational style was made by God to
>TRAP Bilam. For by asking Bilam
> >Who are these people
>Bilam thought that God was telling him
> >Look I don't know anything and need an answer
>This helped trap Bilam who said to himself
> >I will curse the Jews at a time that God doesn't
> >know.
Why did Rashi suggest such a wild explanation. Even if it fits
the particular personality of Bilam the explanation differs from
the other examples in {LIST1} - {LIST6}!?
It would appear to me that Rashi is worried about 3 concerns
CONCERN 1 - If God encouraged Bilam to repent but Bilam sinned
worse then it appears that God made a mistake.
CONCERN 2 - God did NOT encourage the snake to repent even though
God encouraged Adam and Eve to repent {LIST5}. This is because
the snake ENTICED Eve to sin and Rashi lays down the prinicple
that you don't encourage enticers to repent. But Bilam also
was an enticer. He advised Bilam to have the Midyanite women
seduce the Jews which resulted in a plague that killed 24000(4-25)
So God shouldn't have encouraged Bilam to repent just as God did
not encourage the snake to repent
CONCERN 3 - As can be seen from {LIST6} most people took God up
on the encouragement to repent. Even Adam,although he didn't
repent, nevertheless by blaiming his wife ('she caused me to sin')
he implicitly acknowledged that SOMETHING WRONG had happend (but
it wasn't his fault). By contrast Bilam is the only person who
answered God arrogantly ('What do you mean who are these guests?
Don't you know? Prestegious kings are hiring me to curse the Jews
because I am such a great prophet'). So the question is 'How
could God enter a conversation with Bilam which led to such a
blasphemous tone?'
Rashi answers these 3 concerns by suggesting the following
--God did indeed use a conversational style to encourage Bilam
to repent as God encouraged Adam, Kayin etc to repent. That Rashi
believed this is clear from {LIST6} which comes from the Midrash
Rabbah which compiled several people whom God offered to repent
--God did not abstain from offering him to repent because of his
arrogance and enticement because they had NOT YET happened and
God never judges people by WHAT they WILL do but by what they
HAVE done ( cf Rashi on 1-21-17).
--Had Bilam repented God would have accepted it. Since Bilam
did not repent God changed his tone and the next time God
appeared to him God did so in a cold, non conversational sudden
manner (cf the cold abrupt 4-23-4 vs the warm 4-22-9)
--God had in the back of him mind that since Bilam wanted to
curse the Jews, if Bilam persisted (which he did) then God could
use the conversational style to trap Bilam who would think that
God doesn't know everything (Lets face it---Bilam had to have
a peverted mind to think that he could use prophecy to curse
the Jewish people who were protected by prophecy).
--Finally Rashi (as is his usual style) does not explicitly mention
the repentance theme (which had been mentioned in other Rashis)
and only mentions the new theme (that the conversational style
could trap Bilam).
Alternatively If the reader prefers we could
also say that God did NOT want to encourage Bilam to repent
(because of his arrogance, wickedness and desire to entice)
Since he was so wicked God enticed him to sin by making Him(God)
appear not to know everything (It is consistent with Jewish law
that the only person you try and trap is an enticer--cf Rambam
Idolatry 5:3). Perhaps some readers prefer this explanation even
though there is no list (then again there was no one as wicked as
Bilam so we couldn't have a list ).
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
==========================================================
{LIST1} {A collection of verses showing a CARING, FRIENDLY
GENTLE tone by God to most people; with sinners howeer
God uses a SUDDEN FRIGHTENING approach. The Goal of
the caring GENTLE TONE can be to PREPARE the person
for something new, to encourage him to REPENT
or to simply show CAREING for his feelings}
TONE VERSE TEXT WHOM GOAL OF TONE
====== ======== ======================= ========== =============
Gentle v1-3-9 Where are you Adam Let him repent
Gentle v1a4-9 Where is your brother Kayin Let him repent
Gentle v4-22-9 Who are these people Bilam Let him repent
Gentle Isa39-3 Who are these people Chizkiyahu Prepare him
Gentle Ez37-3 Can these bones live Ezekiel Prepare him
Gentle 1Sam3-4 Samuel Samuel Samuel Prepare him
Gentle v1-46-3 Don't worry Jacob Jacob Care for feelings
Gentle v1b15-1 Don't worry Abraham Abraham Care for feelings
Sudden v1z3-14 & God said to snake Snake Sudden punishment
Sudden v1-12-4 God said suddenly Miryan Sudden punishment
Sudden v1-31-24 & God said to Laban Laban Sudden warning
Sudden v4a23-4 God happened on Bilam Bilam Sudden prophecy
{LIST2} {Prophets who God called twice (eg 'Jacob Jacob') when
engaged in prophecy with them. By contrast most
people God only calls once *2. This REPETITIVE STYLE
is indicative of ENDEARMENT--someone/something
you like you talk about alot}
NAME: VERSE WHERE THEY WERE REPEATED TWICE
===== ====================================
Abraham 1-22-11 *2
Jacob 1-46-2 *2
Moses 2-3-4 *2
Shmuel Sam-3-10
You're beautiful Songs-4-1 *3
Names of the Jews 2-1-1 and 1-48-8 *1
FOOTNOTES
*1 The identical phrase"And these are the names of the Jews"is used
in both 2-1-1 and 1-48-8.By contrast the repetition of the names of
Noach (in 1-5-32 and 1-10-1) use different phrases
*2 It is hard to appreciate the list until we add the fact that the
other people that God spoke to (Isaac, Aharan, Joshua...) do not
have ANY verses where there a repetition.
*3 Note how Songs-4-1 deals with attributes vs names
{LIST3} {Of chatty phrases between 2 parties that like each
other. Contrast is afforded by conversations with cold
terse phrases. As can be seen the chattiness is
used when you like somebody}
PHRASE VERSE Chatty style vs Formal style
======= ======= ========================================
Isaac 1-22-2 Your son, your precious, you like, Isaac
Leave Casdim 1-12-1 Leave, to the place, I will show you
Abraham 1-22-11 Abraham Abraham
Jacob 1-46-2 Jacob Jacob
Moses 2-3-4 Moses Moses
Shmuel Sam3-10 Samuel Samuel
You're beautiful Songs4-1 Your beautiful, your beautiful*3
Do you know Lbn 1-29-4 Known *4
FOONOTES
*1The identical phrase "And these are the names of the Jews"is used
in both 2-1-1 and 1-48-8. By contrast the repetition of the names of
Noach (in 1-5-32 and 1-10-1) use different phrases
*2 It is hard to appreciate the list until we add the fact that the
other people that God spoke to (Isaac, Aharan, Joshua...) do not
have ANY verses where there a repetition.
*3 Note how Songs-4-1 deals with attributes vs names
*4 During the whole dialog between Jacob and the Shepard,
the Shepards maintain a formal cold stance(1-29-4:8) indicated
by their terseness
{LIST4} {The 5 types of Endearment that is indicated by Chattiness}
TYPE OF ENDEARMENT VERSE TEXT WITH CHATTINESS
================== ===== ====================
Like the person 1-46-2 Jacob Jacob
Care about feelings 1-46-2 Dont be afraid Jacob
Like topic of talk 1-22-2 Take your son, your precious one *1
Delicate topic 1-4-9 Where is your brother(help repent)
Help prepare 1Sam3-4 Samuel Samuel *2
FOOTNOTE
*1 As Rashi notes, Gods chattiness indicates BOTH a preparation
(for the order to sacrifice his son) as well as making Abraham
like the Mitzvah.
*2 Samuel (then a child) thought that Eli the high priest was
speaking to him. This SAMUEL SAMUEL dream was repeated 3
times till Samuel caught on. Thus SAMUEL was prepared for the
prophetic experience and the difficult prophecy that his
teacher, Eli, was being punished
{LIST5} {Contrast of Gods dialog to snake vs Adam Chava. Note
how Adam and Chava were encouraged to repent while the
snake was not}
PERSON VERSE TEXT
====== ======= =========================================
ADAM 1-3-9 Where are you?...Did you eat from tree...
EVE 1-3-12 Why did you do this?
SNAKE 1-3--13 Since you did this you are cursed....
{LIST6} {The 5 people cited in Genesis Rabbah 19-11. God
spoke to all of them in a gentle way in order to
get them to acknowledge certain things to God (confess)
But Adam blaimed his wife, Kayin denied it, Bilam
became arrogant. Chizkiyah was factual while Ezekiel
behaved properly}
VERSE TEXT WHOM GOAL OF TONE
====== ===================== ==== ==============
v1-3-9 Where are you Adam My wife caused me to sin
v1a4-9 Where is your brother Kayin Im not my brothers keeper
v4-22-9 Who are these people Bilam I am hired to curse
Isa39-3 Who are these people Chizkiyahu Was factual
Ez37-3 Can these bones live Ezekiel It is in your hands,God
{LIST7} {God usually appears to Non Jewish prophets by night.
God appeared to Bilam by day out of respect for the
Jewish people on whom Bilam prophesized)
PERSON PROPHECY BY NIGHT/DAY VERSE
====== ===================== =====
Laban Night 1-31-24
Pharoh Night 1-41-8
Avimlch Night 1-20-3
Moses Day 4-9-5
Bilam Day 4-24-3 *1
FOOTNOTES
*1 Although it does not explicitly say that Bilam had a
prophecy by day nevertheless the context--'Bilam SAW the
Jewish tents and the spirit of God came over him'--suggests
that it was by day.
{LIST7}. (cf
1-31-24, 1-20-3, 1-41-8
CROSS REFERENCES:
================
w1n6 v2-1-1 (Repetition denotes endearment)
v3n24 v1b22-2 (Chatty style denotes endearment)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
================
Genesis Rabbah 19-11
Yasher Coach to Shraga Rothbart for an excellent question
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
==============================================================
STYLE
STYLE
STYLE
STYLE
STYLE
STYLE
STYLE
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
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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
---------
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
----------------------
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 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*