Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
http://www.shamash.org/rashi
Volume 3 Number 8
Produced Aug, 16 1999
Topics Discussed in This Issue
------------------------------
v5-21-12 Rashi is looking at OVERALL paragraph structure, not the verse
v5a21-14 Meaning is learned from CONTEXT not from the WORD itself
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
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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
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v5-21-12
v5-21-12 ..and she will fix (ASH) her nails
[Moderator: The text is speaking about a women
that was captured in war whom the soldier had
relations with. Before converting her and marrying
her she sits 30 days mourning her family and
religion and lets her nails grow...]
v5a21-13 ..and she will remove her captive garments
v5b21-13 ..and she will sit in your house
RASHI TEXT:
v5-21-12 'ASH' means to GROW her nails.
The purpose is so she should appear disgusting
to him.
v5a21-12 The text says she will will remove her captive
garments: The reason being that non jewish
women used to dress up in war so as to seduce
soldiers who would capture them. Therefore she
removes them so that she will no longer appear
attractive.
v5b21-12 The text says you will always see her in your
house; so you will see her continuously whether
she is crying, without hair, or ordinary. In
this way she will lose the initial charm and
appeal
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
The text says "And she will MAKE(ASH) her nails".
But the root ASH (to MAKE) has 5 meanings {LIST1}
--to CREATE
--to MAINTAIN/FIX
--to GROW/RAISE
--BUSINESS 'productions'
--to SQUEEZE.
As I show in {LIST2} these have a unified meaning of CREATION.
Nevertheless the meanings, even if unified, are still 5 in
number.
How do we interpret a verse when there are 5 possible
interpretations?
This is a general question that applies to many verses.
Just to illustrate the question we find that Rabbi Eliezer and
Rabbi Akiva argue the meaning of ASH in 5-21-12, one claiming
it means to FIX her nails while the other claiming it means
to LET THEM GROW WILD. Furthermore the root of their controversy
are the examples in {LIST1}--that is, just as we can use a CD
ROM and list the meanings of ASH so too did CHAZAL list the
meanings of ASH. Just as we can see ambiguity in the verse so
too did CHAZAL see ambiguity in the verse. AND JUST AS CHAZAL
had a method of resolving their ambiguities so too will we learn
that method and see one simple meaning in the verses(Yevamoth 48a)
Rashi used the principle of OVERALL STRUCTURE.
For if ALL we did is too look at the verse then we would NOT know
the meaning of ASH. This is an important principle that is often
overlooked in yeshiva learning---frequently laws are learned from
grammatical technicalities in verses. But just as frequently laws
are learned from the OVERALL STRUCTURE of a chapter. For the
verse speaks and the chapter as a whole also speaks.
The chapter, 5-21-10:14 as a whole speaks. It describes 3 distinct
stages
--first you see this attractive woman, desire her, and take her
--then you let her "deattractive" herself by shaving her head
letting her nails grow long, mourning her religion and constantly
being in your presence
--finally you no longer see anything in her and let her go.
These 3 stages are succinctly exhibited in {LIST3}.
But then Rashi Is Simple. He, following Rabbi Akiva, learned the
meaning of ASH from the CONTEXT and overall structure. The overall
structure speaks about letting the captive women look despicable so
that you should lose interest in her. THEREFORE because of this
context we are obligated to intepret all activities mentioned in
this part of the chapter as helping her look unattractive.
Indeed,
--she shaves her head, which is clearly unattractive
--she lets her nails grow long(long nails scratch & are unattractive
--she removes her captive garments from her (which were seductive)
--she constantly sits in the soldiers presence.
Indeed, Rashi Is Simple.
The above analysis also allows us to defend Rabbi Akiva's position
(That ASH=GROW WILD) which was not defended in the Gmarrah.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
We bring three important points--
1) Just as Rashi mentions that the PURPOSE of all the activities
of the captured woman was to make her look unattractive so too
does the Rambam in his great Code Kings 8:5 explicitly say
>>and if she does not want to convert then she
>>mourns her former religioin
>>and grows her nails
>>and shaves her head
>> IN ORDER THAT SHE LOOK UNPLEASING TO HIM
>> and she also stays in the house continuously
>> IN ORDER THAT HE SHOULD HAVE HAD 'ENOUGH OF HER'
We see an overwhelming unity of approach here
--Both Rabbi Akiva
--Rashi
--Rambam
--and modern literary methods
all see the same THEME in the overall structure of the chapter which
requires her to do "UNPLEASING" acts.
2) I refer the reader to the Sifsay Chachamim on 1-1-7 in which
he asks why Rashi translates ASH as FIX on 1-1-7 but as GROW on
5-21-12. The Sifsay Chachamim relates this to the controversy
in Yevamoth but does not further answer the question.
As I have explained it is characteristic of the Yeshiva world
that they are trained to look for grammatical technicalities
but are not trained to look for overall structure.
As shown above by looking at overall structure we immediately
understand why Rashi chose the meaning GROW WILD vs FIX/TRIM
It was not the meaning of the ROOT that required this
interpretation but rather the meaning of the WHOLE CHAPTER
3) We get insight from this Rashi into the meaning of Peshat
and Derash.
--the PESHAT of the VERSE is that it could mean FIX or GROW
--the PESHAT of the CHAPTER is that it means GROW WILD
We have here not a conflict between Peshat and Derash but
rather a conflict between PESHAT and PESHAT. Very often
what we call PESHAT is just the superficial peshat of the
verse while the true meaning is the PESHAT of the whole
chapter.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {The 5 meanings of the verb ASH=To Make. The unified
meaning is CREATE/MAKE/MAINTAIN. See {LIST2}. As usual
in this list the 5 meanings follow the RDQ}
MEANING OF ASH VERSE TEXT
============== ========= ===================================
To do/make Eycah2-13 God DID what He planned
To fix/trim 2S19-25 he didn't TRIM his legs a long time
Grow/raise 1-12-5 The souls they RAISED in Charan
possessions 1S25-2 ..his BUSINESS was in Maon *1
squeeze Ez23-3 ...squeezed their virgin breasts *2
FOOTNOTES
*1 Like the English expression "his DOINGS were in Maon"
*2 It would appear that SQUEEZING breasts is a method of FIXING
or MAINTAINING them. Thus the meaning SQUEEZE would be subsumed
under the meaning FIX.
The only verse where ASH means SQUEEZE
and does not refer to breasts is Ps 139,15 "I was SQUEEZED in
hidden places", the reference being to (sexual) relations (see
Rashi). However I would prefer to interpret this verse as
I was MADE in hiding---the emphasis would then be on the word
HIDING--that the creation of man comes from an act associated
with shame. The verse would then be in parallel--
>>I was MADE in HIDING
>>I was WOVEN in the LOWER EARTH (ie the womb)
If we accept this then the UNIFIED meaning of ASH would be
TO MAKE/MAINTAIN and would refer to creation, trimming, maintaining
possessions (things that are made) and growing.
{LIST2} {This LIST shows that the 5 meanings of ASH=DO in {LIST1}
have a unified meaning of CREATE. The 5 examples of this
list come directly from {LIST1}
VERSE TEXT RELATION TO CREATE
======== =================================== ======================
Eych2-13 God DID what He planned CREATE a State
2S19-25 he didn't TRIM his legs a long time MAINTAIN a creation
1-12-5 The souls they RAISED in Charan CREATE something alive
1S25-2 ..his BUSINESS was in Maon *1 The products he CREATED
Ez23-3 ...squeezed their virgin breasts *2 *1
FOOTNOTE
*1 As footnote *2 of {LIST1} shows SQUEEZING breasts is the means
of MAINTAINING/FIXING them.
{LIST3} {The list of activities done by the captured woman. The
OVERALL paragraph 5-21-10:14 outlines 3 stages. In Stage
I, the APPEAL stage, you are attracted to her; in Stage
II she seeks to become despising; In stage III you no
longer are attracted to her and let her go. Rashi used
this overall structure to show that ALL stage II actions
were done to make her look unappealing}
VERSE CLASSIFICATION STAGE
==================== ====================================== =====
You'll see Appealing I
The attractive women Appealing I
You'll desire her Appealing I
You'll take her Appealing I
Shave her head Obviously despising II
Grow her nails Long nails are unapealing (they scratch II
Remove captive garments Captive garments were seductive II
She'll stay home You will continually see her *1 II
Mourn her religious Obviously despising II
If you don't want her Removal of appeal III
Let her go Removal of appeal III
do not sell her Removal of appeal III
don't benefit from her Removal of appeal III
III
FOOTNOTES
*1 Notice that "staying in your home" is mentioned TWICE.
--and you will bring her into your house---FIRST TIME
--she will shave her head
--she will make her nails
--she will remove her captive garments
--she will sit in your house---------------SECOND TIME
--she will mourn her religion
So the phrase is not just said "in passing". It is intentionally
listed in the list of STAGE II (despising activities done by her)
The intent therefore must be that she is ALWAYS there...there is
no novelty or mystery so necessary for an "appealing" relationship
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
UNIFIED MEANING | OVERALL STRUCTURE
OVERALL STRUCTURE
OVERALL STRUCTURE
SQL {Database query comments for those who know Database theory}:
T1 = {APPEALING, DESPISING, APPEAL-REMOVAL}
T2 = SELECT FROM Bible WHERE
Activity.Verse 5-21-10 AND 5-21-14
SELECT Activity, Classification FROM T1,T2
WHERE Activity Classification
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v5a21-14
v5a21-14 ..and if you don't want her
[Moderator: The text is speaking about a feamle captive
captured in war whom the soldier had relations with;
The Torah is instructing in this sentence that if after
a month you don't want her you cannot turn around and
sell her or mistreat her but must let her go]
v5a21-11 ..if you go to war and see an attractive woman
and take her to yourself as a woman.
RASHI TEXT:
v5a21-14 By the text saying "..and if you don't want her"
it is advising you that if you take a female captive
then in the end you will not want her" [Moderator: In
other words the word IF does not denote POSSIBILITY in
this sentence but rather denotes a PROMISE]
v5a21-11 The Torah here permitted taking a captive women
sexually in order to placate mans' temptations. By saying
you can take her and then letting her sit despicably for
30 days with a shaven head and ugly clothes the Torah
hoped to prevent a further relationship. Furthermore
from the next few paragraphs we can infer that if you
take such a wife (against her will) in the end you will
hate her and have to get married to a 'real' wife
[Moderator: Rashi is referring to the next chapter that
deals with a man who has two wives; Rashi explains that
this is a logical extension of this chapter since if
you take a captive woman you will end up hating her and need
to marry another wife]
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
This is one of those Rashis where there is nothing bothersome in
the verse. The verse APPEARS to say that IF you don't want her
then you should let her go without further using her. Simple
enough. But Rashi interprets the verse as a declarative statement-
You will eventually not want her. The obvious question is how
he gets this out of the verse.
And the question I just asked "How does he Rashi this out of the
verse" is the SOURCE of the problem in understanding Rashi. For
there is NOTHING in the verse to indicate what Rashi says. There
is nothing wrong with the verse. In fact it is Rashis like this
that Yeshiva students frequently fail to understand. Traditional
yeshiva students are frequently trained in how to analyze a verse
to see "Rashi's problem". This is an important skill but does
not solve ALL problems.
Before explaining Rashi let me review 2 suggested explanations by
the Sifsay chachamim.
1) Sifsay Chachamim suggests that Rashi derived this from the
word AND IT WILL BE (AND IT WILL BE IF ) vs an ordinary IF.
Sifsay Chachamim suggests that AND IT WILL BE denotes a PROMISE
while IF denotes an IF.
But this does not prove the point. For example every day we say
the Shma in davening---AND IT WILL BE IF YOU LISTEN TO THESE
COMMANDMENTS (5-11-13). And we see right in the chapter that this
is an IF statement, not a PROMISE that we will listen. Indeed it
says explicitly that we may end up violating the commandments
(5-11-16:17)
In fact, more comically the whole basis for the marriage ceremony
comes from 5-24-1 "If a man take a wife then IF IT WILL BE THAT
HE DOESN"T LIKE HER." Are we to conclude from the IF IT WILL BE
that all marriages will end in dislike and divorce!!
Hence we must reject the idea that IT WILL BE changes
an IF into a PROMISE. In fact the interested reader can browse
thru a CD ROM or the Konkordance and make a LIST disproving
the idea that AND IF IT WILL BE changes an IF into a SURETY
2) The Sifsay Chachamim suggests that Rashi derived this from
the word CHAFAZTA vs TACHPOTZ.
But this again is incorrect. CHAFATZTA means "If you HAD NOT WANTED
her" while TACHPOTZ means "If you WILL not want her". So the
chapter has the following meaning
--If you see a captive women and have relations with her(5-21-10)
--Then (Case 1--you still want her) Bring her into your house
and let her mourn her parents,shave her head etc (5-21-11:12-13)
--But (Case 2--you HAD not wanted her) then let her go.
The use of the past tense shows that she only shaves her head
and mourns her family in case 1 not case 2.
Thus again, this distinction does not suggest Rashi's point. On
the contrary it contradicts it. For it is NOT talking about your
NOT WANTING HER IN THE FUTURE but rather that you HAD NOT
WANTED HER in the past. (So how can Rashi infer from this
that you WILL hate her)
Notice how the 2 preceding explanations focus on grammatical
technicalities in the verse itself while the next explanation
focuses on the OVERALL STRUCTURE of the chapter.
And this is a frequent theme in this email list. That not every
Rashi can be learned from INTERNAL analysis of a verse. Sometimes
we need EXTERNAL analysis of the OVERALL CHAPTER.
3)(The correct explanation). Rashi is looking at the overall
sequence of 4 chapters {LIST1}.
--Going out to war and taking a female captive
--Having two wives, one whom you like and one you don't
--Having a rebellious son who goes into crime early
--having a death penalty .
It is the JUXTAPOSITION of these chapters which shows a climatic
sequence.
IF you take a female captive and force her to live with you
then in the end she will not meet your needs and you will need
another wife you like. Furthermore the children from such a union
will see what their parents are like and hate and rebel against
them. If the rebellious son is not stopped when he steals from
his father he will end up stealing from others and killing and
become liable to a death penalty.
This also explains the Rashi on 5a21-11.
In summary, if you look at the SEQUENCE OF PARAGRAPHS then Rashi
Is Simple--taking a captive woman leads to hatred. But if you
only look at the verse itself then Rashi is difficult.
Some further (technical) comments on the Sifsay Chachamim, Rashi
and the associated Midrash Rabbah are brought below in the
COMMENTS ON RASHIS FORM SECTION.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
We make 4 comments
1) We have explained Rashi using the principle of OVERALL STRUCTURE
However we should supplement this with the principle of MORAL
REASONS. Rashi gives the MORAL REASON for the commandment--why
did God--who normally is very strict about excess sexual relations--
why did God allow the soldier to give in to his passions. So Rashi
says
>>The Torah allowed this to placate mans temptation.
>>For if the Torah would prohibit him he would end up
>>intermarrying him (Because the non-jewish women would
>>dress up in wartime to seduce enemy soldiers). BUT
>>by allowing him to have sex with her, and then
>>demanding that she sit in a despicable fashion for a
>>month the Torah hoped to turn her off from him.
>>Furthermore the Torah shows that if he does marry
>>her then he will end up hating her in the end.
2) In our effort to show the underlying unity in all commentaries
especially between the two titans--Rashi and Rambam--I bring the
Rambam on this same verse. Note the ephemeral subtlety that Rambam
differs from Rashi in one small point WHICH IS CAPITALIZED.
>>THE PRIEST is permitted to have relations upon capturing
>>the captive women because the Torah permitted it to
>>fight temptation. (But he can't marry her afterwards since
>>Priests can't marry converts)
We see the subtle difference between Rashi and Rambam.
--Both are commenting on the reasons for the commandment
--Both use the same reason--The Torah is fighting temptation
--BUT the Rambam who is writing a law book APPLIES the principle
to a LAW---that the captive woman chapter applies EVEN TO A PRIEST
(who cannot marry a convert).
--The Rambam who was writing a Law book had to connect the reason
to a new law ('even a priest') while Rashi who was just writing
a commentary did not see the necessity in mentioning a new law.
3) It is instructive to compare Rashi with the Devarim Rabbah.
For the Devarim Rabbah sees a 4-step sequence in the 4 chapters
while Rashi only sees a 3 step sequence (See {LIST1}). According
to Rashi we have the following sequence(mirrored in the Biblical
sequence of paragraphs)
---a soldier in war sees a woman and has relations with her
---if he marries her he will end up hating her
---and he will end up having a rebellious son.
The Midrash Rabbah continues
---if the rebellious son is not punished for stealing from his
father he will end up stealing from other people and killing them
and become liable to a death penalty.
I would suggest that Rashi did this because of his workbook
methods. He gave us the sequence of the first 3 paragraphs
and let us fill in how the 4th fits into the sequence.
Furthermore it is a beautiful exercise to try and understand
the sequence of all paragraphs in KI TAYZTAY (Many hints
may be found in Rav Hirsch's commentary).
4) In passing I mention that the sifsay chachamim brings down
opinions/questions of the Raam. He also in the 3rd explanation
which I cite above in his name goes into more detail and connects
it with the issue of whether the soldier waits 30 days to MARRY
the women or does he wait 30 days to have the FIRST SEXUAL
relation with her (According to the Rambam, the soldier can
have relations with her immediately and then either lets her
go or marries her)
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {Sequence of paragraphs between 5-21-10 and 5-21-23. Rashi's
point, based on a Devarim Rabbah, is that the sequence of
PARAGRAPHS mirrors a sequence of PSYCHOLOGICAL STATES--first
you 'just have relations'; then you hate her; then your
children hate you; then they become criminals and commit
capital crimes. The raptured beauty of this sequence
climaxing in a full fledged capital crime can only be
appreciated by where it starts--in an innocent (?) glance
between a soldier and captive women!!}
1st VERSE LAST VERSE TOPIC OF PARAGRAPH
========= ========== ==================
5-21-10 5-21-14 Taking(sexually) a captive women in war
5-21-15 5-21-17 Having two wives (hated and loved)
5-21-18 5-21-21 Having a rebellious son
5-21-22 5-21-23 Being liable to death penalty
CROSS REFERENCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
OVERALL STRUCTURE
OVERALL STRUCTURE | MORAL REASONS
SQL {Database query comments for those who know Database theory}:
T1 = SELECT FROM Bible WHERE
Between 5-21-10 AND 5-21-23
SELECT Paragraph.TopicSentence FROM T1
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
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#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*