Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
http://www.shamash.org/rashi
Volume 4 Number 16
Produced Dec. 18, 1999
Topics Discussed in This Issue
------------------------------
v1$1-14
(a)DEFICIENT SPELLING=deficiency (eg not all
conquer(1-1-28),not all need a sign(1-9-12),or
deficient-not-nice people(1-23-16,1-25-24 vs 1-38-27)).
(b)DEFICIENT SPELLING=a combinations of 2 words (eg
common& distinguished=temporary appointment-(1-23-10))
[WEB PAGE UPDATED LATER THIS WEEK]
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***************************
*** 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: v1$1-14
======
[NEW] [Added to v1z1-14 in V3n23]
$VERSE:
$RASHI:
3c23-40 Take Lulav Leave(S)
RASHI: "LeavS" is written DEFICIENTLY
Only one lulav is taken (which
has many leaves)
3z26-42 I'll remember the convenant with JacoOb
RASHI: "JacoOb" is written FULL.
Recall that JACOB = EXILE
Hence FULL JACOB=FULL EXILE and includes
redemption.
5f1-13 ..& I'll put them as leaders
RASHI: "Le ders" is written deficient.
Even though they LEAD/HEAD the nation
nevertheless they are held RESPONSIBLE
for sins/omissions of the nation
(So that their leadership is DEFICIENT
and has an element of subservience)
2a3-15 ..This is my name forever
RASHI: "Forev r" is written deficiently.
Gods name should be hidden (it is not
pronounced)
2c23-2 ..and don't answer a dispute by following
a majority opinion not grounded in logic
RASHI: The word "DISPUTE" in Hebrew (RIV)
is spelled deficiently ("RV") and can
therefore be read as RAV--in other words--
"and don't answer (disagree) with the
RAV=Head of court".
This deviant meaning of the sentence
(which doesn't fit in with the rest
of the sentence) is so interpreted
because of the deficient spelling which
suggests an added nuance (don't disagree
with the court head). The simple meaning
of the text is as I have indicated above
And the reason the talmudic sages added
such a queer interpretation is because
of the deficient spelling which justified
extracting an extra nuance from the verse
2b31-18 ..God gave to Moses when he was finished
RASHI: The Hebrew word for FINISHED(CLH)
is spelled deficiently making it appear
like the word KLH = BRIDE. Moses couldn't
learn the WHOLE Torah in 40 days; hence
the Torah was given to him the way a bride
is given to a groom. (Another point of
the analogy is that just as a bride has
24 types of ornaments so must a Rabbi know
the 24 books of the Bible)
$BRIEF EXPLANATION:
===================
The basic idea developed in volume 3 number 23 is that ALL
deficient spellings in the Bible are interpreted in two
ways
>there is some DEFICIENCY in the thing NAMED
or
>the word is READ IN TWO WAYS
We now apply these two methods to the half dozen verses
brought above.
DEFICIENT SPELLING = DEFICIENT MEANING
--------------------------------------
Thus
>take the LULAV LEAVS
means
>Take ONE Lulav with MANY leaves
because it is spelled deficiently. (OTherwise it would mean
take many lulavs (eg 2) with many leaves)
Similarly
>I will PLACE leaders on you
means
>The leaders PLACED on you will bear your responsibility
In other words their so called
>LEADERSHIP
is deficient since it is
>The leaders who are responsible not the people
Thus
>The leaders are subservient to the people in 1 respect
Hence
>'Their leadership is DEFICIENT'
DEFICIENT SPELLING=READ TWO WAYS
--------------------------------
eg.
>This is My(Gods) name forever(ALM)
can also be read
>Treat my name with respect by HIDING (ALM) IT
(Hence the INEFFABLE NAME OF GOD)
Similarly
>God gave Moses when he was finished (CLH)
can be read
>God gave Moses the Torah like the gift of a bride(CLH)
The analogy
>Torah = Bride
is then expounded in various ways.
Finally
>Don't answer a dispute(RIV) by blindly following
>the majority
Can be read
>Don't override the opinions of the court leader
>simply because everyone else disagrees with him
In fact Jewish law requires that capital case
opinions/briefs begin with the younger members of court
(The head of court holds his opinion till the end)
$COMMENTS OF RASHIS FORM
========================
Notice how Rashi explicitly states in 2c23-2 that
>The reason Chazal interpreted this verse
>in such a strange way is because of the
>deficient spelling
$LISTS--See {LIST1} Below
======
[END OF NEW]
[> The reader can either
>>skip the rest of the posting if they remember it
>>or reread it for review
> The {LIST1} of all verses with DEFICIENT/FULL spellings is
>augmented below. Its perusal will help you judge the
accuracy of our suggested two part interpretation]
v1-23-16 And Ephron was a common person of the Chitites
v1b25-24 And behold she (Rivkah) had twins
v1b38-27 And behold she (Tamar) had twins
v1-9-12 I will give my rainbow as a "sign"
v1-1-28 ...and you (the humans) will conquer the land
v1-25-6 and to the sons of the concubines he(Abraham)
gave presents
v1z1-14 Let there be lights in the skys (Sun and moon)
v1z6-2 And the Judges saw the women when they were good
looking and took them (for themselves)
v1b16-5 May God judge between me and you
v1c18-1 And Abraham was sitting..
v1a23-10 And Ephron was sitting...
RASHI TEXT:
===========
v1-23-16 The word Ephron is spelled DEFICIENTLY because
he was a deficient person (not nice)
v1b25-24 The word Twins by Rivkah is spelled deficiently
since Esauv came from her who was a deficient-
wicked person. By contrast the word Twins by Tamar
is spelled full because both children were nice
v1b38-27 The word Twins by Rivkah is spelled deficiently
since Esauv came from her who was a deficient-
wicked person. By contrast the word Twins by Tamar
is spelled full because both children were nice
v1-9-12 The word GENERATIONS is spelled deficiently--since
not ALL generations need a sign (to protect them
from a flood) since some generations are totally
righteous
v1-1-28 The word AND YOU WILL CONQUER HER is spelled
deficiently because not all people CONQUER land.
Usually men do and not women.
v1-25-6 The word CONCUBINES is spelled deficiently. There
was a deficiency in the CONCUBINES--there were 2
marriages but only 1 woman since Abraham remarried
Hagar.
v1z1-14 The word LIGHTS is spelled deficiently. It can be
consequently be read as both LIGHTS and CURSE. This
is because change of weather (sun-moon) can be both
a BLESSING and CURSE.
v1z6-2 The word GOOD LOOKING is spelled deficiently. The
deficient spelling looks like a verb form (To put
on Makeup(2R9-30)). This shows the ugliness of
their practice that even at those times in a woman's
life when they were trying to make an impression by
putting on makeup (eg by their weddings) the Judges
would go in and take them
v1b16-5 The Hebrew word BETWEEN YOU AND ME is spelled
FULL. This is the ONLY time in the whole Bible when
this word is spelled FULL. The FULL form looks like
it is saying BETWEEN ME AND YOU(HAGAR) rather than
BETWEEN ME AND YOU (ABRAHAM). This shows that Sarah
was fighting with everybody and had picked on Hagar
a great deal. In fact we see from the Angels promise
of another conception and birth 1-16-11 that she
apparently had miscarried (apparently from Sarahs
mistreatment of her).
v1c18-1 The word SITTING is spelled DEFICIENTLY so that it
appears to say HE HAD SAT (but was no longer sitting
eg he STOOD UP). Thus when God came to Abraham he
began to get up but God told him to sit (because
Abraham was sick). God also promised that His
standing vs Abrahams sitting would be a symbol to
future Jewish generations since according to Ps82
when Judges sit in judgement God stands there.
v1a23-10 The word WAS A COMMON PERSON is spelled deficiently
appearing to read HAD BEEN A COMMON PERSON. Thus
since EPHRON was making deals with Abraham the
community appointed Ephron with a temporary
appointment (So that he was both a COMMON person
that was (temporarily) DISTINGUISHED).
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
=========================================
We have gathered all 11 Rashis in Genesis dealing with FULL and
DEFICIENT spellings. Recall that every Hebrew word has Vowel
sounds like OH and EE. If for example, corresponding to the EE
sound there is a YUD then we say that the word is spelled FULLY.
If however there is an EE sound but no YUD then we say that the
word is spelled DEFICIENTLY.
Reviewing the 11 Rashis on DEFICIENT/FULL spellings {LISt1}
we see TWO CLEAR APPROACHES to them.
--APPROACH 1---The spelling DEFICIENCY indicates a DEFICIENCY
-------------------------------------------------------------
For example the person EPRHON has his named spelled DEFICIENTLY.
This indicates that he was a DEFICIENT-NOT NICE person. In fact
1-23 shows that EPHRON bragged alot on how he would sell burial
plots to Abraham for nothing and then turned around and charged
him in the finest currency. So Rashi Is Simple--Ephron was
a DEFICIENT person.
Similarly by using the ALIGNMENT method {LIST3} on the births
of RIVKAH and TAMAR we see that
>v1b25-24 & behold there were TW NS in her belly
>v1b38-27 & behold there were TWINS in her belly
by Rivkah(1-25-24)(who had the wicked Esauv and Jacob) the
word TWINS is spelled DEFICIENTLY (Which we have mimicked
in English with the missing I). By contrast by Tamar who had
two righteous children the word TWINS is spelled FULL.
There is even an English phrase about not-nice people
>he is missing something
In Hebrew we express this with a DEFICIENT spelling indicating
>a missing letter.
Some other examples of
>DEFICIENT spelling = some type of DEFICIENCY
are
>1-28-1 Adam is told to CONQUER the world but
the word conquer is spelled deficiently--not all people
conquer (eg men usually conquer not women)
>1-9-12 God gives Noach a sign for all GENERATIONS but
the word generation is spelled deficiently--not all
generations need a sign (Since some are totally righteous
and not in need of a sign)
>1-25-6 The word concubines is spelled deficiently;
The suggestion given is that although there were
TWO concubines there was only ONE woman.
Rashi suggests that Abraham
remarried Hagar after Sarahs death.
This completes the review of the approach where
>a deficient spelling = some indication of deficiency
---APPROACH 2---the 2 word approach
-----------------------------------
By using a deficient spelling we sometimes make the word appear
to spell something else. In such a case we have 2 words in one.
Very often this is taken to enhance the meaning of the verse
with extra nuances.
Perhaps the simplest example is 1-16-5
>May God Judge between me(Sarah) and you (Abraham)
said when Hagar gave birth but Sarah could not.
As {LIST2} shows the Hebrew word
>BETWEEN ME(Sarah) AND YOU(Abraham)
is always spelled deficiently with one exception---(1-16-5)
when it is spelled full. The fully spelled word looks like
it has a feminine suffix
>BETWEEN ME (Sarah) and YOU (Hagar)
Thus Rashi Is Simple. Sarah was angry and taking it out on
everybody---she first fought with Hagar and then blamed Abraham
for letting the situation go on. Further comments on this Rashi
are made in the COMMENTS ON RASHIS FORM SECTION.
Some other examples of this TWO WORD approach are v1z1-14
>Let there be lights (Sun and moon)
The deficiently spelled word LIGHTS looks like the word to
curse. This also makes alot of sense. The changing climate--
sun and moon---can bring both good and bad. Both health and
sickness can be attribued to the sun and moon.
Verse 1-6-2 reads
>When the Judges saw the pretty women they took
>whomever they wanted
But the word for PRETTY is spelled deficiently making it
look like the VERB meaning to put on makeup (2R4-13).
So Rashi hilights the vulgarity of the judges
>Even when the women were putting on makeup (eg
>because they were going seriously with someone)
>even then the judges would take them (knowing
>full well that the women in question were
>interested in someone else)
The remaining examples in {LIST1} deal with the word TO SIT
which when spelled deficiently looks like it is saying TO HAVE
BEEN SITTING. This occurs by Abraham and Ephron.
The explanation of this SITTING-WAS SITTING by Abraham is as follows
A person who stands, WAS SITTING but is NOT NOW SITTING.
A person who IS SITTING is obviously not standing. So a
person who BOTH SIT and SAT could be a person who started
to get up and then sat down. So we assume that Abraham
started to get up (out of respect to God) but God told
him to remain sitting and He (God) would stand. The profound
philosophical implications of this are discussed in the
COMMENTS ON RASHIS FORM SECTION.
Similarly by Ephron we analyze as follows--
YSHAV can mean in Hebrew a COMMON PERSON (eg 2R4-13).
A distinguished person is NOT COMMON NOW but WAS COMMON. By
contrast a NON DISTINGUISHED person IS COMMON NOW. Since Ephron
is called both we conclude that he received a temporary
appointment---he was a common person who LOOKED distinguished
but really wasn't (So the LOOKED and ACTUAL cause the WRITTEN
and SPOKEN forms of SIT-SAT).
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
=========================
We make 3 comments
1) Hagars miscarriage
----------------------
The MAIN point of Rashi is that
>Sarah and Hagar had a fight
This can be derived from the double word appearance of
>BETWEEN ME AND YOU
It can also be derived from te explicit verse
>return to your mistress and suffer under her(1-16-9)
Rashi simply goes a step further--what he says is probably
true but is not needed for our analysis. Rashi points out
that it says
>behold you WILL become pregnant and give birth(1-16-11)
Since her becoming pregnant had started the whole fight
between Sarah and her (1-16) it follows that if she became
pregnant again then she must have miscarried (apparently due
to stress from her fight with Sarah).
At any rate the interpretation of the DEFICIENT/FULL spelling
is supported by 1-16-9 that shows that Sarah and Hagar had
a fight.
2) God Stands while Abraham sits
--------------------------------
Rashi cites Judicial process--the judges sit and God stands.
This is supported by the verses in Ps82.
But Rashi obtained this verse from Genesis Rabbah which gives
the example of Kriath Shma (The people are sitting reciting
the shma and God is standing). Such a concept reflects
the Biblical verse
>and you shall study the law in YOUR sleeping and
>WAKING ( 5-6-6)
In other words, the Torah should be studied under ordinary
life circumstances.
So too..if Abraham was sick then it would be unnatural to stand
and therefore Abraham was serving God in HIS circumstances.
3) Need for creativity
-----------------------
Note the element of creativity needed to discover a concept like
>Temporary appointment
which combines features of both the PAST and PRESENT tense.
It is this creativity element which lends a midrashic flavor
to the analysis. Nevertheless, the idea that
>DEFICIENT spelling = 2 words at once
is a clear rule of grammar and style that is used in all
cases.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
===========================================================
{LIST1} {All 11 Rashis in Genesis dealing with DEFICIENT/FULL
spellings.
[NEW] Deficient spellings from the other 4 books (except
for Numbers) have been added
As can be seen 2 methods are used to
deal with this deficiency. Either (a) the deficiency
in spelling indicates some deficiency (like not being
a nice person) or (b) the deficiently spelled word can
be read differently suggesting that 2 words apply to
the same situation (So Eg Ephron's temporary appointment
showed a combination of his being a COMMON PERSON and
a DiSTINGUISHED person at the same time). Further
details are given in the footnotes}
VERSE METHOD WORD-1 WORD-2 Nature of DEFICIENCY
======== ========= ======= ============ =========================
1-23-16 Deficient not a nice person *1
1b25-24 Deficient not a nice person *1 *2
1b38-27 Deficient both were nice people*1*2
1-9-12 Deficient Not all need a sign
1-1-28 Deficient Not everyone conquers
1-25-6 Deficient 2 marriages but 1 woman
3c23-40 Deficient MANY leaves; ONE lulav*-1
3z26-42 Full Full exile==redemption
5f1-13 Deficient LEADER but RESPONSIBLE*-2
1z1-14 2 words Sunlight Curse Weather can help/hurt *3
1z6-2 2 words Good Put makeup Pretty at time of makeup*6
1b16-5 2 words me-you me-her Sarah had hurt Hagar *4
1c18-1 2 words sitting sat Began to get up&sat down*5
1a23-10 2 words common distinguished temporary appointment *5
2a3-15 2 words forever hidden God's name is ineffable*-3
2c23-2 2 Words dispute Rabbi/head*-4 Don't override Court head
2b31-18 2 Words Complete Bride*-5 Torah received like bride
FOOTNOTES
*-1 In other words if the verse had been written normally
>We would take MANY lulavs each with MANY leaves
while now that it is written deficiency
>we take ONE lulav with MANY leaves
Thus the PLURALITY of the LULAVS is deficient (it refers
to one lulav)
*-2 Most leaders blaim subordinates for errors.
However Jewish leaders get blamed for subordinates of errors
Hence the
>Placement of leaders
is DEFICIENT
>since the leaders can sometimes be blamed
*-3 Thus we read two sentences
>Gods name is forever
>Gods name is hidden (ineffable)
*-4 Thus we read two sentences
>Don't answer a dispute to follow a majority
>Don't answer a court-head to follow a majority
(Hence opinions in trials always start from the younger
court members and go up till the head of Court is reached)
Rashi himself points out that Chazal are NOT intending this
to mean the simple meaning of the text. Rather
>They gave this other interpretation because of the
>deficient spelling (which Justifies a dual interpretation)
*-5 Thus we read two sentences
>God gave Moses the tablets WHEN HE WAS FINISHED
>God gave Moses the tablets LIKE THE GIVING OF A BRIDE
*1 In these 3 examples the DEFICIENCY is in the PERSON--
they weren't nice people The deficiency of Rivkahs son
ESAUV is well known in Tnach. The deficiency of Ephron can
be seen by his bragging--do--nothing nature---he keeps on
saying how he will give the field for nothing and then
takes the field for its full value in the best currency (1-23)
*2 Note that Rashi uses the ALIGNMENT method here{LIST3}.
Both verses speak about the birth of twins yet one uses
a deficient spelling and one uses a full spelling. In
one case both twins were righteous while in the other case
one of the twins was wicked (or deficient). In this case
the explantion of the deficiency PRECEDED the actual deficiency.
*3 In other words the changing climate (sun & moon) can
lead to colds. On the other hand the sun also aids in growth.
So the sun aids both growth and destruction.
*4 That Sarah seriously hurt Hagar is clear from the
explicit statement
> return to your mistress and SUFFER under her(1-16-9)
Rashi simply points out the likely possibility that the stress
caused by Sarah towards Hagar (the "evil eye") caused a
miscarriage (which is the reason for the promise of another
conception and birth(1-16-11)). However the main point of the
verses is that Sarah was angry at BOTH Hagar and
Abraham and Hagar suffered under her. Note how Rashi uses the
alignment method here---every other BETWEEN ME AND YOU in the
Bible is spelled deficiently {LIST2}
*5 A person who stands, WAS SITTING but is NOT NOW SITTING.
A person who IS SITTING is obviously not standing. So a
person who BOTH SIT and SAT could be a person who started
to get up and then sat down. Similarly by Ephron we analyze
as follows: YSHAV can mean in Hebrew a COMMON PERSON (eg 2R4-13).
A distinguished person is NOT COMMON NOW but WAS COMMON. By
contrast a NON DISTINGUISHED person IS COMMON NOW. Since Ephron
is called both we conclude that he received a temporary
appointment---he was a common person who LOOKED distinguished
but really wasn't (So the LOOKED and ACTUAL cause the WRITTEN
and SPOKEN forms of SIT-SAT).
Note the element of creativity needed to discover a concept like
>Temporary appointment
which combines features of both the PAST and PRESENT tense.
*6 In other words the Judges waited till the women would "dress
themselves up" and then took them. Rashi hilights the vulgarity of
the practice by emphasizing that most woman "dress themselves up"
when they are going seriously with somebody (eg when they are about
to get married).
{LIST2} {Of verses containing the words BETWEEN ME AND YOU. The
Hebrew word BETWEEN ME AND YOU is always spelled
DEFICIENTLY except in one instance. We therefore interpret
1-16-5 as indicating that Sarah fought with 2 people--with
both Abraham and Hagar}
VERSE SPELLING
================
1-16-5 FULL
Ruth1-27DEFICIENT
1-13-8 DEFICIENT
1-17-7 DEFICIENT
1-23-15 DEFICIENT
1-31-44 DEFICIENT
1-31-48 DEFICIENT
1-31-49 DEFICIENT
1-31-50 DEFICIENT
1-31-51 DEFICIENT
1S20-23 DEFICIENT
1S20-42 DEFICIENT
1S24-13 DEFICIENT
1S24-16 DEFICIENT
1R15-19 DEFICIENT
2C16-3 DEFICIENT
{LIST3} {Of the two verses, both written in the same language, that
indicate that Rivkah and Tamar had twins. One of Rivkahs
children, Esauv, was wicked and hence the deficiently
spelled TWIN which we mimic in English with a missing "I"
--TW NS.However both of Tamars children were righteous so
the spelling is full}
VERSE TEXT TWIN-1 TWIN-2
======== ========================================== ====== ======
v1b25-24 & behold there were TW NS in her belly *1 Esauv Yaakov
v1b38-27 & behold there were TWINS in her belly *1 Peretz Zarach
FOOTNOTES
*1 To mimic the Hebrew we spell TWIN without the letter "I" to
indicate a deficient spelling.
CROSS REFERENCES:
[NEW]
v4a17-25 in V2n18 (Discusses v3a26-42--Jacob spelled full)
v1z1-14 in v3n23 (Has Genesis verses with deficient
spellings)
[END OF NEW]
v1b1-14 These 3 verses were discussed last issue
v1-1-28 We now bring all Rashis on Deficient spelling
v1b6-2 in Genesis
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