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(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 2000
Volume 5 Number 10
Produced Feb, 20 2000
WARNING: USE FIX WIDTH FONTS (eg COURIER (NEW) 10)
Verses/Topics Discussed in This Issue with quicky explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------
v2q12-34
Question from Shmuel Tarshish. Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra &
Gmarrah seem to disagree on the meaning of the verse
'THE DOUGH THE JEWS TOOK OUT OF EGYPT'. If it was dough
and they took it out then it leavened. But wasn't leaven
prohibited to them?
v2a12-34
This is the only verse in the Bible where we have the
phrase MATZOH CAKE--MATZOH CAKE refers to HALF BAKED
MATZOH that was quickly baked and is half matzoh and has
pockets of raw dough. Thus the Jews took out of Egypt
HALF BAKED MATZOH
v2a28-32
WORDS can acquire NEW MEANINGS based on a shared
FORM,FUNCTION, GOOD EXAMPLE or EXAGGERATION. Thus
HEAD-MOUTH means the coat neck. HEMLINE INSIDE means
DOUBLE WOVEN. POMEGRANATES means ornaments that LOOK
LIKE pomegranates.
v2a28-34
The verse BELLS AMONG THE POMEGRANATES can mean BELLS
INSIDE THE POMEGRANATES or BELLS INBETWEEN THE
POMEGRANATES.Verses are brought showing that TOCH can
mean INBETWEEN or INSIDE. Rashi decides TOCH= INBETWEEN
because it EXPICITLY SAYS SO IN NEXT VERSE
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
RASHI IS SIMPLE
GOALS: To grammatically defend all 8000 Rashis on Chumash.
METHOD:Every Rashi will be defended with a LIST of comparable cases
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Laymen, Academicians, Rabbis, Yeshiva students
COMMENTS,QUESTIONS: EMail to address below; (minor edits may occur)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:Always given unless 'anonymous' is explicitly asked
(UN)SUBSCRIBE: Email to above with keyword "(UN)subscribe"
JOURNAL REFERECE: Pshat & Drash, TRADITION, Win 1980, R Hendel
NOTATION: eg v2b1-8 refers to Ex(Book 2) Chap 1 Verse 8 Rashi b(#2)
SPECIALS:...on Rambam,Ramban,Symbolism,Pedagogy,Daily Questions
EMAIL: RJHendel@Juno.Com,rashi-is-simple@shamash.org,
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v2q12-34
======
From: David Tarshis
To: Rashi Is Simple
RE: 3 Way controversy of Rashi, Ramban and Ibn Ezra on 2-12-34,39
The verses state
>the Jews took their DOUGH before it leavened
>the Jews baked the DOUGH they took out of Egypt as Matzah
because the Egyptians would not give them time
IBN EZRA SAYS: The Jews coming out of Egypt were permitted bread
(and hence the verse says 'they made it Matzah because
they weren't allowed to leave)
BUT THE BIBLE SAYS: You may not have any leaven 2-12-19
THE GMARRAH SAYS:The Jews coming out of Egypt were prohibited leaven
on the 1st night and day of Exodus while remaining generations
are prohibited all 7 days
THE RAMBAN SAYS: That the Jews didn't bake it Matzoh because of
the commandment that God gave them
RASHI SAYS: That the Jews didn't bake it Matzoh because of
the fact that the Egyptians did not let them back
THE RAMBAN FURTHER SAYS: The Jews baked the Matzoh ON THE ROAD
OR AT SUCCOTH with the DOUGH they took
(But if they took dough and it lasted more that 18 minutes
then it leavened) (The Ramban cites the Mechiltah)
What really happened here?
Were the Jews prohibited from having leaven?
What did they take with them?
Shmuel Tarshis
[Shmuel besides bringing over a Chumash brought over
>a Gmara PSACHIM
>Ramban with Perushim
>Mikraoth Gedoloth with Ibn Ezra etc]
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v2a12-34
======
v2a12-34 And the nation carried its DOUGH before it leavened
v2a12-39 And they baked the DOUGH they took out of Egypt as
MATZOH CAKES, not bread, beause they were expelled
from Egypt
RASHI TEXT:
===========
v2a12-34 'And the nation carried its DOUGH before it leavened'
The Egyptians did not give them enough time to leaven the
bread
v2a12-39 '& they baked the DOUGH they took out of Egypt as
MATZOH CAKES'
MATZOH CAKES refers to BURNT MATZOH--any dough that
doesn't leaven is called Matzoh
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
=========================================
The key word that Rashi is focusing on is
>MATZOH CAKES
As {LIST1} shows MATZOH is never called CAKE except here. It is not
so much the extra word that bothers Rashi so much as the DEVIATION
FROM STYLE---MATZOH represents HURRIEDNESS, INABILITY TO LEAVEN, the
exact opposite of what is needed for baking a CAKE.
------------------------------------------------------
| QUESTION 1: |
| =========== |
| How would you show that the word (phrase) |
| >Matzoh Cakes |
| is deviant from normal usage? What tools would you |
| use? How would you confirm this suspicion? |
------------------------------------------------------
There are 4 stages in going from DOUGH to BREAD
>DOUGH = WATER + FLOUR
>QUICKLY BAKED MATZOH= Some matzoh + Some dough pockets
(The old fashioned European Matzoh looked this way;
that is why some people do not have Gbrach (Matzoh+
SOUP) since the SOUP will LEAVEN the raw dough
>MATZOH = WATER + FLOUR baked within 18 minutes
>BREAD = WATER + FLOUR that is left to rise and fully baked
Now 2-12-34 calls what the Jews took out
>DOUGH
while 2-12-39 calls it
>MATZOH CAKE (indicating a puffed up appearance)
So Rashi is Simple--this MATZOH CAKE must refer to
>QUICKLY BAKED MATZOH that has Matzoh + Pockets of dough
(giving it a puffed up appearance)
It is for this reason that Rashi calls the MATZOH CAKE
>BURNT DOUGH---(Since ANY dough not leavened (even if not
fully (cooked) is called MATZOH)
We can further observe that
>God prohibited the Jews from having bread (2-12-19)
>But God did allow them to have Matzoh
>But the Egyptians would not even let them cook matzoh
>They left in such a hurry that they had to Quick-Bake their
dough and it became MATZOH-CAKE vs MATZOH
A final point is the observation that in 2-12-38 the verb is in
the PAST PERFECT
>And a mixed multitude HAD GONE UP WITH THEM
>with many cattle
>and they had baked the dough into MATZOH CAKES...
>because they were expelled from Egypt
>and they didn't even have time to prepare
In other words the Bible is describing what happened
>ON THE DAY THEY LEFT EGYPT.
They had to leave in a hurry without being able to prepare food,
and without even time to prepare matzoh (rather they had to burn
it quickly into matzoh cakes)
-------------------------------------------
/ STOP! STOP! \
/ \
| You have JUST COMPLETED the MAIN explanation.|
| |
| The remaining sections discuss |
| >Controversies |
| >Talmudic interpretations and |
| >Lists |
| |
| If you are pressed for time you may wish to |
| skip this technical material and go to the |
| next posting. |
| |
| To go to the next posting use your word |
| processor or web browser and click on |
| >EDIT |
| >FIND |
| >Fill in for the FIND box "VERSE:" |
| You will then jump to the beginning of the |
\ next posting /
\--------------------------------------------/
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
=========================
We make 5 comments
#1) Rashis comments are not philosophical but grammatical
---------------------------------------------------------
The reason Rashi made his comments is because of the unusual
phrase
>MATZOH CAKES
The proper way to learn Rashi is to concentrate on grammar
#2) Rashi and Ramban are both right
-----------------------------------
Indeed: As we already pointed out
>The Jews were not allowed to make BREAD (Ramban)
>But the Egyptians did not EVEN allow them to
make Matzoh (but they made MATZOH-DOUGH) (Rashi)
#3) Ibn Ezra contradicts a verse and Gmarrah
--------------------------------------------
The Ibn Ezra was misled by the word
>DOUGH
which led him to believe that the Jews carried dough
This contradicts an explicit verse that says that leaven
is prohibited. The Gmarrah states that the Jews were prohibited
to have leavened dough only on the first day.
However if the Jews carried dough out of Egypt then after
18 minutes it would have leavened. Therefore there is no
apparent way to further defend the Ibn Ezra. However it is
important to emphasize that he was bothered by the word
>DOUGH
#4) Ramban interpreted 2-12-39 to refer to after the Exodus
-----------------------------------------------------------
The Ramban interprets 2-12-39
>The Jews baked the dough
to refer to after they left.
But if they carried out dough then within 18 minutes it
turned to Leaven!! And this is prohibited.
As already pointed out Rashi bases himself on the PAST PERFECT
>and a mixed multitude HAD GONE out with them(2-12-38)
>and they had baked (before they left) the dough into
>matzoh cakes
This would avoid problems of carrying dough more than 18 minutes
As for the Mechiltah that the Ramban brings down---that the
Jews had the Matzoh on the road or at Succoth---I would simply
say that like any 'trip'--you take along food and eat it
where you go. So indeed they did have the Matzoh in Succoth
but they had ALREADY baked it in Egypt.
The Ramban's actual language
>they baked it on the road
would have to be amended
#5) The principle used to interpret Rashi is NEW MEANINGS
---------------------------------------------------------
It is a mistake to say that the standard MEANING of
>MATZOH CAKE is HALF COOKED MATZOH
For indeed the phrase
>MATZOH CAKE
only occurs ONCE in all of the Bible.
A more meaningful approach is to suppose that Hebrew did not yet
have a word for
>HALF COOKED MATZOH
and that the Bible coined the phrase
>MATZOH CAKE
to describe it. Thus we see that
>MATZOH CAKE is a NEW MEANING vs AN ESTABLISHED MEANING
The reason I am phrasing this principle as a
>NEW MEANING vs AN ESTABLISHED MEANING
is that since the meaning is NEW it follows there might be
considerable controversy on the principle. Indeed, we will
see in the next few issues that CONTROVERSY happens precisely when
words become invested with NEW MEANING since there is no way to
ascertain exactly what the new meaning is.
This principle
>NEW MEANINGS
happens in all languages. A simple example might be saying
that
>this new dress is PEACH
by which we mean that
>this new dress is PEACH COLORED
That is the word
>PEACH
acquired a
>NEW MEANING
and refers not to the FRUIT but rather to the COLOR.
In a similar mannar the phrase
>TOY GUN
does not denote a GUN but rather a
>TOY that is SHAPED like a gun
(This example actually comes from a journal article)
In a similar mannar many words have
>NARROW meanings
and then acquire
>BROADER meanings
For example the word
>DAY denotes a 12 hour period (NARROW MEANING)
and then comes to denote
>DAY, the 24 hour period.
---------------------------------------------------
| QUESTION 2: |
| =========== |
| Can you make a list of words (in Hebrew or |
| English) that illustrate new meanings? How |
| could you make such a list? What tools would |
| you use? {LIST2}{LIST3}{LIST4} give partial |
| answers. They also discuss principles. |
---------------------------------------------------
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
===========================================================
{LIST1}{Sample verses where MATZOH occurs.
The list can be compiled with a Konkordance or CD ROM.
To make the list interesting we avoid MATZOH reference to
Passover. Notice how in all these examples there was a
PARTY--we would therefore expect the term MATZOH CAKE.
But in each case we find the term MATZOH. See Footnote
*1 for a discussion of CHALLAH MATZO and WAFER MATZOH}
VERSE TEXT
======= ===========================================================
1-19-3 And Lot baked MATZOTH for the Angel guests
2R23-9 The Bamoth Priests ate MATZOTH with their family
1S28-20 And the woman kneaded dough and baked MATZOH for the King
Jud6-19 And Gidon cooked a goat,...& MATZOH...& soup
3-2-4*1 CHALLAH MATZOH cooked in oil and WAFER MATZOH (oil covered)
2-12-39 And they baked the dough into MATZOH CAKES *2
FOOTNOTES
---------
*1 CHALLAH MATZOH = MATZOH cooked in oil
WAFER MATZOH = MATZOH covered with oil
However the Matzoh in each case is still MATZOH by contrast...
*2 ..The MATZOH CAKES = HALF DOUGH & HALF MATZOH
It refers to Matzoh not fully cooked...hence it has
pockets of dough (that look puffy like the FORM of
a CAKE).
In other words the Jews were pushed out of Egypt;
besides not making bread (which was prohibited by
God) they did not even have time to bake matzohs!
Rather they burnt their matzohs quickly and the
Matzohs came out half matzoh and half dough---
they called this MATZOH-CAKES.
For the technical rules of FORMING NEW NAMES see
{LIST2}, {LIST3}, {LIST4} below.
{LIST2}{Creation of NEW NAMES. Notice that the technique
used is one of EXAGGERATION. Thus the BREAK-FAST
does not really require a FAST. This list is
SEMANTIC and cannot be made by CD ROMS or Konkordances
Instead one must use their mind.}
NEW PHRASE DOES NOT MEAN DOES MEAN
=============== ===================== =============================
Toy Gun Not a Gun Toy that LOOKS like a Gun
BreakFast Need not fast Meal after longest abstention
BathRoom Need not have a bath Room for NAKED activities
SkyScraper Need not be in clouds Building CLOSER to sky
Electric opener An opener that is electric
{LIST3} {Creation of new meaning: Things that LOOK LIKE
the original word. In this case the NEW MEANING
has the SAME FORM as the original meaning. The
>FORM
can refer to
>COLOR, SHAPE, SOUND, NUMBER}
FIRST MEANING NEW MEANING
============= ===========
The fruit, cherry The color, cherry
The shape, pentagon The building, pentagon
Loud=alot of noise a Loud dress=alot of noticeability
Storm=alot of raindrops Brainstorm=alot of ideas
Surf the seas = surf the web =
bumpy slow journery bumpy slow lookup
{LIST4} {Partial list of nouns (objects) with narrow and general
meaning. In each case the word can refer to a special
PART of the WHOLE}
WORD NARROW MEANING BROAD MEANING
==== ============== =============
Day 12 hour period 24 hour period
Bread Bread Any Food
Man (ISH) Male Any person
E-L-H-I-M God Any Judge
Candellabra Main shaft Whole candellabra*1
FOOTNOTES
---------
*1 Cf 2-25-31 (broad meaning) vs 2-25-34 (narrow meaning). We have
a whole posting on the Menorah where this is developed in length.
(e.g. v2a25-31)
CROSS REFERENCES:
=================
The following postings all give good lists of NEW MEANINGS
v1a1-20, v3n20,
v3c23-40, v2n3
v3b21n18, v2n3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
=================
To Shmuel Tarshish who spent a (delightful) 45 minutes with
me---bringing in Gmarrahs, Mikraoth Gedoloth and a Ramban
with commentaries---for bringing up the question. As I look
back at the discussion the most important principle I introduced
to Shmuel was that Rashi was concentrating on the phrase
>MATZOH CAKES
It is this concentration on a peculiar phrase that distinguishes
Rashi from Ramban and Ibn Ezra.
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
===============================================================
NEW MEANINGS
NEW MEANINGS
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v2a28-32
======
v2a28-32 and the NECK (literally MOUTH-ON-HEAD) of
v2b28-32 the cloak shall be DOUBLED (literally INSIDE)
& woven
v2a28-33 & you will make pomegranates on the cloak
v2c28-33 and bells AMONG THEM (among the pomegranates)
v2a28-34 a golden bell AND a pomegranate
a golden bell AND a pomegranate
RASHI TEXT:
===========
v2a28-32 'and the NECK (literally MOUTH-ON-HEAD) of'
The Hebrew phrase
>MOUTH-HEAD
refers to the
>NECK
of the garment
v2b28-32 'the cloak shall be DOUBLED (literally INSIDE)
& woven'
The Hebrew phrase
>its neck shall be INSIDE
means
>you double over the neck-hem
v2a28-33 '& you will make pomegranates on the cloak'
The Hebrew phrase
>POMEGRANATES
means
>in the shape of POMEGRANATES
v2c28-33 '& bells AMONG THEM (among the pomegranates)'
The Hebrew phrase
>& bells INSIDE the pomegranates
means
>& bells lying AMONG the pomegranates
[Moderator: See next Rashi]
v2a28-34 'a golden bell AND a pomegranate
a golden bell AND a pomegranate'
This verse clearly shows that the pomegranates
lied side by side with the bells (and not
inside the bells)
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
=========================================
The above 4-5 rashis all illustrate how words can acquire
>NEW MEANINGS
Examples of this are plentiful and exist in all languages.
For example if I say that
>her dress is PEACH
I don't mean that she is covering herself with the
>PEACH FRUITS
but rather I mean that she is covering herself with a dress that
>is PEACH COLORED--it has the VISUAL FORM of a peach
Similarly the
>PENTAGON
refers to a
>BUILDING that has the FORM of a PENTAGON.
Similarly a
>TOY GUN
refers to a
>TOY that has the FORM of a GUN
In all these cases the word acquired a
>NEW MEANING
by sharing its
>FORM
with the new word.
The FORM that is transferred can be
>COLOR, SHAPE, AUDITORY etc
There are other methods of words acquiring
>NEW MEANING
For example, besides transferring FORM a word can transfer
>FUNCTION.
Thus unlike the PENTAGON, the
>UNITED NATIONS
is named after its
>FUNCTION, GOAL and PURPOSE
For the purpose of the UNITED NATIONS is to unify the nations of
the world
Similarly words can acquire a
>NEW MEANING
by varying between
>NARROW and BROADER meanings
Thus the word
>DAY
can refer either to a
>24 hour period--the BROADER meaning
or to a
>12 hour period--the NARROW meaning
In other words, WORDS can transfer meaning by
>PARTS being GOOD EXAMPLES of the whole
(so the 12 hour day is a GOOD EXAMPLE of the whole day)
-------------------------------------------------------
| QUESTION 1: |
| =========== |
| Can you find other examples (in English or Hebrew) |
| where words transfer meaning. How would you make |
| such lists? What tools would you use? {LIST1} below |
| provides a partial answer. |
-------------------------------------------------------
Using the above principle of
>NEW MEANINGS
Rashi is Simple.
The word
>MOUTH-HEAD refers to the NECK of the coat
>MOUTH-HEAD INSIDE means the NECK HEMLINE is DOUBLED
(for when you double it you bend it over INSIDE).
The phrase
>Make POMEGRANATES on the coat
does not mean
>to hang FRUITS on the coat
but rather means to
>create ornaments that LOOK LIKE pomegranates on the coat
The Hebrew statement
>the gold bells shall be TOCH the pomegranates
can EQUALLY mean
>the gold bells shall be INSIDE the pomegranates (Ramban)
>the gold bells shall be AMONG the pomegranates (Rashi,Rambam)
For indeed the Hebrew word
>TOCH
can mean both
>INSIDE (eg 3-11-33) and
>AMONG / BETWEEN ( eg 2-25-8)
(So the hem of the coat had hanging from it alternatively
BELL POMEGRANATE BELL POMEGRANATE BELL POMEGRANATE)
------------------------------------------------
| QUESTION 2: |
| =========== |
| We just said that the Hebrew word |
| >TOCH |
| can mean both |
| >INSIDE |
| >AMONG-BETWEEN |
| How would you prove this? What other meanings|
| can TOCH have? What tools would you use? |
| How would you justify your answer? |
| {LIST2} below gives a partial answer. |
------------------------------------------------
But if
>TOCH
can mean
>INSIDE or AMONG
how do we chose between Rashi and Ramban? Were the bells INSIDE
the pomegranates or AMONG them? Clearly we can NOT decide this
question from this verse since TOCH can mean either INSIDE or
AMONG.
But the VERY NEXT VERSE says
>A bell AND a pomegranate a bell AND a pomegranate
It does not say
>A bell INSIDE a pomegranate a bell INSIDE a pomegranate
So Rashi is Simple
>The BELLS were ALONG SIDE the pomegrantes, not IN them
In other words we learn the meaning of
>TOCH
from
>AN OTHER VERSE.
In passing we point out that Ramban EXPLICITLY says
>I don't know why Rashi interprets TOCH=AMONG
In other words the Ramban was not disagreeing with the Mesorah
and accepted halachah (as some people erroneously think) but
rather he was pointing out that WITHOUT the other verse the
more natural interpretation is that the bells were inside the
pomegranates and in this he was absolutely correct. Moreover
the supporting proof for Rashi and the Mesorah is clear and
convincing.
-------------------------------------------
/ STOP! STOP! \
/ \
| You have JUST COMPLETED the MAIN explanation.|
| |
| The remaining sections discuss |
| >Controversies |
| >Talmudic interpretations and |
| >Lists |
| |
| If you are pressed for time you may wish to |
| skip this technical material and go to the |
| next posting. |
| |
| To go to the next posting use your word |
| processor or web browser and click on |
| >EDIT |
| >FIND |
| >Fill in for the FIND box "VERSE:" |
| You will then jump to the beginning of the |
\ next posting /
\--------------------------------------------/
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
=========================
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
===========================================================
{LIST1}{Creation of NEW NAMES. As shown NEW NAMES can be
created by sharing
>Their FORM
>their FUNCTION
>EXAGGERATION
>Good Example}
WORD / PHRASE NEW MEANING Relation of NEW to OLD
=============== ===================== =====================
Toy Gun Toy that looks like a gun FORM-shape
cherry The color, cherry FORM-color
pentagon The building, pentagon FORM-shape
Loud a Loud dress FORM-auditory
Storm Brainstorm=alot of ideas FORM-number(alot of)
Surf Surf the web FORM-activity(bumpy)
United United nations FUNCTION
open can opener FUNCTION
copy copy machine FUNCTION
BreakFast The meal after night fast EXAGGERATION
SkyScraper Looks like it scrapes sky EXAGGERATION
BathRoom Room for naked activities GOOD EXAMPLE
Day 12/24 hour period GOOD EXAMPLE
Bread Bread/any food GOOD EXAMPLE
horse horsepower GOOD EXAMPLE
Man (ISH) Male / any person GOOD EXAMPLE
E-L-H-I-M God / any judge GOOD EXAMPLE
Candellabra*1 Main shaft (backbone) GOOD EXAMPLE
FOOTNOTES
---------
*1 Cf 2-25-31 (broad meaning) vs 2-25-34 (narrow meaning). We have
a whole posting on the Menorah where this is developed in length.
(e.g. v2a25-31)
{LIST2} {The list of meanings of the Hebrew word TOCH. This
list was compiled by using the book ROOTS compiled
by the great Mideval Grammarian, RDK, who listed
all Hebrew Biblical Roots and their meanings}
MEANING SAMPLE VERSE TEXT
======= ============ ============================
Inside 2-11-33 everything INSIDE the utensil
Middle 2-26-28 The MIDDLE board *1
Deceipt Ps55-12 Deceipt doesn't depart form it
FOOTNOTES
---------
*1 RADACK uses the WORD TICHON to indicate MIDDLE. I used
2-25-8 ('I will dwell AMONG you'). From a topological point
of view
>INSIDE refers to a 3 dimensional space
>AMONG refers to a 2 dimensional space
>BETWEEN refers to a 1 dimensional space
CROSS REFERENCES:
=================
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
=================
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
===============================================================
NEW MEANINGS
NEW MEANINGS
NEW MEANINGS
NEW MEANINGS
OTHER VERSES
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
End of Rashi-Is-Simple Digest
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*