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(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 2000
Volume 5 Number 2
Produced Jan, 26 2000
WARNING: USE FIX WIDTH FONTS (eg COURIER (NEW) 10)
Verses/Topics Discussed in This Issue with quicky explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------
v7-1-23
This issue is devoted to reader questions. Please submit
questions on any aspect of Rashi.
v1z48-7
Question from JONAH WAHRMAN on volume 4 number 19,
v1-48-7. Jonah raises some geographic questions on the
facts used in that posting.
v2z14-21
Response to CHERYL ZWIREN's question (v5n1). Rashi
derives meaning of SHDF from 3 lists a) SHDF is a wheat
field illness b) the SHDF illness affects wheat before
maturity (c) the SHDF illness is caused by a continually
pounding east wind(the fiercest wind
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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,
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VERSE: v7-1-23
======
This issue is devoted to a question by CHERYL ZWIREN. I also
have a question from Jonah Wahrman (which I don't know enough
(about geography) to answer).
Please send in questions on Rashi---this is YOUR email list
Russell Hendel; Moderator Rashi Is Simple
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VERSE: v1z48-7
======
From: Jonah -- Wahrman
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000 20:54:32 EST
Subject: RE: Geographical assumptions in v4n19, v1-48-7
Dear Russell,
You are assuming that "near Beth Lechem" means somewhere close by
the town, and you give examples of different types of "distances."
How, then, do you explain the following:
1. Samuel went looking for Saul in order to annoint him king.
Saul had left his home to search for five lost donkeys belonging
to his father. When Saul found him, he told him the following:
When you come to the tomb of Rachel which is in Zelzach in
the Land of Benjamin, you will meet two men who will tell you
that the donkeys have returned to your father and he is
worried about you.
2. Just north of Jerusalem in the village of Hizme there are
some huge megalithic tombs. In arabic they are called "Kuber
Beni Yizrael" the "kever" of the children of Israel. Could
Rachel's tomb be here? Hizme's tombs is on the ancient road
through the Land of Israel known as Derech Avot. It follows
the spine of the country connecting Mesepotamia and Egypt.
Travellers coming from the North would be in this road. Hizme
is in the tribal area of Benjamin, just as Samuel said Rachel's
tomb would be found by Saul. Hizme is also a "way to go to Beth
Lechem.
The current tomb of Rachel is on the outskirts of Bethlehem which
is in the tribal area of Judah!
Yours,
Jonah Wahrman
[Moderator: In a follow up note Jonah writes the following]
Please read 1Samuel, chapter 9 (for background information).
Then, read chapter 10, verses 1 and 2. These two verses include
the info that the tomb of Rachel is within the borders of the
tribe of Benjamin.
(However, the Stone Edition of the chumash, an ArtScroll publication
has a grievous, in my opinion, error in its English translation
here [not the first time that I have found errors in translation].
It translates the Hebrew "bigvul binyamin" as "at the border of
Benjamin" instead of "in the border of Benjamin. "At the border
of Benjamin" would be written "bagvul" not "bigvul." "At the
border" implies that it was very near the border with Judah;
whereas, "in the border of" implies that it is well within the
border.)
We see from verses 1 and 2 of chapter 10, that Samuel was giving
Saul a bit of prophecy as if to say that the meeting of two men
by Rachel's tomb and that they will tell you that the donkeys
have returned, etc., will indicate that what I have just done
(anointing you with oil as the new king) comes from G-d. And as
we see, if you continue to read from verse 3 to verse 9, you will
see more signs that Samuel related to Saul that came true!
As for geography of Eretz Yisrael, it is almost impossible to have a
clear understanding of biblical events without knowledge of its
geography.
Please get a map of Israel (1:250,000 centimeters) the northern
half. This map comes in two sections: north and south. If you have
access to the encyclopedia Judaica, volume one (the Index volume),
there should be such a map in the inside back pocket of the volume.
Find Jerusalem, then trace the modern road going north to Shuafat.
(This is the central road (known as derech avot) that wanders along
the spine of the country from Mesopotamia in the north to Egypt in
the south.If you follow this road south of Jerusalem you will pass
through Bethlehem and Chevron until Be'ersheva where the left
branch goes to the coast and eventually Egypt.)
Nearby Shuafat is the arabic village of Hizme (which was the Jewish
village called Azmavet in biblical times). Shuafat, by the way, was
the biblical village of Nov where Saul had the prophets killed whom
he suspected of harboring David. Near Hizme, perhaps written in
italics, is the site labeled as "Qubur Beni Yizrael." I saw this
site in 1974. There were five (if I remember correctly) megalithic
structures that resemble tombs. One of these tombs may be the real
tomb of Rachel mentioned in Samuel. Needless to say, Shuafat and
Hizme, as well as Jerusalem, are in eretz binyamin.(The current site
of Rachel's tomb is in eretz yehudah.)The distance from these
megalithic tombs to Bethlehem ( a small village then) fits in very
well to the words "while there was still a way to go to Bethlehem."
Now why would the arabs identify these with the burial place of
the children if Israel?
The answer is the same as the reason that all the names of arabic
villages in this area are mutations of the original Hebrew name
through Aramaic into Arabic! They continued to call places by the
name of the original people who occupied the Land, changing vowels
or consonants to suit the arabic language, a legitimate linguistic
phenomenon
Yonah Wahrman
[Moderator: As I explained to Yonah I am weak in geography.Therefore
anyone who wishes to help out on this is welcome. In passing, all
Yonah's comments on the need to know Biblical geography are true]
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VERSE: v2z14-21
======
v2z14-21 And God 'walked' the sea with a FIERCE EAST WIND
v1a41-6 and ..there were 7 thin stalks POUNDED (SDFOTH)
v1b41-6 by the east wind
v5f28-22 God will smite...with SDFHON & YAYRAKON
v5g28-22 God will smite...with SDFHON
RASHI TEXT:
===========
v2z14-21 God punished the Egyptians with a fierce EAST WIND
because the EAST wind is the fierecest of all winds
And we consistently find that when God punishes He
always uses the East wind as the following {LIST1}
shows
-----------------------------------------------
|QUESTION 1: |
|========== |
|How could you help Rashi? How could you prove|
|that the East wind is the fiercest of winds? |
|How could you prove that it is the East |
|wind which is the worst wind? What tools |
|would you use. See {LIST1} below for a |
|discussion of this issue. |
-----------------------------------------------
VERSE TEXT
======== =========================================================
Yir18:17 I'll scatter them before the enemy with an EAST wind
Hos13:15 Let the EAST, the Wind of God,..come up..and dry them out
Ez27:26 The EAST wind breaks them in the heart of the sea
Is27:8. With a burdensome wind He'll fight..on the day of the EAST
v1a41-6 The Hebrew word
>SHDUFOTH
means
>pounded
Like a door continually pounding a doorpost
(Rashi cites the Aramaic translation)
v1b41-6 "by the east wind" which is the worst wind
(Sifsay chachamim suggests that there are
several types of East winds and that this
verse is speaking about the bad type).
v5f28-22 "God will smite...with SDFHON & YAYRAKON"
SDFON and YAYRAKON are wheat field sicknesses
v5g28-22 "God will smite...with SDFHON"
An EASTERN WIND (smite)
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
=========================================
The Hebrew root
>SHDF
occurs only 9 times in the Bible. The RDK in his book ROOTS explains
>SHDF=the smiting of the wheat from an East wind which
> destroys wheat stalks before they mature
It would therefore appear that this is simply a matter of a
>DICTIONARY DEFINITION
which is
>HANDED DOWN BY TRADITION.
Rashis approach is different--Rashi derives the meaning from CONTEXT
It is well known that the meaning of about half the words we know we
learn from TRADITION while the meaning of about half the words we
know we learn FROM CONTEXT (without anyone explicitly telling us
what the word means) Rashi's genious in these verses is to show us
how the DETAILED meaning of SHDF can be inferred from context. This
happens in 3 steps.
-----------------------------------------------------
|QUESTION 2: |
|----------- |
|How could you infer the general meaning of SHDF? |
|What tools would you use? A partial answer is |
|contained below in {LIST2} |
-----------------------------------------------------
STEP 1 of 3
-----------
Rashi first explains very generally that
>SHDF refers to a WHEAT FIELD PLANT ILLNESS
This can be proven by reviewing {LIST2} which shows half a dozen
verses which speak about
>punishments of SHDF, YRK and HAIL.
Several of these punishments refer to fields.
STEP 2 of 3
-----------
Rashi now cites 2R19-26
>They will be a SHDF before (FIELD) MATURITY
From this verse we infer that
>SHDF
affects the wheat BEFORE it matures (and is not eg an illness
that happens to the fully grown wheat like an illness of speckles)
STEP 3 of 3
-----------
Rashi now cites the 3 verses 1-41-6, 1-41-23,1-41-27 which all use
the phrase
>SHDF from the EAST WIND
This implies that the SHDF illness which happens before the wheat
matures is caused by the EAST WIND. As was seen above in {LIST1}
brought by Rashi himself, the EAST WIND is the fiercest of all the
winds.
A UNIFIED THEORY
----------------
We have now inferred from context that SHDF is
SUPPORTING STATEMENT IN
PROPERTIES OF SHDF LIST VERSE/RASHI
============================== ========== =============
>a WHEAT FIELD illness {LIST2} v5f28-22
>that happens BEFORE maturity 2R19-26
>and is caused by an EAST WIND {LIST1} v1b41-6
This is compactly summarized in {LIST3}. To unify these properties
Rashi seeks the aid of Oonkeloos who translates
>SHDF as DOORPOST
The analogy of wind POUNDING wheat like a door POUNDING a doorpost
and causing a gradual wearing out immediately is suggested.
Rashi concludes that
>SHDF is an
> illness caused by
> continual pounding of wheat by the East wind
> prior to maturity
which prevents the normal growth patterns of the wheat.
Thus we see that indeed the meaning of this rare verb can be
inferred from context. The RDK partially follows Rashi in his book
ROOTS and cites 2R19-26 to show that SHDF is an illness that happens
before maturity. We hope that this example enriches peoples
appreciation of Rashis that give simple translations. For even though
the translation is simple the issue is whether the meaning can be
derived by CONTEXT or TRADITION.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
=========================
Note how Rashi uses the pedagogic technique of SPIRAL CURRICULUM
For on 5-28-22 there are two Rashis.
The first Rashi identifies the GENERAL characteristics of SHDFN
as a field sickness.
The 2nd Rashi identifies identifies the
CAUSE of the illness---it comes from an East wind.
This is the technique of SPIRAL CURRICULUM where you first
introduce the idea and then develop it.
The other Rashis give other details as shown in {LIST3}
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
===========================================================
{LIST1} {Verses that show that of all winds it is the EAST
wind that is the fiercest. This LIST was brought
down by Rashi himself. It can be obtained by either
using a Konkordance on the word KDIM or using a CD
ROM on word pattern <*RUACH KDIM or *KDIM...RUACH>*1}
VERSE TEXT
======== =========================================================
Yir18:17 I'll scatter them before the enemy with an EAST wind
Hos13:15 Let the EAST, the Wind of God,..come up..and dry them out
Ez27:26 The EAST wind breaks them in the heart of the sea
Is27:8. With a burdensome wind He'll fight..on the day of the EAST
2-14-21 And God 'walked' the sea with a FIERCE EAST WIND
FOOTNOTES
---------
*1 Note that such a search might overlook Is27:8. In general
CD ROMS are complements not substitutes for total familiarity
with Tnach. (If you included KDIM in the search also to get
around this your output list would be to great)
{LIST2} {Verses where SHDF,YHRK occur. Apparently these were
smitings of fields. The LIST can be most simply
found by reviewing SHDF in the Konkordance which
occurs only 9 times.*1}
VERSE TEXT
===== ====
1R8-37 When there is a famine, SHDF, YHRK, locust
2C6-28 When there is a famine, SHDF, YHRK, locust
Am4-9 I hit you with SHDF YHRK, fields
Hag2-17 I have smitten you with SHDF YHRK and HAIL
5-28-22 God will smite you with..SHDF and YHRK
FOOTNOTES
---------
*1 NOTE: At this point all we know
is that SHDF is SOME TYPE of field smiting. We don't
yet know any details. This is the technique of spiral
curriculum.
{LIST3} {This list summarizes the 3 properties of SHDFON as well
as how Rashi learns each one from a different verse and
list. The Final unifying theory is presented in v1a41-6
and follows Oonkelos---SHDF=A POUNDING WIND ILLNESS}
SUPPORTING STATEMENT IN
PROPERTIES OF SHDF LIST VERSE/RASHI
============================== ========== =============
>a WHEAT FIELD illness {LIST2} v5f28-22
>that happens BEFORE maturity 2R19-26
>and is caused by an EAST WIND {LIST1} v1b41-6,v2z14-21
>
>POUNDING WIND ILLNESS v1a41-6
CROSS REFERENCES:
=================
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
=================
This posting came from CHERYL ZWIREN's question, Volume 5 number 1
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
===============================================================
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
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