Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
VISIT the RASHI DATABASE archives AT
http://www.RashiYomi.Com
Surfing the Talmudic Seas
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 2000
Volume 6 Number 20
Produced Jul 9, 2000
WARNING: USE FIX WIDTH FONTS (eg COURIER (NEW) 10)
Verses/Topics Discussed in This Issue with quicky explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------
Gn06-12x The 40 Rashis on ALL. ALL is used in 5 ways
This issue gives the Grand summary
Gn06-12y Note on Rashis style. Rashi will cite only the
beginning of a Midrash in an attempt to get the
student to read the whole Midrash
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
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
RASHI-IS-SIMPLE RULES...Complete set with examples ON BOTTOM
EMAIL: RJHendel@Juno.Com,rashi-is-simple@shamash.org,
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: Gn06-12x
The following is a grand summary of the 40 Rashis on the
word ALL. The word ALL means ALL cases. This is used in
5 ways
METHOD 1
--------------------------------------------------------------
ALL includes even other groups
Thus Gn06-12a says ALL flesh became corrupted during
the flood era. Rashi says ALL flesh means not only
people but even animals and birds were corrupt
--------------------------------------------------------------
METHOD 2
--------------------------------------------------------------
ALL includes EVEN border line cases
Thus God said "I will smite ALL first born in Egypt"
The word ALL includes even firstborn from other nations
that however were in Egypt at the time of smiting
---------------------------------------------------------------
METHOD 3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ALL means EVERYONE without exception
-----------------------------------------------------------------
METHOD 4
------------------------------------------------------------------
ALL can mean ALL PARTS
For example Lv21-11b says don't defile to ANY dead body
The word ANY includes a prohibition of a priest touching
say a gallon of blood from a dead body (PART of a dead body)
------------------------------------------------------------------
METHOD 5
----------------------------------------------------------------
ALL can precludes obvious exceptions
For example Nu20-01a says the WHOLE nation came to ZTIN
A previous verse Nu14-29 says adult males over 20 who
accepted the slander of the spies died throughout the
journey of the Jews in the wilderness.
Therefore the statement "the WHOLE nation came to ZTIN"
means that everyone who had to die had already died.
This list does not appear simple but rather appears
"Talmudic"--in each verse the challenge is to find what
exceptions appear natural This requires knowledge of
other verses
-----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------GRAND SUMMARY-------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
In the following verses ALL includes even other groups
Thus Gn06-12a says ALL flesh became corrupted during
the flood era. Rashi says ALL flesh means not only
people but even animals and birds were corrupt
--------------------------------------------------------------
VERSE TEXT WILL "ALL" INCLUDES EVEN THE FOLLOWING
======== ========================== ============================
Gn06-12a ALL flesh became corrupted EVEN animals corrupted
Gn07-14a ALL Winged creatures EVEN Grasshoppers with wings
Lv11-42b ALL crawling on belly EVEN Snails who crawl*1
Lv11-42c ALL walking on claws EVEN beetles who crawl*2
Nu21-08b ANYONE Bitten was cured EVEN Dogbites*3
Lv17-12a ALL shouldn't eat blood EVEN Minors shouldn't eat*4
Lv19-02a Speak to ALL Jews EVEN speak to MINORS*5
Nu18-09c ALL pure priests may eat EVEN your wives may eat
Nu20-29b ALL mourned Aaron EVEN women mourned*6
NOTES
-----
*1 Rashi gives examples: "CRAWLING ON BELLY" could refer to
a SNAKE. "ALL WHO CRAWL ON BELLY" refers to SNAILS
Thus the ALL includes even insects
*2 Rashi gives examples: "WALKING ON CLAWS" refers to the
scoprion---"ALL WHO WALK ON CLAWS" refers to the BEETLES
*3 Rashi further FURTHER supports this with the alignment
(The Torah is speaking about a plague of BITING SNAKES
God told Moses to make a copper snake and those that look
at it would live)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Nu21-08 And ANYONE Bitten will SEE it & live
Nu21-09 And ANYONE Bitten by a snake would STARE at it & live
*1 *2
----------------------------------------------------------------
Thus if a SNAKE bit them they had to STARE at it to live
But if a DOG bit them they could just see it and live
Finally, Rashi in the name of the Talmud explains why "looking"
at a copper snake should cure---it symbolically referred to
"looking upwards and praying"
*4 That is the adults should TRAIN minors not to eat blood
*5 This Rashi, besides being derived from the word ALL is further
supported by an alignment of introductory verses
---------------------------------------------
Lv15-01 speak to the Jews
Lv12-02 Speak to the Jews
Lv19-02 Speak to ALL the community of Jews
*a *b
---------------------------------------------
Thus there is an emphasis that the whole community should
hear (even children)
*6 Again Rashi is supported by an alignment
-----------------------------------------------------
Dt34-08 the children of Israel mourned Moses
Nu20-29 the whole house of Israel Mourned Aaron
*a *b
-----------------------------------------------------
The term HOUSE of ISRAEL is more
directed to women and children
--------------------------------------------------------------
In the following verses ALL includes EVEN border line cases
Thus God said "I will smite ALL first born in Egypt"
The word ALL includes even firstborn from other nations
that however were in Egypt at the time of smiting
---------------------------------------------------------------
VERSE TEXT WILL "ALL" INCLUDES EVEN THE FOLLOWING
======== ========================== ============================
Lv24-14a ALL hearing the Blasphemy Even the judges *1
Nu14-01a The WHOLE nation rebelled EVEN the LEADERS *2
Lv14-09a Cut ALL hair Even non-dense hair *3
Ex12-43b ALL foreigners Even Jewish apostates *4
Dt20-11a ALL conquered willbe yours EVEN from other nations *5
Ex12-12b I'll smite all 1stborn Even from other nations *5
Gn43-09b I'll owe you my WHOLE life EVEN in the next world
Dt13-01a Listen to ALL commandments EVEN the light ones
NOTES
-----
*1 ALL people (even judges who heard testimony) must stone
the blasphemer
*2 ALL people cried at hearing the spies story (Even the
leaders)
*3 Thru the GENERAL PARTICULAR GENERAL principle we learn
that only dense-visible hair (like eyebrows) has to
be shaved. This is learned by generalizing the examples
in the verse ("head", "beard", "eyebrows")
Thru the word "ALL" we learn that even non-dense or
non-visible hair (like armpit hair or outer-arm-hair)
should be shaved.
Thus the two items--GENERAL-PARTICULAR-GENERAL and ALL
teach us that ALL is shaved except NOSE-HAIR
*4 Neither foreigners nor Jewish Apostates can bring offerings
*5 Thus eg God smote the Firstborn of Egyptians and also the
firstborn of other nations who were visiting Egypt
-----------------------------------------------------------------
In the following examples ALL means EVERYONE without exception
-----------------------------------------------------------------
VERSE TEXT WILL "ALL"
======== =================================================
Gn19-04b ALL people in Sedom athered to rape
Gn33-11d I have EVERYTHING I need*1
Ex19-11c The WHOLE nation saw the prophecy(10 commandments)
Ex32-26b ALL Levites came(No one served the golden calf)
Dt01-01b Moses spoke to ALL Israel at his farewell address
NOTES
-----
*1 This was incorrectly translated in a previous posting
------------------------------------------------------------------
In the following verses ALL includes ALL PARTS
For example Lv21-11b says don't defile to ANY dead body
The word ANY includes a prohibition of a priest touching
say a gallon of blood from a dead body (PART of a dead body)
------------------------------------------------------------------
VERSE TEXT WILL "ALL" INCLUDES EVEN THE FOLLOWING
======== ========================== ===========================
Lv21-11b Don't defile on ANY dead EVEN just body parts
Lv27-09a ANYthing Dedicated is holy EVEN organs
Lv02-13b SALT all offerings EVEN the organ parts
Lv06-11b ANYTHING touching will be holy EVEN part of it*1
Ex12-20b Dont eat bread on Passover EVEN a leaven mixture
Lv03-03a & Offer all fat EVEN STOMACH fat
Lv04-07a Spill ALL blood EVEN leftover droplets*2
Dt11-06a Earthquake in ALL of Israel TREMORS at all locations
Lv11-33b ALL inside will be impure EVEN if hanging in the air*3
NOTES
-----
*1 This law is beneficial--if the sacrifice touched other
meat then ONLY THE PLACE WHERE IT TOUCHED has to be cut off
(Only PART of it is holy)
Rashi further learns that TOUCHING does not confer holiness
unless there was ABSORPTION of the meat flavor (According
to Malbim this is learned from order of words--this will
be discussed in another posting)
*2 So you spill the blood out of the cup--then you vigorously
shake it and spill the leftover droplets (hence ALL the blood
is spilt)
*3 So eg if the dead organ fell into the cup then anything
in the AIRSPACE of the cup becomes ritually impure EVEN
if it is not touching the cup but eg suspended
In legal terminology we say that (BEING) INSIDE is a
VEHICLE for TRANSMISSION of impurity in earthenware cups
----------------------------------------------------------------
In the following examples ALL precludes obvious exceptions
For example Nu20-01a says the WHOLE nation came to ZTIN
A previous verse Nu14-29 says adult males over 20 who
accepted the slander of the spies died throughout the
journey of the Jews in the wilderness.
Therefore the statement "the WHOLE nation came to ZTIN"
means that everyone had to die had already died.
This list does not appear simple but rather appears
"Talmudic"--in each verse the challenge is to find what
exceptions appear natural This requires knowledge of
other verses
-----------------------------------------------------------------
VERSE TEXT WILL "ALL" INCLUDES EVEN THE FOLLOWING
======== ========================== ===========================
Ex35-22b Bzalel did all God told Moses Even if Moses forgot*1
Nu20-01a The WHOLE nation came to Tzn Even adult men over 20*2
Nu18-09b Priests get ALL sacrifices EVEN Peace offerings*3
Lv17-10a ALL eating blood will die Even non sacrificial blood*4
Lv06-11a ALL male priests can eat it Even blemished ones*5
Dt18-01a ALL priests will not inherit EVEN blemished ones*6
Lv06-32b ALL sin offerings EVEN Guilt Offerings*7
Dt14-11a ALL Kosher birds may be eaten " the sent-away lepor bird*8
Ex12-47a ALL Jews offer the Passover By Individual not family*9
NOTES
-----
*1 I would logically think that Bzalel couldn't do things that
God told Moses but Moses forgot tell Bzalel.
Rashi brings a possible example--In Ex25 Moses orders the
temple utensils to be built first and then the Tabernacle
But in Ex36 and Ex37 Bzalel builds the Tabernacle first
and then the temple.
Logically Bzalel knew that you build the house first and
then fill it with utensils
*2 Nu14-29 states that the adult males over 20 who listened to
the spies slander of Israel died. However they had all
died by the time they came to Tzin---hence the WHOLE
community came (because they didn't bury anyone in the
previous place)
*3 Nu18-09 lists 3 types of sacrifices that priests get.
It does not list peace offerings. HEnce I need the word
ALL to include it. This is further indicated in Lv06
and Lv07-23.
*4 It says Lv17-11 that the reason blood is prohibited is
because it is used to atone on the altar
Hence it is logical to conclude that only sacrificial
blood is forbidden but ordinary blood that can't be
offered is permissable. Therefore the verse says ALL BLOOD
to include this other blood.
*5,*6 It explicitly says (Lv22--21:22) that blemished priests
may not offer sacrifices (But may eat them).
Hence the word "ALL" includes even blemished priests--
since they can't offer sacrifices I might think they
DO inherit Israel--I might also think that they do
not join the Priestly rotations (which offer and eat
the sacrifices).
Therefore the word ALL is used. They
do join the priestly rotations,
do not inherit Israeli land,
do not offer sacrifices
do eat them
*7 There are 3 opinions of what the word ALL includes.
The best literary approach is to use Lv07-07
"The sin offering is like the guilt offering"
(Since both sin and guilt offerings deal with matters
of sin) Thus the word "ALL sin offerings" includes
even guilt all offerings.
We used this Rashi to show Rashis literary style.
See posting Gn06-12y for details
*8 Recall that most sacrifices are HOLY and cannot be eaten
even if they are Kosher. Further recall that the Lepor
was atoned by having a Kosher bird sent away and another
one offered (Lv14-04:07). I might think that this
sent-away-Lepor bird is like any other sacrificial object
and prohibited from eating. Therefore Dt14-11 says
"ALL Kosher birds..." may be eaten--even the Kosher lepor
bird.
*9 The first passover offering has one lamb PER family(Ex12-03)
Hence I might think that future passover offerings are
PER family. Therefore when Ex12-16 says "The WHOLE community
must offer it" it means EVERY individual
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: Gn06-12y
This is a small comment on Rashis style.
We have asserted many times that Rashi will cite only the
BEGINNING of a Midrash or Sifrah in order to encourage
the student to read the WHOLE Midrash Rabbah or Sifrah
Thus in Lv06-32b the verse says that "ALL sin offerings...."
Rashi cites an opinion of Rabbi Akiva that the phrase
ALL sin offerings includes ALL SACRIFICES
To this his colleagues retorted
"Akiva even if you say the word ALL the whole day
how can "ALL sin offerings" include OTHER OFFERINGS"
In other words, "ALL" can only include extra sin offerings
or things like sin offerings. It cannot include non
sin offerings.
If one looks at the 40 examples of ALL we find that it never
includes dissimilar items.
The Sifrah then presents 3 possible reasons it says
ALL sin offerings
*---ALL sin offerings--whether male or female
*---ALL sin offerings--whether communal or individual
*---ALL sin offerings--even guilt offerings
(The inclusion of guilt offerings in sin offerings is
because they are both offerings on sin and the Torah
explicitly compares them in Lv07-07 "LIke the sin
offering so like the guilt offering")
The Malbim cites the Talmud and goes thru the various
opinions. The Malbim even attempts to defend Rabbi
Akivah. In my main posting I suggested that ALL meant
including GUILT OFFERINGS.
I brought the above analysis to show how Rashi did NOT
cite the whole Sifrah and only cited the 1st opinion--
that ALL SIN OFFERINGS includes ALL OFFERINGS--something
which the word ALL never means.
Thus I think it very reasonable that Rashi cited only
one opinion, not because he believed that opinion, but
rather because he cited the first few sentences of a
long citation and expected the student to read the rest.
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
THE 2 DOZEN RASHI-IS-SIMPLE RASHI RULES
=======================================
I: RASHI gives MEANING
======================
A: NEW MEANINGS--(eg)"on the face of"=during the lifetime
Volume 2 Number 9, http://www.rashiyomi.Com/Nu04-04a.htm
B: SPECIAL WORDS--(eg)ACH=USUALLY;USUALLY observe shabbath!
Rashi Yomi Summaries,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Ach-6.htm
C: SYNONYMS--(eg)AMR=to speak; DBR=to cite or to quote;
Volume 2 Number 1, http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Lv20-02a.htm
D: WORD MEANINGS-Thermos(TzNTzNTh)=doubly(TZN TZN) Cold(TZN)
Volume 1 Number 9,23,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Ex31-15a.htm
E: UNIFIED MEANINGS-PAAM=Repeated action:To Ring,Hammer,Step
Volume 1 Number 3,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Gn41-08a.htm
II: RASHI teaches GRAMMAR/STYLE
===============================
F: CLASSICAL GRAMMAR--(eg)QUESTION = HEY+CHATAF PATACH
Volume 3 Number 22,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Gn04-09z.htm
G: USAGE(NEW GRAMMAR)--(eg)INFINITIVE="be involved in";
Volume 5 Number 24,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Ex13-03a.htm
H: ROOT+PREPOSITION--(eg)ChZK B="to hold";ChZK M="overpower"
Volume 1 Number 7,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Ex04-04a.htm
I: THE SENTENCE--2 verses can make 1 sentence-eg Dt02-16:17
Volume 3 Number 7,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Dt19-06a.htm
J: STYLE--REPETITION denotes Endearment;eg 'Jacob Jacob'
Volume 1 Number 12,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Gn46-02a.htm
K: DOUBLE NOUNS--(eg)"GIVE GIVE";if not CHARITY then LOAN
Double Noun page, http://www.RashiYomi.Com/DN.htm
L: PRONOUNS-(eg)IMCHAH=with you; ITCHAH=Accompanying you;
Volume 3 Number 13,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Ex22-24c.htm
III: OVERALL TEXTUAL STRUCTURE
==============================
M: OTHER VERSES--Aaron SAW(Ex32-05)...the brawl(Ex32-18)
OTHER VERSE page, http://www.RashiYomi.Com/ov.htm
N: EXTRA SENTENCES-eg[GIVE HIM][WHAT HE NEEDS](Not if rich)
Volume 2 Number 20,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Dt15-08c.htm
O: DOUBLE PARSHAS-'he WILL pray'-'he WON'T pray';So Optional
Volume 3 Number 12,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Dt24-14a.htm
P: CLIMAX-(eg Dt19-11)(a)Hate, (b)spy, (c)confront,(d)Murder
Climax Page, http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Climax.htm
Q: OVERALL STRUCTURE-growing nails=despisement(from context)
Volume 3 Number 8,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Dt21-11a.htm
R: SPREADSHEETS-What is the marriage loophole in inheritance
Volume 2 Number 23,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Nu36-03a.htm
IV: BEYOND THE TEXT
===================
S: MORAL LESSONS/REASONS-God explains BEFORE punishing;
Volume 2 Number 12,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Nu12-09a.htm
T: RabbiIshmael-(eg)"When an OX gores";(Or ANY animal gores)
Volume 4 Number 21,http://www.RashiYomi.Com/Dt25-04a.htm
End of Rashi-Is-Simple Digest
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*