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                  (C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 2000

                        Volume 7 Number 5
                        Produced Aug 11 2000

      WARNING: USE FIX WIDTH FONTS (eg COURIER (NEW) 10)


Verses/Topics Discussed in This Issue with quicky explanations

WEEKLY PARSHAH SERIES CONTINUED

Dt01-24b  SCRANTON YESHIVA STUDENT CHIDUSH ON DVARIM
                The root "RGL" (to "track" the land)
                only occurs once by the spy episode
                Every other time it says TOR. This
                explains Rashi "they completely tracked
                the land back and forth" (I also give
                an explanation--read below)

Dt03-26b  RASHI SAYS 3 TIMES; 2 OTHER SOURCES say 4,5 TIMES
                Come see this exciting Rashi which differs
                from two other Mesorahs in counting! We show
                how all 3 versions are free from corruption.

                This posting comments on the Sifsay Chachamim
                We have neglected our Rashi-Ramban series for
                a while. We reinvigorate here with an emphasis
                on all commentaries that disagree with Rashi;
                As usual our emphasis and approach is to show
                that there was very little disagreement among
                Bible commentators and they all really agree
                In this exciting posting we successfully deal
                with the challenge of contradictions in counting


Gn24-65a  ANSWERS TO ALFRED SILBERMAN ON GRAMMAR--HIS NEW BOOK
              We give a full analysis to the Rashis on Gn24-65
              Some of the defending lists come from Alfreds
              new book SEFER AMELIM LATORAH which presents
              all Biblical grammatical forms in database forma


Rashis covered in this issue
----------------------------
VERSE    RULE            BRIEF EXPLANATION
======== ==============  =================
Dt01-24b GRAMMAR         There are 2 ways to say "IT" in Hebrew
Lv01-06b GRAMMAR         There are 2 ways to say "IT" in Hebrew
Lv02-06a GRAMMAR         There are 2 ways to say "IT" in Hebrew
Lv23-03b GRAMMAR         There are 2 ways to say "IT" in Hebrew
Lv14-06b GRAMMAR         There are 2 ways to say "IT" in Hebrew
Lv20-05b GRAMMAR         There are 2 ways to say "IT" in Hebrew
Dt01-24b GRAMMAR         There are 2 ways to say "IT" in Hebrew
Dt03-26b GRAMMAR         "TO SAY" means a response is expected
Gn24-65a GRAMMAR         Standard grammatical forms can drop HEY
Gn07-23a GRAMMAR         Standard grammatical forms can drop HEY

--------------------------------------------------------------
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                        RASHI IS SIMPLE

 GOALS: To grammatically defend all 8000 Rashis on Chumash.
 METHOD:Rashis are defended with LISTS of comparable cases
 INTENDED AUDIENCE: Laymen, Academicians, Yeshiva world

 COMMENTS,QUESTIONS: EMail to address below
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:If you want to ask anonymously please ask
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 JOURNAL REFERECE: Pshat & Drash,TRADITION, Win 1980,R Hendel
 NOTATION: eg Gn01-02a refers to Rashi "a" on Genesis 1:2
 SPECIALS:...on Parshah,Rambam,Ramban,Pedagogy,Symbolism
 RASHI-IS-SIMPLE RULES Complete set of rules on bottom

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VERSE: Dt01-24b

RASHIS COVERED: Dt01-24b Lv01-06b Lv02-06a
                Lv23-03b Lv14-06b Lv20-05b

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: I heard the following Rashi explanation from
--------------- a young Yeshiva student at Scranton Yeshiva.
We met at a 200 person lecture by Rav Matithyahu Solomon
chief spiritual exhorter of Lakewood who spoke at Shomray
Emunah this past Shabbos. Although I had my own explanation
of Rashi this student had an equally valid one.


RULE:
----
There are two words for "IT" in Hebrew.
(a1) The suffix letter "V" is the normal way of indicating "IT"
(a2) The word OTO is used to mean ONLY IT or ALL OF IT


EXAMPLES
--------
{LIST1} {The following verses all have the word OTHO.
         In the following verses OTHO means either ONLY IT
         or ALL OF IT. This principle was developed by the
         Malbim who uses it not only on Rashi but also on
         the sifrah *6}


VERSE    TEXT                           RASHI
-------- -----------------------------  ------------------------
Lv01-06b & He'll cut ONLY IT to pieces  Don't recut *1
Lv02-06a Crumble ONLY IT to pieces      Don't recrumble *1
Lv23-03b he'll prepare ALL OF IT *2     One fill; don't refill
Lv14-06bBut not the wood/scarlet
Lv20-05b & I will cut ONLY HIM off from But not his family *4
Dt01-24b They spied ALL OF IT           Full scouting *5


NOTES
-----
*1 In other words you cut/crumble the offering. But you
   don't keep on cutting the cut pieces to make them smaller
   Hence the Rashi "cut ONLY it"

*2 The actual verse says about the Candellabrah "..prepare ALL
   OF it for lighting from eve to morning" However eg this could
   allow placing 5 hours of oil at the beginning of the evening
   and then refilling it for the last half of the night later
   By saying FILL ALL OF IT for lighting we infer that a whole
   supply of oil for the entire night must be put in at the
   beginning (Rashi cites the talmud that this is the volume of
   oil in 3 eggs--I have experimented with this and found it
   to be true and use these principles in my Chanukah menorah)

*3 The actual verse is speaking about the Lepor sacrifice which
   consists of a bird, cedar wood, hyssop and wool. It says
   "The bird:Take ONLY IT and the cedar hyssop and wool and
    DIP them and the slaughtered bird ...."

    The law therefore is that
    --you take the bird by itself
    --you bind the wood, hyssop and wool and take them
      (So the point is that you don't bind the bird with them)
    --But even though the binding separates them nevertheless
      you dip ALL 4 of them (bird, wood, hyssop, and wool)

    There are a variety of ways of learning this law-for example
    we could learn it from the contrasting phrases
    "Bird: take it and them" vs "dip them and the bird"

     But you can also find support for this law in the phrase
     "the bird:Take ONLY IT"--so you don't bind with the others

*4 Again there is a contrast in the verse which is speaking about
   the Molech worship (which consists of placing children thru
   fire) The verse says that if these people go unpunished then

   "I will PLACE MY FACE against this person AND his family
    and I will CUT OFF ONLY HIM from his nation"

    Thus the family is punished with "GODS FACE AGAINST THEM"
    While the person is punished with "BEING CUT OFF"

    By saying "I will cut off ONLY HIM" there is emphasis
    that ONLY the sinner gets cut off

    Rashi further explains that the family "knew what was going
    on" and hence they are punished by "GODS FACE AGAINST THEM"


*5 "Scouting" could denote "perusing" the land. "Full scouting"
    denotes crisscrossing the entire country and looking over
    every detail


*6 The above analysis comes from Malbim (The Morning Star)
   As I showed on Gn45-27a there is a 3rd possible meaning
   to OTHO--which can indicate "SOMETHING PERSONAL" Thus
   we have "And Jacob saw the wagons which Joseph had
   PERSONALLY SENT HIM (The wagons had signs of conversations
   that Jacob and Joseph had had 22 years prior--in this way
   Joseph let Jacob know that it was really he that was alive)




Well I thought I had explained this Rashi rather well.
The young Yeshiva Student from Scranton had an equally
valid explanation. As can be seen from the footnotes to
{LIST1} above--multiple explanations for the same Rashi are
common. Here is the supplemental rule


RULE:
----
The 2 Hebrew roots TUR and RGL both mean to SPY.
-TUR has an emphasis on ordinary spying
-RGL literally means "to FOOT the land" or "to TRACK the land"
It is a more intense form of spying and is used prior to wars
to indicate finding out everything about the enemy terrain.
(Hence the Rashi on Dt01-24b that they criss-crossed the land
and intensely looked it over)

EXAMPLES
--------
{LIST2} {Verses with spying. Note how RGL only occurs
         when WAR occurs. Moses original intention was
         only to have light scouting "to find out how
         good the land is"(Dt01-25)--hence the root RGL is
         used by Israel only once in the Chumash*1 *2}


VERSE    VERB  WHY WAS THE SPYING DONE
-------- ----  ----------------------------------------------
Jos2-1   RGL   WAR of Yericho
1Sam26-4 RGL   "WAR" of David and Saul*3
2S15-10  RGL   Proclomation of Civil war
Nu21-32  RGL   WAR of Yaazer
2S10-03  RGL   Suspicion of WAR-intent of Jews on Amon
Nu13-16  TOR   The spying on Israel for the Jew to come there
Nu13-17  TOR   The spying on Israel for the Jew to come there
Nu13-25  TOR   The spying on Israel for the Jew to come there
Nu14-38  TOR   The spying on Israel for the Jew to come there
Dt01-24  RGL   Only time that RGL is used for spying Israel*2




NOTES
-----
*1 This BIBLICAL usage is consistent with the ROOT usage
Thus we find that TUR is used for speculation as in
Ecc1-13  Eccl7-25 while we find RGL used for spying
and stalking somebody 2S19-28) As already mentioned
RGL means FOOT so as a verb it could mean to "FOOT a
place"--to closely scrutinize it.


*2 RGL is used to describe the scouting of Israel
   once in Chumash in Dt01-24b and also in Joshua
   Jos14-16. Apparently the MAIN thrust of Moses
   was to find out how good the land is while a
   secondary thrust was military 'to see which
   cities to conquer first'(Dt01-22)


*3 There wasn't an actual war but see 1Sam26-7:10--David
   went into the camp and was 'advised' to kill him

RULES USED: GRAMMAR

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*

VERSE: Dt03-26b

RULE:
-----
The infinitive "TO SAY" means a response is expected.
Something was done with a response expected.

EXAMPLES
--------
{LIST1} {The 5 cases where Moses "insisted" that God answer him
        These are the only 5 verses where Moses prayer use the
        word "TO SAY" indicating that Moses demanded an answer*1}

VERSE    VERB        MOSES PETITION
-------- ----------- --------------------------------------------
Ex06-12  Said        even the jews dont listen;how should Pharoh
Nu27-15  Said        Please appoint a successor after my death
Ex17-04  Scream      The Jews only complain; soon they'll kill me
Nu12-13  Scream      Please cure my Sister Miryam
Dt03-26b Supplicated Please let me enter the land

NOTES
-----
*1 Those interested in statistical counts would do well to
   study this Rashi.

   As can be seen the above list has FIVE examples.

   Of these 5, only 4 would show up in a computer search and
   find of "GOD TO SAY" (ie Moses spoke to God TO Say)

   Of these 5, 2 involve Moses "talking"(Saying) while the
   other 3 involve more intense prayer language ("Scream"
   and "supplicate").

   Hence, as the Sifsay Chachamim points out we have 3 distinct
   languages in this Mesorah

   "5 times Moses spoke to God and requested an answer"
   "4 times we find the phrase "to God TO SAY"
   "3 times Moses would not leave God alone till he answered him"

   Such multiple language is common in the Mesorah world.
   As can be seen all 3 formulations are correct

RULES USED: GRAMMAR

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: Gn24-65a

RASHIS COVERED: Gn07-23a Gn24-65a

BACKGROUND
----------
The following is a followup to Gn27-03a in Volume 7 Number 2.
Most of the comments below come from Alfred Silberman who just
published a book SEFER AMELIM BATORAH which contains some of
the lists he used to ask his question. For the benefit of
those who forgot I briefly review the previous posting.

This posting is an excellent example of
--how to construct lists
--how to deal with Rashis that look like they have no lists
  to back them up
--how to avoid Midrashic explanations in favor of grammatical
  ones.


RASHI:
-----
The verse says that Rivkah took the veil and "TTCATH". On
the Hebrew word "TTCATH" Rashi says "This is a verb
form like 'he was buried'". (So Rashi thinks the verb is
Passive) In other words Rashi interprets the verse "And
Rivkah took the veil and LET HER MAIDS COVER HER"


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
---------------
A brief summary of the full explanation is presented next.
Most of the questions came from Alfred Silberman--Alfred
also provided {LIST2} from his new book SEFER AMELIM
BATORAH which presents all grammatical forms in the Bible
He is not charging for the book except for postage and
handling--to get the book contact him at
Alfred.Silberman@Lmco.Com or AlSiblerman@Juno.Com.




SUMMARY
-------
* Gn24-65 should be translated "And Rivkah took the veil and
  LET HER MAIDS COVER HER"

* Thus we interpret the MEANING of the verb as PASSIVE (LET
  HER MAIDS COVER HER)

* The actual verb FORM (vs meaning) is in the REFLEXIVE MODE
  This can easily be shown by using standard grammar books
  and observing that a terminal H was dropped. {LIST1}{LIST2}

* So we have left to prove that CSH uses the REFLEXIVE MODE
  for PASSIVE MEANINGS. To do this we cite Prv26-26 which
  uses a HYBRID form. We present {LIST3} which shows hybrid
  forms. Prv26-26 is also translated "The evil person LETS
  HIS hatred BE COVERED UP (so people shouldn't know)"
  Thus we see a PASSIVE-REFLEXIVE MEANING (LET COVER UP)


* However if we ONLY consider VERB FORM and not VERB MEANING
  then there are still other possibilities. Three other
  possibilities are
  ---Gn24-65 might come from the root TTCh(which never occurs)
     Alfred points out the Mizrachi suggests this

  ---Gn24-65 might come from the root (WEDDING) CUP (COS)
     The verse means that "Yitchak gave her the wedding cup"
     I found this cute explanation in Torah Shlaymah

  ---Prv26-26 might be a hybrid of KAL & PIEL
     (Alfred points out that Daas Mikrah from Mosad Rav Kook
      suggests this)

* We answer these objections by considering MEANING {LIST4}
  It is common for religious women to cover themselves with
  veils. Hence that is what the verse is talking about.It
  is that simple. It is MEANING which forces us to interpret
  the verse "And she LET HER MAIDS COVER HER" Let us review
  the other woman who covered herself with a veil.

  Tamar who disguised herself (because she was seducing her
  father in law) COVERED HERSELF--the verb form used in
  this verse is ACTIVE FORM with REFLEXIVE meaning. This
  gives further support that CSH in the reflexive does not
  mean reflexive. By Contrast Rivkah was getting married
  and it is normal at weddings (the "bedeken") for OTHERS
  to cover the bride (as a sign that her friends all approve
  of the marriage and are giving her support).


{LISTS} We now present the lists mentioned above
---------------------------------------------------
{LIST1}  {We show that it is possible to take a
          standard grammatical form and drop the hey
          This is used to prove that the verb form
          TTCSH became TTCS in Gn24-65 and hence is
          reflexive}



--------------------------------------------------------------
  Examples of alternative conjugations for the phrase
  "HE WILL DO IT" (eg YiVNeH and YiVeN)
--------------------------------------------------------------

                         First type           2nd type
                             of                 of
                   Mean  CONJUGATION          CONJGTION
3 Letter root      ing   END IN Hey   VERSE   NO END-HEY VERSE
------------------ ----- ------------ ------- ---------- -------
[Beth]-[Nun]-[Hey] Build Ve Yi V Ne H Ps69-36 Va Yi Ve N Gn02-22
[Pay] -[Nun]-[Hey] Face  Ve Yi P Ne H - *2  - Va Yi Pe N Ju15-04
[Mem] -[Cht]-[Hey] Erase    Yi M Ce H 2K21-13    Yi Ma C Ps109-13
[Koof]-[Nun]-[Hey] Buy      Yi K Ne H Lv22-11 Va Yi Ke N Gn32-19
[Gmel]-[Lmd]-[Hey] Reveal   Yi G Le H Jb33-16 Ve Yi Ge L Jb36-15





--------------------------------------------------------------
  Examples of alternative conjugations for the phrase
  "SHE LET IT BE DONE TO HERSELF" (TiTCaS vs TiTCaSeH) *3
--------------------------------------------------------------


                         First type           2nd type
                             of                 of
                   Mean  CONJUGATION          CONJGTION
3 Letter root      ing   END IN Hey   VERSE   NO END-HEY VERSE
------------------ ----- ------------ ------- ---------- -------
[Cof]-[Smch]-[Hey] Cover TiThCSeH     - *2 -- TiTCaS     Gn24-65



NOTES
-----
*1 Rashi brings 4 examples. I supplemented this list with the
   example GLH

*2 The normal conjugation is to PREFIX A YUD and leave the
   the SUFFIX HEY. In these 2 examples there is no Biblical
   example of the normal form---only the abnormal form
   occurs.  (Nevertheless it occurs rarely)








{LIST2} {A list of verb forms that shows that for Lamed-He
         verbs it is much more common to drop the He than
         to keep it. This interesting Statistical observation
         comes from Moshes(Alfreds) book}

Moshe
lists 21
> forms: [Moderator These forms are explained in his book
          They are forms of grammar like HITPAEL]
>
> Form #        With He         He dropped
> 171                                  2
> 173                                  1
> 181                                  1
> 186                  1
> 192                  1
> 936                  1
> 2467                                 3
> 1505                                 1
> 2515                 4
> 2541                                 2
> 2543                                 3
> 2566                 3
> 2584                                 3
> 3786                                 1
> 3787                 2
> 4509                                 3
> 4526                 1
> 4532                                 2
> 4534                                 2
> 4552                                 1
> 5448                 1
>
> Totals              14              25
>





{LIST3} {Hybrid verbs--that is the verb form uses a mix
         of 2 punctuations}

VERSE     WORD      SHOULD BE
-----     ----      ---------
Ex18-26   YSPooTo   YSPOT*1
Lv04-23   HODAH     HooDah*2
Prv26-26  TCaSeh    TCoSeh*3

NOTES
-----
*1 This is a combination of KAL and HFAL
*2 This is a combination of HIFIL, HFAL, and HITPAEL(Malbim)
*3 This is a combination of NIFAL and HITPAEL
   Alfred Silberman points out that in the
   Daas Miqra from Mossad Rav Kook. They consider this verb
   a cross between Piel and Nifal NOT Hispael and Nifal.
   I would answer them that the meaning of the verb is not
   a game in computer matching of forms but rather must
   be consistent with meaning. The meaning of these
   verses is "LET IT BE DONE TO IT" as "Let the hatred
   be covered by darkness" or "Let her maids cover her"




{LIST4} {Women who covered themselves with a veil and
         merited to have great men come from them}


VERSE     WOMAN     HOW SHE COVERED      WHY
-----     -----     ---------------      ---
Gn24-65   Rivkah    Maids covered her    Part of the wedding
Gn38-14   Tamar     She covered herself  Was a disguise*1


NOTES
-----
*1 Note that Tamar was seducing her father in law.
   She did not want anyone knowing about it
   Hence she would not have her maids help her

   Also note that DESPITE THE FACT that TAMAR covered
   herself (a reflexive action) nevertheless the KAL
   ACTIVE mode is used. This lends further credence to
   Rashi that the reflexive of COVER does not mean
   COVER ONESELF but LET OTHERS COVER YOU


RULES USED: GRAMMAR

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*

            THE 2 DOZEN RASHI-IS-SIMPLE RASHI RULES

              http://www.RashiYomi.Com/rules.htm
            =======================================

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
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