#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
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| Rashi is Simple Version 2.0 |
| (C) Dr Hendel, Summer 2000 |
| http://www.RashiYomi.Com |
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VERSE: Nu20-12a
---------------------------------
RASHIS COVERED IN THIS POSTING
---------------------------------
RASHI RULE USED
======== ============
Ex05-22a THE SENTENCE
Ex06-01a OTHER VERSES
Ex06-03b GRAMMAR
Ex17-04a NEW MEANINGS
Ex17-05a DOUBLE PARSHAS
Nu11-22a OVERALL STRUCTURE
Nu20-12a OVERALL STRUCTURE
---------------------------------
Nu20 relates the story of the "Waters of Merivah". Recall
that the Jews complained about lack of water. God promised
to give the Jews water and asked Moses to speak to the
rock to give them water. But Moses angrily insulted the
Jews in speaking to the rock. God's enigmatic response in
Nu20-12a is
Since you did NOT BELIEVE in me, therefore
you will not lead the Jews into Israel
The simple meaning of this verse is that Moses did not
have enough BELIEF in God. To justify this we make a
{LIST} of all incidents where Moses did not believe in
God Notice that this {LIST} cannot be made with a CD
ROM. You have to know where Moses did not believe in God
{LIST1} {Incidents where Moses did not believe in God}
VERSE INCIDENT TEXT
======== =========================== ============================
Ex05-22a Pharoh worsened the slavery Why did you mistreat Jews
Ex17-04a People had no water They will kill me
Nu11-11 People didnt like Manna Why did you mistreat me
Nu11-22a God promises meat to Jews Can you give meat to 600,000
Nu20-12a People had no water Moses insults Jews(Nu20-10)
A glance at this list shows that Moses constantly doubted
God and complained. We easily understand God's response
Nu20-12a Because you did NOT BELIEVE in me
therefore you will not bring the Jews
into Israel
In other words the reference of "you did NOT BELIEVE IN ME"
is a reference to the continuous doubts, slander and complaints
of Moses on the Jews
The technique used here is the technique of OVERALL STRUCTURE
It is the OVERALL impression of all these verses that gives
rise to the conclusion that Moses did not believe in God.
No one verse by itself would lead us to that conclusion.
For example on Nu11-22a Rashi brings 2 interpretations of
the verse (one interpretation says Moses doubted God while
the other avoids this). True...one can interpret any particular
verse so as to avoid ascribing doubt to Moses. But the overall
structure of all 5 incidents clearly shows Moses had doubts.
Thus Rashi is using this overall structure.
This interpretation is supported BOTH by the language of
the Bible and the Rashis on the verses. Let us now go over
each of the above 5 examples
EXAMPLE 1: Ex05-22a
---------
God sent Moses to Pharoh with signs. But Pharoh besides NOT
LISTENING TO MOSES, in fact increased the slavery workload
of the Jews. Moses complains
>Ex05-22a WHY did you mistreat this nation
WHY did you send me
>RASHI: The repeated KEYWORD "WHY" creates a BULLET LIKE
Structure emphasizing two points
* WHY are the Jews being mistreated
* WHY did you send me (I now look like a fool)
The idea that KEYWORDS can create a bullet like structure
was developed in Ex18-01d with half a dozen examples
Gods response to Moses as well as Rashis comments clearly
show a lack of faith in Moses Here is Gods response
EXAMPLE 1 continued: Ex06-01a
--------------------
>Ex06-01a You will see what I do to Pharoh
>Rashi: You,Moses, have doubts and are not like the Patriarchs
Rashi uses the technique of OTHER VERSES. For in the next 3
verses it says explicitly
Ex06-02:03 The patriarchs just knew me by my attributes
of Power. They did not know me by my attribute of
"making things happen" *1 They did not require
proof or explanation but you do.
We can appreciate this with a {LIST} comparing Moses to
Abraham in comparable situations
{LIST2} {Comparison of reactions of Moses and Abraham to God}
INCIDENT VERSE ABRAHAM VERSE MOSES
====================== ======= =============== ======= ==========
Fear of being murdered Gn12-12 Didn't complain Ex17-04 complained
Promise to save Jews Gn15 Didn't complain Ex05-22 complained
Rediculous Promise Gn15-06 Believed in God Ex05 ---------
In other words BOTH Abraham and Moses felt they were going
to be murdered--but ONLY Moses complained to God. Both Abraham
and Moses were promised the salvation of the Jews and did not
see it fulfilled but ONLY Moses complained. God promised Moses
to deliver the Jews but it never says that Moses BELIEVED GOD
God promised to make Abraham a great nation and it says that
"he believed in God".
The picture is clear---as Rashi says
"You Moses have doubts and are not like the Patriarchs"
EXAMPLE 2: Ex17-04a
--------------------
The Jews lacked water and complained to Moses. Moses in
turn complained to God
>Ex17-04a IN A LITTLE BIT they will kill me
>RASHI: The Hebrew phrase A LITTLE (mat) MORE (OD) means
in a LITTLE BIT.
Rashi is using the technique of NEW MEANINGS. The two words
LITTLE (maat) and MORE (OD) form a new phrase LITTLE MORE
which means in a LITTLE BIT or in a LITTLE WHILE. This
phrase only occurs 5 times in the Bible and in each case
it means the same thing.
Again Gods response and Rashis comments clearly show that
Moses lacked faith.
{LIST3} {The 5 verses with the words A LITTLE BIT}
VERSE: TEXT WITH THE PHRASE "A LITTLE BIT"
======= ===================================
Ex17-04 IN A LITTLE BIT they will stone me
Is10-25 IN A LITTLE BIT there will be destructive anger
Is29-17 IN A LITTLE BIT Lebanon will become like a rich meadow
Jr51-33 IN A LITTLE BIT Babylon will be threshed
Hs01-04 IN A LITTLE BIT I will avenge Yizriel
Here is Gods response to Moses on his fear of being
murdered
EXAMPLE 2 CONTINUED: Ex17-05a
-----------------------------
>Ex17-05a Go before the nation and ...I will give them water
>RASHI: go BEFORE the nation..let us see if anyone will kill you
Rashis comments gain significance when we compare the verses
where Moses is commanded to do something. THIS IS THE ONLY
VERSE WHERE GOD EXPLICITLY SAYS "GO BEFORE THE NATION".
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{LIST4} {Commands of God to Moses. In only 1 verse does
God say GO BEFORE THE NATION}
VERSE TEXT
======= ===========
Nu27-18 Take Joshua *2
Nu25-04 Take the leaders and hang them
Nu20-08 Take the stick *2
Nu08-01 Take Aaron *2
Nu08-06 Take the levites
Nu03-45 Take the levites
Ex17-05 GO BEFORE THE NATION & Take the elders
Ex16-33 Take a thermos of manna
---------------------------------------------------------------
Thus Rashi is using the technique of DOUBLE PARSHAS. The
alignment of these verses clearly shows hidden nuances
in the phrase GO BEFORE THE NATION
In conclusion Both God and Rashi exhibit numerous times
when Moses had doubt. It is because of this overall
structure that Rashi interprets Nu11-22a as meaning
that Moses had doubt. Indeed Moses says
Can you give food to 600000 people
And God responds
Does MY(God) hand lack power
Thus we see that the tone of the verses clearly
says that Moses had doubts.
SUMMARY
=======
Throughout the wilderness Moses showed doubts and bitterness
when dealing with the Jews--he was not on the level of the
Patriarchs. God did not punish him earlier since his doubts
were private. But in Nu20 Moses publicly insulted the Jews
(He called them "rebellious" and there only crime was to
want water). So God punished Moses
Nu20-12a "Since you are not on the level of
faith of the Patriarchs therefore you will not
lead the people into Israel."
NOTES
-----
*1 This Rashi is learned from the conjugation of grammatical
roots. As Rashi himself says
It uses the passive not the active mode. It doesn't
say "I didn't tell them" my name "IT WILL BE" but
rather "I wasn't KNOWN to them" by the name IT WILL
BE. In other words they didn't directly experience
this name--I made promises but did not fulfill it
in their lifetime.
Thus Rashi uses the principle of GRAMMAR.
*2 In these verses it says GATHER THE NATION.
But it does not say GO BEFORE THE NATION.
Furthermore in Ex17-05 it says BOTH
GATHER THE NATION and GO BEFORE THE NATION
Thus indeed GO BEFORE THE NATION
RULE USED: ROOT+PREPOSITION
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Volume 6 Number 18
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
Volume 6 Number 18