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VERSE: Nu32-42a

================================ Nu32-42a ===========================


SUCCINT SUMMARY:
----------------
One of Rashi's 10 major goals is the explanation of GRAMMAR
the same way modern textbooks explain GRAMMAR. There are three
major GRAMMAR submethods:

(a) The goal of the ROOT submethod is to explain all
conjugations and meanings of Biblical roots.
Biblical roots are conjugated with letter prefixes and suffixes
to indicate (i) tense (ii) person (iii) gender (iv) plurality
(v) mode (vi) object (to whom the activity is done) and (vii)
mood. Each of these conjugations has a specific meaning.
Furthermore, these conjugations take on different forms for
roots with weak letters.

(b) The SENTENCE submethod deals with grammatical attributes
of sentences such as (i) word arrangement (Verb Subject vs
Subject Verb) (ii) sentence type  (interrogative, command)
(iii) compound sentences (iv) apposition and (v)
paragraph / sentence development.

(c) The MISCELLANEOUS grammatical methods deal with
(i) agreement (in gender and plurality), (ii) the construct
(iii) pronoun reference (iv) ellipsis (v) noun-verb transforms
(e.g. to dust) (vi) special word usage(e.g. how to use
numbers) (vii) suffix-prefixes (e.g. terminal HEY means
towards).

Today we study DELIBERATE SPELLING DEVIATION, a subrule
of the MISCELLANEOUS GRAMMATICAL methods.

EXAMPLE Nu32-42a
----------------
The Hebrew word LAMED HEY means HER. This word
is NORMALLY pronounced LAH with an aspirated HEY.
The word LAH occurs 230 times in the Bible.However
in 4 cases the HEY is soft or weak and the word
is pronounced LA. Rashi cites Rabbi Moses the
EXEGETE who explained the usage of LA
-------------------------------------------
Whenever the HEY is SOFT or WEAK it indicates
that the activity in the sentence is WEAK
or SOFT in some aspect.
-------------------------------------------

Let us now review the 4 VERSES with LA vs LAH
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Nu32-42    Novach named city after himself  Non permanant name
Ju16-17:18 Samson told DELILAH everything   Except final killings
Za05-11    They built a house of exile      Non permanant
Ru02-14    Boaz invited Ruth to lunch       But didnt ask her out
-----------------------------------------------------------------


LIST080c summarizes the above list It also provides much
needed detail
==================================================================
ITEM                     DETAIL
======================== =========================================
RASHI RULE CLASS:        GRAMMARr
RASHI SUBRULE CLASS      NOUN-VERB-ADJ-TRANSFORMS
RASHI WORKBOOK PRINCIPLE #9
SEE BELOW                LIST080c
List of verses with      Soft/Weak HEY in word LA (To Her)
=====================================================================

========================== LIST080c =================================
List of verses with      Soft/Weak HEY in word LA (To Her)
=====================================================================
VERSE      TEXT OF VERSE                    WHY LA IS WEAK
========== ================================ =========================
Nu32-42    Novach named city after himself  Non permanant name*1
Ju16-17:18 Samson told DELILAH everything   Except final killings*2
Za05-11    They built a house of exile      Non permanant*3
Ru02-14    Boaz invited Ruth to lunch       But didnt ask her out*4

NOTES
-----
*1 Novach Conquered the city and named HER(LA) after himself
   However this naming was TRANSIENT not permanant

*2 SAMSON told HER(LA, DELILAH) that if his hair was
   cut he would lose his strength. It appeared he told her
   everything. But of course he didn't tell his great
   hatred of the Phillistines which in the end resulted in
   massive death.

*3 The Zacharian passage symbolically speaks about creating
   a house in exile for the Jews. This of course was temporary
   as the Babylonian exile only lasted 70 years.

*4 Recall that Ruth crept into Boaz's bedroom and when he
   found her there unannounced, requested that he marry her.
   The Bible wishes to emphasize that this was her idea
   not his and he did not lead her on. But Boaz did invite
   Ruth to his lunch table--it could appear that he had a 1st
   lunch date which put ideas in her mind. The Bible uses
   the weak word LA (He call HER (LA) to lunch).

   I would suggest that he didn't call just her (a lunch date)
   He had just gotten back from a trip and invited all poor
   present to lunch. Hence the invitation was weak in the
   sense that it was not personal and focused on her.

   Rashi did not agree with the principle of Rabbi Moses
   the exegete. However he could certainly have defended
   the verses as well as we did. Perhaps the reason Rashi
   dissented is because he found no secondary sources with
   the above Midrashim. For example my idea that Boaz
   invited everyone to lunch is not found in any Midrash
   Therefore Rashi did not want to accept a principle
   whose consequences could not be verified independently
   from secondary sources.
===============================================================
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Volume 30 Number 11


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