Guidelines for Poetic Verses:#8 of 10 ########################################################### # 10 YEAR Ayelet DAILY-RASHI-YOMI CYCLE # # Oct 24, 2000 # # Rashis 366-367 Of 7800 (4.6%) # # # # Reprinted with permission from Rashi-is-Simple, # # (c) 2000, RashiYomi Inc # # Written by Dr. Russell Hendel # # http://www.RashiYomi.Com/ # # # #Permission to reprint with this header but not for profit# # # # WARNING: READ with COURIER 10 (Fixed width) FONTS # ########################################################### ============================================== ----IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT---- THE RASHI YOMI CALENDAR IS UP VISIT http://www.RashiYomi.Com/calendar.htm EVERY POSTING IS LISTED BY DATE CLICK ON THE DATE AND YOU WILL SEE IT NETSCAPE BROWSERS COULD NOT SEE THIS YESTERDAY HOWEVER THE BUG HAS BEEN FIXED UP PLEASE GO VIEW IT =============================================== We finish this poetry series with a complicated example: The farewell blessing by Moses to the Jews--Dt32-02:05. We will find here 4 distinct stages to the God-Jewish relationship * God sought to give the Torah to the Non Jewish nations * Only Israel wanted the Torah * The Torah was given eternally * The Jews continually accept and renew the Torah Because of the complexity these verses will take a few days OVERVIEW: -------- RULE: We have frequently indicated that POETIC verses are governed by the Rabbi Ishmael rule of CONTEXT. Very often poetic verses REPEAT the same theme several times. In interpeting these verses the following guiding principles are helpful: GUIDELINES FOR INTERPRETING POETIC VERSES ----------------------------------------- * First, find the overall UNIFYING principle * Next, try and recognize the WORDS that YOU do KNOW * Further try and find the SPECIAL NUANCES in the words you know * Then infer the meanings of other words using PARALLEL STRUCTURE * Try and find all SUBCATEGORIES of the UNIFYING theme * Make a ONE TO ONE CORRESPONDENCE between the subcategories of The unifying theme and repeated stanzas of the verse based on the nuances you recognize in the repeated words. In a nutshell whereas legal language is analytic, poetic language is evocative The phrases dont define properties by themselves but rather evoke an image. BUT THE PHRASES IN CONTEXT DO DEFINE A PRECISE MEANING. Those who wish to see this posting on the website should visit http://www.rashiYomi.com/h7n24.htm #*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#* VERSE: Dt33-04 Dt33-05 In these two verses we use the principle of PARALLEL STRUCTURE Here are the PARALLELISMS in these two verses ------------------------------------------------- Moses commanded to us the Torah ----- --------- Jacob their inheritance *1 *2 ------------------------------------------------- NOTES *1 I have reversed the order of words so that the parallelism can be clearly seen *2 Rashi points out that the EMPHASIS is not so much on receiving the Torah as it is on the fact that the torah is an ETERNAL INHERITANCE (ie the Jews accepted the Torah permanantly) Here is the next verse ------------------------------------------------------- And God was a King in Israel when the elders gathered *1 *2 -------------------------------------------------------- NOTES *1 Again Rashi emphasizes the contrast: Not only was God a King **in** Israel, but he was also a King ETERNALLY (**whenever the Jews gathered) *2 Rashi points out that acceptance of God was not a >herd acceptance< but rather an >organized acceptance< with elected representatives and the community. We will finish this interpretation of this set of verses tomorrow. #*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*