Weekyly Rashi Digest - Volume 5 #9 Mar - 1, - 2007

The 10 RashiYomi Rules
Their presence in Rashis on Parshat TeZaVeH
Vol 5 #9 - Adapted from Rashi-is-Simple
Visit the RashiYomi website: http://www.Rashiyomi.com/
(c) RashiYomi Incorporated, Dr. Hendel, President, Mar - 1, - 2007

The goal of this Weekly Rashi Digest is to use the weekly Torah portion to expose students at all levels to the ten major methods of commentary used by Rashi. It is hoped that continual weekly exposure to these ten major methods will enable students of all levels to acquire a familiarity and facility with the major exegetical methods.

FULL HOUSE THIS WEEK ALL RASHI RULES ILLUSTRATED

continual

continuous.

Continual: Continual has a connotation of say every day but not necessarily every second.
Continuous: Continuous has a connotation of every second, all the time.

Tamid,

Tauv Mem Yud Daleth

continually

continuously.

cross referencing

Verse Ex29-42a states It shall be a continual burnt-offering throughout your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before HaShem, where I will meet with you, to speak there unto thee.
The meaning of the Hebrew Tauv Mem Yud Daleth is continual not continuously as shown by citing the following verse Ex29-39 The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at dusk.

twice

continuous

By contrast the Hebrew Tauv Mem Yud Daleth in Ex29-20 means continuous And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continuously.
This is clarified by the very next verse Ex29-21 In the tent of meeting, without the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall set it in order, to burn from evening to morning before HaShem; it shall be a statute for ever throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel. Actually the Menorah lights were both continuous and continual. They were continuous all night but continual twice a day.

Advanced Rashi: These verses show the power of the reference method in clarifying nuances. The nuances cited actually occur in the various Talmudic discussions on the Hebrew Tauv Mem Yud Daleth.

2. RASHI METHOD: WORD MEANING
BRIEF EXPLANATION: The meaning of words can be explained either by (2a) translating an idiom, a group of words whose collective meaning transcends the meaning of its individual component words, (2b) explaining the nuances and commonality of synonyms-homographs, (2c) describing the usages of connective words like also,because,if-then, when, (2d) indicating how grammatical conjugation can change word meaning (2e) changing word meaning using the figures of speech common to all languages such as irony and oxymorons. This example applies to Rashis Ex28-03a
URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/dt22-09b.htm

There are close to two dozen Rashis on the enigmatic Hebrew word, KaDoSh, Kuph Daleth Shin typically translated as Holy. To fully understand the meaning of this word we view it as a homograph that is as one word with multiple meanings which are however unified.

Kuph Daleth Shin

formal.

Kuph Daleth Shin

Not base - not involved in excessive pursuit of pleasure
Formal ceremony - for example a dedication
Formal invitations, ceremonies and attire
Formal atmosphere

We cannot convince the reader of this new perspective on holiness in 3 paragraphs of a posting. Rather we will pursue this topic throughout the year, visiting each Rashi on Kuph Daleth Shin as it arises. Such a slow methodological approach will add credibility to the thesis and allow the reader to adjust to it.

Today we start modestly with a simple example. The traditional JPS translation of Ex28-01:03a is And bring thou near unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that they may minister unto Me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for splendour and for beauty. And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron's garments to sanctify him, that he may minister unto Me in the priest's office.

We however think the translation formal and inaugurate/dedicate is preferred. And bring thou near unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that they may minister unto Me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. And thou shalt make formal garments for Aaron thy brother, for [the] splendour and for [the] beauty [of his profession.] And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron's garments to inaugurate & dedicate him, that he may minister unto Me in the priest's office.

Advanced Rashi: The above technique of homographs, finding a unifying theme to disparate meanings thru a punchy choice of translation was first advocated in my article Peshat and Derash: A New Intuitive Approach which can be found on the world wide web at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rashi.pdf. I believe exposing the reader to the thesis gradually will facilitate acceptance.

3. RASHI METHOD: GRAMMAR
BRIEF EXPLANATION: Rashi explains verses using grammar principles, that is, rules which relate reproducable word form to word meaning. Grammatical rules neatly fall into 3 categories (a) the rules governing conjugation of individual words,Biblical roots, (b) the rules governing collections of words,clauses, sentences (c) miscellaneous grammatical, or form-meaning, rules. This examples applies to Rashis Ex28-11a
URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/gn24-02a.htm

Rashi translates the verse Ex28-11, speaking about the construction of the Priestly garments as follows: The work of an engraver of stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones, according to the names of the children of Israel; thou shalt make them to be inclosed in settings of gold.

Rashi's point here is that the Hebrew word Cheth Resh Shin is punctuated with a Kamatz Patach indicating a construct state: Cheth Resh Shin, [engraver of] Had it been punctuated Kamatz Kamatz we would translate as follows The work of an engraver: [the work of] stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones, according to the names of the children of Israel; thou shalt make them to be inclosed in settings of gold.

In other words the proper translation is engraver of vs engraver.

Ex29-02

unleavened-bread

and unleavened bread, and
cakes unleavened mingled with oil, and
wafers unleavened spread with oil;
of fine wheaten flour shalt thou make them.

unleavened bread

Unleavened Cake offerings: The uncooked flour was mixed with oil
Unleavened wafer offerings: The cooked flour was spread with oil

Lv02

Advanced Rashi: Notice how Rashi adds that for the cake offering the oil was mixed with the raw flour while for the wafer offering the oil was spread on the cooked flour. Rashi, following the Talmud derives this from logic. You can't mix oil with a hard substance and you can't spread oil on a mushy substance. Hence Rashi assumes that for the cake offerings the mixing was done before cooking while for the wafer offerings the spreading was done after cooking.

contradiction

Verse Ex28-37 discussing the Priestly mask, where it was worn, and its relationship to the Priestly mitre / turban states And thou shalt put it [the mask] on a thread of blue,
and it shall be upon the mitre;
opposite the forefront of the mitre it shall be.

We see the contradiction: Which is it: Was the mask on the turban or opposite the turban?

contradiction

2 aspects

contradiction

One set of threads went around the head just as masks today are worn. The mask itself was on the forehead opposite the turban and the threads went around the head to secure it
But there was another thread that went over the head and turban

The following diagram clarifies

   
			
                           (A)                
                   (A)/----------------|
                     /         | (B)   |(A)
		mask/   Priest    Head |
                    \          |       |
           eyes      \                 |     
                   (A)\        | (B)   |(A)
                       \---------------|
                            (A)



The Priest Mask was above the eyes
Thread A went around the Priest Head and tied in back
Thread B went over the Priest's Head and tied to thread A
--------------------------------------------------------
Consequently, the Mask was secured with two threads A & B
Thread A was opposite and beneath the turban around the head temples.
Thread B went over the head; it was above and on the turban

Hence we see that there are two aspects to the Priestly Mask/Turban relationship. There is a mask on the Turban and there is a mask around the Turban.

Advanced Rashi: The above Rashi requires two techniques: The Contradiction technique and the spreadsheet technique. We will therefore repeat this example below in rule #9.

6. RASHI METHOD: STYLE
Rashi examines how rules of style influences inferences between general and detail statements in paragraphs. Example: Every solo example stated by the Bible must be broadly generalized; Theme-Detail: A general principle followed by an example is interpreted restrictively---the general theme statement only applies in the case of the example; Theme-Detail-Theme: A Theme-Detail-Theme unit is interpreted as a paragraph. Consequently the details of the paragraph are generalized so that they are seen as illustrative of the theme. This examples applies to Rashis Ex29-42b Ex29-43a
URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/ex28-42b.htm

Ex29-42:43

specific-general

Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar: two lambs of the first year day by day continually. ...
Specific: It shall be a continual burnt-offering throughout your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before HaShem, where I will meet with you, to speak there unto thee.

General: And there I will meet with the children of Israel;

Rashi comments on the specific-general style: The specific clause states that the daily offerings which were offered on the copper altar, are designated as the meeting place for Moses. Recall from Ezekiel Chapter 1 that prophecies take place in the form of fire visions. In other words the prophet saw the fire on the copper altar in a prophetic vision and this symbolized Divine Revelation. The general clause similarly designates this place for Divine Revelation. Hence we generalize and infer that all prophets prophetically see the Copper Altar Fire as a symbol of Divine revelation.

Advanced Rashi:

There is an opinion that God did not reveal himself on the copper altar but rather revealed himself on the Kaporeth, the ark-Cover, which held the Kerubim. This is explicitly stated in Ex25-22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will speak with thee from above the ark-cover, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. I would resolve these two opinions -- revelation from copper altar vs revelation from Ark Cover -- as referring to two types of prophets. To ordinary prohpets like Ezekiel God revealed Himself using the Copper Altar Fire. However Moses had a special grade of prophecy and God revealed Himself in the form of the Goldish-hues of the Ark. It would appear to me that Gold is the color of fire. Moses was known for his emphasis of learning the Torah which resided in the Ark. Hence the Fire for Mosaic prophecy used the symbolism of the Gold-colored Ark while the Fire for other prophets used the Fire of the copper altar
We have already explained the phrase God revealed Himself there to mean that the prophet prophetically saw the Fire on the Copper Altar (or the Ark) and this symbolized Divine revelation. Such an explanation is consistent with Ezekiel Chapter 1.
Finally we note that the verse, Ex29-42 has an extra underlined phrase It shall be a continual burnt-offering throughout your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before HaShem, where I will meet with you, to speak there unto thee. Based on Nu07-89 Rashi on Ex25-22a states
- Moses stood at the door of the tent
- But God's voice emanated from the Kerubim
All of this of course happened in a vision. Moses would see himself at the door of the Tent symbolizing the need to enter and learn Torah and Moses would hear God's voice from the Fire Colored Ark symbolizing Torah instruction.

God revealed Himself to prophets in the form of fire Visions
To prophets like Moses who emphasized learning God revealed Himself using the Goldish Fire hues of the Ark while to prophets like Ezekiel God revealed Himself using the Fire of the Copper altar
In the prophetic vision the prophet saw himself standing at the Temple entrance but heard God's voice as coming from the copper altar or the Ark

We have explained in our article Biblical Formatting that the Biblical Author indicates bullets by using repeating keywords. Hence we would translate Ex39-03 using a bulleted structure as follows: And they did beat the thin plates of gold, and cut it into threads, to work it
into the blue, and
into the purple, and
into the scarlet, and
into the six-ply linen,
the work of the skilful workman.

Hence the Rashi on Ex28-06b A separate and distinct gold thread is put into the blue threads and a separate and distinct gold thread is put into the purple thread and similarly for the scarlet and linen. Furthermore just as the linen was six-ply so too all the threads were six-ply. Each six-ply thread had one thread of gold added to it making it seven-ply. The 4 seven-ply threads were woven together to make a 28-ply thread. The various priestly garments were woven from these 28-ply threads.

Advanced Rashi: Rashi is subtle here. The actual verse exegetical comment occurs on Ex39-03. However the Rashi comment is found on Ex28-06 which states And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skilful workman. In other words it is not clear from Ex28-06 whether there are separate gold threads for each of the blue, purple scarlet and linene or whether there is one gold thread woven with the 4 threads. Hence Rashi brings Ex39-03 to clarify and illuminate Ex28-06. Here Rashi uses the reference method. It is the repeating keyword into in Ex39-03 which emphasizes that separate gold threads are woven with each of the 4 threads.

The Bible is filled with laws relating to sacrifices. Consequently we can make database queries such as Which parts of the animal are common to all sacrifices; which parts of the animal receive different treatments in different sacrifices; who - altar, Priest, owner - consumes the various animal parts?

peace-offerings

Lv03-03[if from oxen..offer] ....the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
Lv03-09[If from sheep...offer] ....the fat thereof, the fat tail entire, which he shall take away hard by the rump-bone; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
Lv03-14[If from goats...offer] ....the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,

Rashi notes the extra underlined phrase the fat thereof, the fat tail entire which he shall take away hard by the rump bone Rashi comments This extra part the fat tail is only offered when the offering comes from sheep but not if the offering comes from goat or oxen.

Using this distinction we can understand the Rashi on Ex29-22 which states Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat, and the fat tail, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right thigh; for it is a ram of consecration; Rashi states The fat tail is only offered by sheep and rams but not by goats and oxen. We infer this from the passages in Lv03

9. RASHI METHOD: SPREADSHEETS
BRIEF EXPLANATION: The common denominator of the 3 submethods of the Spreadsheet method is that inferences are made from non textual material. The 3 submethods are as follows: Spreadsheet: Rashi makes inferences of a numerical nature that can be summarized in a traditional spreadsheet Geometric: Rashi clarifies a Biblical text using descriptions of geometric diagrams Fill-ins: Rashi supplies either real-world background material or indicates real-world inferences from a verse. The emphasis here is on the real-world, non-textual nature of the material. This example applies to Rashis Ex28-37a
URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/ex21-03c.htm

contradiction

Verse Ex28-37 discussing the Priestly mask, where it was worn, and its relationship to the Priestly mitre / turban states And thou shalt put it [the mask] on a thread of blue,
and it shall be upon the mitre;
opposite the forefront of the mitre it shall be.

We see the contradiction: Which is it: Was the mask on the turban or opposite the turban?

contradiction

2 aspects

contradiction

One set of threads went around the head just as masks today are worn. The mask itself was on the forehead opposite the turban and the threads went around the head to secure it
But there was another thread that went over the head and turban

The following diagram clarifies

   
			
                           (A)                
                   (A)/----------------|
                     /         | (B)   |(A)
		mask/   Priest    Head |
                    \          |       |
           eyes      \                 |     
                   (A)\        | (B)   |(A)
                       \---------------|
                            (A)



The Priest Mask was above the eyes
Thread A went around the Priest Head and tied in back
Thread B went over the Priest's Head and tied to thread A
--------------------------------------------------------
Consequently, the Mask was secured with two threads A & B
Thread A was opposite and beneath the turban around the head temples.
Thread B went over the head; it was above and on the turban

Hence we see that there are two aspects to the Priestly Mask/Turban relationship. There is a mask on the Turban and there is a mask around the Turban.

Advanced Rashi: The above Rashi requires two techniques: The Contradiction technique and the spreadsheet technique. We will therefore repeat this example below in rule #9.

Verse Ex29-05 states And thou shalt take them from their hands, and make them smoke on the altar upon the burnt-offering, for a sweet savour before HaShem; it is an offering made by fire unto HaShem. Rashi explains The sacrifice is placed for fire for the sake of God We argue that this Rashi is interpreting fire symbolically as referring to prophecy. We have seen in rule #6, style that fire symbolizes prophecy. There we cited Ezekiel 1 proving that God appears in Fire-Dreams. We further argued that each prophet experiences a fire dream based on their personal experiences. So Moses experienced the Fire-like Goldish hues of the Ark which contains the Torah since Moses was close to learning; by contrast Ezekiel experienced the Copper-Altar Fire since Ezekiel was a priest and offered animals on the Copper Altar.

Sermonic points: Our main article on symbolism may be found on the world wide web at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/gen-1.htm There we argued that the primary purpose of sacrifices was to create a symbolic environment conducive to prophecy. Hence our prayers for restoration of sacrifices is really a prayer for restoration of prophecy!

This week's parshah contains examples of all Rashi methods. This concludes this weeks edition. Visit the RashiYomi website at http://www.Rashiyomi.com for further details and examples.