1. RASHI METHOD: REFERENCES BRIEF EXPLANATION: Commentary on a verse is provided thru a cross-reference to another verse. The cross references can either provide (1a) further details, (1b) confirm citations, or (1c) clarify word meaning. This examples applies to Rashis Nu27-20a URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/nu27-20a.htm Brief Summary: Rashi illumines that the word SPLENDOR (Nu27-20) means BEAMING (Ex34-03).

Using the verses below, which discuss the splendor that Moses was to transfer to Joshua, Rashi clarifies that Moses' face beamed after his prophetic experiences. Read the verses yourself and experience the joy of independently deriving the Rashi comment.

Target Verse	Text	Cross Reference	Text	Rashi Comment
Nu27-20a	And thou shalt put of thy splendor upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may hearken.	Ex34-03	And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face was beaming; and they were afraid to come nigh him.	Rashi illumines the underlined words splendor ( Nu27-20 ) as meaning beaming ( Ex34-03 ).

Advanced Rashi: Rashi explains splendor as meaning beaming. But what does beaming mean? And why were the Jews afraid of someone beaming. I therefore explain the Rashi based on another Rashi that Moses prophecy was like a candle that ignites other candles but its own flame is not diminished. So I would interpret beaming as referring to the general class of light which symbolizes, throughout the Bible, prophecy. Hence the statement that Moses beamed after his prophetic encounter with God means, to use Rashi's language, he ignited prophetic visions in those who saw him. Since prophecy is a frightening experience this would explain why the Jews were afraid when they saw Moses beam.

Background:
• Synonyms refer to two words with basically one meaning while
• homographs refer to one word with two (or more) meanings.
Rashi frequently shows an underlying unifying thread to the disparate meanings of the homograph. Today's example illustrates this.

The Biblical Hebrew root, Nun-Samech, (Nays), has a underlying unified meaning of
Motion against resistance: Hence this root can mean either
• Fleeing: Motion from a resistance in the horizontal direction
• Raising: Motion against gravity, resistance in the vertical direction
  Flag: An item that is generally raised
• Testing / Challenging: Like the English metaphor, this refers to a task that raises ones social rank.

In modern Hebrew Nun-Samech means miracle. But there are only two Biblical verses where this interpretation is possible and in both of them Rashi translates Nun Samech as meaning a symbol, like a flag, indicating a challenging historical event which symbolizes a future national calling. The two verses with their translation and Rashi's are as follows:
• Ex17-15: And Moses built an altar, and God, called the name of it my flag: (Rashi: God is not the object of the verse - Moses called the altar 'God is my flag' - but rather the subject of the verse (indicated by the pausal accent between God and the altar) - the verse means that God called this altar my flag - that is, my symbol and calling for a future war against Amalayk in each generation.)
• Nu26-10a: and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died; what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and this [the destruction of the 250 rebellors] became a flag-like-sign [to prevent future rebellions against the priesthood.]

Verse Nu25-09 describing the plague that God brought on the Jews for sexually sinning with the Midianite women states ...And those that died by the plague were twenty and four thousand. ... Verse Nu26-01 describing the census God took of the Jewish people after the plague states And it came to pass after the plague, [that] HaShem spoke unto Moses and unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying:Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' houses, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel.' ...

Rashi connects these two verse citations using the Consecutive Paragraph Connection method of causality.. That is Rashi sees one verse, describing the plague, as the cause of the second verse, describing the counting: We summarize the Rashi comment below by interpolating the connective word because: Because of the loss of Jews in the plague (and because of God's love for the Jews), God ordered a census to show appreciation for the remaining Jews.

The table below presents an aligned extract of verses in Nu28 and Nu29. The alignment justifies the Rashi assertion that Passover had aspects of all three patriarchs.
• Jews became Abrahimitic Oxen helping to plough God's world and rid it of slavery;
• All Jews in Egypt became Isaacian Rams, leaders helping and guiding their fellow Jews
• All Jews in Egypt became Jacobian sheepish masses, loyal followers of God and their leaders

Verse	Holiday	Holiday Symbolizes	Oxen sacrifices	Ram sacrifice	Sheep sacrifices	Rashi comment
Nu28-11	New Month	Atones for Golden Calf sin	Bring 2 oxen and	1 Ram	7 Sheep	Gods co-workers(Ox = Moses) and the Jewish leadership (Ram = Levi) were united (and) while the Jewish masses(Sheep) were separate
Nu28-19	Passover	Liberation from slavery	Bring 2 Oxen and	1 Ram and	7 Sheep	Passover unites (and) all symbolisms: all Jews are Ox, ploughing God's fields of the world from slavery, Ram, leading each other to freedom and sheepishly masses following God's call to freedom.
Nu28-27, 29-02,08,13	Shavuoth, New Year, Yom Kippur, Succoth	Various: Receipt of Torah, God's sovereignty, God's Providence	2 oxen	1 Ram	7 Sheep	Some Jews are oxen (lead nations like Joseph); Some but not all Jews are Rams, leading the sheepish masses; Some Jews are sheepish followers.

Advanced Rashi: This Rashi combines the symbolism and alignment method. As can be seen from the alignment the 7 verses differ in their use of the connective and. Some verses have none, some have one, and some have two and. We have used the symbolism method:
• Ox symbolize God's co-workers, ploughing God's field of the world; Hence Ox are closest to the Patriarch Abraham who helped plough God's world;
• Rams symbolize leaders; Hence Rams are closest to the Patriarch Isaac who created a world dominated by super-powers, Jacob and Esauv.
• Sheep symbolize followers; Hence Sheep are closest to the Patriarch Jacob who create the twelve tribes of Jewish masses.
When the connective word and occurs it symbolizes that certain forces are united. When the connective word and is absent it symbolizes that certain forces are separate. Hence on the New Moon, when the masses sinned with idols while the leaders (Levi) did not, we have no and between the Rams and sheep. On Passover all Jews participated in all roles. All Jews lead the whole world in the conception of freedom. Similarly since the Passover meal was eaten in groups, all Jews simultaneously became leaders and followers of each other strengthening resolve and enabling them to leave. By contrast, on say Shavuoth not all Jews are leaders - only the Rabbis and scholars are leaders while the others are followers.

This Rashi, using two major Rashi methods and being built on inclusion or exclusion of the word and is indeed subtle and deep. I therefore focus the reader on things we can all agree on without controversy.
1. The alignment does exist!
2. Clearly the 7 verses have all words in common except the mysterious word and.
3. Less obvious and perhaps controversial is the symbolism of the Ox, Ram and Sheep. Rashi uses patriarchal symbolism while I have used the Leader-follower symbolism of Rav Hirsch.
4. The basic idea that and means connective seems reasonable.
Using these four basic facts each person can arrive at an individually fashioned Rashi-like comment built on these principles.

Just as it is rewarding to see punchy clinchy Rashis so too is it rewarding to see complex and subjective Rashis. The study of each has its place.

By using the aligned structure we are able to participate and empathize with Rashi in construction of the Rashi comment.

The table below presents presents two contradictory verses. Both verses speak about what happened to those who participated in the Korach rebellion The underlined words highlight the contradiction. One verse says Korach and all his followers were swallowed up by the earth while the other verse says Korach's sons did not die. Which is it? Did Korach's sons die in the earthquake or were they saved?

Summary	Verse / Source	Text of verse / Source
Korach's followers died in an earthquake	Nu16-32:33	And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit; and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the assembly.
Korach's sons did not die.	Nu26-11	Notwithstanding the sons of Korah died not.
Resolution:	2 Stages	Korach's sons did fall into the earthquake But repented on the way down and were miraculously saved.

Rashi resolves this contradiction using the 2 Stages method.
1. Korach's sons did fall into the earthquake
2. But repented on the way down and were miraculously saved.
Rashi, in typical fashion, gives an exaggerated explanation of this resolution: At the time of the earthquake, they fell into a cleft beneath the earth so they didn't get consumed by the fires below.

By using the table structure with underlines we are able to participate and empathize with Rashi in construction of the Rashi comment.

Verse Nu26-52:56 states And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 'Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. To the more thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to the fewer thou shalt give the less inheritance; to each one according to those that were numbered of it shall its inheritance be given. Mostly the land shall be divided by lot; according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. According to the lot shall their inheritance be divided between the more and the fewer.'

From the underlined words Rashi infers that The land was divided according to the number of people per tribe (that is, each tribe did not get one twelfth of the land but rather received a parcel of land proportional to its numerical size). Similarly the land was divided by dollar value not by area. So for example two tribes with equal numbers of people could inherit two different size landplots if both had equal worth.

We see here that the essence of the Rashi comment are details on numerical computation.

In Rule #4 above we have aligned seven verses dealing with the holiday sacrifices. There we used the symbolism that
• Ox are co-workers with God, ploughing God's field of the world for freedom;
• Rams are leaders
• Sheep are followers.
We explored the alignment of 7 verses listing the
• The 2 oxen,
• The 1 Ram,
• The 7 Sheep,
that were brought on each holiday. However only on Passover are these sacrifices connected with the word And: 2 oxen and 1 Ram and 7 sheep. Rashi concludes All forces were united on Passover: The Jews became God's oxen, ploughing the world to freedom,
• the Jews formed groups leading each to freedom
• The Jews all followed one another like a flock of sheep to their freedom.