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 Dt26-14a URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w33n4.htm Brief Summary: Dt26-14a states I have not eaten my tithes on the DAY OF BURIAL. This REFERENCES Lv10-20 - on BURIAL Day you don't eat SIN OFFERINGS and OTHER SIMILAR ITEMS.

Verse Dt26-14 states that I have not eaten from it [the tithes] on the day of burial Rashi clarifies that this law, that one should not eat tithes on the day of burial is inferred from the reference, verse Lv10-19:20, which describes Aaron's avoidance of consumption of sin-offerings on the day of burial of his two sons. Rashi uses the Rabbi Ishmael style generalization principle from which it follows that in general one should abstain from consumption of holy items on the day of burial.

We see that Rashi's inference is based on two Rashi principles: reference and generalization. We present the reference principle here and the generalization principle in rule #6.

Text of Target Verse Dt26-14a	Text of Reference Verse Lv10-19:20
I have not eaten from it [the tithes] on the day of burial, neither have I put away thereof, being unclean, nor given thereof for the dead; I have hearkened to the voice of HaShem my G-d, I have done according to all that Thou hast commanded me.	And Aaron said to Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord; and such things have befallen me; and if I had eaten the sin offering to day, would it be acceptable in the sight of the Lord? And when Moses heard that, he was content.
Rashi comments: The underlined phrase indicating a prohibition of eating a sin offering on the day of burial supports, after appropriate generalization, not eating holy items like tithes on the day of burial.

Students of Rashi must bear in mind that Rashi could sometimes use universal principles applicable in all languages. This particularly applies to the meaning methods.

The synechdoche principle basically says that any language can use a good example to name an entire category. For example, in English,
• the word honey can mean anything sweet.
• Similarly bread can refer to any food.
• Man can refer to any person (male of female)
• day can refer to the entire 24 hour period
• heart can refer to the entire person as in e.g., (Ps 43)My heart yearns for you, God which really means My entire person yearns for you God
• The loss of a person can refer to the destruction of that person (Dt28-22i)

Applying this principle to Dt28-22 which describes the curses that will befall people if they violate God's laws we would translate HaShem will smite thee with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with drought, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

Advanced Rashi: The above, is the actual translation used by the Soncino Davka translation. Although the Hebrew uses the word lost the translation uses the word perish. Here we see Rashi in action, actively influencing translation of verses.

Rashi knew the following conjugation rule: Each Biblical root has a grammatical form indicating the infinitive. The same infinitive grammatical form can, besides meaning the infinitive, also mean an ongoing intensive effort. Some sample verses and Rashis are cited below. Note how we incorporate the Rashi comment into the translation.

• Ex20-08 Be involved in Remembering the sabbath day, to keep it holy. [Rashi: Remember the Sabbath each day. For example if you see a good dish on the weekday, then purchase it for the Sabbath.]
• Ex13-03 And Moses said unto the people: 'Be involved in remembering this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand HaShem brought you out from this place; there shall no leavened bread be eaten. [Rashi: You should remember the exodus every day.]
• Dt01-16a And I charged your judges at that time, saying: 'Be involved in hearing cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. [Rashi: Don't e.g. judge a case immediately but rather, in serious cases, wait at least one night before passing verdict (even if you have seen similar cases many times).]
• Dt27-01a And Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying: 'Be continuously involved in watching all the commandments which I command you this day. ... And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over the Jordan ... that thou shalt set thee up great stones, .... And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, .... The Jews are commanded to perform continous acts of watching the Biblical commandments. They do this by creating a stone monument with a permanant record of the Torah law.

The table below presents an aligned extract of verselets in Dt26-05:11,Dt26-13:16 . Both verselets discuss a statement made before God on the bringing of special plant offerings The alignment justifies the Rashi assertion that For the first-fruit offering we praise and thank God for His bounty; For tithes we affirm compliance.

Verse	Text of Verse	Rashi comment
Dt26-05:11	And thou shalt speak and say before HaShem thy G-d: 'A wandering Aramean was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, ... And HaShem brought us forth out of Egypt ... And He hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.	Praise God for the first fruit
Dt26-13:16	...then thou shalt say before HaShem thy G-d: 'I have put away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all Thy commandment ...	Affirm compliance in tithe laws.

The table below presents presents two contradictory verses. Both verses speak about the punishment of destruction that will befall the Jews if they sin. The underlined words highlight the contradiction. One verse says God will rejoice in destroying us while the other verse states God will bring an enemy to destroy us. Which is it? Will God destroy us or will an enemy destroy us. Rashi simply resolves this using the 2 aspects method: God will rejoice in bringing an enemy to destroy you.

Summary	Verse / Source	Text of verse / Source
Hashem will destroy you	Dt28-63a	And it shall come to pass, that as HaShem rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so HaShem will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest in to possess it.
A nation from far will come to destroy you.	Dt28-49:51	HaShem will bring a nation against thee from far, ... And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy ground, until thou be destroyed; ...
Resolution:	2 Aspects	God will rejoice in bringing an enemy to destroy you.

Certain Biblical paragraphs are stated in a example form. In other words an example of a law is stated rather than the full general rule. The reader's task is to generalize the example. The idea that all Biblical laws should be perceived as examples (unless otherwise indicated) is explicitly stated by Rashi (Pesachim 6.). This is a rule of style since the rule requires that a text be perceived as an example rather than interpreted literally. The Rabbi Ishmael style rules govern the interpretation of style.

This Rashi example continues the example brought in rule #1: There we saw that Dt26-14a which states I have not eaten from it [the tithes] on the day of burial references verse Lv10-19 discussing the abstention from Aaron and his sons from eating a sin offering on the day Aaron's sons died: And Aaron said to Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord; and such things have befallen me; and if I had eaten the sin offering to day, would it be acceptable in the sight of the Lord? And when Moses heard that, he was content.

We summarize the Rashi by using two stages each stage with one application of a distinct Rashi method:
• First we reference verse Lv10-19 which shows that sin offerings should not be eaten on the day of burial;
• Next we generalize Lv10-19 and infer that no holy items should be eaten on the day of burial
• Finally we combine the previous two steps to infer that tithes should not be eaten on the day of burial which supports the Temple affirmation at Dt26-14: I have not eaten it [tithes] on the day of burial.

The Bible can state a theme in a climactic manner, building up from the obvious to more serious consequences. The job of the commentator is to clarify the climactic manner. The rule of climax is powerful. It is independent of other rules such as word meaning and grammar. That is, climax by itself justifies reinterpretation of a verse even if not supported by meaning and grammar.

Verse Dt28-56a:57 discussing the famine curses that shall befall the Jewish people if they sin, states The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not venture to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil
• towards the husband of her bosom, [Rashi: Her husband] and
• towards her son, and towards her daughter [Rashi: Her grown children],
• And towards her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet [Rashi: Her young children], and
• towards her children whom she shall bear [Rashi: Foetus - still birth];
for she shall eat them secretly, ... in the siege and distress, ...

We have incoroporated the Rashi comments into the above translation. Notice how Rashi slightly bends the literal meaning of the words. The driving force behind this Rashi interpretation is not the individual words but rather the general climactic structure. Climax justifies a poetic bending of words that makes a verse progress in a climactic manner.

Advanced Rashi: I have added the interpretation of the last clause as referring to consumption of foetus / stillbirths. Although this is not explicitly in Rashi it is consistent with the bulleted list of four clauses and with the climactic nature of the phrases.

Verse Dt27-17a states Cursed be he that pushes back his neighbour's boundary. And all the people shall say: Amen.

The Hebrew root used, Samech-Vav-Gimel, Nun-Samech-Gimel is a rather exotic root with 3 distinct meanings
• to fall back
• metal impurities (that fall back during the refining process)
• to overtake ( To cause someone else to fall back so you can catch up)

Returning to Dt27-17 we are prohibited from overtaking or falling back our neighbor's boundary. Rashi illustrates this with a clarifying diagram as shown below

BEFORE
-----------------------
| me   | neighbor     |
|      |              |
|      |              |
-----------------------


AFTER
-----------------------
|    me    | neighbor |
|          |          |
|          |          |
-----------------------

The picture shows that I have extended the boundary so that I have more land. We can describe this using either the meanings of overtake or fall back:
Rashi: Don't push back your neighbor's boundary ( The boundary looks as if it had fallen back) Radack: Don't overtake your neighbor's boundary ( The boundary looks as if it is performing an act of overtaking)

Advanced Rashi: I will not go further into the grammar motivating this Rashi-Radack controversy except to say that overtake is typically associated with the causative hifil mode which is used in Dt27-17. This justifies the Radack. However Rashi observes that fall back is a more fitting meaning.

I bring one more point on the meaning of the Hebrew roots Samech-Vav-Gimel, Nun-Samech-Gimel: Some also say that this root can mean boundary as in So07-03, your belly is like a heap of wheat bounded with lilies. But I would interpret this verse as follows: your belly is wheat-textured; your belly impurities are lily-white. In other words her belly has good color (wheat textured) and even those portions of her belly without good color nevertheless have the white stillness of lilies.

Military activity is often vigorously described using animal metaphors. Here we use the symbolism principle that items can symbolize their function. Examples are plentiful
• Nu24-09 states He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion. Who shall stir him up? Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you.
• Jr05-06 states Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the deserts shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch over their cities; every one who goes out there shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and their apostasies are great.
• Jr46-12 states Her sound is like that of a serpent on the move; for they shall march with force, and come against her with axes, like wood cutters.
• Dt01-44a states And the Amorites, who lived in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.
• Dt28-49a states HaShem will bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as the vulture swoopeth down; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;

The interpreter's task is to identify the unique military characteristics of each animal. Rashi commenting on the last verse Dt28-49a states The characteristic of the vulture is the swiftness of its swoop, similar to an army on swift horses.