The 10 RashiYomi Rules
Their presence in Rashis on Parshat Pinchas
Volume 14, Number 21
Used in the monthly Rashi-is-Simple and the Daily Rashi.
Visit the RashiYomi website: http://www.Rashiyomi.com/
This Weekly Rashi with Hebrew/English textual source tables for the Bible/Rashi
may be accessed at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1421.htm
(c) RashiYomi Incorporated, Dr. Hendel, President, July 1 st, 2010

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. Although I frequently use my own English translations of biblical verses and Rashi comments, the Hebrew and English translations in the source tables are derived from online parshah files at chabad.org who in turn acknowledges the Judaica Press Complete Tanach, copyright by Judaica Press.

FULL HOUSE THIS WEEK, ALL RASHI RULES ILLUSTRATED

    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 Nu21-27b
    URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1224.htm
    Brief Summary: JOSHUA SHALL ASK (FROM ELAZAR) USING THE URIM & TUMIM (Nu27-21), references e.g. 1S30-07:08 and Ex28-06:30: prophetically inquiring from URIM & TUMIM during military maneuvers.

Verse Nu21-27b
Hebrew Verse עַל כֵּן יֹאמְרוּ הַמֹּשְׁלִים בֹּאוּ חֶשְׁבּוֹן תִּבָּנֶה וְתִכּוֹנֵן עִיר סִיחוֹן:
English Verse Concerning this, those who speak in parables say, Come to Heshbon, may it be built and established as the city of Sihon.
Rashi Header Hebrew יאמרו המשלים
Rashi Text Hebrew בלעם, שנאמר בו (במדבר כג, ז) וישא משלו:
Rashi Header Enlish those who speak in parables say
Rashi Text English [This refers to] Balaam, about whom it says, “He took up his parable” (23:7).

Verse Nu21-27b Nu21-27c discussing Joshua's seeking advice from Elazar using Urim and Tumim states And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask for him according to the judgment of Urim before the Lord; at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the people of Israel with him, all the congregation Rashi notes that the underlined words, ask for him ... urim references verses 1S30-07:08 and Ex28-06:30 discussing an inquiry by David thru the Urim whether a military maneuver will be successful Hence the Rashi comment Joshua shall ask [from the Urim by Elazar] when Joshua wishes to go to war

Text of Target Verse Nu21-27b Text of Reference Verse 1S30-07:08, Ex28-06:30
And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask for him according to the judgment of Urim before the Lord; at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the people of Israel with him, all the congregation . And David said to Abiathar the priest, AhimelechÆs son, I beg you, bring me here the ephod. And Abiathar brought there the ephod to David. And David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue; for you shall surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. ..... they shall make the ephod of gold, .... And you shall make the breastplate of judgment with skilful work; after the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold,... .... And they shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, .... And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment, the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon AaronÆs heart, when he goes in before the Lord; ...
Rashi comments: Joshua shall ask [from the Urim by Elazar] when Joshua wishes to go to war

Advanced Rashi: Note that we could have equally brought other verses for reference: For example, Ju20-27:28 also gives an example of inquiry thru the Urim about the propriety of a military action.

    Also note that this refernce example is complex in that the reference is sequential:
  • Nu21-27 speaks about asking from the Urim
  • Ex28-06:30 explains how the urim are on the breastplate and
  • The breastplate is connected by a cord to the
  • Ephod garment
  • And that is exactly what David inquires from in 1S30-07:08 from the Ephod.

Finally I note the oddity that many history, military and political books seem to have overlooked the importance of organized religion in general and the priests in particular in determining and even allowing military action. There are many examples. We find in the Talmud / Midrash for example that a priest stopped Alexander the Great from attacking. Similarly the holiday of Chanukah is a holiday about Priestly military activities. The Bible relates that a prophet stopped a civil war when the monarchy split in two after Solomon's death. Military records show that many generals, even those from non religious nations, have sought religious confirmation of their planned activities.

      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 examples applies to Rashis Nu28-02e
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1224.htm
      Brief Summary: PROFESSIONALLY WATCH the daily offering (Nu28-02) The Rabbis instituted Professional Societies of Lay Israelites who prayed simultaneously with the morning offering.

Verse Nu28-02e
Hebrew Verse צַו אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם אֶת קָרְבָּנִי לַחְמִי לְאִשַּׁי רֵיחַ נִיחֹחִי תִּשְׁמְרוּ לְהַקְרִיב לִי בְּמוֹעֲדוֹ:
English Verse Command the children of Israel and say to them: My offering, My food for My fire offerings, a spirit of satisfaction for Me, you shall take care to offer to Me at its appointed time.
Rashi Header Hebrew תשמרו
Rashi Text Hebrew שיהיו כהנים ולוים וישראלים עומדין על גביו מכאן למדו ותקנו מעמדות:
Rashi Header Enlish you shall take care
Rashi Text English The Kohanim , Levites, and Israelites shall stand over them [to watch them]; hence they instituted the ma’amodoth [representatives of the people who were present at the sacrificial services]. — [Sifrei Pinchas 26, Taanith 26a]

When Rashi uses, what we may losely call, the hononym method, Rashi does not explain new meaning but rather shows an underlying unity in disparate meanings. Rashi will frequently do this by showing an underlying unity in the varied meanings of a Biblical root.

In my article Peshat and Derash found on the world wide web at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rashi.pdf. I advocate enriching the Rashi explanation using a technique of parallel nifty translations in modern English. Today's examples show this.

    The Heberw Biblical root Shin-Mem-Resh has a fundamental meaning of watching. Hence this Biblical root can mean
  • to guard
  • prisons and prison guards [ prisons are places where you are watched; guards are people who watch; ]
  • night watch periods [ watch periods are time periods when guards must be on duty. ]
  • be cautious [ cf. the English, watch yourself ]
  • thorns [ items to be cautious, to watch yourself, from ]
  • wine dregs [ items to be cautious, to watch yourself, from, when drinking and having a good time ]
  • professional standards [ guidelines of caution designed to watch, guard and maintain a standard ]
  • eyebrows [ eyebrows watch the eyes ]
  • strong rock, harder than stone [ a strong rock appears to have been watched from all softening forces ]

Applying the above translation to Nu28-02 discussing the offering of the daily offering we obtain Command the children of Israel, and say unto them: My food which is presented unto Me for offerings made by fire, of a sweet savour unto Me: professionally standardize to offer it unto Me in its due season.

Advanced Rashi: Hence the Rashi comment: From this Biblical requirement of professional standardazation the Rabbis based the institution of the Standers groups of lay Israelites who would stand and pray in their synagogues simultaneously with the offering of the daily sacrifice. These Standers helped standardize and watch the institution of the daily offering since a wider spectrum of Jews knew of the offering by virtue of the representatives in their community.

      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 Nu28-15c
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1224.htm
      Brief Summary: ....and a goat for a sin offering besides the daily offering and its [the daily offering's] libations

Verse Nu28-15b
Hebrew Verse וּשְׂעִיר עִזִּים אֶחָד לְחַטָּאת לַי־הֹוָ־ה עַל עֹלַת הַתָּמִיד יֵעָשֶׂה וְנִסְכּוֹ:
English Verse And one young male goat for a sin offering to the Lord; it shall be offered up in addition to the continual burnt offering and its libation.
Rashi Header Hebrew על עלת התמיד יעשה
Rashi Text Hebrew כל הקרבן הזה:
Rashi Header Enlish and its libation
Rashi Text English [The phrase] “and its libation” does not refer to the young male goat because sin-offerings have no libations.

Today Hebrew grammar is well understood and there are many books on it. Rashi, however, lived before the age of grammar books. A major Rashi method is therefore the teaching of basic grammar.

Many students belittle this aspect of Rashi. They erroneously think that because of modern methods we know more. However Rashi will frequently focus on rare grammatical points not covered in conventional textbooks.

    There are many classical aspects to grammar whether in Hebrew or other languages. They include
  • The rules for conjugating verbs. These rules govern how you differentiate person, plurality, tense, mode, gender, mood, and designation of the objects and indirect objects of the verb. For example how do you conjugate, in any language, I sang, we will sing, we wish to sing, she sang it.
  • Rules of agreement. For example agreement of subject and verb, of noun and adjective; whether agreement in gender or plurality.
  • Rules of Pronoun reference.
  • Rules of word sequence. This is a beautiful topic which is not always covered in classical grammatical textbooks.

Today we study a Rashi based on a simple grammatical rule: pronoun reference. In English the rule is that the pronoun must refer to the nearest noun. But in the Bible the rule is that the pronoun refers to the most logical antecedent. This Biblical rule appears somewhat strange to English speakers and they must acclimate to it. Let us apply it to Nu28-15c:

Verse Nu28-15c discussing the requirement to offer a sin offering states And one he-goat for a sin-offering unto HaShem; it shall be offered beside the daily day-offering, and its [the daily up offering] libations The pronouns its libations could refer to either of the underlined nouns: the daily day offering or the sin offering. Rashi explains But based on Nu15 only up- and peace- offerings have libations. Sin offerings don't have libations. Hence the pronoun its refers to the libations of the daily up offering. Here we see Rashi using the Biblical rule of most logical antecedent to justify his conclusion.

    4. RASHI METHOD: ALIGNMENT
    BRIEF EXPLANATION: Aligning two almost identically worded verselets can suggest
    • (4a) 2 cases of the same incident or law
    • (4b) emphasis on the nuances of a case
    • (4c) use of broad vs literal usage of words
    This examples applies to Rashis Nu29-18b
    URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w34n2.htm
    Brief Summary: Brief Summary: Offer the offerings and a)its libation, b)its libationS, c) THEIR libations - 2 libations - one of oil, one of water

Verse Nu29-18b
Hebrew Verse וּמִנְחָתָם וְנִסְכֵּיהֶם לַפָּרִים לָאֵילִם וְלַכְּבָשִׂים בְּמִסְפָּרָם כַּמִּשְׁפָּט:
English Verse And their meal offerings and their libations, for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, as prescribed.
Rashi Header Hebrew ולכבשים
Rashi Text Hebrew כנגד ישראל שנקראו (ירמיה נ, יז) שה פזורה, והם קבועים ומנינם תשעים ושמונה לכלות מהם תשעים ושמונה קללות שבמשנה תורה. בשני נאמר ונסכיהם על שני תמידי היום ולא שינה הלשון אלא לדרוש, כמו שאמרו רזל בשני ונסכיהם, בששי ונסכיה, בשביעי כמשפטם, מם יוד מם, הרי כאן מים, רמז לנסוך המים מן התורה בחג:
Rashi Header Enlish and for the lambs
Rashi Text English corresponding to Israel, who are called ‘a scattered lamb’ (Jer. 50:17). Their number remains constant, and it totals ninety-eight, to counter the ninety-eight curses related in ‘Mishneh Torah’ [the Book of Deuteronomy] (28:15-68) (Mid. Aggadah). On the second day it says, וְנִסְכֵּיהֶם,“and their libations” relating to the two daily continual offerings. The language [of Scripture] varies only for expository purposes, following our Sages, of blessed memory, who said: On the second day, וְנִסְכֵּיהֶם, “and their libations”; on the sixth day, וּנְסָכֶיהָ “and its libations”; on the seventh day כְּמִשְׁפָּטָם“as prescribed for them” [instead of כַּמִּשְׁפָּט,“as prescribed”]. [The additional letters in these three words are] ‘mem’ ’yud’ ‘mem’ which form [the word] מַיִם, ‘water.’ This suggests that the [ceremony of] water libation during the festival [of 'Succoth’] is of Torah origin. — [Sifrei Pinchas 54, Ta’anith 2b]

The table below presents an aligned extract of verses or verselets in Nu29-19, Nu29-28, Nu29-31. Both verses/verselets discuss the offering festival libations. The alignment justifies the Rashi comment that: The verses speak about its libation, its libations, and their libations. There were in fact multiple libations: There was the traditional oil-wine-flour libation. There was also an additional libation - the water libation.

Verse Text of Verse Rashi comment
Nu29-28, Nu29-31 And one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and its meal offering, and its drink offering... And one goat for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, its meal offering, and its drink offerings. The verses speak about its libation, its libations, and their libations. There were in fact multiple libations: There was the traditional oil-wine-flour libation. There was also an additional libation - the water libation.
Nu29-19 And one kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the continual burnt offering, and its meal offering, and their drink offerings.

    Advanced Rashi: We make four important comments:
  1. The above explanation, based on the grammatical plural vs singular, is due to Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch.
  2. We have only aligned three verses. There are actually six verses Nu29-34,31,28,25,22,19,16, involved but the above 3 are typical.
  3. Rashi notes further plural-singular alignments. Rashi only notes 3 such alignments which mnemonically form the 3 letters that spell the Hebrew word for water. However there are at least 6 such alignments in this chapter. We therefore feel that the three alignments brought by Rashi are a punchy form by which to express the idea. However the real substantive explanation is given - not by three letters spelling a word - but rather by the singular-plural alignments. The other half dozen alignments have other purposes which Rashi does not go into.
  4. This Rashi with its surface emphasis on three letters and a pun appears homiletic. By contrast the grammatical explanation offered by Rabbi Hirsch is deep, principle-based, and grammatical. Such a contrast urges and inspires us to read Rashi with care and always seek simple grammatical defenses.

Praise be Him who chose them and their learning.

Note that this Rashi also deals with certain symbolic issues. We therefore regard this Rashi comment as a multiple Rashi comment and will deal with the other Rashi comments in future issues.

      5. RASHI METHOD: CONTRADICTION
      BRIEF EXPLANATION:Rashi resolves contradictory verses using 3 methods.
      • (5a) Resolution using two aspects of the same event
      • (5b) Resolution using two stages of the same process
      • (5c) Resolution using broad-literal interpretation.
      This examples applies to Rashis Nu27-23a
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w34n2.htm
      Brief Summary: God said PLACE YOUR HAND but Moses PLACED BOTH HANDS on Joshua to inaugurate him, showing Moses generous spirit.

Verse Nu27-23a
Hebrew Verse וַיִּסְמֹךְ אֶת יָדָיו עָלָיו וַיְצַוֵּהוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְ־הֹוָ־ה בְּיַד מֹשֶׁה:
English Verse He laid his hands upon him and commanded him, in accordance with what the Lord had spoken to Moses.
Rashi Header Hebrew ויסמך את ידיו
Rashi Text Hebrew בעין יפה יותר ויותר ממה שנצטווה. שהקבה אמר לו וסמכת את ידך, והוא עשה בשתי ידיו, ועשאו ככלי מלא וגדוש ומלאו חכמתו בעין יפה:
Rashi Header Enlish He laid his hands
Rashi Text English generously; over and above what he had been commanded. For the Holy One, blessed is He, said to him,“and you shall lay your hand upon him” (verse 18), but he did it with both his hands. He fashioned him like a full and overflowing vessel, filling him with wisdom in abundance. — [Sifrei Pinchas 23, Sanh. 105b]

The table below presents two contradictory verses. Both verses talk about the hand-placement inauguration ceremony of Joshua. The underlined words highlight the contradiction. One verse says God ordered Moses to place his hand on Joshua for the inauguration. while the other verse says Moses placed both his hands on Joshua for inauguration. Which is it? Was one or two hands suppose to be placed on Joshua. Rashi simply resolves this using the broad-literal method: The literal requirement was for Moses to place one hand on Joshua for the inauguration. This symbolized delegation and transfer of responsibility. However symbolically Moses did not have to give Joshua his full powers. Moses then interpreted God's order broadly. He placed both hands on Joshua during the inauguration cermemony symbolizing not only a transfer and delegation of responsibility but best wishes for a full and generous giving over of all his powers.

Summary Verse / Source Text of verse / Source
One-hand placement for inauguration Nu27-18 And the Lord said to Moses, Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is spirit, and lay your hand upon him;
Moses placed both hands Nu27-23 And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.
Resolution: broad-literal The literal requirement was for Moses to place one hand on Joshua for the inauguration. This symbolized delegation and transfer of responsibility. However symbolically Moses did not have to give Joshua his full powers. Moses then interpreted God's order broadly. He placed both hands on Joshua during the inauguration cermemony symbolizing not only a transfer and delegation of responsibility but a full and generous giving over of all his powers and capacities.

    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 Nu29-36a
    URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w34n2.htm
    Brief Summary: The ecstasy of post-Yom-Kippur forgiveness leads to a great feast on the first day of Sukkoth. The ecstasy gradually returns to normalacy. Human relations are similar.

Verse Nu29-36a
Hebrew Verse וְהִקְרַבְתֶּם עֹלָה אִשֵּׁה רֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ לַי־הֹוָ־ה פַּר אֶחָד אַיִל אֶחָד כְּבָשִׂים בְּנֵי שָׁנָה שִׁבְעָה תְּמִימִם:
English Verse You shall offer up a burnt offering, a fire offering for a spirit of satisfaction to the Lord: one bull, one ram, and seven lambs in the first year, [all] unblemished.
Rashi Header Hebrew פר אחד איל אחד
Rashi Text Hebrew אלו כנגד ישראל, התעכבו לי מעט עוד. ולשון חבה הוא זה, כבנים הנפטרים מאביהם והוא אומר להם קשה עלי פרידתכם עכבו עוד יום אחד. משל למלך שעשה סעודה וכו', כדאיתא במס' סוכה (דף נה ב) ובמדרש רבי תנחומא למדה תורה דרך ארץ, שמי שיש לו אכסנאי יום ראשון יאכילו פטומות, למחר מאכילו דגים, למחר מאכילו בשר בהמה, למחר מאכילו קטניות, למחר מאכילו ירק, פוחת והולך כפרי החג:
Rashi Header Enlish one bull, one ram
Rashi Text English These correspond to Israel. [God said,] “Remain with Me a little longer.” It expresses [His] affection [for Israel]. It is like children taking leave of their father, who says to them, “It is difficult for me to part with you; stay one more day.” It is analogous to a king who made a banquet, etc. [and on the last day, his closest friend makes a small banquet for the king] as is stated in Tractate Sukkah [55b]. In the Midrash of R. Tanchuma (Pinchas 16) [it says]: The Torah teaches common courtesy. Someone who has a guest, [and wants him to feel at home,] on the first day, he should serve him fattened poultry, on the following day he should serve him fish, on the following day beef, on the following day pulses, and on the following day vegetables, progressively diminishing, as in the case of the festival bulls.

Certain Biblical paragraphs are stated in an 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.

Verses Nu29-12:39 discussing the offerings brought on each of the 8 days of Succoth-Shmini-Azereth states And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall ... And you shall offer a burnt offering, thirteen young bulls,.... And on the second day you shall offer twelve young bulls,... And on the third day eleven bulls, ... And on the fourth day ten bulls, ... And on the fifth day nine bulls, ... And on the sixth day eight bulls, ... And on the seventh day seven bulls, .... On the eighth day... But you shall offer one bull, one ram, .... Rashi commenting on the underlined phrases states: Immediately after the forgiveness of Yom Kippur we are in ecstasy and offer 14 bulls. As the holiday progresses we offer 13,12,11...,7, until on the last day we offer 1. This ecstasy with a graduated decrease to normalacy is a prototype for all interpersonal occasions of happiness (Both between God and man and between man and man) - We should always start big and gradually return to normalacy.

      7. RASHI METHOD: FORMATTING
      BRIEF EXPLANATION:Inferences from Biblical formatting: #NAME?
      • Use of repetition to indicate formatting effects: bold,italics,...;
      • use of repeated keywords to indicate a bullet effect;
      • rules governing use and interpretation of climactic sequence;
      • rules governing paragraph development and discourse
      This example applies to Rashis Nu28-14c
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1224.htm
      Brief Summary: This is the MONTHLY-OFFERING IN ITS MONTH Rashi: Every month is unique; no makeups for skipped months

Verse Nu28-14a
Hebrew Verse וְנִסְכֵּיהֶם חֲצִי הַהִין יִהְיֶה לַפָּר וּשְׁלִישִׁת הַהִין לָאַיִל וּרְבִיעִת הַהִין לַכֶּבֶשׂ יָיִן זֹאת עֹלַת חֹדֶשׁ בְּחָדְשׁוֹ לְחָדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָה:
English Verse And their libations: a half of a hin for each bull, a third of a hin for each ram, and a quarter of a hin for each lamb; this is the burnt offering of each new month in its month, throughout the months of the year.
Rashi Header Hebrew זאת עלת חדש בחדשו
Rashi Text Hebrew שאם עבר יומו בטל קרבנו ושוב אין לו תשלומין:
Rashi Header Enlish This is the burnt offering of each new month in its month
Rashi Text English However, once the day passes, its offering is canceled, and there is no way to make it up. — [Sifrei Pinchas 43]

We have explained in our article Biblical Formatting located on the world wide web at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/biblicalformatting.pdf, that the Biblical Author indicates bold, italics, underline by using repetition. In other words if a modern author wanted to emphasize a word they would either underline, bold or italicize it. However when the Biblical author wishes to emphasize a word He repeats it. The effect - whether thru repetition or using underline - is the same. It is only the means of conveying this emphasis that is different.

Verse Nu28-14c discussing the monthly offering states And their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, and the third part of a hin for a ram, and a fourth part of a hin for a lamb; this is the monthly burnt offering in its month throughout the months of the year. The repeated (actually triplicated!) underlined word phrase month month month indicates an unspecified emphasis. Rashi translates this unspecified emphasis as monthly offering but only in its month That is Rashi translates the verse as follows: And their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, and the third part of a hin for a ram, and a fourth part of a hin for a lamb; this is the monthly burnt offering unique to its month throughout the months of the year. In other words Every month has a unique offering. Consequently, if you accidentally skipped a monthly offering you cannot make it up by offering two monthly offerings next month.

Advanced Rashi: This Rashi has a moral message for people involved in projects. The message is a sacrificial symbolic affirmation of the law of lost time. If you have a project - secular, religious, investment, personal, health related - and that project is moving forward with energy then if you lose a day perhaps you can make it up but if you take a vacation for a month you lose that month. You can't make up that month in the coming month. The month is lost. This is an important principle. You can celebrate and take your vacation between projects but not during them. Hence the Biblical verse/Rashi: The up offering of each month in its unique month

      8. RASHI METHOD: DATABASES
      BRIEF EXPLANATION:Rashi makes inferences from Database queries. The precise definition of database query has been identified in modern times with the 8 operations of Sequential Query Language (SQL).

      This example applies to Rashis Nu29-35a
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w34n2.htm
      Brief Summary: SHMINI AZERETH is named because God so to speak HOLDS US OVER (AZERETH) on more day.

Verse Nu29-35a
Hebrew Verse בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי עֲצֶרֶת תִּהְיֶה לָכֶם כָּל מְלֶאכֶת עֲבֹדָה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ:
English Verse The eighth day shall be a time of restriction for you; you shall not perform any mundane work.
Rashi Header Hebrew עצרת תהיה לכם
Rashi Text Hebrew עצורים בעשיית מלאכה. דבר אחר עצרת עצרו מלצאת, מלמד שטעון לינה. ומדרשו באגדה לפי שכל ימות הרגל הקריבו כנגד שבעים אומות וכשבאין ללכת, אמר להם המקום בבקשה מכם עשו לי סעודה קטנה כדי שאהנה מכם:
Rashi Header Enlish A time of restriction for you
Rashi Text English עֲצֶרֶת, restricted from working (Chagigah 18a). Another interpretation: Restrain yourselves from leaving. This teaches that they were required to remain [in Jerusalem] overnight (Sifrei Pinchas 55). This [word עֲצֶרֶת] is expounded in the Aggadah : (Sukkah 55b) [as follows]: For throughout the days of the festival they brought offerings symbolizing the seventy nations, and when they came to leave, the Omnipresent said to them, “Please make Me a small feast, so that I can have some pleasure from you [alone].”

Today we ask the database query: Which Biblical holidays have reasons given for their names. The query uncovers 4 examples. An examination of these examples justifies the Rashi assertion that Shmini Azereth is the only Biblical holiday whose name is not explained. Since the other holidays have their names explained we are therefore justified in also explaining the name of Shmini Azereth. We can explain its name by the meaning of its underlying root Ayin-Tzade-Resh which means to hold back. So to speak, God says to the Jewish people: You have been here for Sukkoth 7 days - don't go - let me hold you back one more day. The table below presents results of the query along with illustrations of Rashi's comment.

Verses Holiday Reason
Ex12-13 Passover God passed over Jewish houses and saved them from destruction
Ex31-15:17 Sabbath God rested (Shin-Beth-Tauv) on the 7th day
Lv23-42:43) Succoth Commemoration of the Booths (Succoth) in which the Jews dwelled in the wilderness.
NO VERSE Shmini Azereth God so to speak says to the Jewish people: Hold back,(Azer,) please don't go - stay one more day.

Advanced Rashi: Many people understand this Rashi using the meaning method. Rashi is simply obtaining meaning from the underlying root. We have enriched the Rashi by combining the meaning and database method. The database method shows that holidays do have reasons for their names. So Rashi is not just applying the root meaning to the holiday, rather, Rashi is continuing the Biblical tradition of naming holidays by important commemorative criteria.

    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 Nu26-36a
    URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w33n24.htm
    Brief Summary: There was not a 1-1 correspondence between each grandchild's child of Jacob and Jewish subtribes. Only those worthy became subtribes.

Verse Nu26-36a
Hebrew Verse וְאֵלֶּה בְּנֵי שׁוּתָלַח לְעֵרָן מִשְׁפַּחַת הָעֵרָנִי:
English Verse And these were the descendants of Shuthelah: the family of the Eranites from Eran.
Rashi Header Hebrew ואלה בני שותלח וגו'
Rashi Text Hebrew שאר בני שותלח נקראו תולדותיהם על שם שותלח. ומערן יצאה משפחה רבה ונקראת על שמו. ונחשבו בני שותלח לשתי משפחות. צא וחשוב ותמצא בפרשה זו חמשים ושבע משפחות, ומבני לוי שמונה, הרי ששים וחמש, וזהו שנאמר (דברים ז ז) כי אתם המעט וגו', הא מעט, חמשה אתם חסרים ממשפחות כל העמים, שהן שבעים, אף זה הבנתי מיסודו של ר' משה הדרשן. אך הוצרכתי לפחות ולהוסיף בדבריו:
Rashi Header Enlish And these were the descendants of Shuthelah…
Rashi Text English The descendants of the other sons of Shuthelah were called after Shuthelah. A large family issued from Eran, so they were called after him. Thus, the descendants of Shuthelah were considered two families. Go and figure it out and you will find that fifty-seven families [are listed] in this chapter, together with eight from the sons of Levi, totaling sixty-five. This is the meaning of what is said,“For you are the least (הַמְעַט) of all the peoples” (Deut. 7:7). [The word הַמְעַט denotes ‘five’ (ה) ‘less’ (מְעַט).] You are five less than the families of all the nations, since they are seventy [and you are sixty-five]. This too I expounded from the writings of R. Moshe Hadarshan [the preacher], but I had to delete some of his words and add to them. - [Mid. Aggadah.]

People have a naive approach to tribes and subtribes. We use a genealogical model, forgetting that our religion is not tribal! The model should properly have a dimension of merit! Jews were never tribal and Judaism certainly isn't.

There are three proofs to seeing merit as well as genealogy in the Jewish Biblical tribal model. First we have the explicit statement of Jacob, Gn48-05:06, that And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you to Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. And your issue, born to you after them, shall be yours, and shall be called after the name of their brothers in their inheritance. So we have an explicit statement that 2 grandchildren, Ephraim and Menasseh, will have equal trible status to the children. That is Reuben, Jacob's son formed one Israeli tribe and similarly, Ephraim, Jacob's grandson,formed one Israeli tribe.

The verse further says that the rest of Joseph's children belong to the tribes of Ephraim and Menassheh. Commentators have overlooked this. It is a mistake to think Joseph had only 2 children. Indeed a famous Rashi says that all Jews had sextuplets (In this email list we have interpreted this to mean many children, not necessarily exactly six). So where were Joseph's other 4 children! The truth is we don't know their names but they were certainly there. The real point is that Joseph had many children, two of which were worthy of being tribes. Here, directly from Jacob's order, we have the first instance of a tribal system based on genealogy and merit.

A second proof can be found in Judah's children. Gn46-12 states And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Perez, and Zarah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. Here we have grandchildren - Hezron, Hamul - taking a subtribe status equal to that of children. This is confirmed in the census in Numbers, Nu26-19:22, where Hezron, Hamul are given subtribe status.

But Rashi is pedagog par excellence! Rashi does not make his punchline on Ephraim and Menasshe since Jacob explicitly declared it. He also does not make his punchline by Judah since two of Judah's sons died suggesting that a replacement must be necessary. Instead Rashi waits for a verse with no excuses. Nu26-36 discussing the subtribes of Menassheh states And these are the sons of Shuthelah; from Eran, the family of the Eranites. Now does anyone really think that in a nation where everyone had sextuplets, Shuthelah had only one son. But the truth is as Rashi says Shuthelah's other children were censused under Shuthelah. But one of Shuthelah's children, Eran, was distinguished and merited to form their own subtribe. Here we have the explicit statement that the assumed equation one child = one (sub)tribe is not true. Rather the accurate principle is Tribality was based on two dimensions of genealogy and merit. From among the children those that merited became subtribes. In this way Judaism preserved its non-tribal nature as a religion based on personal merit.

Advanced Rashi: In translating this Rashi I am translating Ravah as distinguished rather than many. In other words I am not translating Rashi as Eran was a big family so they made him his own tribe (Sort of like making a big block their own zip code for operational convenience). Rather I am translating Eran was a distinguished family. This translation is consistent with the other precedents I mentioned above. If one chooses to translate Ravah as many the above explanation would still hold since it is based on Jacob's explicit statement, other precedents such as that of Judah, and the reasonable assumption that families did not have just 1 or 2 children.

I also point out that Judaism uses the merit-genealogy approach with the selection of the High Priest. From among the High Priest's children we take the one most meritorious for the successor (Not necessarily the oldest).

I believe the ideas enunciated here are of extreme importance to Jewish philosophy and contradict the often cited tribal approach to Judaim.

Note: Since this rule elucidates how to trace the relationship between children and tribes we have called it non-verse since, dealing with enumeration, it resembles a spreadsheet method.

Acknowledgement: When the youngest of my sisters was in High School she asked me If everyone had sextuplets why do we only know 3 of Amram's children- Moses, Aaron, Miriam. I answered that Perhaps the others were not as famous. I believe the above Rashi places a context by which to understand the distinction between distinguished and ordinary children. This distinction affects tribality and apparently other matters also.

      10. RASHI METHOD: SYMBOLISM
      BRIEF EXPLANATION: Rashi provides symbolic interpretations of words, verses, and chapters. Rashi can symbolically interpret either
      • (10a) entire Biblical chapters such as the gifts of the princes, Nu-07
      • (10b) individual items, verses and words
      The rules governing symbolism and symbolic interpretation are presented in detail on my website.

      This examples applies to Rashis Nu29-36a
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w34n2.htm
      Brief Summary: Shmini Azereth is analogous to a final parting meal after a week-long celebration. The week celebration starts with a big bang and finishes with a small intimate setting.

Verse Nu29-36a
Hebrew Verse וְהִקְרַבְתֶּם עֹלָה אִשֵּׁה רֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ לַי־הֹוָ־ה פַּר אֶחָד אַיִל אֶחָד כְּבָשִׂים בְּנֵי שָׁנָה שִׁבְעָה תְּמִימִם:
English Verse You shall offer up a burnt offering, a fire offering for a spirit of satisfaction to the Lord: one bull, one ram, and seven lambs in the first year, [all] unblemished.
Rashi Header Hebrew פר אחד איל אחד
Rashi Text Hebrew אלו כנגד ישראל, התעכבו לי מעט עוד. ולשון חבה הוא זה, כבנים הנפטרים מאביהם והוא אומר להם קשה עלי פרידתכם עכבו עוד יום אחד. משל למלך שעשה סעודה וכו', כדאיתא במס' סוכה (דף נה ב) ובמדרש רבי תנחומא למדה תורה דרך ארץ, שמי שיש לו אכסנאי יום ראשון יאכילו פטומות, למחר מאכילו דגים, למחר מאכילו בשר בהמה, למחר מאכילו קטניות, למחר מאכילו ירק, פוחת והולך כפרי החג:
Rashi Header Enlish one bull, one ram
Rashi Text English These correspond to Israel. [God said,] “Remain with Me a little longer.” It expresses [His] affection [for Israel]. It is like children taking leave of their father, who says to them, “It is difficult for me to part with you; stay one more day.” It is analogous to a king who made a banquet, etc. [and on the last day, his closest friend makes a small banquet for the king] as is stated in Tractate Sukkah [55b]. In the Midrash of R. Tanchuma (Pinchas 16) [it says]: The Torah teaches common courtesy. Someone who has a guest, [and wants him to feel at home,] on the first day, he should serve him fattened poultry, on the following day he should serve him fish, on the following day beef, on the following day pulses, and on the following day vegetables, progressively diminishing, as in the case of the festival bulls.

We have already explained the symbolic meaning of Shmini Azereth in rule #6, style above. We recap here: Immediately after the forgiveness of Yom Kippur we are in ecstasy and offer 14 bulls. As the holiday progresses we offer 13,12,11...,7, bulls until on the last day we offer 1. This ecstasy with a graduated decrease to normalacy is a prototype for interpersonal occasions of happiness - start big and gradually return to normalacy. In effect God is telling us: We (God and Jews) had such a good time Yom Kippur when you were totally forgiven; in this moment of ecstasy we had a big meal (huge number of animals offered) on the first day of Sukkoth. We then gradually returned to normalacy (Symbolized by the decreasing number of bulls offered per day). Finally after the wedding and honeymoon are over God says to the Jews:'Please don't go - stay one more day for a small but intimate get together (Symbolized by the offering of only one bull). This symbolism illustrates dealing with the contrastive emotions of ecstasy and intimacy.

Conclusion

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