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 Ex38-28a URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w17n3.htm Brief Summary: The heads of the courtyard pillars were overlaid (Ex38-28) with silver (Ex38-17).

Verse Ex38-28a discussing the courtyard pillars states And of the thousand seven hundred and seventy five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their heads, and bound them. Rashi clarifies the underlined word overlaid by referencing verse Ex38-19 which states And their pillars were four, and their sockets of bronze four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their joints of silver. Hence the Rashi comment: The overlaying mentioned in Ex38-28 is an overlaying with silver as indicated explicitly in Ex38-19.

Text of Target verse Ex38-28a	Text of Reference Verse Ex38-19
And of the thousand seven hundred and seventy five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their capitals, and bound them	And their pillars were four, and their sockets of bronze four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their joints of silver.
Rashi comments: The overlaying mentioned in Ex38-28 is an overlaying with silver as indicated in Ex38-19.

Advanced Rashi: Rashi's comment could simultaneously be derived from Ex38-27 which precedes Ex38-28 and which states And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary... The Other Verse method typically allows multiple derivations.

The FFF submethod states that words can be named by Form, Feel, and Function.
• Some examples of naming words by Form include (a) the leg of a chair, (b) the handle of a pot, (c) the branch of a family tree, (d) surfing the net or (e) brainstorming Some of these examples illustrate naming objects by form while other examples illustrate naming activities by form.
• A good punchy example distinguishing naming by form vs. function is pentagon-UN. The pentagon is named after the shape and form of the building while the United Nations is named after the function and purpose of the building. Although both these buildings have as a purpose world peace they are named differently.
• Examples of naming by feel/substance are glasses, hardship, ironing-board, plaster etc.

The FFF principle is a special case of the literary techniques of synechdoche-metonomy. These literary principles, universal to all languages, state that items can be named by related items, by parts of those items, or by good examples of those items. For example honey refers to anything sweet since honey is a good example of something sweet. Similarly hot refers to matters of love since the two are related. Todays Rashi can best be understood by applying these principles.

Verse Ex40-22b discussing the erection of the Temple states And he put the table in the tent of meeting, upon the Temple thigh northward, without the veil. Rashi explains: The Temple thigh refers to the Temple side. Here Rashi uses the FFF principle, Rashi names position by the positional form of a body organ.

Examples of naming by body positional form abound in many languages: For example, in English we have, the handle of the pot, the eye of the hurricane, the heart of the west, the leg of the table, the head of the mountain and many more. By placing Rashi in the context of these examples we enrich our Rashi experience.

Most people are aware that Hebrew verbs come from three-letter roots. Each root is conjugated in the 7 dimensions of person, gender,plurality, tense, activity, modality, and direct-object. For example the root Shin Mem Resh means to watch. The conjugations Shin-Mem-Resh-Tauv-Yud and Nun-Shin-Mem-Resh-Nun-Vav mean I watched and we were watched respectively.

The rules for Hebrew grammar are carefully described in many modern books and are well known. Rashi will sometimes comment when a verse is using a rare conjugation of an odd grammatical form.

When presenting grammatical Rashis my favorite reference is the appendix in volume 5 of the Ibn Shoshan dictionary. This very short appendix lists most conjugations.

Verse Ex40-32a discussing the requirement of priests to wash / sanctify their hands and legs when entering to provide service states When they come to the Tent of Meeting, and when they intend to come near to the altar, they washed; as the Lord commanded Moses. Rashi's comment on the Hebrew Kuph-Resh-Beth-Tauv-Mem when properly understood involves four points:
1. The root Kuph-Resh-Beth means near
2. The grammatical form used is the infinitive: to come near.
3. The suffix Mem indicates the subject of the infinitive: for them to come near.
4. The root has an additional hey which, as is usual is transformed into a Tauv. A suffix hey indicates the so-called jussive / cohortative mood - that is, a mood of aspiration, wishfullness and intent.
Putting it all together we therefore translate the verse ...when they intend to come near to the altar...

Advanced Rashi: Rashi literally says Kuph Resh Beth Tauv Mem is like Kuph Resh Beth Mem. Rashi thereby indicates that the word uses an infinitive and suffix mem. In our explanation above we have also accounted for the tauv which classically comes from a suffix hey which typically indicates the jussive / cohortative mood.

Having explained the verse we must ask Why? That is what does the phrase ..when they intend to come near to the altar add. I have not found anything explicit but would offer the following insights: The Rambam, Laws of Temple Entry, mentions the Biblical requirement to wash hands and legs and then perform temple service. The Rambam also mentions the heavenly death penalty applicable to a Priest who performs temple service without first washing. But the Rambam is silent on Temple entry without washing and without service. I would suggest, based on the Rashi we just read that a priest who entered with intent to provide service and did not wash and was later unable to provide the temple service has nevertheless violated a positive commandment to wash. As I indicated I have not found anything explicit in the exegetical sources and leave the above as a thought on how grammatical Rashis like this can possibly be integrated with Jewish law.

The table below presents an aligned extract of verses or verselets in Ex26-33, Ex40-03. Both verses/verselets discuss the Temple Paroceth curtain. The alignment justifies the Rashi comment that:

The Paroceth curtain has two functions.

• (#1)(Ex26-33) It functions as a divider between the Holy of Holies, containing the Ark, containing the Torah itself, and the Holies, containing the Temple utensils such as the Candellabrah, Table and Golden altar.
• (#2) (Ex40-33) It functions as a protective covering protecting the Ark containing the Torah. The Paroceth itself has pictures of the child-like Keruvim symbolizing that after mastering the adult activities of knowledge (Candellabrah), earning a living (Table), and devotion to God (Golden altar), one must develop a child-like curiosity to master and protect the Torah. Initially however the adult and child activities must be divided and separated.

Verse	Text of Verse	Rashi comment
Ex26-33	Place the paroches under the clasps [which kept the drapes together]. Bring into the space within [behind] the paroches the Ark of the Testimony,and the paroches will divide for you between the Holy and the Holy of Holies	The Paroceth curtain has two functions. (#1)(Ex26-33) It functions as a divider between the Holy of Holies, containing the Ark, containing the Torah itself, and the Holies, containing the Temple utensils such as the Candellabrah, Table and Golden altar; (#2) (Ex40-33) It functions as a protective covering protecting the Ark containing the Torah. The Paroceth itself has pictures of the child-like Keruvim symbolizing that after mastering the adult activities of knowledge (Candellabrah), earning a living (Table), and devotion to God (Golden altar), one must develop a child-like curiosity to master and protect the Torah. Initially however the adult and child activities must be divided and separated.
Ex40-03	Place the ark of Testimony there, so that the paroches protectively covers the ark.

Advanced Rashi: Rashi only mentions the dual functions of protection and division. We have supplemented Rashi by indicating the symbolic implications of this dual function.

The table below presents two contradictory verses/verselets. Both verses/verselets speak about the requirement to wash hands and legs from the Temple Lavere. The underlined words highlight the contradiction. One verse/verselet says Aaron and his sons washed while the other verse/verselet says Moses, Aaron and his sons washed. We see the contradiction: Which is it? Was the washing a requirement only of Priests; or did Moses also participate. Rashi simply resolves this using the 2 aspects method: a) During the Priest induction ceremony, Moses performed sacrificial rituals; hence he had to wash from the Temple Lavere. The Priest induction ceremony is described in Lv08-16:21. We find there that indeed, Moses functioned as a Priest (because there were not yet other Priests); he offered sacrifices, sprinkled blood etc. Hence as just indicated he was required to wash from the Temple Lavere. b) After the Priests were inducted, Moses remained a Levite and was never required to wash from the Lavere again.

Summary	Verse / Source	Text of verse / Source
Only Priests were required to wash from the Temple Laverecalf	Ex30-19	Aharon and his sons will wash from it their hands and their feet.
Moses (once) washed from the Temple Lavere	Ex40-31	Moshe, Aharon and his sons washed their hands and feet from it
Resolution:	2 Aspects	a) During the Priest induction ceremony, Moses performed sacrificial rituals; hence he had to wash from the Temple Lavere. The Priest induction ceremony is described in Lv08-16:21. We find there that indeed, Moses functioned as a Priest (because there were not yet other Priests); he offered sacrifices, sprinkled blood etc. Hence as just indicated he was required to wash from the Temple Lavere. b) After the Priests were inducted, Moses remained a Levite and was never required to wash from the Lavere again.

Certain Biblical paragraphs are stated in a Theme-Development form. In other words a broad general idea is stated first followed by the development of this broad general theme in specific details. The Theme-Detail form creates a unified paragraph. Today's example illustrates this as shown below.

Verse Ex39-32a discussing the completion of the Temple states General: Thus was finished all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting; [since]... Detail: ... the children of Israel did according to all that HaShem commanded Moses, so did they.

In the above translation we have interpolated the word since which captures the essence of Rashi's remark on a causal connection between the two verse halves. This causal relationship exhibits the general-development form: The general idea of completion is developed using the causal idea of obedience.

Advanced Rashi: There is a subtle point here: The Temple, even though it is God's house, was not built by God (compare the Midrash that God will build the 3rd Temple). Man had to participate for the Temple to be built in a timely manner.

We ask the following database query: How many temple utensils are described in the bible and how are they sequenced? The reader is encouraged to perform the query using a standard Biblical Konnkordance or search engine. This database query yields the list below. The list justifies the following Rashi-Midrashic inference: Different sequencing is used for the Temple objects. Each sequencing reflected a different ordering principle.
• The order to build reflects a sequence based on spiritual importance - for example the most important thing is acceptance of God's law symbolized by the ark.
• The actual construction reflects criteria of building importance - thus the building structures are made first, followed by critical utensils, followed by outside utensils.
• The actual building erection reflects criteria of homeowner importance - thus the building is made first, followed by the most important utensils (the ark) and their protection, followed by other utensils, followed by items outside the building/house.
The list below presents the results of the database query.

In the above table we have indicated the alternate sequencing using letters and numbers. For example the roof tent is mentioned first in Ex36 - Ex 38 and the building structure is mentioned first in the Ex40.

Verse Ex38-24:26 discussing the aggregate amount of silver gathered for the temple states And the silver of those who were counted of the congregation was a 100 Kikar, and a 1775 shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary; A bekah for every man, that is, 1/2 a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one who went to be counted, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men.

This most beautiful Rashi uses the principles of solving linear equations to derive the number of shekels per kikar. The three basic principles of solving linear equations are
• The Simplication Principle: First eliminate parenthesis by performing all necessary computations till all you have left in the equation are numbers and variables.
• The addition Principle: One can subtract or add equal amounts from each side of the equation;
• The Multiplication Principle: One can divide or multiply equal amounts from each side of the equation.

Rashi: Using these two principles we can use the above verses to calculate as follows:

Rule	How applied	Equation
Original Equation	Citation	1/2 603,550 Shekel = 100 KiKar + 1775 Shekel
Simplication	Multiply 1/2 x 603,550	301,775 Shekel = 100 KiKar + 1775 Shekel
Addition Principle	Subtract 1,775	300,000 Shekel = 100 KiKar
Multiplication Principle	Divide by 100	3,000 Shekel = 1 Kikar

Advanced Rashi: Rashi can't really be fully understood without the rules of elementary algebra. This example hi-lights the need for including non-verse methods such as the spreadsheet method in our list of rules.

We note that Rashi supplies additional historical information such as the fact that each Kikar contains 120 Maneh with each Maneh containing 25 shekel. However the maneh is not a Biblical unit of currency. However interesting Rashi's additional comment is we confine ourselves in this email newsletter to Torah-itic commentary.