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Their presence in Rashis on Parshath Acharay Moth Volume 16, Number 8 This weeks Weekly Rashi with Hebrew/English source tables Is accessible at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1608.htm (c) RashiYomi Incorporated, Dr. Hendel, President, April 14th, 2011 Visit the Rashi website http://www.Rashiyomi.com 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.
The Rashiyomi Foundations extends wishes for a beautiful Pesach. Rashiyomi is pleased to continue in two weeks.
Verse Lv20-25a discussing the need for the Jewish people to become holy by separating themselves from ritually impure animals states Ye shall therefore separate between the pure beast and the impure, and between the pure fowl and the impure; and ye shall not make your souls detestable by beast, or by fowl, or by any thing wherewith the ground teemeth, which I have set apart for you to hold ritually impure. Rashi notes that the underlined words, impure references verses Lv11-04 discussing non-Kosher animals - that is, animals prohibited to be eaten. Hence the Rashi comment Verse Lv20-25 requiring separation from the ritually impure animals and birds cites and refers to Lv11-04 (or generally all of chapter Lv11) discussing the non-Kosher animals - animals forbidden to be eaten - which the Bible explicitly calls impure.
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. Biblical verse Lv20-18a refers to full physical intimacy with the phrase he aroused her source. Rashi, in his terse manner, notes that a more common Biblical phrase for initmacy is he uncovered her nakedness. Here Rashi is using the synechdoche principle, which names categories by good examples of them. Uncovering of nakedness is typically done during intimacy. Similarly, arousal is a good example of intimacy. Advanced Rashi: There is a subtlety in Rashi here that may easily be overlooked. One might think Rashi is simply providing a dictionary definition. But by naming a complicated phenomena, intimacy, by good examples of it, uncovering, arousal Rashi is doing more. The Talmud relates certain non-Jewish customs to fallaciously achieve modesty by not fully addressing during intimacy. By calling intimacy uncover the Bible emphasizes that the purpose of intimacy is not just release and climax but enjoyment and arousal. Similarly, by calling intimacy arousal Rashi emphasizes an important component of the Jewish attitude towards intimacy: The partners should not just release and achieve climax but they should be aroused and enjoy themselves. Thus the Biblical idioms pithily catch important emphasii of intimacy and remind us of the good examples (that is, synechdoche) of intimacy. Thus this Rashi is a fascinating study on how formal linguistic techniques can nuance and encourage deep religious values.
Today, students of the Bible learn grammar from Biblical Hebrew grammar textbooks. These textbooks organize material by topics. Grammatical topics include a) verb mood and conjugation, b) plurality and gender agreement, c) pronoun reference, d) subject-verb-object sequencing, e) sentence structure and type, f) the possessive and g) connective words, and many other topics. However in Rashi's time gramamr was just beginning. There were no official grammatical textbooks and tables. One of Rashi's functions was to teach grammar. Rashi did not write a grammar textbook but instead left grammatical explanations appended to each verse. In today's example Rashi explains rules about gender. In English nouns do not have gender. We rather use the non-gender word, it. By contrast in Hebrew, nouns have gender. Instead of using the word it Hebrew will use the words he, she to refer to nouns.
Using this Rashi we translate Lv17-14 as follows (the referents of the pronouns his, her are indicated in brackets and follow the Rashi rules above): For the soul of animals? His [the animal's] blood is for his [the animal's] soul; and I have said to the Jews: 'Don't eat the blood of animals' because the animal's soul is [is represented by] her [the soul's] blood; all who eat him [the blood] shall be cut off [from their nation.]
The table below presents an aligned extract of verses or verselets in Lv18-21 Both verses/verselets discuss the prohibitions of using children for the Molech idolatry. The alignment justifies the Rashi comment that: There are two prohibitions. Children should not be used: a) to give to the Molech idolatry priests b) to pass through the Molech idolatry fires.
Advanced Rashi: About 10 years ago we had a Rashi-Rambam series,which we discontinued. This series focused on differences between Rashi and Rambam in biblical commentary. These verses on employee payment are one of the few examples where Rashi is more explanatory than Rambam. For Rambam simply lists the laws - a day worker must be paid by the next morning and a night worker by the next sunset - while Rashi explains the reasons for the laws: The half day wait gives the employer time to obtain money to pay the worker/employee.
Certain Biblical paragraphs are stated in a Example-General form. In other words several particular examples are stated followed by a general theme. The Detail-Theme form creates a unified paragraph and consequently the examples are interpreted broadly as illustrating multiple aspects of the general theme. Today's example illustrates this as shown below.
Advanced Rashi: I am indebted to the Talner Rebbe, Rabbi Dr. Isidore Twersky, with whom I learned for 7 years, who pointed out that the prohibition of walking in Egyptian/Canaaanite paths was a prohibition on cultic-related activities (for example, artistic performances of ritual-related items). However, there is no prohibition of adopting, for example, technological improvements of these societies.
The Formatting principle includes exegetical Rashi comments focusing on paragraph structure. That is, the parts of a paragraph when properly sequenced naturally suggest commentary. This type of commentary, emanating from structure, is different from commentary from word meaning, grammatical function or verse comparison. Todays example nicely illustrates this. We present below a paragraph Lv16-09,11,14 indented and bulletized to indicate its structure.
For convenience we have underlined the verbs. Each verb corresponds to a distinct sacrifice procedure. Where necessary we bracket the meaning of the underlined word. These bracketed expressions correspond to Rashi comments. The purpose of these Rashi comments is to indicate the temporal sequence of sacrifice procedures. For example Rashi explains that make it a sin offering refers to a verbal designation procedure; similarly Rashi explains that atone refers to a verbal confession procedure. One can ask how Rashi derives these interpretations. We emphasize that it is the sequence of the paragraph structure that naturally suggests these meanings. For example we know from other verses Lv05-05 that there is a confession procedure. It therefore is natural to associate the word atonement with this verbal confession. True, confession can mean other things but its place in the sequence refers naturally to the confession procedure. In other words, at the time of slaughter the wrod atone could not refer to obtaining complete atonement; therefore Rashi takes it to refer to confession. Similarly the Hebrew root Kuph-Resh-Beth can equally mean bring near or sacrifice. However the place of this verb in the temporal sequence indicates that it means bring near. It could not mean sacrifice since at this point the animal has not even been slaughtered. In summary if we accept that the paragraph structure indicates sequence then all Rashi does is associate with each word/verb the appropriate sacrifice procedure (which we know from other verses) with that word/verb in its sequence. So indeed it is the paragraph sequence itself that drives the Rashi comment.
We ask the following database query: How are animal offerings designated? 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: The standard designatory phrase uses the words take with the preposition for. e.g. Take a lamb for a sin offering. The non-standard designatory phrase, and make it a sin offering connotes emphasis and indicates special verbal designation e.g. This will be a sin offering. The list below presents the results of the database query.
Advanced Rashi: As can be seen the designatory phrase he shall make it a sin offering is unusual. Rashi therefore comments This teaches that he must verbally declare: This is for the sake of God for a sin offering. Just to recap: The driving force of the Rashi comment is the unusual designatory phrase. We should also mention that the above table is simplified. The actual verses often indicate multiple sacrifices e.g. Take a calf for a sin offering and a ram for an elevation offering. The important point is that the designatory phrase is take ...for.
Verse Lv16-14:24d, describing the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) service states And he shall take of the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the veil eastward; and before the veil shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. ... and he will come out, and offer his elevation offering, and the elevation offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, ... Rashi diagramatically explains the phrase come out. The veil is inside the Temple proper while the elevation offering is offered on the copper altar which is outside the Temple proper, in the courtyard. Hence the verse states he will come out The diagram below clarifies this Rashi.
Temple Courtyard wall
============================================
|| | Temple Table |
|| Holy of | |
|| Holies |Veil Temple Door Copper
|| | | Altar
|| | Candellabrah |
============================================
Temple Proper Temple Proper Courtyard
Priest ---Goes out------->
As indicated in Rule #8, Databases the Torah and Jewish leaders frequently reinforced needed values during specific situations using symbolism. We repeat here the database inquiry of half a dozen cases where this happens. In particular, an animal involved in bestiality is stoned to symbolically affirm the horror of the crime.
Conclusion
This week's parshah contains examples of all Rashi method. Visit the RashiYomi website at http://www.Rashiyomi.com and http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule.htm for further details and examples. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||