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 Ex08-11b URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1323.htm Brief Summary: (Ex08-11b) Pharoh hardened his heart ... AS GOD SAID references Ex07-04 where God said this.

Verse Ex08-11b discussing Pharoh's reaction to the plagues states But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and he listened not unto them; as HaShem had spoken. Rashi notes that the underlined words, he listened not unto them; as HaShem had spoken. references verses Ex07-04 discussing that God will redeem the Jewish people despite the fact that Pharoh will not listen to Moses. Hence the Rashi comment Verse Ex08-11b stating that Pharoh hardened his heart as God said references verse Ex07-04 where God promises Moses that Pharoh will not listen to Moses and God will nevertheless take the Jews out of Egypt.

Text of Target Verse Ex04-18a	Text of Reference Verse Ex02-18, Ex18-01, Nu10-29
But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and listened not unto them; as HaShem had spoken.	But Pharaoh will not listen to you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth my armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.
Rashi comments: Verse Ex08-11b stating that Pharoh hardened his heart as God said references verse Ex07-04 where God promises Moses that Pharoh will not listen to Moses and God will nevertheless take the Jews out of Egypt.

When Rashi uses the synonym method he does not explain the meaning of a word but rather the distinction between two similar words both of whose meanings we already know.

The following Hebrew words all refer to communication.
• Daleth-Beth-Resh, DBR, to cite;
• Samech-Pay-Resh, SPR to relate a story;
• Nun-Gimel-Daleth, NGD, to tell,
• Aleph-Mem-Resh, AMR, (general) speaking.

When using the grammar method Rashi will instruct students in Hebrew grammar similar to the instruction found in modern day textbooks.

A classical part of all Hebrew grammar courses are the rules for conjugation of verbs. All verb roots may be conjugated in 7 dimensions: a) passivity (active-passive) b) modality(will-should), c) person (I, you, he), d) plurality, e) tense (past-future-infinitive), f) gender, g) object, h) connective preposition. A standard quick good summary for conjugation is the appendix of the Ibn Shoshan dictionary.

Hebrew roots are considered three-letter objects. The midieval nomenclature for these three letters are Pay, Ayin, Lamed while the current notation is 1,2,3. For example a Biblical root whose first letter is Yud would be called in midieval terminology a Pay Yud root while in modern terminology it would be called Yud-2-3 root. Both terminologies indicate that the first letter of the root is Yud. The conjugation rules for Yud-2-3 roots differ from the conjugation rules for ordinary roots. Table 2 of Ibn Shoshan gives the conjugation rules of these roots over the four dimensions of activity, tense, gender, person.

Young Yeshiva students are frequently taught (or forced to memorize) these tables. Studying these tables immediately yields the Rashi comment: The Yud changes to a Vav in the passive, causative, and passive-causative (Nifal, hifil, hofal) modes. The Yud however remains in the Qal, Piel, Pual, and Hithpael modes.

Advanced Rashi: The above is a paraphrase of Rashi. Rashi actually only literally says that: The Yud changes to a Vav when the mode is passive. But as shown above this is only partially true. For example the Yud does not change to a Vav in the Pual - Passive-intense mode. Similarly the Yud changes to a Vav in the active-causative mode.

We conclude that the Rashi comment is only a rough approximation and not 100% accurate. I conjecture that Rashi used such rough approximations as a pedagogic technique. Rashi taught the basic rule which experienced teachers would then amplify on.

The above analysis is very useful to those who think that the best approach to Rashi is to be literal and defend every minutae of Rashi. Such an approach does not always yield true results. To recap: Rashi said that Yud changes to Vav in passive situations but as seen this is only true in two out of the three passive tenses. Rashi expected the teacher and student to fill in the missing details.

Such an approach to Rashi is mature, deep and enriching. It sees Rashi as blazing a path while leaving it to others to smooth the path and pave it so it is smooth.

The table below presents an aligned extract of verses or verselets in Ex09-08. Both verses/verselets discuss the 6th plague, the furnace ashes. The alignment justifies the Rashi comment that: There were a variety of miracles here. Moses and Aaron took handfuls of ashes but 1st) only Moses threw it upward and 2nd) with only one hand 3rd) Although it was 2 handfuls of ashes it spread over all of Egypt

Verse	Text of Verse	Rashi comment
Ex09-08	Moses and Aaron Take handfuls of furnace ash Moses Throw it Over Egypt It will be dust (1) (2) (3) (4)	There were a variety of miracles here. Moses and Aaron took handfuls of ashes but 1st) only Moses threw it upward and 2nd) with only one hand 3rd) Although it was 2 handfuls of ashes it spread over all of Egypt
Ex09-08	Moses and Aaron Take handfuls of furnace ash Moses Throw it Over Egypt It will be dust (1) (2) (3) (4)

Advanced Rashi:In the table above we have physically aligned the verse phrases. In fact this is the reason we call this the alignment method since the physical alignment neatly shows the verse differences which drive the various Rashi comments. Corresponding to the 4 alignments shown above we have the following 4 comments:
1. Although Moses and Aaron took handfuls Moses alone threw the two handfuls
2. Although Moses and Aaron each took a handful (so 2 handfuls) Moses alone threw it. Now throwing typically is done with one hand. So Moses' one hand held the 2 handfuls
3. Although there were two handfuls of ash, it sufficed to spread dust over all of Egypt
4. Although they threw ash it became dust.

Rashi only mentions 3 of the miracles. He does not mention that the ash became dust. This is typical of the alignment method - when performing the alignment further differences not all enumerated in Rashi are discovered. Notice also that the eruption of boils (mentioned later on in the verses) from the furnace ash is still an additional miracle.

The table below presents presents two contradictory verse sets. Both verse sets speak about the social importance of three tribes (Reuben, Shimon, Levi) The underlined words highlight the contradiction. One verse set says Reuben, Shimon and Levi are cursed and bad people while the other verse states These tribes can produce great people like Moses. Which is it? Are the tribes cursed or blessed. Rashi simply resolves this using the 2 Aspects method: The tribes were cursed but the individuals in each tribe were not cursed. Although the Tribes were cursed, did produce evil people and were severely punished, nevertheless each individual tribe member could ascend to whatever heights they wished to.

Summary	Verse / Source	Text of verse / Source
Reuben Shimon and Levi were cursed	Gn49-03:07	Reuben, ... Unstable as water, you shall not excel; because you played with your father's beds; Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of cruelty are their swords. ... to their assembly, let my honor not be united; Cursed be their anger....
But Moses descended from the cursed tribe of Levi; God's honor is present in the Levite assembly	Ex06-14:26	These are the genealogical heads of their fathersÆ houses; The sons of Reuben ... And the sons of Simeon; ... And these are the names of the sons of Levi ... These are Aaron and Moses, to whom the Lord said, Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts....
Resolution:	Two aspects	The tribes were cursed but the individuals in each tribe were not cursed. Although the Tribes were cursed, did produce evil people and were severely punished, nevertheless each individual tribe member could ascend to whatever heights they wished to.

Sermonic Points: This Rashi could be greatly developed. The curse Jacob placed on Reuben, Shimon and Levi was not theoretical, it was actual. Reuben produced the infamous Datan and Aviram who organized a rebellion against Moses, Shimon produced Zimri who slept in public with a Moabite and brought a plauge killing 24000 people on the Jewish nation, while Levi produced the infamous Korach who headed the rebellion against Moses. What could be more frightening and definite - a Patriarch with decree power of curse and hard evidence that the curse materialized! And yet the tribe of Levi produced Moses one of the greatest people in human history.

From a conceptual point of view: The curse does not imply that each member of the tribe must be missing something. For Moses achieved greatness and perfection. So did Elijah. Rather the curse was on the aggregate entity of the tribe and not on any individual. This emphasis on the potential of the individual is important and fundamental in Judaism.

This Rashi is continued in rule #6, style.

Certain Biblical paragraphs are stated in a Theme-Development-Theme form. In other words a broad general idea is stated first followed by the development of this broad general theme in specific details. The paragraph-like unit is then closed with a repetition of the broad theme. The Theme-Detail-Theme form creates a unified paragraph. The detailed section of this paragraph is therefore seen as an extension of the general theme sentences. Today's example illustrates this as shown immediately below.

Biblical paragraph Ex06-10:30 is stated in a Theme-Detail-Theme form as shown below.
• Theme: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Go, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the people of Israel go out of his land. And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips? ....
• Detail: These are the chiefs of their fathersÆ houses; The sons of Reuben .... And the sons of Simeon; ... And these are the names of the sons of Levi ... ...These are Aaron and Moses, to whom the Lord said, Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.
• Theme: ....and it came to pass on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, That the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, I am the Lord; speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you. And Moses said before the Lord, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?

Rashi comments on the above theme-detail-theme structure as follows: We have seen above in rule #5, contradiction that the three tribes whose genealogy is given - Reuben, Shimon, Levi - are cursed tribes who produced evil people. Such a context enables us to understand Moses protest indicated by the underlined words ...who am I of uncircumcised lips that I should speak to Pharoh...

And it is exactly in such a cursed setting that it is befitting that the redeemer of the Jewish people should come. For the whole essence of Egypt was structure and the curse of gods from which no-one could escape. And lo and behold Levi produced Elijah and Moses. Well does the verse state This is the Moses and Aaron that God told to take the Jews out of Egypt. For by God picking a person from a cursed tribe who was a stutterer who had all the cards stacked against him and nevertheless became one of the greatest people in human history, by such a selection, God erased the whole foundation of Egypt which was that the class status of cursed people cannot change.

The climax principle asserts that a sequence of similar phrases should be interpreted climactically even if the words and grammatical constructs used do not directly suggest this. That is the fact of the sequence justifies reading into the Biblical text a climactic interpretation even if no other textual source justifies it. For this reason we consider the climax method a distinct and separate method.

Verse Ex07-28:29 discussing the plague of Frogs is written in a climactic manner as shown. For convenience we have inserted the Rashi comments clarifying the nature of the climax in brackets
• ...the frogs will come to your house [ ]
• your bedroom [ ]
• your bed [ ]
• your slave and national houses [ We would expect the frogs to start in the slave houses and then filter up to the palace but the Bible states that the frogs will start with the palace since Pharoh, not the people, instigated the enslavement of the Jews (Ex01-08) ]
• your ovens and troughs [ ]
• you [ you yourself, your body ]
• your nation [ their bodies ]
• your slaves [ their bodies ]

Advanced Rashi: A careful reading of Rashi shows two climaxes here:
• There is the climax that the frogs entered a) house, b) bedroom, c) bed, d) ovens/bread troughs e) you, meaning you yourself, entering the body.
• There is a second climax: a) you b) your nation/slaves. Rashi explains that although we might expect frogs to start in poorly kept slave houses they instead started in the palace because Pharoh, not the people or staff, instigated the enslavement of JewsEx01-08.

We should emphasize that driving force behind Rashi is the climax. That is Rashi is not being exegetical on the extra word ..in you your nation and slaves. For it is not the extraness of the word in you but rather the position and sequence of the word in you. The position of the word in you coming after house, bedroom, bed, stoves implies in you yourself, in your body. This is in fact the essence of the climax method which infers interpretation based on position.

To appreciate Rashi we should be aware of an Egyptian torture practice. A small animal (frog, rat) was placed on the stomach of a slave. A hot metallic cover was then placed on the animal. The animal, to avoid the heat, would then start eating away from the plate into the body of the slave. The animal would start eating the insides of the slave. Thus the plague of frogs with frogs literally entering the bodies of the Egyptians should be considered a punishment for slave torture practices.

We ask the following database query: What are the common and different characteristics of the 10 plagues that God brought on Egypt. 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 inference: The 10 plagues naturally organize into 3 groups: (a) Plagues 1,4,7 are attacks on Egyptian gods and a cut off of land and sea access.(b) Plagues 2,5,8 humiliated the Egyptians and took away their pride. (c) Plagues 3,6,9 caused the people pain. (d)The 10th plague culminated all and freed the Jews. This follows a military sequence of a) cut off of supplies b) causing confusion and fear and c) inflicting pain to induce surrender. The list below presents the results of the database query.

#	Plague	Verse	Intro phrase	Military tactic
1	Blood	Ex07-15	At morn approach Pharoh on Nile	Sea/air/deity cut off
4	Beasts	Ex08-16	At morn approach Pharoh on Nile	Sea/Air/deity cut off
7	Hail	Ex09-13	At morn approach Pharoh on Nile	Sea/Air/deity cut off
-	----	------	------	-----
2	Frogs	Ex07-26	Come to Pharoh	Humiliation
5	Plagues	Ex09-01	Come to Pharoh	Humiliation
8	Locust	Ex10-01	Come to Pharoh	Humiliation
-	----	------	------	-----
3	Lice	Ex08-12	No intro phrase	Unwarned pain
6	Boils	Ex09-08	No intro phrase	Unwarned pain
9	Darkness	Ex11-21	No intro phrase	Unwarned pain

Advanced Rashi: Just to recap:
• When waging war you 1st cut off spiritual, land and water access. The intro phrase In the morn Go to Pharoh on the Nile is basically a statement that the Egyptian water and god (Nile) would be cut off
• After cutting off supplies you demoralize the enemy and rob them of their pride by humiliating them. The lack of pride facilitates surrender. Hence the introductory phrase Go visit Pharoh to emphasize an invasion of his personal air space.
• Finally if the above doesn't work you inflict pain on the enemy to induce them to surrender. Consequently there is no introductory phrase to plagues 3,6,9 since the point is that you don't want to warn them and don't want them to prepare.

The above analysis was started by Rashi and complemented by Rabbi Hirsch. Much more could be said but the above table paves the way for further analysis.

Verse Ex08-14b discussing the attempt of the Egyptian sorcerors to imitate Moses states And the Egyptian witches did so with their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not; and there were gnats upon man, and upon beast. Rashi clarifies. I have added additional material to Rashi based on unpublished essays I have written about the Biblical witchcraft probhibitions. Witches were people who induced hallucinations in people. The hallucinations might consist of the people flying or of having huge possessions. The people did not fly in the real world nor did they have huge possessions in the real world. Rather, they hallucinated them. Thus although the witchcraft did not affect the real world it was real, in fact it was a real hallucination. Witches accomplished this through a combination of drugs, hallucinogens and physiological behaviors that induced heightened states of awareness and stress, the stress being conducive to the formation of hallucinations. The word for psychic forces that induce hallucinations is shad the same Hebrew word as breast, since female breast exposure is one technique of stress induction which say in a dim lit room can facilitate hallucination formation. (It is well known (e.g. Rashi Ex22-17) that witches were typically female, undoubtedly because they could skillfully use their bodies to induce hallucinatory experiences.) Witchcraft (as just described) is a formal act of treason against God punishable by a level one death penalty. However there are rules governing these types of hallucinations: They are typically hallucinations of large objects, not of microscopic or small objects. Consequently the Egyptian Witches when they tried to induce hallucinations of gnats failed because the gnats were extremely small creatues. Since Rashi uses real-world information, the nature of witchcraft, to clarify the meaning of this verse we classify this Rashi as a Non Verse method.