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 Ex26-25a URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1208.htm Brief Summary: The west side of the Temple has 6 boards and 2 corner boards (Ex26-22:23) ....And they shall be 8 boards (Ex26-25)

Verse Ex26-25 discussing the construction of the west side of the Temple states And they shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. Rashi notes that the underlined words, eight boards references verses Ex26-22:23 discussing the construction of the west side of the Temple. Hence the Rashi comment There were 6 boards each 1.5 cubits in width. So they spanned 6 x 1.5 = 9 cubits. The two corner boards had .5 cubits exposed on each side and 1 cubit corresponding to the north and south walls as show in the diagram The total interior was 10 cubits spanned by 8 boards.

                
'               Corner  Board #1   #2    #3      #4      #5        #6     Corner#2
		------- -------- ------- ------- ------- -------- ------- -------
'               xxxx .5 1.5      1.5     1.5     1.5     1.5      1.5     .5 xxxx
'               xxxx                                                         xxxx South wall
'               xxxx	      10 cubits interior                             xxxx

Text of Target Verse Ex25-25	Text of Reference Verse Ex25-22:23
And they shall be eight boards, ....	And for the sides of the tabernacle westward you shall make six boards. And two boards shall you make for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides.
Rashi comments: There were 6 boards each 1.5 cubits in width. So they spanned 6 x 1.5 = 9 cubits. The two corner boards had .5 cubits exposed on each side and 1 cubit corresponding to the north and south walls as show in the diagram The total interior was 10 cubits spanned by 8 boards. [Pictures are given above]

Today is a peach of an example showing the greatness of the Talmudic sages in understanding all aspects of the Biblical text and language.

Rashi believed that Biblical verbs are conjugated using triliteral roots. Rashi also believed that just as 3 letter roots are useful for grammatical conjugation, so too, are 1 and 2 letter roots useful for semantic conjugation, that is, for understanding the meaning of the words. Rashi, like other Talmudic sages, used their great power of analyticity to expose underlying unities in the disparate meanings of the same root. These two techniques - the 2 letter root and the unifying meaning - are beautifully illustrated in today's example.

Verse Ex26-28 states And the center bar in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to end. Rashi explains: What is the center-bar. The wall of the Temple consisted of a series of upright boards. These boards were hollowed and a center-board was placed through them thus providing support for the wall.

Rashi inferred this from the Hebrew root used:Beth-Resh-Cheth. The Hebrew letter Beth means house. The Hebrew 2-letter root Resh-Cheth means open space. Using the 2-letter method we infer that Beth-Resh-Cheth means the open space is a house.

Let us test this proposed explanation - the open space is a house - against the two meanings of the Hebrew root Beth-Resh-Cheth. Beth-Resh-Cheth means fleeing. A Fleer is a person who finds a refuge and home in open spaces. There is a paradox here. The fleer does not feel at home in his own home and house. He must flee because of danger. The open space which homes normally protect from by giving shelter paradoxically gives the fleer a new home.

The second meaning of Beth-Resh-Cheth is center board. Here too we see a paradox. Normally a hollow in a board is a sign of structural weakness. However the center-board by filling this hollow creates home-like-protection precisely through this open space.

So both the center board and fleer find or give protection in an open space, where protection is normally not found. This confirms the etymological derivation a home in open space.

Praise be Him who chose them and their learning.

Most people are aware that Hebrew verbs come from three-letter roots. Each root is conjugated in the 8 dimensions of person, gender,plurality, tense, activity, modality, direct-object, and prepositional connective. 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 Ex26-36c discussing the construction of the temple curtain states And you shall make a curtain for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the craftmanship of an embroiderer. Rashi translates the Biblical word Resh-Vav-Kuph-Mem as coming from the Biblical root Resh-Kuph-Mem which means to embroider. We have conveniently embedded the Rashi translation in the translation of the verse. The closet conjugation rule governing this Biblical word may be found by using table(s) 1 in the Ibn Shoshan dictionary for the Kal mode

Advanced Rashi: The translation is obvious. Rashi explains his point. The verse should not be translated as embroidered craftmanship but rather as the craftmanship of an embroiderer. That is the present tense conjugation of a verb should not be translated as a verb but rather as a noun - it refers to the person who does the act, the embroiderer.

Rashi does not further explain this point. We leave in a mechanistic age: Embroidery is seen as an attribute of a cloth rather than as a creation by an embroiderer. We tend to think of the Temple as being simply ordered by God. But this is not so! In several places we find an emphasis that people properly interpreted and implemented the orders of God. In this Rashi also - the important point (after stating the materials of embroidery) is to emphasize that an expert embroiderer was needed to create the curtain. It was important, no matter how many prophetic orders were given, to also obtain the experience of expertise.

I think this emphasis on the person vs. the created object is especially important in our modern mechanistic age.

The table below presents an aligned extract of verses or verselets in Ex25-22a Both verses/verselets discuss the importance of the Keruvim. The alignment justifies the Rashi comment that: The Keruvim were designated both a) for prophetic meetings b) for prophecies

Verse	Text of Verse	Rashi comment
Ex25-22a	(1)I will be prophetically met, (2)there (1')I will prophetically talk with you all things which I will give you in commandment to the people of Israel. (2')above the ark-cover, between the two kerubim which are upon the ark of the Testimony,	The Keruvim were designated both a) for prophetic meetings b) for prophecies
Ex25-22a	(1)I will be prophetically met, (2)there (1')I will prophetically talk with you all things which I will give you in commandment to the people of Israel. (2')above the ark-cover, between the two kerubim which are upon the ark of the Testimony,

Advanced Rashi: Rashi's point is that
• The word there aligns with above the ark-cover, between the two kerubim which are upon the ark of the Testimony. This is indicated by (2) and (2').
• The phrase will I be prophetically met aligns with prophetically talk to you. This is indicated by (1) and (1').
Hence Rashi is justified in inferring two purposes for the Keruvim: a) A designated place of prophetic meeting and b) the place where prophetic talk actually happens. Rashi's actual language is When I designate a time to prophetically speak to you, it is understood that the place of meeting will be that place.

The table below presents two contradictory verses/verselets. Both verses speak about Mosaic prophecy. The underlined words highlight the contradiction. One verse/verselet says God spoke to Moses from the Keruvim, while the other verse/verselet says God spoke to Moses from the Test of Meeting (that is the Temple entrance). We see the contradiction Which is it? Did God speak from the Keruvim or the Temple entrance? Rashi simply resolves this using the 2 Aspects method: a) God spoke from the Keruvim while b) Moses however heard God from the Temple entrance.

Summary	Verse / Source	Text of verse / Source
Prophecy to Moses was from the Keruvim	Ex25-22	And there I will meet with thee, and I will speak with thee from above the ark-cover, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
Prophecy occurred at the Tent of Meeting (Temple Entrance)	Lv01-01	And He paged Moses; and God cited to Moses, from the Tent of Meeting to say over.
Resolution:	2 Aspects	a) God spoke from the Keruvim while b) Moses however heard God from the Temple entrance.

Advanced Rashi: Many contradictions are resolved through logic. Rashi points out that this contradiction (like many others) is resolved through an explicit verse, Nu07-89, which states, And when Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, then he heard the voice of One speaking to him from the covering that was upon the ark of Testimony, from between the two kerubim; and he spoke to Him. This verse contains the 2 aspects that we mentioned above: 1) Tent of meeting vs. 2) Kerubim.

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 verses Ex25-24:25 form a Biblical paragraph with a theme-detail-theme structure. The paragraph discusses the required Golden crownlet for the Table.
• General: ....make a gold crownlet for the table
• Detail: make a 1-Tepach border around the table;
• General: make a gold crownlet for the table border.

Rashi generalizes the detail clause make a 1 Tepach border for the Table, as illustrative of the general clause, make a gold crownlet, and states: The Table's gold crownlet is made on top of the 1-tepach border. In other words there are not two gold crownlets, one for the table and one for the 1-tepach border but rather the gold crownlet for the table is in fact the gold crownlet that is place on the 1-tepach border.

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 Ex25-02d Ex25-02c Ex25-02b URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w34n8.htm Brief Summary: Two temple sources: Voluntary donations for initial construction; obligatory tax for upkeep.

Today we ask the database query: How many ways was money obtained for the Temple? How was the obtained money used? The reader is encouraged to perform the query using a standard Biblical Konnkordance or search engine. This database query yields the list below. The query yields the list below. The list justifies the following Rashi-Midrashic inference. Money for the Temple was obtained in two ways: a) Voluntary gifts, b) Obligatory taxes. The obtained money was used for I)Temple construction II) silver utensils III) daily offerings and upkeep The list below presents the results of the database query and shows examples.

Verse	Verse Text	Money Obtained by	Money used for
Ex25-02:08	Speak unto the children of Israel, that they take for Me an offering; of every man who feels like donating ye shall take My offering And this is the offering which you shall take from them; gold, and silver, and bronze...and they shall make me a Temple	Voluntary donation	Temple Construction
Ex30-12:14, Ex38-27	When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel, according to their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto HaShem, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. This they shall give, ....And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil; a hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.	Obligatory Tax	Temple Construction
Ex30-12:14, Nu28-03	This they shall give, every one who passes among those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary ...And you shall say to them, This is the offering made by fire which you shall offer to the Lord; two lambs of the first year, without spot, day by day, for a continual burnt offering	Obligatory Tax	Daily Temple upkeep, Daily offerings

Advanced Rashi: Notice that the Torah does not explicitly state where the daily offerings come from. Rather, Rashi infers this from as a reasonable supposition: There was a requirment for the community to offer 730 lambs throughout the year. It is reasonable that these daily offerings were funded from the yearly half-dollar tax.

Verse Ex27-08a discussing the construction of the altar states Hollow-boarded shall you make it; as it was shown to you in the mount, so shall they make it Rashi explains The wooden boards forming the altar are used to make a skeleton with a hollow inside, not with a filled-in inside. Since this Rashi explains geometric diagrams we classify it a NonVerse Diagrammatic Rashi.

Advanced Rashi: Although Rashi does not go into it we feel that this hollow requirement has symbolic meaning. It means that the altar is only a container and not something filled in and complete. This corresponds to the idea that sacrifices are not an end but are symbolic of proper behavior. Using the construction symbolism we would say Each person's personal altar must be filled in with actions.

The three metals used in the temple were
• Copper
• Silver
• Gold.
They form a hierarchy - for example, Gold is the best metal while copper is the lowest metal. The copper altar corresponds to the ordinary people and atones for their sins. The Golden altar corresponds to the priestly people and addresses their needs.

The Bible does not give us much information on the symbolism of copper, silver, and gold. It is possible to give various symbolic associations: For example, copper vessels are used with fire while silver,gold vessels are more precious and not used with fire. We may therefore say that copper atones for fiery emotions. Rashi states that Copper atones for brazenness. Perhaps Rashi focuses on the Hebrew root of copper, Nun-Cheth-Shin which is also the root of the word snake, which possibly symbolizes brazenness or similar emotions.

I think it important to emphasize that the symbolic interpretation should be objective. Therefore we are not focusing on lingual coincidences. We are instead focusing on something common to all interpretations: Copper, silver, Gold form a hierarchy of metals. Using this basic idea we symbolically interpret: There are three stages of people: Ordinary, medium and spiritually advanced corresponding to copper, silver, and gold. Thus the copper altar atones for the ordinary people. Such an approach which doesn't emphasize particular traits of ordinary people - such as brazenness - seems the most acceptable; something that can be agreed to by all people. That is all people can agree that at least the Bible is talking about atonment for ordinary people. Then each person can add more detail such as acts of brazenness. The idea of ordinary could be accepted by everybody while the focus and specficitiy on particular emotions, like brazenness, would only be accepted by those people who believe them.