The 10 Hebrew words for Volume:#4 of 5
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# 10 YEAR Ayelet DAILY-RASHI-YOMI CYCLE #
# Mar 9, 2001 #
# Rashis 635-636 Of 7800 (8.2%) #
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# VISIT THE RASHI YOMI ARCHIVES #
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-- HAPPY PURIM --
-- SPECIAL PURIM ISSUE DEALING WITH CHANUKAH LIGHTS --
RULE
====
There are 10 basic words denoting measurement. They
are compactly presented in the LIST below. Rashis on
these 10 terms are presented afterwards.
{LIST}
Here are the basic Biblical words denoting measurement
Next to each term we given a ROUGH ENGLISH EQUIVALENT--
for example the BIBLICAL LOG has the volume of 6 eggs
which is about 1 English CUP. The right column gives
the equivalant volume in EGGS, the fundamental unit
of volume in Jewish Law. Footnotes provide more details
==============================================================
WORD ROUGH EQUIVALANT EQUIVALANT # OF EGGS
========= ================ ==============================
Egg TABLESPOON*1 Fundamental Unit of Volume
Log CUP 6 TABLESPOONS
Kav QUART 24 eggs = 4 CUPS
Hin GALLON 72 eggs = 3 QUARTS = 6 Log*2
Seah DOUBLE GALLON 144 eggs= 6 QUARTS = 24 log*2
AYFaH*3*4 CARTON 432 eggs= 3 SEAH= 18 QUARTS
COR TRUCKLOAD 4320 eggs=10 CARTONS=30 Seah*5
NOTES
=====
*1 Teaspoon = 2/11 of an Egg (Rambam Theft 8)
Actually >LADEL< or >FLUID OUNCE< would be a better
translation than >TABLESPOON<
*2 HIN/LOG are usually associated with >Liquid< measure.
Seah/Kav are usually associated with >Dry< measures.
Thus Rashis point on Lv19-36b and Lv19-36c is that
there is a legal obligation to make legal rules for
both >DRY< and >LIQUID< measures. The Rambam notes
that >DRY< and >LIQUID< measures have different
requirements--for example liquid measures will more
frequently have residues from previous measurements
(See Rambam Theft 8:13 and commentaries)
*3 AYFAH(Dry measure) = BATH(Liquid measure) (Ez45-11)
They both hold the same amount of volume (Ez45-11)
*4 the OMER=1 Day of Food=7 Cups=43.2 Eggs=1/10 EYFAH(Ex16-36a)
*5 See Isa05-10 & Ez45-11 for an explicit statement
{END OF LIST}
GOALS:
=====
A person completing this module will be able to correctly
use Biblical words on Measurement. A person completing
this module will also be familiar with typical daily
usages--how much food is eaten in a day; how much oil
is burned in a night etc
TODAYS UNIT
===========
In todays unit we discuss the burning rate of oil.
For example, how much oil do you need to light a lamp
to burn for a few hours?
REFERENCE:
=========
This module comes from the following digest in the
Rashi-is-Simple series
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/h9n12.htm (Up Sunday)
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2001 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
EXAMPLES 9-10
=============
BURNING RATE OF OIL LAMPS
---------------------------
Lv24-03b Ex27-21a BURNING RATE OF OIL
======================================
* Those who use oil in their Chanukah menorahs know that
about 1 teaspoon will burn an hour.
* Now 1 teaspoon = about 1/5th of an Egg Volume
* Hence if 1 teaspoon= 1 hour
* then 1 egg = 5 teaspoons = 5 hours
* and 3 eggs= 15 teaspoons = 15 hours
We conclude that HALF A LOG or 3 EGGS of oil will
burn 15 hours which as Rashi points out >are the
number of hours in the longest winter nights<
We have left to explain why HALF A LOG (about half a
glass) of oil was used every night (not just on winter
nights). The verses state that
----------------------------------------------------
you shall prepare IT for being lit from eve to dawn
----------------------------------------------------
Such a verse can have two meanings:
--1-Put enough oil EACH PARTICULAR night for that night
--2-Put enough oil each night for ANY NIGHT
Thus the 2nd interpretation would require us to place
a HALF LOG (3 cups) of oil every night.
The reason we follow the 2nd interpretation, is, as
Rashi says explicitly on Lv24-03b
--------------------------------------------------
because of the use of the pronoun >IT<. There are
in fact two forms of the pronoun
---YaARChayHU--with a >SUFFIX< VAV -- PREPARE IT
---VaAROCH OTHO--with the >WORD< OTHO--PREPARE IT
--------------------------------------------------
A general principle of the MALBIM states that whenever
the WORD is used vs the SUFFIX it creates an emphasis
that there is so to speak only one case with no
exceptions. So here too, we have one FIXED MEASURE
of oil the whole year without distinctions.
For a LIST of examples of these 2 uses of pronouns
see http://www.RashiYomi.Com/gn45-27a.htm
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