Ideas and Model Lessons in Learning Rashi-#11 Copyright RashiYomi Inc 2004 Adapted From Rashi-is-Simple http://www.RashiYomi.Com/
Written by Dr. Russell Jay Hendel;
A: REVIEW
This is the 11-th in a 30 part series on the Methods that are useful for teaching Rashi. Chapters 1 - 10 may be accessed on the Rashi website at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/wbook.htm in the workbook series. Chapter 1 contains useful information on our notation and methods - to best understand this chapter the reader should be familiar with our conventions.

B: THE MEANING METHODS
Chapter 5 began a 7 part subseries reviewing the 10 Rashi methods for explaining meaning. The background and examples provided by Chapter 5 will also be extremely useful for understanding this chapter. Today's chapter is devoted to the ALIGNMENT / meaning method. Alignment is a general method that can be applied in three ways; alignment can be used to show (a) meaning, (b) textual nuances and (c) multiple cases. In this chapter we cover the ALIGNMENT / meaning method. The other two alignment methods will be covered in the next two chapters.

C: EXAMPLE #1: Gn49-11d
The Biblical text: Washing in wine his clothes and in the blood-of-grapes his Samech-Vav-Tauv-Vav.
The Rashi Text: The Hebrew word Samech-Vav-Tauv-Vav means garment.

D: ALIGNMENT
Rashi is best understood by aligning the two phrases of Gn49-11. The aligned verse is graphically depicted below. The verse is read by first reading down the first column and then reading down the second column
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Washing            -----------------
in                 in
wine               blood-of-grapes
his                his
clothes            Samech-Vav-Tauv-Vav
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The alignment is simply a re-writing of the verse in a parallel structure where similar items occur in the same column or row. The parallel structure suggests equivalence of meaning between the items in each column or row.
Hence, in the above example, we infer that the two items in the 3rd row, wine and blood-of-grapes, mean the same thing. This of course makes sense: Blood is colored red like wine; the grape is pictured as a live creature who bleeds wine when squashed.
Similarly, we infer that the two items in the 5-th row mean the same thing. In other words we infer that Samech-Vav-Tauv-Vav means clothing.
The justification of these inferences is the alignment itself which suggests meaning.

E: THE RABBI ISHMAEL CONTEXT RULE
Rabbi Ishmael laid down 13 exegetical rules by which the Bible is interpreted. These 13 exegetical rules may be found in most prayer books at the end of the first section of the morning prayers. The 13 exegetical rules govern the myriad of Talmudic derivations of Jewish law. The context rule of Rabbi Ishmael states that both word and legal meaning can be inferred from context. It follows that the alignment method is an example of the Rabbi Ishmael context method. What we have added to Rabbi Ishmael is a description of how the context method is implemented -- context can be implemented by alignment.

F: SUPPLEMENTARY ANALYSIS
It is a mistake to think that alignment gives the entire story. The correct perspective is that alignment indicates the basic category of meaning -- however, other methods of word meaning may supplement this general category and give further details.
To illustrate this let us use the example above, Gn49-11d. Using the alignment we found that Samech-Vav-Tauv-Vav means garment. We can now supplement this explanation by looking up the meaning of the root of Samech-Vav-Tauv-Vav. The Hebrew root is Samech-Vav-Tauv which means to seduce. Combining the two concepts of seduction and garment suggests the idea of a marital garment, that is, a garment worn by a woman on nights of intimacy. Here we have supplemented the meaning, garment, inferred by alignment, with the additional nuance of seduction, inferred from the meaning of the root.

G: THE RASHI WEBSITE AS A RESOURCE
Navigate to the Rashi lists page at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/lists.htm. In the left pane scroll down and click, ALIGNMENT / meaning. The right pane now displays several lists of Rashis illustrating the ALIGNMENT / meaning method. Another resource is the alignment series in the Daily Rashi calendar. The Daily Rashi calendar for the year 2001 may be accessed at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/calendar1.htm. The alignment series was presented in August through October 2001. Several further examples of alignment are presented below with examples from the Rashi website.

H: ONE STUDENT LEVEL
In previous chapters we have presented Rashis at three student levels. However the ALIGNMENT / meaning method is so simple that only one student level is needed. Those who wish a very advanced level could try to supplement the alignment inferences with supplementary methods as illustrated above with Samech-Vav-Tauv-Vav. We present below several exercises on ALIGNMENT / meaning.

I: EXERCISES
Instructions to students
- In each exercise below align the phrases of the verse or the two verses.
- Based on the alignment infer the meaning of the indicated Biblical word.
These alignments come from the lists on the Rashi website as indicated. Each example illustrates some additional feature of the ALIGNMENT / meaning rule.
#2) Infer the meaning of the Hebrew word Mem-Cheth-Yud-Hey by aligning Lv13-24a and Lv13-18 (LIST340a)
#3) Infer the meaning of the Hebrew word Ayin-Yud-Resh-Mem by aligning Gn32-16b and Gn32-16 (LIST343c)
#4) Infer the meaning of the Hebrew word Tzade-Daleth-Yud-Hey by aligning Nu35-21 and the 2 clauses in Nu35-20a (LIST343h)
#5) Infer the meaning of the Hebrew word Tauv-Mem by aligning the two clauses in Gn25-27d (LIST343k)
#6) Infer a new meaning to the word tenth by aligning Nu28-05a and Nu15-04 (See http://www.Rashiyomi.com/align-36.htm.)
#7) Make inferences on the Biblical words, Raah, Ayah, and Dayah from the alignment of Dt14--12:18 with Lv11-14:19 (See http://www.Rashiyomi.com/align-16.htm, commenting on Rashi, Dt14-13a).
J: SOLUTION TO EXERCISES - SOLUTION TO EXERCISE #2
Mem-Cheth-Yud-Hey aligns with heal and means scab.
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Lv13-18 when flesh has a skin wound and is healed
Lv13-24 when flesh has a skin fire-burn and the Mem-Cheth-Yud-Hey....
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In this example we have used an alignment by rows rather than by columns. The reader should feel equally comfortable with both methods of presentation.
Those wishing further detail should consult Rashi; there are three stages connected with scabs: the first is the scab stage, the second is the tender-red-skin stage, the third is the healed normal skin stage. Technically, Lv13-24 is speaking about the tender-red-skin stage. We have already seen above that alignments may only give the general idea (in this case, scab) while the law or other sources, such as roots, may give further details.

K: SOLUTION TO EXERCISES - SOLUTION TO EXERCISE #3
Ayin-Yud-Resh-Mem refers to male donkeys. The following alignment of key phrases in Gn32-15:16 shows that the first column refers to females while the second column refers to males. In the interest of clearly showing structure we have only shown phrases that fall into the aligned pattern; further Biblical phrases were omitted.
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Goats           200          male goats         20
Female rams     200          male rams          20
Female cows      40          male cows          10
donkeys          20       Ayin-yud-resh-mem     10
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Notice that the alignment also teaches us that although the word goats could generally equally refer to males or females, nevertheless, in this verse, goats, must refer to female goats. In general, Rashi may only cover one alignment in a verse, leaving it to the student-reader to make inferences on the other alignments connected with the same verse.

L: SOLUTION TO EXERCISES - SOLUTION TO EXERCISE #4
Tzade-Daleth-Yud-Hey aligns with two other words meaning hatred and hence it too means hatred. Rashi in his commentary does not quite say this; he rather says, Tzade-Daleth-Yud-Hey means ambush. This Rashi is consistent with our observation above that alignment can be supplemented by other means of analysis, such as root analysis. In this example, Rashi expects the student-reader to align the verses and infer that Tzade-Daleth-Yud-Hey means hatred. Rashi then supplements this analysis with further details of meaning. The alignment of the three verse clauses is as follows
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Nu35-20 If the murderer shoves his victim with hatred or
Nu35-20 --------------- throws on his victim with Tzade-Daleth-Yud-Hey
Nu35-21 --------------- hand-smites him with enmity
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M: SOLUTION TO EXERCISES - SOLUTION TO EXERCISE #5
This example shows an alignment by contrast; the Hebrew word Tauv-Mem is contrasted with the phrase, a man of the fields; hence we infer that Tauv-Mem means a simple person. The alignment of the two verse clauses is as follows
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Gn25-27d Esauv was a man of the fields
Gn25-27d Jaocb was a man that is Tauv-Mem
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N: SOLUTION TO EXERCISES - SOLUTION TO EXERCISE #6
In this example, the word tenth already has a known meaning. However, the alignment allows us to infer an additional meaning of tenth: namely, the word tenth without further qualification can mean a tenth of the Ayfah measure. The Ayfah is a measure of volume similar to such English terms as bushel and gallon.
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Nu28-05a 1 tenth ayfah of flour
Nu15-04 1 tenth ----- of flour
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O: SOLUTION TO EXERCISES - SOLUTION TO EXERCISE #7
The following example shows how alignment inferences may be very simple. In the alignment below we have two lists of birds. The lists are identical except for the bolded words. Rashi simply comments that Raah, Ayah and Dayah are 3 names for the same bird: Thus by dropping the initial letter, Dayah becomes Ayah. Similarly, the Resh and Daleth are typographically similar---allowing Raah to become Dayah as a result of a typo. Here, the alignment simply serves to prevent misunderstandings arising from different dialects.
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Dt14-13:18 Nesher, Peres, Azniah, Raah, Ayah, Dayah, Orayv
Lv11-13:19 Nesher, Peres, Azniah, Daah, Ayah, -----, Orayv
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