Ideas and Model Lessons in Learning Rashi-#21 Copyright RashiYomi Inc 10-19-2005 Adapted From Rashi-is-Simple http://www.RashiYomi.Com/
Written by Dr. Russell Jay Hendel;
A: REVIEW
This is the 21-st in a 30 part series on the methods that are useful for teaching Rashi. Parts 1 - 20 may be accessed on the Rashi website at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/wbook.htm in the workbook series. Part 1 contains useful information on our notation and methods - to best understand this chapter the reader should be familiar with our conventions.

B: THE GRAMMAR METHODS
This chapter begins a 3-part series on the grammar methods. One of the primary functions of any commentary is to teach, clarify and note subtleties in grammar. In Rashi's time there were no grammar books. Today grammar books, in both English and Hebrew, are standard. Nevertheless, even a student familiar with modern grammar textbooks can tremendously benefit from the Rashi grammar comments.

C: THE CONJUGATION SUBMETHOD
There are three principle submethods of the grammar method. Today we study the root-conjugation submethod of the grammar method. The conjugation of roots is a major part of grammar in every language. We first review the 7 major issues in root conjugation. We then provide the contributions Rashi made to teaching grammar.

D: SEVEN CONJUGATION ISSUES
The Radack introduced the idea of using the Hebrew root, Shin-Mem-Resh, SMR, which means to watch, to illustrate grammatical principles and issues of root conjugations. There are seven issues in conjugating SMR (or any other Biblical root).
- Person: e.g. ShaMaRTI means I watched while ShaMaRTA means you watched
- Plurality: e.g. ShaMaRTI means I watched while ShaMarNu means we watched
- Tense: e.g. ShaMaRTi means I had watched, EShMor means I will watch, and LishMoR means to watch
- Mode: e.g. ShaMaRTi means I watched (Active mode) while NiShMaRTi means I was watched (Passive mode)
- Gender: e.g. ShaMaR means he watched while ShaMeRah means she watched
- Object: e.g. SheMaRTiChah means I watched you while SheMaRTaM means I watched them
- Connective: e.g. The Hebrew root Cheth-Zayin-Kuph (XZK) means strong: But to-strong-from (XZK M) means to overpower while to-strong-in (XZK B) means to grab.(We have reviewed the connective issue in chapter 8).
To properly understand root conjugation means
- to be able to map each combination of the above seven issues to a particular conjugation form
- to be able to identify the meanings of each grammatical mode
- to be able to identify different rules for so called weak letter roots
- to be able to identify the meanings of each prepositional connective
- to know the spectrum of possibilities for each of the above seven issues: For example there are three persons (I, you, he), there are two pluralities(Single, plural) and two genders (male, female). Special rules apply in specific cases---for example, the infinitive is independent of gender and the present tense is independent of person.

E: CONJUGATION OF NOUNS / VERBS
Root conjugation is traditionally associated with verbs. Thus, ShaMarTi means I had watched, EshMoR means I will watch etc. However conjugation equally applies to nouns, participles, commands, infinitives etc. For example, one can strongly argue that there is no present tense for verbs---rather what most books call the present tense is really a noun form --- ShoMayR does not mean I am watching but simply refers to a Watchman! Similarly, as we will see below, ShaMooR is the participle form and either indicates the adjectival, it is watched, or refers to a noun form, a watched object.
In summary root conjugation refers to the rules for punctuating roots in such a way as to indicate specific meanings. If we are conjugation a root to indicate action (verbs) we may have to specifically address six of the seven issues above--Who is watching (Person)? How many are watching (Plurality)? When was the watching taking place (Tense)? Etc. However these seven issues also apply to non-verbs, possibly with modifications: Thus the noun, watchman has masculine gender and singular plurality, but is independent of person (I, you or he). Similarly the participle watched indicates an ongoing attribute of the object not bound to past present or future (tense independent).

F: SOURCES FOR GRAMMAR
There are many books on grammatical conjugation. Some books discuss several hundred verb forms and are very detailed. There are also some excellent short versions. My favorite short version is the appendices of the Ibn Shoshan Hebrew dictionary. These appendices contain 12 tables covering most of the common conjugations for verbs. There are also tables covering noun as well as verb-object conjugations.
Another good resource is Moshe Silberman's Grammatical Form Concordance, Sefer Amaylim BaTorah which, for each grammatical verb form, lists all Biblical verses containing that form. I have found this resource invaluable in checking and illustrating many rules.

G: THE NEAR-MISS APPROACH
A student who already knows grammar may still, as indicated above, greatly benefit from Rashi. Rashi will frequently assume the student already knows the rules of grammatical conjugation. But Rashi will focus and comment on two almost identical conjugations that differ minutely, because it is easy for the student to confuse these two conjugations. Here, Rashi is addressing both the elementary and the advanced student and exposing them to new issues.

H: EXAMPLE 1: Ex19-18a
The following Biblical verse discusses the descent of God on Mount Sinai when He delivered the Decalogue.
Text: Ex19-18a
And Mount Sinai was smoking (O-Shan) because God descended on it in fire
Rashi
The Hebrew word for smoking, Ayin-Shin-Nun, is punctuated with a kamatz-patach (O-Shan). The following is the rule
- the kamatz patach conjugation is used to indicate a verb in the 3rd person, singular, past: Hence O-Shan means it was smoking
- the almost identical kamatz-kamatz conjugation is used to indicate a noun: Hence O-Shon means the noun, smoke.

I: STUDENT EXERCISES
The grammar methods differ from all other Rashi methods in that they are well understood. Many books document the rules with many exercises. Thus the approach to teaching the Rashi grammar method is different than the approach we use for other Rashi methods. More specifically, since the rules are already known, and can easily be looked up in any standard grammar textbook, the exercises can be performed at any student level.
We illustrate using the example just cited, Example 1: Have the student, at any level, answer the following questions and perform the following lookups.
- Look up the verb conjugation of the masculine, 3rd person, singular, past:
- Look up kamatz-kamatz vs. kamatz-patach conjugations of nouns: Which ones can you find?
- How many similarities are there between the verb and noun forms? How many differences?

J: ANSWERS TO EXERCISES
- The tables confirm that the kamatz-patach form is the correct conjugation of the masculine, 3rd person, singular, past. For example, ShoMaR
means he watched and ShoChaX means he forgot.
- There are no kamatz-patach nouns for Hebrew roots without weak letters. On the other hand there are kamatz-kamatz nouns.
- Both the kamatz-kamatz, O-Shon and the kamatz-patach, O-Shan have in common
- - - 3 letters
- - - a kamatz punctuating the first letter
- But the kamatz-kamatz, O-Shon and the kamatz-patach, O-Shan differ minutely in that
- - - the second letter is punctuated as a kamatz vs a patach
- - - the accent is on the first vs. the second syllable.

K: EXERCISES: EXAMPLE 2: Gn49-26:27

Instructions to students at any student level
- Read verses Gn46-26 and Gn46-27
- Notice the word Beth-Aleph-Hey which occurs in both verses
- Read the suggested translation of Rashi, Gn46-26a, for these two occurrences of Beth-Aleph-Hey
- Also check standard English Translations of these verses. Are they consistent with Rashi?
Now perform the 3 exercises above
- Check the various root conjugation forms indicated by Rashi
- How many similarities are there between these two occurrences of Beth-Aleph-Hey?
- How many differences are there between these two occurrences?

L: SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISE #2
- The Stone chumash translation of Gn-46-26:27 is as follows:
All the persons coming (Beth-Aleph-Hey) with Jacob to Egypt, his own descendants, aside from the wives of Jacob’s sons, were 66 people in all; And Joseph's children who were born to him in Egypt, numbered two people; all the people of Jacob's household who came (Beth-Aleph-Hey) to Egypt, were 70.
- Rashi translates the two occurrences of Beth-Aleph-Hey as coming and came. These two translations are consistent with the Stone translation presented above.
- One easily checks that a Biblical root with 3rd letter hey is conjugated with kamatz-kamatz in both the past and present. (The traditional way of referring to such Hebrew roots is Lamed-Hey. The modern way of referring to such roots is 1-2-Hey, indicating that the 1st and 2nd root letters are arbitrary while the 3rd letter must be a hey.)
- There are five similarities between the two forms
- - - they both have the same three letters Beth, Aleph,Hey
- - - they both use the punctuations kamatz-kamatz
- There is one minute difference between them
- - - the past form, coming, has an accent on the first syllable (BA-ah) while the present form, came, has an accent on the 2nd syllable (ba-AH)
This example illustrates Rashi's near miss approach. It is easy to see how such an approach can help students even if they already have an advanced knowledge of grammar.

M: MODE MEANING
Besides using the near-miss approach Rashi will also clarify the meaning of various conjugation componenets. For example several Rashis suggest that the meaning of the Hitpael conjugation mode is interactive. (Most modern textbooks translate the hitpael as indicating a reflexive meaning---Rashi disagreed and thought Hitpael indicates interactiveness).

N: EXAMPLE 3: Dt22-01a
Biblical Text: You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and avoid them (VeHiThALaMTa); rather you shall bring them back to your brother.
Rashi (paraphrased): The Hebrew root Ayin-Lamed-Mem normally means hidden. However in this verse Ayin-Lamed-Mem is in the hitpael mode and means to interactively hide, that is, to avoid. In other words do not, upon seeing a lost article deliberately turn the other way so as to avoid the responsibility of returning it.

O: EXERCISES-All Levels
Have the student answer the following questions
- Lookup the grammatical conjugations of the Hitpael mode for the root Ayin-Lamed-Mem.
- Explain the difference in meaning between hiding from and avoid.
- In explaining the difference did you use the concept of interaction?

P: ANSWER TO EXERCISES
- The verb conjugation for the hitpael mode, 2nd person, masculine, past is Ve-Hith-A-Lam-Ta as in the verse Dt22-01.
- Hiding from connotes a possibly one-time act to hide from something; by contrast avoidance is an ongoing process of avoidance every time you become aware of the object you are avoiding
- In explaining the difference between hiding and avoid we used the concept of interaction since avoidance refers to hiding whenever you become aware of the object to avoid. That is, instead of hiding once you interact with the object whenever you begin to see it by avoiding it.
Notice that this translation of the Hitpael of Ayin-Lamed-Mem as indicating interactive avoidance is precisely what Rashi explains when he says: Do not avoid the lost object when you see it and thereby suggest that you have no obligation to return it (because it is not visible after avoidance)---rather you must return it.

Q: RARE FORMS: EXAMPLE 4: Ex14-03c
A third approach of Rashi, in explaining root-conjugations -- (besides the near-miss and mode-explanation approach)-- is to explicitly give the rules for rare conjugation forms. Even the student who has mastered basic grammar may still be unaware of rules governing conjugation of rare conjugation forms.
Biblical Text: For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, They are entangled (NeVooChim) in the land, the wilderness has closed them in.
Rashi: The conjugation form root+shuruk (oo sound as in boot) +terminal yud mem, as in NeVooChiM, indicates a participle-- they are entangled in the land.

R: A RARE TENSE
The basic tenses are past, present, future. But certain conjugations such as the command (do such and such), the infinitive (to do such and such) and participles (e.g. entangl-ed) have meanings that are not bound to a specific point in time. We indicate this by stating that the tense of the conjugation is time independent.
Thus Rashi in this example, presents the conjugation of a rare tense (that is, a tense that is time-independent unlike the traditional past, present and future. As just indicated there are other forms that are time independent such as the infinitive and the command).
One can further strengthen one's understanding of Rashi by seeking other verses that use this participle form: For example Ex26-32 states And you shall hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid (MeTzooPiM) with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver. Here the word overlaid (MeTzooPiM), is a participle, having the standard participle form of root+oo+terminal yud mem

S: SUMMARY
We have reviewed above the Rashi root-conjugation sub-method of the grammar method. We have shown examples of three approaches of Rashi to root conjugation which are useful, even to a student with advanced knowledge of grammar. These three approaches are:
- the near miss approach, pointing out highly similar, and hence, potentially confusing, conjugations
- the meanings of the seven conjugation dimensions
- rare conjugations.
We have presented specific exercises for each approach that strengthen the grammatical understanding and appreciation of the rule involved.

T: THE RASHI WEBSITE AS A RESOURCE
The Rashi website can be used as a resource to provide examples for the grammar / root conjugation method.
The Home page for the Rashi website is located at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/
The Main Rashi Database is located at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/lists.htm
Scroll down in the left hand frame till you find GRAMMAR / root conjugation
Click on the link
The right frame will now contain the links to examples of the GRAMMAR / root conjugation method
A supplemental source is http://www.Rashiyomi.com/grammar.htm
Scroll down till you see the conjugation topics.