I would respond to both Yair Kahn and Tzvi Daum by urging them to get the best of both worlds: a) Teach Rashi and b) Show that all Rashis (if you are not that brave, then most Rashis) are Peshat. Allow me to elaborate.
First: Perhaps an example (from this week’s parshah) may help. The opening verses state “I (Jacob) sojourned with Esauv.” Rashi’s 2nd explanation is “Another inference: GARTI (The Hebrew word for sojourn) is the same in GEMATRIA as TARYAG which means 613. In other words, (Jacob was telling Esauv) (although) I lived with Laban, I observed the 613 commandments and did not learn from Laban’s bad deeds.”
I personally heard this Rashi explained by the Rav (Rabbi Joseph B Soloveitchick). To cite (ver batim) the Rav: “What is this (referring to Rashi’s use of Gematria)? Is Rashi becoming a Chadishe Rebbe? I would tolerate such an explanation from any other Rishon but not from Rashi.”
The Rav then proceeded to explain Rashi’s explanation as peshat, the simple meaning of the text: “There are two words for the act of residing in Hebrew: Yoshav and Gar. Yoshav indicates residence. Gar is used to indicate a sojourning, either a temporary stay, or the stay of a non-native citizen. But Jacob had lived 20 years with Laban, married two local women, worked for a major figure in the town, and amassed much wealth. The word “Gar” is inappropriate unless we translate it as a reference to how he felt – that he observed a religious life while the townspeople (more specifically, Laban) observed a non-religious life and therefore Jacob felt like a sojourner.”
(Before continuing I note: I assume the Rav would therefore explain the reference to the 613 commandments as an example of the primary intent of the verse, observance of commandments. I should also indicate that in several articles on Peshat and Derash (e.g. Tradition Vol 18#4, pp 327-342, 1980, [
www.Rashiyomi.com]) I have argued that Rashi did use homiletic fancy as a mnemonic aid to remember an interpretation but the interpretation itself always has a solid peshat background).
The Rav's son, Rav Hayyim, pointed out to me, that this explanation of his father actually comes from the Chizkuni.
Now let us return to the topic of the email: Changing Yeshiva curriculum. Based on the above example (1) I would not eliminate Rashi from the curriculum (2) I would not avoid teaching Rashi's 2nd explanation (3) I would not even teach my class that ‘Rashi brought two explanations – one midrashic and one the simple meaning of the text.’ (4) However, I would advocate changing the Yeshiva curriculum by showing how both explanations of Rashi emanate from sound grammatical principles and that they are both true, both the simple meaning of the text.
My website, [
www.Rashiyomi.com], and more specifically, www.Rashiyomi.com/rule.htm, and www.Rashiyomi.com/10rules.htm, shows **how** I would advocate changing the Yeshiva curriculum: Since hearing this explanation of the Rav I have attempted to apply similar techniques to all Rashis. I have found 30 very specific rules – each one grammatical and common-sense – governing all Rashis. The 30 specific rules naturally group into 10 groups. I would therefore advocate changing the Yeshiva curriculum by explicitly including competency in these 30 Rashi rules. By competency, I mean the ability to apply them to any given Rashi.
Of course, such a change requires retraining of teachers. However, there is no cost involved. I have designed my website so that anyone can read the various offerings and begin to understand how to apply the 10 major categories of rules and the 30 specific rules.
To finish this short posting I list some examples of techniques that I consider Peshat. The Rashi we just explained uses what I call the “synonym” method since Yashav and Gar are two synonyms and the Rashi comment focuses on these. Other examples of peshat Rashi rules are: REFERENCING other verses, MEANING including SYNONYMS, HONONYMS, IDIOMS, FIGURES OF SPEECH (Common to all languages), GRAMMAR including CONJUGATIONS, their MEANINGS, GENDER and PLURALITY agreement, PARALLELISM, CONTRADICTORY verses, SYMBOLS, NON-VERSE methods (for example use of DIAGRAMS, SPREADSHEET CALCULATIONS, GEOGRAPHY), DATABASE methods (gathering all verses with a certain feature), and principles of CLIMAX and STYLE.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/2012 07:04PM by mlb.
