La Tora Con Rashi Bereshit Pdf Free
Evaristo Nicholls
A more vexing question is whether Rashi actually had any consistent approach to distinguishing between peshat (plain or contextual meaning) and midrash (homiletical interpretation). He fills his commentary with midrashim, many of which seem to us incompatible with any definition of peshat.[11]
I believe that Rashi does not limit his midrashic comments to verses where peshat-level explanations fall short.[37] Rashi was primarily an educator. Interpreting the Bible was not his ultimate goal; his commentary was a vehicle for teaching the Jewish people, and he found many important Jewish messages in midrashim.[38]
A main characteristic of Rashi's writing was his focus on grammar and syntax. His primary focus was on word choice, and "essentially [he acts] as a dictionary where he defines unusual Hebrew words." He searches for things that may not be clear to the reader and offers clarification on the inconsistency that may be present. Rashi does so by "filling in missing information that [helps] lead to a more complete understanding" of the Torah.[36] A portion of his writing is dedicated to making distinctions between the peshat, or plain and literal meaning of the text, and the aggadah or rabbinic interpretation. One of Rashi's grandchildren, Samuel B. Meir or Rashbam, heavily critiqued his response on his "commentary on the Torah [being] based primarily on the classic midrashim (rabbinic homilies)."[37]
In your talk last week in Teaneck, you said that Rashi sought to harmonize midrashim and you stated that Rashi cites Proverbs 25:11 in this connection. I know that Maimonides (Introduction to The Guide for the Perplexed) cites Proverbs 25:11, but I wonder where Rashi cites it in connection with his commentary. I am unfamiliar with such a statement by Rashi.
I am aware of Rashi on Genesis 3:8 where he writes, I am only concerned with peshuto shel miqra and with such Aggadah that explains the words of the verse in a manner that fits into them. (a phrase from Proverbs 25:11). But this is hardly a statement of an alleged program by Rashi to harmonize conflicting midrashim.
The first instance of purported death comes in the context of Y'huda's hagasha (approach) to Yosef. The Midrash (Raba 93:6) understands this hagasha to be a strategic one. It sets up two possible explanations of Y'huda's strategy - either to appease the Egyptian viceroy or to threaten him into submission. The continuation of the Midrash, in quoting the descriptions of this scene by several tana'im, leans heavily toward the threatening idea rather than pacification. Importantly, Rash"i here bases himself on this string of midrashim, sometimes even quoting directly.
Perhaps in the context of the initial hagasha, Binyamin's death is invoked not for its sympathetic (or accurate) value but as an indirect fear-inducer. When a similar indication of potential death is made later on with the same ambiguity and nothing pushing it out of its most simple interpretation, Rash"i (and perhaps the midrashim) explain it exactly that simple way - that the one in danger is Ya'akov.
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1. Rashi's commentary on Genesis 1:29. 2. Quoted in Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Bereshit (Genesis) (Jerusalem: World Zionist Organization (3rd Edition), 1976), p. 77. 3. Sanhedrin 59b. 4. Nachmanides, commentary on Genesis 1:29. 5. Joseph Albo, Sefer ha-Ikkarim, Vol. III., Chapter 15. 6. Rabbi J. H. Hertz, The Pentateuch and Haftorahs (London: Soncino Press, 1958), p. 5; also see Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Deuteronomy, Jerusalem: World Zionist Organization (3rd Edition), p. 137 7. Maimonides, Moreh Nebuchim II, 47, cited by Nachmanides in his commentary on Genesis 5:4. Also see "Afikim Banegev," in HaPeles (Berlin), 1903-4 and "Tallelei Orot," in Takhkenwni (Berne), 1910, and Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Deuteronomy, Jerusalem: World Zionist Organization (3rd Edition), pp. 135-142. 8. Leibowitz, Studies in Deuteronomy, p. 138. 9. From Rav Kook's Tallelei Orot (Dewdrops of Light), cited by Leibowitz, Studies in Deuteronomy, p. 138. 10. Rabbi Samuel H. Dresner, The Jewish Dietary Laws, Their Meaning for Our Time (New York: Burning Bush Press,1959), pp. 21-25; Cassuto, commentary on Genesis 1:27. 11. Leibowitz, Studies in Bereshit, p. 77. 12. Joseph Albo, Sefer ha-Ikkarim, Vol. III., Chapter 15. 13. Rabbi Isaak Hebenstreit, Graves of Lust (Hebrew), (Rzeszow, Poland, 1929), p. 6. 14. Samson Raphael Hirsch's commentary on Genesis 9:2. 15. Dresner, The Jewish Dietary Laws, p. 29. 16. Quoted by Leibowitz, Studies in Bereshit, p. 77. 17. Rashi, based on Midrash Rabbah; also Baba Kamma 91b. 18. This speculation is considered by Pick,"The Source of Our Inspiration," p. 3. 19. See Rabbi Elijah J. Schochet, Animal Life in Jewish Tradition (New York: K'tav), 1984, p. 290; also see S. Clayman, "Vegetarianism, The Ideal of the Bible," The Jewish Vegetarian (Summer, 1967): 136- 137, and Hebenstreit, Kivrot Hata'avah, p. 7. 20. Hertz, Pentateuch and Haftorahs, p. 276. 21. Talmudic sage Ben Zoma taught as follows: "Who is rich? The person who rejoices in his or her portion" (Pirke Avot 4:1). 22. Reverend A. Cohen, The Teaching of Maimonides (New York: Bloch Publishing Co., 1927), p. 180. 23. See Leibowitz, Studies in Deuteronomy, p. 135. 24. Schochet, Animal Life, p. 300. 25. Rabbi J. David Bleich, "Vegetarianism and Judaism", Tradition, Vol. 2 3, No. 1, (Summer, 1987), p. 86. 26.Ibid., p. 87. 27. Leibowitz, Studies in Deuteronomy, p. 136. 28. Ibid. 29. Hebenstreit, Kivrot Hata'avah, p. 9. 30. Chulin 84a. 31. Pesachim 49b. 32. See the discussion in Joe Green, "Chalutzim of the Messiah-The Religious Vegetarian Concept as Expounded by Rabbi Kook", p. 2. 33. Ibid., pp. 2-3. 34. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, "Fragments of Light," in Abraham Isaac Kook, ed. and trans. Ben Zion Bokser (New York: Paulist Press,1978), pp. 316-21 35. Quoted in Abraham Chill, The Commandments and Their Rationale, (New York, 1974), p. 400. 36. Rabbi Pinchas Peli, Torah Today (Washington,D.C.: B'nai B'rith Books, 1987), p. 118. 37. Rabbi Alfred Cohen, "Vegetarianism from a Jewish Perspective," Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, Vol. 1, No. II, (Fall, 1981) p. 45. 38. Olat Rayah, Vol. 1, p. 292. Cited by Cohen, "Vegetarianism...... p. 45. 39. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, A Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace. 40. Hertz, Pentateuch and Haftorahs, p. 5. 41. Green, "Chalutzim of the Messiah," 3 p. 1.