Tastiest Torah Treats

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Session Two
Chumash with Rashi: Unexpected Depths

TEXTS: Part I / III

Translations are based on (but not identical with) The Metsudah Chumash/Rashi, by Avrohom Davis and Avrohom Kleinkaufman (Hoboken, New Jersey: Ktav, 1991) -- a useful linear (phrase-by-phrase) Hebrew - English edition of Chumash and Rashi.

IN THE BEGINNING
This is what the first words of the Torah look like in a printed Chumash with Rashi's commentary (in 'Rashi script') below.

Note how the first word of the text is repeated so the reader knows what portion Rashi is referring to.
Rashi generally uses one source for each book: ie. for Genesis: Genesis Rabbah; etc., and very rarely identifies the author of a quote. By citing this midrash from "Midrash Tanhuma" instead of his usual source (where the midrash is attributed to a Rabbi Yehoshua), Rashi is able to include [uncharacteristically] a reference to a "Rabbi Yitzhak" thereby providing a way to recognize his father- who was also 'Yitzhak'.
This is the very beginning of the Chumash with Rashi: the start of his commentary on Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." I'll add my own comments to clarify what Rashi means and what we can learn from him.

[Rashi] "In the beginning..." Rabbi Yitzhak said: The Torah should not have begun until "This month shall be for you [the first of the months]" (Exodus 12:1) which is the first mitzvah (commandment) which the Jewish people were commanded. [paraphrase] Rashi asks why the Torah begins with the creation story and not with the first commandment that God gave to the Jewish people. The first commandment given to the Jewish people, according to the Rabbis of the Talmud, is in Exodus 12:1, where God says that the month of Nisan, the springtime month of Passover, should be the first month of the Jewish calendar. (It still is, although we start our new year on Rosh Hashanah at the beginning of the seventh month.)

This shows the sweetness and humility of Rashi's personality. Many other traditional Torah commentaries begin with introductions by the author; their names or at least their distinctive personalities are right up front. Rashi does not have any such introduction, and he doesn't mention his name anywhere, choosing instead to honour to his father.

The assumption behind the question is that the Torah is a book of commandments. This is surely how many Jews have thought of the Torah; this is why "Torah" is often translated into English as "Law" in Jewish as well as Christian translations. However, just asking the question actually undermines the assumption. If the Torah is a book of commandments, why does it begin with the creation story? And, come to think of it, if the first commandment is not until Exodus 12:1, the whole book of Genesis and most of the interesting stories in Exodus come first! So in a subtle way, Rashi begins his commentary on the Torah by challenging a common preconception of what the Torah is all about.

In fact, this 'Yitzhak' is commonly but incorrectly understood to be his father. See this article for more.
[RASHI] Then for what reason does it begin with "In the beginning..."? Because of "He told His people the power of His works, to give them the inheritance of nations" (Psalm 111:6) That is, if the nations of the world say to the Jewish people, "You are robbers, because you conquered the lands of the seven [Canaanite] nations", they can answer them: "The whole world belongs to God, who created it and gave it to whomever it appeared right to Him. It was His will to give it to them and it was His will to take it from them and give it to us."
[paraphrase] Rashi answers with a verse from Psalm 111 which he interprets, a little fancifully, to mean that God told us about the creation of the world in order to strengthen our claim to the Land of Israel. After all, the Torah which tells us that God gave the Land of Israel to us, also tells us that other people -- the seven Canaanite nations -- were living there first. Aren't we robbers? But because we know, from Genesis 1:1, that God created the world, we can say that the land was God's to give to us and we are just the recipients of a gift.

This answer to Rashi's initial question shows that he indeed does not see the Torah as a book of commandments. He does see it as a book of God's loving concern for us, the Jewish people. Even the creation story is there for our sake, to help us feel secure in our attachment to the Land of Israel. I think it would be safe to say that Rashi sees everything in the Torah in this way, as an expression of God's loving care for us.

It is striking to me how Rashi's answer mirrors our contemporary discomforts about Israel. In Rashi's time the Jewish presence in the Land of Israel was small and powerless. The people displaced by the Jews were the ancient Canaanites -- unheard from for millennia. Yet Rashi reflects a Jewish self-accusation -- put into the mouths of "the nations of the world" -- of being robbers, unjust conquerors. Today there is a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, which most of us support and feel attached to; but many of us are also very uncomfortable with the fact that it is on land claimed by other people, the Palestinians, who have a fairly strong claim to having been there first. The amount of concern among Jews for the rights of the Palestinians is actually quite amazing if we compare it to other situations of people living on others' land. For example, after the second World War the boundaries of Poland were essentially picked up and moved to the west; large parts of eastern Poland are now in Russia, and large parts of eastern Germany are now in Poland. Yet we don't hear of guilt from the Russians on Polish soil or the Poles on German soil, or any desire to go back to the original borders. Similarly, Canadians, including Jewish Canadians, are generally not nearly as worked up over the rights of the Native peoples whose lands we live on as Jews are over the rights of the Palestinians. It seems from this Rashi that this kind of extreme sensitivity to the rights of those who were on "our land" before us goes back a long long time. Rashi's answer may or may not convince us, but his concern is also ours.

[RASHI] "In the beginning [God] created..." This verse says nothing but, "Interpet me!" as our Rabbis have interpreted it...

Rashi now begins to comment on the meaning of the words "B'reshith bara" ("in the beginning [God] created...") His comment is too complex to study here, but I couldn't resist quoting this opening sentence. Rashi relates to the Torah in such a way that it speaks to him and begs him to interpret it. Isn't this what human beings are always saying to each other, if we really pay attention? The words may be "Hi, nice to meet you" but isn't the meaning: "Please, don't just look at me and get a quick impression, don't just hear me saying hi and telling you my name; please, take me a little more seriously, try to know me a little, understand me -- interpret me!" To Rashi, the Torah is like a person, and he is like a friend who hears that wish to be interpreted, and responds to it with all his heart.

(c) Justin Lewis, instructor
course offered through Kolel


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IN THE BEGINNING This is what the first words of the Torah look like in a printed Chumash with Rashi's commentary (in 'Rashi script') below.
Note how the first word of the text is repeated so the reader knows what portion Rashi is referring to. Rashi generally uses one source for each book: ie. for Genesis: Genesis Rabbah; etc., and very rarely identifies the author of a quote. By citing this midrash from "Midrash Tanhuma" instead of his usual source (where the midrash is attributed to a Rabbi Yehoshua), Rashi is able to include [uncharacteristically] a reference to a "Rabbi Yitzhak" thereby providing a way to recognize his father- who was also 'Yitzhak'.	This is the very beginning of the Chumash with Rashi: the start of his commentary on Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." I'll add my own comments to clarify what Rashi means and what we can learn from him. [Rashi] "In the beginning..." Rabbi Yitzhak said: The Torah should not have begun until "This month shall be for you [the first of the months]" (Exodus 12:1) which is the first mitzvah (commandment) which the Jewish people were commanded.	[paraphrase] Rashi asks why the Torah begins with the creation story and not with the first commandment that God gave to the Jewish people. The first commandment given to the Jewish people, according to the Rabbis of the Talmud, is in Exodus 12:1, where God says that the month of Nisan, the springtime month of Passover, should be the first month of the Jewish calendar. (It still is, although we start our new year on Rosh Hashanah at the beginning of the seventh month.)
This shows the sweetness and humility of Rashi's personality. Many other traditional Torah commentaries begin with introductions by the author; their names or at least their distinctive personalities are right up front. Rashi does not have any such introduction, and he doesn't mention his name anywhere, choosing instead to honour to his father.	The assumption behind the question is that the Torah is a book of commandments. This is surely how many Jews have thought of the Torah; this is why "Torah" is often translated into English as "Law" in Jewish as well as Christian translations. However, just asking the question actually undermines the assumption. If the Torah is a book of commandments, why does it begin with the creation story? And, come to think of it, if the first commandment is not until Exodus 12:1, the whole book of Genesis and most of the interesting stories in Exodus come first! So in a subtle way, Rashi begins his commentary on the Torah by challenging a common preconception of what the Torah is all about.
In fact, this 'Yitzhak' is commonly but incorrectly understood to be his father. See this article for more.	[RASHI] Then for what reason does it begin with "In the beginning..."? Because of "He told His people the power of His works, to give them the inheritance of nations" (Psalm 111:6) That is, if the nations of the world say to the Jewish people, "You are robbers, because you conquered the lands of the seven [Canaanite] nations", they can answer them: "The whole world belongs to God, who created it and gave it to whomever it appeared right to Him. It was His will to give it to them and it was His will to take it from them and give it to us."	[paraphrase] Rashi answers with a verse from Psalm 111 which he interprets, a little fancifully, to mean that God told us about the creation of the world in order to strengthen our claim to the Land of Israel. After all, the Torah which tells us that God gave the Land of Israel to us, also tells us that other people -- the seven Canaanite nations -- were living there first. Aren't we robbers? But because we know, from Genesis 1:1, that God created the world, we can say that the land was God's to give to us and we are just the recipients of a gift.
	This answer to Rashi's initial question shows that he indeed does not see the Torah as a book of commandments. He does see it as a book of God's loving concern for us, the Jewish people. Even the creation story is there for our sake, to help us feel secure in our attachment to the Land of Israel. I think it would be safe to say that Rashi sees everything in the Torah in this way, as an expression of God's loving care for us. It is striking to me how Rashi's answer mirrors our contemporary discomforts about Israel. In Rashi's time the Jewish presence in the Land of Israel was small and powerless. The people displaced by the Jews were the ancient Canaanites -- unheard from for millennia. Yet Rashi reflects a Jewish self-accusation -- put into the mouths of "the nations of the world" -- of being robbers, unjust conquerors. Today there is a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, which most of us support and feel attached to; but many of us are also very uncomfortable with the fact that it is on land claimed by other people, the Palestinians, who have a fairly strong claim to having been there first. The amount of concern among Jews for the rights of the Palestinians is actually quite amazing if we compare it to other situations of people living on others' land. For example, after the second World War the boundaries of Poland were essentially picked up and moved to the west; large parts of eastern Poland are now in Russia, and large parts of eastern Germany are now in Poland. Yet we don't hear of guilt from the Russians on Polish soil or the Poles on German soil, or any desire to go back to the original borders. Similarly, Canadians, including Jewish Canadians, are generally not nearly as worked up over the rights of the Native peoples whose lands we live on as Jews are over the rights of the Palestinians. It seems from this Rashi that this kind of extreme sensitivity to the rights of those who were on "our land" before us goes back a long long time. Rashi's answer may or may not convince us, but his concern is also ours.
	[RASHI] "In the beginning [God] created..." This verse says nothing but, "Interpet me!" as our Rabbis have interpreted it...
	Rashi now begins to comment on the meaning of the words "B'reshith bara" ("in the beginning [God] created...") His comment is too complex to study here, but I couldn't resist quoting this opening sentence. Rashi relates to the Torah in such a way that it speaks to him and begs him to interpret it. Isn't this what human beings are always saying to each other, if we really pay attention? The words may be "Hi, nice to meet you" but isn't the meaning: "Please, don't just look at me and get a quick impression, don't just hear me saying hi and telling you my name; please, take me a little more seriously, try to know me a little, understand me -- interpret me!" To Rashi, the Torah is like a person, and he is like a friend who hears that wish to be interpreted, and responds to it with all his heart.
	(c) Justin Lewis, instructor course offered through Kolel