January 27, 2006
פרשת וארא - To...
ח:כא וַיִּקְרָא פַרְעה אֶל משֶׁה וּלְאַהֲרן
Isn't it strange that the prefix for Moshe is אֶל whereas that for Aharon is לְ?
I think the answer lies in the :גמרא יומא ד where it is stated "קול לו קול אליו - משה שמע וכל ישראל לא שמעו" What the gemara is ultimately saying there is that the term אליו connotes a more direct and focused manner of speech than does לו. Perhaps here, the call of Paroah was direct primarily at Moshe. The call for Aharon was slightly less significant and so, the term אֶל is used for Moshe but not for Aharon.
Posted by Shtikler at 09:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 22, 2006
פרשת שמות - Teven / Taven
As many of you probably notice, most words change when they are at the end of a pasuk or if they are the primary stop in the middle of a pasuk. For instance, שֶׁמֶן becomes שָׁמֶןָ. However, in this (past) week's parsha we find an interesting exception. The word תֶּבֶן, which follows the same structure as שֶׁמֶן , at the end of a pasuk, remains תֶּבֶן. It bothered me for quite some time why this is so.
I came up with a possible answer. I found that the word תָּבֶן actually appears in איוב יג:א. The word there, וַתָּבֶן, is from the root of the word meaning "understanding." Perhaps the rule is that if the conversion of the word at the end of the pasuk would make it appear to mean something completely different, we do not change it. I haven't yet proven this rule but I have defeated many attempts debunk it.
Posted by Shtikler at 01:24 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack