Regarding "castrated Bible" and the rules of sermon
Hello Rabbi Michael,
Regarding the verse: From the morrow after the seventh Sabbath, you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a new offering to the LORD.
Rashi interprets that the plain meaning is that fifty days should be counted, and the sermon says otherwise, by dividing the verse after the word "count" and not after the word "day" as the Bible suggests. Rashi goes on to say that this is a neutered reading. I asked what Rashi meant by the term "neutered reading," and also why does the sermon go against the plain meaning in this case?
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0 Answers
One of the qualities of the sermon is to recite the Bible and preach it (see Babylonian 22:112 and others). There are sometimes situations in which the verse is read differently from how it was written. For example, "You lie with your fathers and this people rose up and played the harlot after the gods of the foreigners of the land…". Chazal demand "You lie with your fathers and rise up," hence the resurrection of the dead from the Torah. There are other examples. The question of when to do such a sermon probably depends on the difficulties in the simple reading or on the alternatives that were not taken. For biblical reasons, it is easier, because these are not part of the Torah but from a tradition that was passed down orally and it is not clear when exactly they were created.
In the case you brought, I think there is a missing linking word: And after that you shall offer a new offering to the Lord. Or on the fiftieth day you shall offer… Chazal conclude that the verse should probably be read differently (meaning: also differently. The plain text remains as it is, but at the same time there is also a midrashic reading, and the Torah wanted to direct us to it as well).
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