Parashas Chukas

Last week (Parashas Korach) we asked on the Rashi in Numbers 17:23

"And it came to pass, on the morrow, that Moses came into the Tent of Testimony, and behold the staff of Aaron, of the house of Levi, blossomed, (Hebrew: "parach") yielded a flower ("perach") and brought forth buds and bloomed blossoms and ripened into almonds."

RASHI
"Yielded a flower" RASHI: take this literally.

What has Rashi told us? Of course we would take it literally, even if he said nothing. Why did he need to comment?
What's bothering Rashi?
Your Answer:

An Answer: The word "Perach" is used twice in these verses. The first time (our verse) it means "Blossomed." This is the literal meaning, it includes the whole process of blossoming - the blossoming of the flower, the sprouting of the bud of the almond and then the ripening of the almonds. Rashi's comment, apparently unnecessary, tells us to differentiate between "parach" and the later term "perach." We should not think this word means "to produce a flower" because if it did, then the later mention ("vayotzei perach") would be redundant. Rather it means, literally "it blossomed." Thus Rashi's comment.

Now to This week's sedra Parashas Chukas.

Rashi on verse 20:15.
The context is a message that Moses sent to the king of Edom to ask permission to let the traveling Israelites pass though his territory to get the Canaan. As part of his message the verse says:
"Our fathers went down to Egypt and we dwelled in Egypt many days and the Egyptians did evil to us and to our fathers."

RASHI
'Did evil to us": RASHI: We suffered much travail.

A Question: What is Rashi telling us that we wouldn't know from the verse itself? What is his point?

Your Answer:

An answer next week, IY'H.

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