Rashi

Rashi is an acronym for Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak (Solomon, son of Isaac), also written as Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki.   He was born February 22, 1040, and died July 17, 1105.   Rashi is one of Judaism's classical meforshim (Bible and Talmud commentators).   Rashi wrote the first comprehensive commentaries on the Tanakh (the Bible) and Talmud.

Rashi was born at Troyes, Champagne, northern France, in 1040.   Some sources give his surname as Yarchi, indicating that his family came from Lunel (Yareach, in Hebrew).   He was reputedly descended from the Davidic line, with lineage to the royal house of King David.

He studied at Worms under Yaakov ben Yakar, and at Mainz under Isaac ben Judah.   He returned to Troyes at age 25, probably serving as Rabbi.   About 1070, he founded a yeshiva which attracted many disciples.   According to tradition, Rashi earned his living as a vintner.   There are many stories about his travels, but Rashi's travels probably didn't go beyond than from the Seine to the Rhine, to the Yeshivot of Lorraine.   Rashi died in Troyes in 1105.

Rashi had no sons, but three daughters, Yocheved, Miriam and Rachel, all of whom married scholars.   Yocheved married Meir ben Samuel, Miriam married Judah ben Nathan, and Rachel married (and divorced) Eliezer ben Shemiah.   Yocheved and Meir's four sons were the tosafists Shmuel (Rashbam), Yaakov (Rabbeinu Tam), Yitzchak (Ribbam), and the grammarian Shlomo.   One of their daughters, Channah, wrote a responsum explaining the ritual and blessing for the Shabbat lights.

The Works of Rashi

Rashi wrote two great commentaries, upon which his fame rests.   One was on the whole of the Tanakh (Bible), and one on about thirty tractates of the Talmud.   Rashi's works are so well respected that he is often cited by Jews simply as "the Commentator."

Rashi's commentary on the Tanakh is very thorough, and is used to understand both the plain meaning of the Tanakh and its interpretation.   His commentary is used in Bible studies at every level, basic, intermediate, and advanced.   Almost all later commentaries will discuss Rashi, either using his view as supporting evidence or debating against it.   Rashi's commentaries are also of interest to secular scholars, because he translated unfamilar words into the spoken French of his day.   As such, his commentaries offer an interesting insight into the vocabulary and pronunciation of Old French.

Rashi's commentary on the Torah has become an indispensable part of the framework of Judaism.   Tens of thousands of men and women study "Chumash with Rashi" daily.   (Chumash refers to the Pentateuch and corresponding portions from the Prophets.)   Rashi's commentary is included in almost all Chumashim produced within the traditional Jewish community.   Supercommentaries on Rashi's work include Gur Aryeh by Rabbi Judah Loew (Maharal), Sefer ha-Mizrachi by Rabbi Elijah Mizrachi (Re'em) and Yeri'ot Shlomo by Rabbi Solomon Luria (Maharshal).

Rashi also wrote the first comprehensive comfentary on the Talmud.   His commentary attempts to provide a full explanation of the words, and of the logical structure of each Talmudic passage.   Unlike other commenters, Rashi does not paraphrase or exclude any part of the text, but carefully elucidates the whole of the text.   He exerted a decisive influence on establishing the correct text of the Talmud.   He compared different manuscripts and determined which readings should be preferred. His work became such a standard that it is included in all printed versions of the Talmud.

Rashi's Talmud commentary is located towards the middle of the opened Talmud; i.e. on the side of the page closest to the binding.   The semi-cursive font in which the commentary is printed is often referred to as "Rashi script."   This does not mean that Rashi himself used such a script, only that printers employ it for commentaries.   Daniel Bomberg, a Christian printer from Venice, introduced "Rashi script" in his publication of Rashi's commentary on the Tanakh in 1517.   Rashi's commentary, which covers almost all of the Babylonian Talmud, has been printed in every version of the Talmud since the first Italian printings.

Rashi did not compose commentaries for every tractate of the Babylonian Talmud.   Some of the printed commentaries which are attributed to him were composed by others, primarily his students.   In some commentaries, the text indicates that Rashi died before completing the tractate, and that it was completed by a student.   This is true of the tractate Makkot, the concluding portions of which were composed by his son-in-law Rabbi Judah ben Nathan; and of Bava Batra, finished (in a more detailed style) by his grandson, Rabbi Samuel ben Meir (also known as the Rashbam), one of the prominent contributors to the Tosafot.

Rashi also produced several minor works, such as an edition of the Siddur (Prayer-Book).   There are a small number of commentaries that bear his name that were not authored by him, but by his students.