Rashi

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Rashi רש"י, a Hebrew acronym for Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (רבי שלמה יצחקי), or Rabbi Shlomo Yarchi (רבי שלמה ירחי), who lived February 22, 1040 – July 17, 1105, wrote the first comprehensive commentaries on the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) and Talmud, and is one of the classic Jewish meforshim (commentators). Sources variously give his surname as Yitzchaki, deriving from his father's name, Yitzchak, or as Yarchi, indicating that his family came from Lunel (Yareach, in Hebrew).

1 Biography
2 Works
- 2.1 Commentary on the Tanakh
- 2.2 Commentary of the Talmud
3 See also
4 External links

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Biography

Rashi was born at Troyes, Champagne, northern France, in 1040 and died there in 1104 or 1105. 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. It is thought by some that Rashi earned his living as a vintner, but there is no evidence for this. [1]. Although there are many legends about his travels, Rashi likely never went farther than from the Seine to the Rhine - the utmost limit of his travels were the Yeshivot of Lorraine.

Rashi had no sons, only three daughters, Yocheved, Miriam and Rachel, all of whom married scholars. Yocheved married Meir ben Samuel, Miriam married Judah ben Nathan (see below), and Rachel married (and divorced) Eliezer ben Shemiah. Yocheved and Meir's four sons were the tosafists Shmuel (Rashbam) (1085-1174), Yaakov (Rabbeinu Tam) (?-1171), Yitzchak (Rivom), and the grammarian Shlomo; one of their daughters, Channah, wrote a responsum explaining the ritual and blessing for the Shabbat lights.

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Works

Besides minor works, such as an edition of the Siddur (Prayer-Book), Rashi wrote two great commentaries on which his fame rests. These were the commentaries on the whole of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and on about thirty tractates of the Talmud. Rashi's works are so well respected that he is often cited simply as "the Commentator." His commentaries are of interest to secular scholars because he tended to translate 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.

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Commentary on the Tanakh

Rashi's commentary on the Tanakh is very thorough, and is used to understand both the plain meaning of the Tanakh and the interpretation of the medieval rabbis. His commentary is often used in basic, intermediate, and advanced studies of the Tanakh. There are a small number of commentaries that bear his name that were not authored by him, but by his students.

Rashi's commentary on the Torah has become an indispensable part of the framework of Orthodox Judaism - tens of thousands, men and women alike, daily study "Chumash with Rashi" (Chumash = Pentateuch + corresponding portions from the Prophets) in reviewing the Parsha to be read on the next Shabbat. Rashi's explanation of Chumash, clarifies the "simple" meaning of the text so that a bright child of five could understand it. At the same time, it is the crucial foundation of some of the most profound legal analysis and mystical discourses that came after it. Since its publication, this commentary has been included as a standard in almost all chumashim produced within the Orthodox community. Supercommentaries on this 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). Almost all later commentaries will discuss Rashi, either using his view as supporting evidence or debating against it.

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Commentary of the Talmud

Rashi also wrote the first comprehensive commentary of 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 also 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. Image:Rashi.gif

Rashi's Talmud commentary is always situated towards the middle of the opened book display; i.e. on the side of the page closest to the binding. The semi-cursive font in which the commentaries are printed is often referred to as "Rashi script." This does not mean that Rashi himself used such a script, only that the printers standardly 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.

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