Rashi & The World of Commentary

Lesson 113 · רַשִׁ"י

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105), known by the acronym Rashi, was a French rabbi whose commentary on the Torah and Talmud became so essential that for 900 years, no traditional study has happened without him. Every printed page of Talmud has Rashi on the inner margin in his distinctive "Rashi script." Studying Torah without Rashi is like reading code without comments, possible but not advisable.

Cultural note, Rashi was a winemaker by profession; he supported himself with vineyards in Troyes, France. The "Rashi script" (כְּתָב רַשִׁ"י) is not actually his handwriting, it\'s a semi-cursive Sephardic script the printer used in the first printed Talmud (1480). Israeli kids learn to read it in 5th grade.

Major Commentators (Mefarshim)

Layout of a Talmud Page

Commentary Vocabulary

Rashi\'s Method

Rashi on Bereshit 1:1: Why Begin With Creation?

The famous opening of Rashi on the Torah. Rashi asks: why does the Torah begin with creation rather than with the first commandment given to Israel? His answer is one of the most politically charged in Jewish tradition.

Rashi on Shemot 12:2: The First Commandment

The first commandment to Israel as a nation, to set the calendar by the new moon. Rashi quotes Rabbi Yitzchak\'s famous question.