Commentators:R. Shelomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)/0

R. Shelomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

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See also: Rashi's Torah Commentary

Rashi

Name	Rashi, R. Shlomo Yitzchaki, רש"י, ר' שלמה יצחקי
Dates	1040 – 1105
Location	France
Works	Commentaries on Tanakh and Talmud, Sifrut Debei Rashi
Exegetical Characteristics
Influenced by	R. Yaakov ben Yakar, R. Yitzchak HaLevi, R. Yitzchak ben Yehuda
Impacted on	Everyone

Background

Life

• Name – R. Shelomo b. Yitzchak (ר' שלמה בן יצחק), of which Rashi (רש"י) is an acronym.
• Dates – c. 1040¹ – July 13, 1105.²
• Location – Rashi lived for most of his life in Troyes, although he studied in both Mainz and Worms.
• Occupation – 
• Family – Rashi’s uncle, the brother of his mother, was ר' שמעון הזקן, a student of R. Gershom. Rashi had four daughters: Yocheved, Miriam, Rachel,³ and a daughter who died during Rashi's lifetime.⁴ Yocheved married R. Meir b. Shemuel, and had four sons (Rashbam, R. Tam, R. Yitzchak, and Shelomo) and one daughter⁵. Miriam married R. Yehuda b. Natan (Rivan), and had a son named R. Yom Tov.
• Teachers – Rashi studied at Mainz under R. Yaakov b. Yakar, and following R. Yaakov's death in 1064, he learned under R. Yitzchak b. Yehuda. He then moved to Worms, and studied under R. Yitzchak HaLevi. All of his teachers were students of R. Gershom.
• Contemporaries – 
• Students – R. Yosef Kara, Rashi's son-in-law R. Yehuda b. Natan, Rashi’s grandsons Rashbam and R. Tam, his secretary R. Shemayah, R. Simcha MiVitri.
• Time period – 
  • –
• World outlook – 

Works

• Biblical commentaries – Rashi wrote commentaries on all of Tanakh.
• Rabbinics
  
  • Talmudic commentaries – Rashi wrote commentaries on most, if not all,⁶ of the tractates of the Talmud Bavli.
  • Halakhic codes – Rashi did not write any halakhic codes himself. However, his students did author a number of halakhic works based on his teachings, including Machzor Vitri, Siddur Rashi, Sefer HaPardes, Sefer HaOreh, and others.
  • Responsa – In modern times, some of Rashi's surviving responsa were collected into a single work.⁷
• Piyyutim – Rashi wrote a number of piyyutim. Although we don't know of any commentaries on piyyutim that Rashi wrote himself, his exegesis was incorporated into R. Shemayah's commentaries on the piyyutim.
• Misattributed works – Commentaries on the end of Iyyov (from Iyyov 40:25 onward), Ezra, Nechemyah, and Divrei HaYamim; Commentaries on Moed Katan, Ta'anit, Nedarim, Nazir, and Horayot.

Torah Commentary

Characteristics

• Verse by verse / Topical – 
• Genre – 
• Structure – 
• Language – 
• Peshat and derash – 

Methods

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Themes

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Textual Issues

• Manuscripts – 
• Printings – 
• Textual layers – 

Sources

Significant Influences

• Earlier Sources – 
• Teachers – 
• Foils – 

Occasional Usage

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Possible Relationship

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Impact

Later exegetes

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Supercommentaries

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¹ Maharshal in Responsum #29 states that Rashi was born in year 4800 (1039-1040). A. Grossman (חכמי צרפת הראשונים, pg. 122), however, cites manuscripts (MS Jerusalem 3616, MS Zurich Heid. 145 p. 71v) who date Rashi's birth to year 4801 (1040-1041), and explains the Maharshal's date, as well as the age at death of 65 (mentioned in various sources), to be round numbers.

² This date, Thursday, 29 Tammuz 4865, is found in the colophons of a number of manuscripts of Rashi’s commentary on Torah (MS Casanatense 2848, MS Parma 3115), in addition to a number of other early sources (including MS Moscow 109 p. 73).

³ Rachel is mentioned in a responsa written by R. Tam (Sefer HaYashar Teshuvot #25) to his cousin R. Yom Tov, referring to their join aunt Rachel ("מרת רחל דודתנו"), who had been divorced.

⁴ Sefer HaNeyyar (Hilkhot Chol HaMoed pg. 110) mentions Rashi mourning for his daughter during Chol HaMoed.

⁵ This granddaughter of Rashi was the mother of R. Yitzchak b. Shemuel, known as ר"י הזקן.

⁶ Rashi's commentaries on Ta'anit, Nedarim, Nazir, Bava Batra (from 29b onward), and Makkot (from 20a onward) have not survived.

⁷ These responsa were collected mainly from the works of Rashi's students.