Editing Rashi (section)

===Commentary on the Talmud===
[[File:Rashi's Talmud Commentary.jpg|250px|thumb|right|An early printing of the Talmud ([[Ta'anit]] 9b); Rashi's commentary is at the bottom of the right column, continuing for a few lines into the left column. [Note: According to [[Zvi Hirsch Chajes|R' Zvi Chajes]]<nowiki>, the "Rashi" commentary on Ta'anit was not written by Rashi]</nowiki>]]

Rashi wrote the first comprehensive [[Talmud#Commentaries|commentary on the Talmud]], covering nearly all of the Babylonian Talmud (a total of 30 out of 39 [[Masekhet|tractate]]s, due to his death). The commentary, drawing on his knowledge of the entire contents of the Talmud, attempts to provide a full explanation of the words and of the logical structure of each Talmudic passage. Unlike other commentators, Rashi does not paraphrase or exclude any part of the text, but elucidates phrase by phrase. Often he provides punctuation in the unpunctuated text, explaining, for example, "This is a question"; "He says this in surprise", "He repeats this in agreement", etc.

As in his commentary on the Tanakh, Rashi frequently illustrates the meaning of the text using analogies to the professions, crafts, and sports of his day. He also translates difficult Hebrew or [[Aramaic]] words into the spoken [[French language]] of his day, giving latter-day scholars a window into the vocabulary and pronunciation of [[Old French]].

Rashi's Talmud commentary spread quickly, reaching Jews as far as [[Yemen]] by mid-12th century.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hoffman|first=Yair|title=Interview with Professor Haym Soloveitchik by Rabbi Yair Hoffman|url=http://www.5tjt.com/interview-with-professor-haym-soloveitchik-by-rabbi-yair-hoffman/|date=January 3, 2014|agency=Five Towns Jewish Times|access-date=December 13, 2021|archive-date=July 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707173726/http://www.5tjt.com/interview-with-professor-haym-soloveitchik-by-rabbi-yair-hoffman/|url-status=live}}</ref> It has been included in every version of the Talmud since its first printing in the fifteenth century. It is always situated towards the middle of the opened book display; i.e., on the side of the page closest to the binding.

Some of the other printed commentaries which are attributed to Rashi were composed by others, primarily his students. [[Akiva Eger]] stated that the commentary on Nazir was not in fact by Rashi, while [[Zvi Hirsch Chajes]] stated that the commentary on Taanit was not by Rashi.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://traditionarchive.org/news/originals/Volume%2027/No.%202/The%20Role%20Of%20Manuscripts.pdf|title=The role of manuscripts in halakhic decision-making: Hazon Ish, his precursors and contemporaries}}, p.40</ref> In some editions of the Talmud, the text indicates that Rashi died before completing the tractate, and that it was completed by a student. This is true of [[Makkot]] (the end of which was composed by his son-in-law, [[Judah ben Nathan]]), and of [[Bava Batra]] (finished, in a more detailed style, by his grandson the [[Rashbam]]). The commentary attributed to Rashi on [[Horayot]] was thought by some<ref>See "Nitzozei Or" [Hebrew] of Reuven Margoliot; notes on horayot p. 191.</ref> to have been written by Judah ben Nathan, but evidence was uncovered indicating that the commentary on Horayot was from the school of [[Gershom ben Judah]].<ref>See Y N Epstein, The commentary on Horayot Attributed to Rashi," ''[[Tarbiẕ]]'' 1942 pp.218-225 [in Hebrew]</ref> There is a legend that the commentary on Nedarim, which is clearly not his, was actually composed by his daughters. Another legend states that Rashi died while writing a commentary on Talmud, and that the very last word he wrote was 'tahor,' which means pure in Hebrew - indicating that his soul was pure as it left his body.