Editing Rashi (section)

==Assessment and legacy==
Rashi was one of the first authors to write in [[Old French]] (the language he spoke in everyday life,<ref>He referred to French as ''leshonenu'' "our language", in contrast with Hebrew, which was the Holy Language. More about this [https://mvstconference.ace.fordham.edu/medievalfrenchwithoutborders/ruth-nisse-2/ here.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102224845/https://mvstconference.ace.fordham.edu/medievalfrenchwithoutborders/ruth-nisse-2/ |date=2022-11-02 }}</ref> which he used alongside Hebrew), as most contemporary French authors instead wrote in [[Latin]]. As a consequence, besides its religious value, his work is valued for the insight it gives into the language and culture of Northern France in the 11th century.<ref name="Hagège">[[Claude Hagège]], dans ''Héritages de Rachi'', ouvrage collectif, sous la direction de [[René-Samuel Sirat]], Éditions de l’éclat</ref> His commentaries on the [[Hebrew Bible|Tanakh]]—especially his commentary on the [[Chumash (Judaism)|Chumash]] (the "Five Books of Moses")—serves as the basis of more than 300 "supercommentaries" which analyze Rashi's choice of language and citations, penned by some of the greatest names in [[rabbinic literature]].<ref name="chabad">{{cite web |last=Miller |first=Chaim |year=2013 |title=Rashi's Method of Biblical Commentary |url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/476620/jewish/Rashis-Method-of-Biblical-Commentary.htm |publisher=chabad.org |access-date=2008-09-13 |archive-date=2017-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627032957/http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/476620/jewish/Rashis-Method-of-Biblical-Commentary.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Rashi was also the primary subject of Romanian-born American writer and political activist [[Elie Wiesel|Elie Wiesel's]] 2009 biography entitled ''Rashi: A Portrait''.  

===Commentary on the Tanakh===
[[Image:Rashi Pentateuch English.jpg|thumb|200px|Title page of an English translation of Rashi's Commentary on the Pentateuch.]]
Tens of thousands of men, women and children study "Chumash with Rashi" as they review the Torah portion to be read in synagogue on the upcoming [[Shabbat]]. According to [[halakha]], a man may even fulfill of the requirement of [[Shnayim mikra ve-echad targum]] by reading Rashi's commentary rather than the standard [[Targum Onkelos]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shnayim Mikra V'Echad Targum |url=https://halachipedia.com/index.php?title=Shnayim_Mikra_V%27Echad_Targum&utm_source=chatgpt.com |website=Halachapedia.com}}</ref><ref>Teshuvot Vihanhagot 1:261: "vhiskamti" allow using an English translation of rashi if that is the best way for one to study and understand the parsha.</ref> Since its publication, Rashi's commentary on the Torah is standard in almost all Chumashim produced within the [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] community. Many people who study Rashi along with Tanakh use the term "Chumash with Rashi".<ref>* [https://resource.download.wjec.co.uk/vtc/2020-21/ko20-21_1-23/wjec/theme-1c-rashi-and-maimonides-ap.pdf Theme 1C Rashi and Maimonides] ". Most Jews who have studied biblical commentary will know the phrase ‘Chumash with Rashi’." ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/https://resource.download.wjec.co.uk/vtc/2020-21/ko20-21_1-23/wjec/theme-1c-rashi-and-maimonides-ap.pdf Archived]). wjec.co.uk

* "[https://madlik.com/2014/06/01/rashi-women-and-wine/ rashi, women and wine]". ''madlik''.
* "[https://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/torahreading.htm Daily Study Chumash with Rashi]". [[Chabad.org]]
* "[https://thinkingtorah.com/tutoring/ Tutoring Take Your Learning to the Next Leve] l". thinkingtorah.com
</ref>

[[Mordechai of Nadvorna|Mordechai Leifer]] of [[Nadvorna (Hasidic dynasty)|Nadvorna]] said that anyone who learns the weekly [[Parsha]] together with the commentary by Rashi every week is guaranteed to sit in the [[Yeshiva]] (school) of Rashi in the Afterlife.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=27185&st=&pgnum=22| title = Yiddeshe Licht Vol 31 Number 15 Page 14 (Hebrew Text)| access-date = 2013-09-08| archive-date = 2016-03-04| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304142214/http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=27185&st=&pgnum=22| url-status = live}}</ref>

Voluminous supercommentaries have been published on Rashi's Bible commentaries, including ''Gur Aryeh'' by [[Judah Loew]] (the Maharal), ''Sefer ha-Mizrachi'' by [[Elijah Mizrachi]] (the Re'em), and ''Yeri'ot Shlomo'' by [[Solomon Luria]] (the Maharshal). [[Menachem Mendel Schneerson]], in his [[Likkutei Sichos#"Rashi Sichos"|''Rashi Sichos'']], often addresses several of these commentaries at once.

Rashi's influence grew the most in the 15th century; from the 17th century onwards, his commentaries were translated into many other languages. Rashi's commentary on the Pentateuch was known as the first printed Hebrew work. English translations include those of [[Pentateuch with Rashi's Commentary Translated into English|Rosenbaum and Silbermann]] and [[ArtScroll]].

===Commentary on the Talmud===
[[File:Raschihaus.jpg|thumb|200px|''Raschihaus'', Jewish Museum, Worms, Germany.]]
Rashi's commentary on the Talmud continues to be a key basis for contemporary rabbinic scholarship and interpretation. Without Rashi's commentary, the Talmud would have remained a closed book.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zeitlin|first=Solomon|date=October 2, 1940|title=RASHI Rabbi Solomon of France|journal=The American Jewish Year Book|volume=41|pages=111–140}}</ref>

Rashi's commentary had a profound influence on subsequent Talmud study and scholarship:
{{Blockquote|The commentaries of Rashi democratized talmudic scholarship. Prior to his work, the only way to master a tractate was to travel to a talmudic academy and study at the feet of a master. No written work could systematically convey with any degree of sustained accuracy the precise line of a talmudic argument... With the appearance of Rashi’s work, anyone, regardless of means, could by dint of talent and effort master any talmudic topic. It further expanded the range of knowledge of most scholars. Previously, one knew accurately only what one had been fortunate to study at an academy... The lifelong study of Talmud, the constant conquest of new tractates, and the unlimited personal acquisition of knowledge was in many ways the consequence of Rashi’s inimitable work of exposition.<ref name=haym/>}}

The presence of Rashi's commentary also changed the nature of subsequent Talmud commentaries:
{{blockquote|This is not to say that Rashi’s explanations were definitive. Far from it. For some three hundred years scholars scrutinized his commentary, criticized innumerable passages, and demanded their reinterpretation. Yet, all realized that the problem that had confronted scholars for close to half a millennium—how to turn the abrupt and sometimes gnomic formulations of the Talmud into a coherent and smoothly flowing text—had been solved definitively by Rashi. The subsequent task of scholars, therefore, was to emend and add to his interpretations.<ref name=haym>[[Haym Soloveitchik]], "The Printed Page of the Talmud: The Commentaries and Their Authors", in ''Printing The Talmud: From Bomberg to Schottenstein'' (Yeshiva University Museum, 2006),  ([https://web.archive.org/web/20090216172520/http://www.printingthetalmud.org/essays/4.html link])</ref>}}

In general, Rashi's commentary provides the ''[[peshat]]'' or literal meaning of the Talmud, while subsequent commentaries such as the [[Tosafot]] often go beyond the passage itself in terms of arguments, parallels, and distinctions that could be drawn out.<ref name="Rashab_2">See [https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/144840/jewish/Chapter-XXVIII.htm ''Kuntres Eitz HaChayim'' ch 28] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418072346/https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/144840/jewish/Chapter-XXVIII.htm |date=2023-04-18 }} for discussion of the interrelation between Rashi and Tosfot</ref> This addition to Jewish texts was seen as causing a "major cultural product"<ref name="Bloomberg, Jon 2004">Bloomberg, Jon. ''The Jewish World in the Modern Age''. Jersey City, NJ: KTAV Pub. House, 2004. 69.</ref> which became an important part of Torah study.<ref name="Bloomberg, Jon 2004"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14457-tosafot|title=TOSAFOT - JewishEncyclopedia.com|website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com|access-date=2021-09-26|archive-date=2021-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926163145/https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14457-tosafot|url-status=live}}</ref>
In the standard printed Talmud, the Tosafot's commentaries can be found in the Talmud opposite Rashi's commentary. The Tosafot also added comments and criticism in places where Rashi had not added comments.

Rashi also exerted a decisive influence on establishing the correct text of the Talmud. Up to and including his age, texts of each Talmudic tractate were copied by hand and circulated in yeshivas. Errors often crept in: sometimes a copyist would switch words around, and other times incorporate a student's marginal notes into the main text. Because of the large number of merchant-scholars who came from throughout the Jewish world to attend the great fairs in Troyes, Rashi was able to compare different manuscripts and readings in [[Tosefta]], [[Jerusalem Talmud]], [[Midrash]], [[Targum]], and the writings of the [[Geonim]], and determine which readings should be preferred. However, in his humility, he deferred to scholars who disagreed with him. For example, in [[Kodashim|Chulin]] 4a, he comments about a phrase, "We do not read this. But as for those who do, this is the explanation..."

===Influence in non-Jewish circles===
[[File:MJK 82356 Raschitor (Worms).jpg|thumb|The [[Rashi Gate]] in the city fortifications of [[Worms, Germany|Worms]]]]
Rashi's commentaries on the Bible, especially those on the Pentateuch, circulated in many different communities. In the 12th–17th centuries, Rashi's influence spread from [[Provinces of France|French]] and [[Provinces of Germany|German]] provinces to [[Spain]] and [[Eastern world|the east]]. He had a tremendous influence on [[Christians|Christian]] scholars. The French monk [[Nicholas de Lyra]], who was known as the "ape of Rashi",<ref name="Skolnik, Fred 2007">{{cite EJ|title=Rashi|volume=17}}</ref> relied on Rashi's commentary when writing his ''Postillae Perpetuate'', one of the primary sources used in [[Luther Bible|Luther's translation of the Bible]]. He believed that Rashi's commentaries were the "official repository of Rabbinical tradition"<ref name=solomon>{{cite web|title=Rashi (Solomon Bar Issac)|publisher=Jewish Encyclopedia.com.|date=27 February 2013|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12585-rashi-solomon-bar-isaac|access-date=28 February 2013|archive-date=21 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121001546/http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12585-rashi-solomon-bar-isaac|url-status=live}}</ref> and significant to understanding the Bible. Rashi's commentaries became significant to [[Humanism|humanists]] at this time who studied grammar and exegesis. [[Christian Hebraist]]s studied Rashi's commentaries as important interpretations "authorized by the Synagogue".<ref name=solomon/>

Although Rashi had an influence on communities outside of Judaism, his lack of connection to science prevented him from entering the general domain, and he remained more popular among the Jewish community.<ref name="Skolnik, Fred 2007"/><ref name=solomon/>

In his book ''[[Demystifying Islam]]'', Muslim [[apologetics|apologist]] Harris Zafar cites Rashi for the view that the [[Song of Songs]] is not an [[Erotic poetry|erotic poem]] narrated by a man about a woman, but is instead a poem narrated by God about the people of Israel, a point of importance to Muslims because of their belief, which Zafar summarizes, that the Song of Songs, at Chapter 5, Verse 16, mentions Muhammad by name, a supposition that might be problematic if the mention were in an erotic context.<ref>Harris Zafar, ''Demystifying Islam'', [https://archive.org/details/demystifyingisla0000zafa_w3n8/page/24/mode/1up?view=theater p.24], Dev Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi, 2014.</ref>