Editing Rashi (section)

===Career===
He returned to Troyes at the age of 25, after which time his mother died, and he was asked to join the Troyes ''[[Beth din]]'' (rabbinical court). He also began answering [[Halakha|halakhic]] questions. Upon the death of the head of the ''Bet din'', [[Zerach ben Abraham]], Rashi assumed the court's leadership and answered hundreds of halakhic queries.

[[File:Anbau_des_vormaligen_Frauenbethauses_der_Synagoge_Worms_(a).jpg|thumb|left|200px|Exterior of Rashi's Synagogue, Worms, Germany]]
At some time around 1070 he founded a yeshiva, which attracted many disciples. Jewish oral tradition contends that he was a vintner.<ref>Maurice Liber, ''Rashi'', trans. Adele Szold (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1906), p 56; Irving Agus, ''The Heroic Age of Franco-German Jewry'' (New York: Yeshiva University Press, 1969), 173; Israel S. Elfenbein, "Rashi in His Responsa", in ''Rashi, His Teachings and Personality'', ed. [[Simon Federbusch]] (New York: Cultural Division of the World Jewish Congress, 1958), p 67; Salo W. Baron, "Rashi and the Community of Troyes", in ''Rashi Anniversary Volume'', ed. H. L. Ginsberg (New York: American Academy for Jewish Research, 1941), p 60. "Rashi was a vintner who grew grapes and sold wine."</ref> There is no evidence for this, although Rashi shows an extensive knowledge of winemaking utensils and process.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://seforimblog.com/2007/08/mayer-i-gruber-how-did-rashi-make/ |title=How Did Rashi Make a Living? |author=Mayer I. Gruber |date=13 August 2007 |publisher=the Seforim blog |access-date=2023-09-03 |archive-date=2023-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230903172229/https://seforimblog.com/2007/08/mayer-i-gruber-how-did-rashi-make/ |url-status=live}}</ref> One responsum from his school refers to a barrel of wine marked with Rashi's import seal.<ref>Oxford Bodleian Ms. Oppenheim 276, p. 35a, "פעם אחת באו ב' חביות חתומות חות' (=חותם) בתוך חות', ונאנסו סוסי העגלה ונשארו ביד גוי ח' ימים, האחת של ר' (=רבי, רש"י) היתה ובמקום מוצנע היתה מונחת וחותמיה קיימים, והשניה מונחת במקום התורפה. וניטל חותם העליון והדסקיא נקרעת ומקצת' נשתיירה מן הסולמות ולמטה, ועדין רושם האותיות נכר בפי הברזות ופי החבית שקו' בונדין סתום יפה ודחוק, אבל אין שם חותם. וצלעות החבית אין בהם נקב. והתירו זקן אחד על יד סימני' הללו. ומלא ר' דבריו והתיר... וברזא אחת הית' שם שלא נכר האות יפה בו... ואמ' ר' כי הכותב לא היה יכול לכוין ידו ולאמן ולחבר ידו והפך, שאילו הוציא הגוי הברזא בחודו של סכין וחזר והכניסה להפך, הלא הסכין פוגמה והיה נכר. ומתחלה לא רצה הר' לפתוח בהתר, אלא לאחר שהורה הזקן, וחס על ממון ישר'. וחזיתיה לדעתיה דאילו איתרמיא בדידיה הוה בדיל מיני'." Cited by [[Avraham Grossman]], ''The Early Sages of France'', 132; 135, n. 45. See [[Haym Soloveitchik]], ''Jews and the Wine Trade'' pp. 50-52.</ref>  The soil around Troyes is not suited to growing grapes, but some vineyards are known to have existed anyway, due to the great local demand for wine.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Soloveitchik |first=Haym |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Jews_and_the_Wine_Trade_in_Medieval_Euro/gvAGEQAAQBAJ |title=Jews and the Wine Trade in Medieval Europe: Principles and Pressures |date=2024 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |isbn=978-1-80207-115-3 |pages=91 |language=en}}</ref>

Although there are many legends about his travels, Rashi likely never went further than from the [[Seine]] to the [[Rhine]]; his furthest destinations were the yeshivas of Lorraine.

In 1096, the [[People's Crusade]] swept through the Lorraine, murdering 12,000 Jews and uprooting whole communities. Among those murdered in Worms were the three sons of Isaac ben Eliezer Halevi, Rashi's teacher. Rashi wrote several ''[[Selichot]]'' (penitential poems) mourning the slaughter and the destruction of the region's great yeshivot. Seven of Rashi's ''Selichot'' still exist,<ref>R. Halperin, ''Rashi: Chayav u'Ferushav'', vol. 1 (Tel Aviv: Hekdesh Ruach Yaakov, 1997), 107-22. Referred to in Yonatan Kolatch, ''Masters of the Word: Traditional Jewish Bible Commentary from the First Through Tenth Centuries'' (Brooklyn NY: KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 2006), 18. {{ISBN|088125939X}}, 9780881259391</ref> including ''Adonai Elohei Hatz'vaot'', which is recited on the eve of [[Rosh Hashanah]], and ''Az Terem Nimtehu'', which is recited on the [[Fast of Gedalia]].