Rashi rä´shē [key]
, 1040–1105, Jewish exegete, grammarian, and legal authority, b. Troyes, France. The name he is known by is an acronym of Rabbi Solomon bar Isaac. He studied in Worms and Mainz, returning to Troyes c.1065. He taught and wrote commentaries to most of the Bible and Talmud. These, distinguished by great clarity, are among the most inclusive and authoritative in Jewish exegesis and are still important in Jewish life. Rashi's commentary on the Pentateuch (printed 1475) was the first dated Hebrew book published. His commentary on the Talmud covers the Mishna with the Gemara. His work influenced some Christian thinkers as early as the 12th cent.
See H. Hailperin, Rashi and His World (1957); M. Liber, Rashi (1906, repr. 1970); J. Gelles, Peshat and Derash in the Exegesis of Rashi (1981); E. Shereshevsky, Rashi (1983).
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