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Rashi

Type Figure Region France Time 1040–1105 Also known as Rashi、所罗门·本·以撒、Shlomo Yitzchaki、Solomon ben Isaac、Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki

The most important medieval commentator on the Hebrew Bible and Talmud. Born in Troyes, Champagne, in 1040, he studied in Mainz and Worms before retu…

Timeline

  1. 1040–1055Troyes · TroyesBorn into a Jewish merchant family in Troyes, Champagne, his given name was Solomon ben Isaac. As a child he received instruction in the Bible and Hebrew locally, laying the linguistic foundation for his later vernacular commentary on scripture.
  2. 1055–1065Mainz · MainzHe traveled to Mainz to study under Yaakov ben Yakar and then to Worms to study under Yitzchak ben Eliezer HaLevi, inheriting the Ashkenazi halakhic tradition of the Rhineland and becoming versed in the Babylonian Talmud and early commentaries.
  3. c. 1065–1096Troyes · TroyesHe returned to Troyes around the 1060s, tending a vineyard for a livelihood while establishing a yeshiva. In terse Hebrew interspersed with Old French glosses he commented on nearly the whole Tanakh and the Babylonian Talmud, bringing scripture into everyday teaching.
  4. 1096–1105Troyes · TroyesThe massacres of Rhineland Jews in 1096 devastated the communities of his teachers and friends; Rashi continued revising his commentaries in Troyes and responding to halakhic inquiries. He died in Troyes on July 13, 1105, and his commentaries became the standard accompaniment to the Mikraot Gedolot and printed editions of the Talmud.

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