Rashi | Page 4

05DA Qubuts 05BB Kaf
05DB Dagesh 05BC Lamed 05DC Meteg 05BD Final Mem 05DD
Maqaf 05BE Mem 05DE Rafe 05BF Final Nun 05DF Paseq 05C0 Nun
05E0 Shin dot 05C1 Samekh 05E1 Sin dot 05C2 Ayin 05E2 Sof Pasuq
05C3 Final Pe 05E3 Pe 05E4 Other punctuation Final Tsadi 05E5
Geresh 05F3 Tsadi 05E6 Gershayim 05F4 Qof 05E7 Resh 05E8 Shin
05E9 Tav 05EA
[#] bracketed #s are superscripts in the original and note identification
numbers. There are some problems with these. Note #4 (
Chapter 1
) is not referenced in the text. Note #36 appears twice (
Chapter 4
) and #102 appears twice in
Chapter 7
.
hyphenation of terms is suppressed, so any hyphens appearing at the
end of the line are infix grouping operators from the original.
Two spaces or eol follow each sentence terminator.
One blank line separates each paragraph.
Multiline quotations (that are in a different font in the original), are
here indented 3 spaces
Reference 3 is at the bottom of page 20 in the original, Reference 5 is at
the top of page 23, I cannot find Reference 4 anywhere.
Spelling errors are denoted by [correct_spelling sic]. Most of these are
just variants and currently archaic terms, but some appear to be actual
errors. Correct version is from my on line dictionary, or when in doubt,
from my printed Collegiate Dictionary. This is also used when, IMHO,
there is an error in the text.
The index is not included, as the pagination used in it is irrelevant.
The duplication of reference [36], ([36],[37],[36],[38]) in chapter 4 is in
the original.
There are many places (see especially chapter 6) where an unbalanced

right square bracket appears, often after either an italicized phrase or a
Hebrew phrase. These are in the original.
RASHI
BY
MAURICE LIBER

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH
BY
ADELE SZOLD

THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA
TO THE MEMORY OF
ZADOC-KAHN
GRAND-RABBIN OF FRANCE
PREFACE -----
Some months ago the Jewish world celebrated the eight hundredth
anniversary of the death of Rashi, who died at Troyes in 1105. On that
occasion those whose knowledge authorizes them to speak gave
eloquent accounts of his life and work. Science and devotion availed
themselves of every possible medium-lectures and books, journals and
reviews-to set forth all we owe to the illustrious Rabbi. The writer
ventures to express the hope that in the present volume he has made at
least a slight contribution toward discharging the common debt of the
Jewish nation-that it is not utterly unworthy of him whose name it
bears.
This volume, however, is not a product of circumstances; it was not
written on the occasion of the centenary celebration. It was designed to
form one of the series of the biographies of Jewish Worthies planned
by the JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA, the first
issue of which was devoted to Maimonides. The biography of Rashi is
the second of the series. It is not for the author to endorse the order
adopted, but he hazards the opinion that the readers will find the
portrait of Rashi no unfitting companion-piece even to that of the
author of the Moreh.
Jewish history may include minds more brilliant and works more
original than Rashi's. But it is incontestable that he is one of those

historical personages who afford a double interest; his own personality
is striking and at the same time he is the representative of a civilization
and of a period. He has this double interest for us to an eminent degree.
His physiognomy has well-marked, individual features, and yet he is
the best exponent of French Judaism in the middle ages. He is
somebody, and he represents something. Through this double claim, he
forms an integral part of Jewish history and literature. There are great
men who despite their distinguished attributes stand apart from the
general intellectual movements. They can be estimated without
reference to an historical background. Rashi forms, so to say, an
organic part of Jewish history. A whole department of Jewish literature
would be enigmatical without him. Like a star which leaves a track of
light in its passage across the skies, Rashi aroused the enthusiasm of his
contemporaries, but no less was he admired and venerated by posterity,
and to-day, after the lapse of eight centuries, he is, as the poet says,
"still young in glory and immortality."
His name is most prominently connected with Rabbinical literature.
Whether large questions are dealt with, or the minutest details are
considered, it is always Rashi who is referred to-he has a share in all its
destinies, and he seems inseparable from it forever.
It is this circumstance that makes the writing of his biography as
awkward a task for the writer as reading it may be for the public.