Why are there references to "Old French" in some commentaries? I don't have any examples to show but if that is required I could research.
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traditionarchive.org/news/article.cfm?id=104673 virtualgeula.com/Stock/Books/Show/10021 – rosends Nov 28 '19 at 1:08
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In the weekly Torah portion Rashi uses a French word to better explain a term (to his contemporaries): chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8220/showrashi/true#v21 – Kazi bácsi Nov 28 '19 at 8:05
Old French was simply the vernacular language of the great -perhaps the greatest- commentator of the Torah, RASHI, who lived in Troyes, France in the 12 th century CE. His most acknowledged skill was his capacity to explain each word, each sentence of Torah with a superior, yet unrivaled clarity.
It's the same reason this site is in English: that's the language the writers and target audience spoke.
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The same reason science is full of Greek and Latin terms. The intellectuals all spoke those languages. – mroll Nov 27 '19 at 22:40