Questions tagged [rashi]
Rabbi Shlomo of Troyes, 1040-1104, and his works
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Where Rashi uses a Russian word in Nach?
I heard that Rashi uses a Russian word where he deals with the building of the Beis Hamikdash by King Shlomo. I also heard that he uses a Polish word.
Does anyone know where it is?
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Extra Vov: what Vov?
The verse in parshas Terumah Exodus 25:22 says:
וְנוֹעַדְתִּי לְךָ שָׁם וְדִבַּרְתִּי אִתְּךָ מֵעַל הַכַּפֹּרֶת מִבֵּין שְׁנֵי הַכְּרֻבִים אֲשֶׁר עַל אֲרֹן הָעֵדֻת אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר אֲצַוֶּה אוֹתְךָ ...
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How does a door hit against a lintel (משקוף)?
Rashi in several places (Gen. 41:6; Ex. 12:7, 21:25; Lev. 26:36) writes that משקוף ("lintel") is related to the Aramaic root שקף ("beat"), "because the door beats against it."
How so? Doesn't the ...
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Question on Rashi - Yisro 20:8
On the Posuk "Zochor Es Yom HaShabos L'Kadsho", Rashi says
תנו לב לזכור תמיד את יום השבת שאם נזדמן לו חלק יפה יהא מזמינו לשבת
(Take heart to remember the Shabbos - if you find something nice ...
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Why does Rashi comment on some verb-לו phrases and not others?
A feature of lashon hakodesh (Biblical Hebrew) is that a verb is sometimes followed by "לו", inflected for the person, number, and gender of the subject, without the "לו" ...
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Rashi's proof of the timing of Yisro's conversation with Moshe about judges
Rashi (to Ex. 18:13) cites Mechilta that "the next day," when Yisro saw Moshe judging the people and offered his advice about appointing inferior judges, was the day after Yom Kippur. Part ...
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Rashi on Yerushalmi
Why is there no Rashi on Yerushalmi? What can I learn instead?
Is there anything that can replace it, and why was it not written?
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Rashi's apparent internal confusion over יתרו/רְעוּאֵל
Per Bamidbar 10:29 (see below), חֹבָב בֶּן רְעוּאֵל was the father-in-law of מֹשֶׁה. There, רש"י asks why רְעוּאֵל is referred to in Shemoth 2:18 as the "father" of בנות יתרו, and he answers that ...
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How is "החודש הזה לכם" the first mitzva?
The following question came up in this week's Parshat Hashavua' Chat:
Rashi, at the beginning of his commentary to the Torah:
אמר רבי יצחק: לא היה צריך להתחיל [את] התורה אלא (שמות יב ב) מהחודש הזה ...
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Dibur HaMatchil: Where did it come from
When reading Rashi, each comment on the pasukkim is split up by DiBur Hamatchil (quotes from the pasuk to let you know what Rashi is commenting on).
Are these original to Rashi, or were they added?
On ...
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Kindness and truth
The Posuk says (Gen 47:29):
וְעָשִׂיתָ עִמָּדִי חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת
Translated as do with me Kindness and truth
Rashi is bothered that Chesed and Emes are two different things so Rashi says:
חסד ואמת: ...
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What does adukin (אדוקין) mean?
Rashi, in Mesechta Gitin on דף טז עמוד א says שנים אדוקין. What does adukin (אדוקין) mean?
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Hashem calls people twice and Hinneni
In many places in the Tanach Hashem uses a name twice (ie Avraham, Avraham in Breshit 22:11; Jacob Jacob in Breshit 46:2; Shmuel shmuel in Shmuel Aleph 3:10 and more).
Rashi says that this is an ...
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"עם לבן גרתי"? Really? "עם לבן ברתי" maybe
Rashi brings a gematria at the beginning of Parshas Vayishlach:
גרתי בגימטריא תרי"ג, כלומר, עם לבן הרשע גרתי, ותרי"ג מצות שמרתי, ולא למדתי ממעשיו הרעים
Now, if one takes this literally, it is ...
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Was Ya’akov really simple?
The posuk Gen. 25:27 says:
וְיַעֲקֹב אִישׁ תָּם - Ya’akov was a simple man.
Rashi comments on this:
מי שאינו חריף לרמות קרוי תם - One who is not astute at deceiving is called תָּם, innocent.
...
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Why did Rivka consult Shem, and not Avraham or Yitzchok?
The Posuk says (Gen. 25:22) regarding Rivka:
וַיִּתְרֹצֲצוּ הַבָּנִים בְּקִרְבָּהּ וַתֹּאמֶר אִם כֵּן לָמָּה זֶּה אָנֹכִי וַתֵּלֶךְ לִדְרֹשׁ אֶת יְ־הֹוָ־ה
Translated as: And the children struggled ...
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Wasn't Yishmael already sent away from Avraham's house?
In Bereshit 22:3, Rashi tells us that when Avraham went to sacrifice Yitzchok, the two lads he took with him were Yishmael and Eliezer.
Wasn't Yishmael already gone from Avraham's house? In Bereshit ...
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Why does Rashi say "I don't know"?
The Posuk says (Genesis 28:5):
וַיִּשְׁלַח יִצְחָק אֶת יַעֲקֹב וַיֵּלֶךְ פַּדֶּנָה אֲרָם אֶל לָבָן בֶּן בְּתוּאֵל הָאֲרַמִּי אֲחִי רִבְקָה אֵם יַעֲקֹב וְעֵשָׂו
To which Rashi comments on the fact ...
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Why does Rashi not comment on the repetition of the word “shono” in the age of Yishmoel?
Rashi comments on the repetition of the word “shono” in the ages of both Soroh Braishis 23 (1) and Avrohom Braishis 25 (7). Why is there no comment for the age of Yishmoel which also repeats “shono” ...
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Was Rachav really just a shopkeeper?
Yehoshua 2:1:
וַיִּשְׁלַח יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן מִן הַשִּׁטִּים שְׁנַיִם אֲנָשִׁים מְרַגְּלִים חֶרֶשׁ לֵאמֹר לְכוּ רְאוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְאֶת יְרִיחוֹ וַיֵּלְכוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ בֵּית אִשָּׁה זוֹנָה וּשְׁמָהּ ...
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How to reconcile the possibility that Rashi had a slightly different text of the Torah
In the Parshah of Chayei Sara, in Bereishis 25:6, there is a Posuk that refers to הפילגשים - "the concubines". Rashi expounds that since the word is missing a Yud, it must be a reference to the fact ...
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Rashi's biography sources
I know that Rashi had daughters — either two or three — and no sons. I also know he was a vintner — meaning he made wine. I know he was a student of or student of a student of Rabenu Gershom. I guess ...
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What is Rashi proving with words in different languages
There are many places in Rashi's commentary where he uses a foreign language to translate a word used in the Torah.
For example, Bereshit 6:14:
בכפר: זפת בלשון ארמי. ומצינו בתלמוד כופרא
With tar. ...
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On Deuteronomy 28:23, Rashi says copper is "mazi'a". What does this mean?
I have this question on Rashi every year in Ki Savo. Deuteronomy 28:23 says: "And the heavens above your head will be like copper and the earth that is beneath you, iron."
Rashi says that the heavens ...
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What does Rash"i add on B'midbar 2:20?
In describing the layout of B'nei Yisra'el's camp in the wilderness, the Torah records four groups (called d'galim) comprising 3 tribes each, and lists them in order, dictating a diagram of how they ...
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What is the difference between Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam's tefillin?
I understand that there are two types of tefillin, the standard Rashi, and Rabbeinu Tam's. How do they actually differ in construction and in makeup? I have heard that the scriptural passages are ...
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Why did Rashi create a new letter system for his commentaries?
I had heard that he created his own lettering system so that his words would be easily distinguishable from the actual words of the Torah. Is this just hearsay or speculation? If so, is there any ...
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question on Rashi to M'nachos 57
The top Rashi on Menachos 57:2, if I'm reading it correctly, adds some information as an aside, stating that both Rabi Akiva and Rabi Yose Hag'lili derive from "asher takrivu" that a mincha of a kohen ...
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Is it possible to convert a rosh of a Rabeynu Tam Tefillin into a rosh of a Rashi Tefillin?
If I find a Rabeynu Tam Tefillin and I do not have another one, can I take it apart, and change the rosh (I know how to) from Rabeynu Tam to a Rashi Tefillin?
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Do any Rishonim discuss how to approach Rashi's commentary on gemara?
I heard a quote once how carefully a person needs to analyze every drop of ink in Rashi, but I don't remember who said it. Does any Rishon (medieval scholar) ever discuss their approach to Rashi's ...
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Is Rashi really pshat?
If Rashi on Tanach is a purely pshat oriented commentary, as professed several times, why do many of his comments originate from midrashim that most other "pshat" meforshim dismiss as "derech drash"? [...
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Why does Rashi say Yisro heard *two* things?
Shemot 18:1:
וישמע יתרו: מה שמועה שמע ובא, קריעת ים סוף ומלחמת עמלק
Now…Jethro…heard: What news did he hear that [made such an impression that] he came? The splitting of the Red Sea and the war with ...
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2.4 million killed according to Rashi in B'shalach. Why does no one talk about it?
In the begining of Parshat B'shalach, Rashi says that one p'shat for "Vachamushim" means one fifth, because during Makas Choshech, 4 out of 5 were killed out, and it happened during the time it was ...
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One People, One Heart vs. One Heart, One People?
When the Egyptians were chasing the Israelites, Rashi says they did so "with one heart as one man" (Shemot 14:10):
נסע אחריהם: בלב אחד כאיש אחד
When the Israelites stood at the foot of Har Sinai, ...
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Why does Rashi question only the Darkness
Why does Rashi ask why the plague of darkness was brought upon them, but did not ask the same by any of the other plagues?
Text of Rashi 10:22:
ולמה הביא עליהם חשך, שהיו בישראל באותו הדור רשעים, ...
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Where did Rash"i's commentary leave off when he died?
Where did Rash"i's commentary leave off when died? Did he finish it? What was he working on?
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Where can I find a good index for Rashi? Either online (preferably) or a sefer
Where can I find a good index for Rashi? Either online (preferably) or a sefer....
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What was the font of the first printed edition of Rash"i's commentary?
In what font was the first printed edition of Rash"i's commentary on the Torah printed? Was it some "standard" Hebrew block print or something more like the type face so eponymously associated with ...
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Primacy of Rash"i
How did Rash"i's commentary on the Torah become the primary (phrasing intentionally vague) commentary among the hundreds of others that have been written?
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Rashi's unusual phrasing of the four sons
At the end of Parashat Bo (Exodus 13:14), Rashi enumerates the Four Sons of the Passover Seder:
דברה תורה כנגד ארבעה בנים, רשע ושאינו יודע לשאול והשואל דרך סתומה והשואל דרך חכמה
The Torah ...
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Understanding Rashi's resolution of an ambiguity in Parashat Vayigash
The following is based on a question I wrote in the margin of my chumash about ten years ago.
In Yehuda's speech to the Egyptian viceroy (Yosef in disguise) at the beginning of Parashat Vayigash, he ...
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