Rashi

Rashi (from the initials of Rabbi Shelomo Izaaki, often erroneously called Jarchi), the greatest Jewish commentator and exegete, was born about 1040, at Troyes, in France. Philology, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, civil and ecclesiastical law, and exegesis were the chief branches of his learning; and to a rare proficiency in them he united a complete mastery over the whole range of Scripture and the Talmudical sources. In order further to perfect himself for his gigantic task he travelled for seven years, visiting the schools of Italy, Greece, Germany, Palestine, Egypt. His chief work is his Commentary on the whole of the Old Testament. Rashi's style is extremely brief and concise, yet clear and pregnant; obscure and abstruse only to those who lack the necessary preliminary knowledge. According to the fashion of its day, it is replete with allegorical or rather poetical illustrations, gathered from the wide fields of the Midrash within and without the Talmud. This Commentary—entirely translated into Latin by Breithaupt, and partly also into German—was the first book ever printed in Hebrew (Reggio, 1474). Of his numerous other works may be mentioned his Commentary on the Babylonian Talmud; a Commentary to the Pirke Aboth; the Pardes, treating of Laws and Ceremonies; a Collection of Legal Votes and Decisions; a Commentary on Midrash Rabbah; a Book of Medicine; and a Poem on the Unity of God. He died 13th July 1105; and such was his piety and his surpassing eminence that later generations wove a shining garland of legends around his head.