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Category: Rashi

Vayikra Perek 23 Rashi on Pasuk 35 or 27 A “Misplaced” Comment of Rashi

Vayikra Perek 23 Rashi on Pasuk 35 or 27 A “Misplaced” Comment of Rashi

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The 23rd Perek of Sefer Vayikra speaks about the festivals, and ends with the discussion of Yom Kippur (Pesukim 27-32) and Succot (Pesukim 33-43). In Pasuk 27 Yom Kippur is called a “מִקְרָא־קֹ֑דֶשׁ” (a holy convocation/assembly) ויקרא כ”ג:כ”ז (כז) אַ֡ךְ בֶּעָשׂ֣וֹר לַחֹ֩דֶשׁ֩ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֨י הַזֶּ֜ה י֧וֹם הַכִּפֻּרִ֣ים ה֗וּא מִֽקְרָא־קֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם וְעִנִּיתֶ֖ם אֶת־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֥ם אִשֶּׁ֖ה לַיהֹוָֽה׃ In Pasuk 35 Succot is also called a ִ מִקְרָא־קֹ֑דֶש ויקרא כ”ג:ל”ה (לה) בַּיּ֥וֹם הָרִאשׁ֖וֹן מִקְרָא־קֹ֑דֶשׁ כׇּל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת עֲבֹדָ֖ה לֹ֥א תַעֲשֽׂוּ Rashi comments as follows on…

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Eli Genauer: The Evolution of a “רש״י ישן” as Presented by Artscroll Rashi Breishit 12:2 – “ואעשך לגוי גדול”

Eli Genauer: The Evolution of a “רש״י ישן” as Presented by Artscroll Rashi Breishit 12:2 – “ואעשך לגוי גדול”

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The term “רש״י ישן” in printed editions often appears after a comment recorded in parentheses. An example of this is Rashi in Breishit 12:2. Here is how it looks in the first edition of the Artscroll Stone Chumash printed in November 1993 Rashi’s comments are recorded as follows Comment #1 ואעשך לגוי גדול. לְפִי שֶׁהַדֶּרֶךְ גּוֹרֶמֶת לִשְׁלֹשָׁה דְבָרִים, מְמַעֶטֶת פְּרִיָּה וּרְבִיָּה וּמְמַעֶטֶת אֶת הַמָּמוֹן וּמְמַעֶטֶת אֶת הַשֵּׁם, לְכָךְ הֻזְקַק לִשְׁלֹשָׁה בְּרָכוֹת הַלָּלוּ, שֶׁהִבְטִיחוֹ עַל הַבָּנִים וְעַל הַמָּמוֹן וְעַל הַשֵּׁם: Comment…

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An Example of Three “Mahadurot” of Rashi

An Example of Three “Mahadurot” of Rashi

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Shemot 40:38 Shemot 28:6 One of the most informative and endearing comments in Rashi can be found in Parshat Tetzaveh. In trying to explain to us the various בגדי כהונה, Rashi makes a preemptive move and describes all of them together so that his readers will be able to make more sense of the total package. He introduces this long explanation with the following words: אִם בָּאתִי לְפָרֵשׁ מַעֲשֵׂה הָאֵפוֹד וְהַחֹשֶׁן עַל סֵדֶר הַמִּקְרָאוֹת, הֲרֵי פֵּרוּשָׁן פְּרָקִים, וְיִשְׁגֶה הַקּוֹרֵא בְּצֵרוּפָן,…

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The Origin and Evolution of a “Rashi Yashan”- In Praise of Artscroll Rashi Breishit 12:2 – “ואעשך לגוי גדול”

The Origin and Evolution of a “Rashi Yashan”- In Praise of Artscroll Rashi Breishit 12:2 – “ואעשך לגוי גדול”

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The term “רש״י ישן” in printed editions often appears after a comment recorded in parentheses. An example of this is Rashi in Breishit 12:2. Here is how it looks in the first edition of the Artscroll Stone Chumash printed in November 1993: Rashi’s comments are recorded as follows Comment #1 ואעשך לגוי גדול. לְפִי שֶׁהַדֶּרֶךְ גּוֹרֶמֶת לִשְׁלֹשָׁה דְבָרִים, מְמַעֶטֶת פְּרִיָּה וּרְבִיָּה וּמְמַעֶטֶת אֶת הַמָּמוֹן וּמְמַעֶטֶת אֶת הַשֵּׁם, לְכָךְ הֻזְקַק לִשְׁלֹשָׁה בְּרָכוֹת הַלָּלוּ, שֶׁהִבְטִיחוֹ עַל הַבָּנִים וְעַל הַמָּמוֹן וְעַל הַשֵּׁם: Comment…

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Shemot 2:1 – Did Rashi Include Miriam’s Advice to Her Father?

Shemot 2:1 – Did Rashi Include Miriam’s Advice to Her Father?

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“Rashi’s choice of citations from the voluminous material of the Sages is in itself a commentary for those who understand the reasons he selected one or two opinions out of many” Publisher’s Preface to the Artscroll Sapirstein Rashi on Shemos, (Brooklyn 1994) page ix One of the most famous Medrashim in Sefer Shemot tells how six-year-old Miriam convinced her father Amram to re-marry her mother Yocheved. After the decree that all baby boys born would be thrown into the Nile,…

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Rashi BaMidbar 22:9- “Taut Sofrim” or “Agadot Chalukot?”

Rashi BaMidbar 22:9- “Taut Sofrim” or “Agadot Chalukot?”

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Summary: Here we find polar opposite approaches to a Stirah in Rashi’s commentary to the Torah. One approach maintains that Rashi used two different Midrashic sources for his contradictory comments, and the other solves the Stirah by saying that one of the comments attributed to Rashi is actually a Taut Sofrim. There is a very perplexing verse towards the beginning of Parshat Balak: ט:וַיָּבֹא אֱלֹקים אֶל-בִּלְעָם וַיֹּאמֶר מִי הָאֲנָשִׁים הָאֵלֶּה עִמָּךְ: Balak sent messengers to Bilaam asking him to curse…

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Rosh Hashana 23b – The Missing Map – Were We Deprived of a Map Drawn by Rashi?

Rosh Hashana 23b – The Missing Map – Were We Deprived of a Map Drawn by Rashi?

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The Mishnah on Rosh Hashana 22b discusses the signal fires which were lit to inform the residents of Bavel of the Kiddush HaChodesh in Yerushalayim. מַתְנִי׳: בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה הָיוּ מַשִּׂיאִין מַשּׂוּאוֹת….. MISHNAH: Initially, after the court sanctified the new month they would light torches on the mountaintops, from one peak to another, to signal to the community in Babylonia that the month had been sanctified. The Mishnah continues וּמֵאַיִן הָיוּ מַשִּׂיאִין מַשּׂוּאוֹת? And from which mountains would they light the torches?…

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Which Direction is North?, Geographical Mistakes, and our Woke Universities

Which Direction is North?, Geographical Mistakes, and our Woke Universities

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1. Numbers 34:15 states: “Two and a half tribes have taken their inheritance on the side of the Jordan by Jericho, to the front, eastward.” Rashi comments: קדמה מזרחה: אל פני העולם שהם במזרח, שרוח מזרחית קרויה פנים ומערביות קרויה אחור לפיכך דרום לימין וצפון לשמאל This passage is translated as follows in ArtScroll’s Sapirstein edition: To the Front, Eastward: This means to the front of the world, which is in the east, for the eastern direction is called “face”…

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A Comment of Rashi Found Only in “Defusim Me’Ucharim”

A Comment of Rashi Found Only in “Defusim Me’Ucharim”

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Summary: We find a lengthy comment attributed to Rashi which is only found in what is termed “Defusim Me’Ucharim”. The comment first appears in the Sefer Yosef Da’at (Prague 1609) who attributes it to a D’fus Yashan and a Klaf Yashan Noshan. I did not find it in any of the over 60 manuscripts I checked nor in any early printed edition. It was incorporated into subsequent printed editions on a very uneven basis from the 1600’s to 1800’s but…

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What if the Maharal of Prague Had Access to Leipzig 1 and Other Manuscripts?

What if the Maharal of Prague Had Access to Leipzig 1 and Other Manuscripts?

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Summary: There is a statement in Rashi which appears in the overwhelming majority of early Rashi manuscripts, and in early printed editions. But because Gur Aryeh and others did not have access to these manuscripts, and because they felt that what Rashi said was incorrect, they ascribed the statement to a טעות סופר. Knowing that Rashi really did write these words might have changed their approach to this Pasuk. שמות כ”ג (יט) רֵאשִׁ֗ית בִּכּוּרֵי֙ אַדְמָ֣תְךָ֔ תָּבִ֕יא בֵּ֖ית ה’ אֱלֹקיךָ לֹֽא־תְבַשֵּׁ֥ל…

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Four Perplexing Words in Rashi

Four Perplexing Words in Rashi

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Shemot Perek 11, Pasuk 9: (ט) וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, לֹא-יִשְׁמַע אֲלֵיכֶם פַּרְעֹה–לְמַעַן רְבוֹת מוֹפְתַי, בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם׃ Al HaTorah (based on the manuscript Leipzig 1) records Rashi’s comment on למען רבות מופתי as follows: רש”י: למען רבות מופתי – מכת בכורות, וקריעת ים סוף, ולנער את מצרים. Here is Leipzig 1: Artscroll Sapirstein edition (Brooklyn 1994) adds the words “מופתי שנים, רבות שלשה” in brackets at the beginning. The words appear without any type of parentheses in Mikraot Gedolot HaBahir 2005….

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The Strange Shape of the Marcheshet Pan

The Strange Shape of the Marcheshet Pan

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“The underlying basis of our work is that pictures are an organic part of the commentary, and it possible that Rashi even allowed himself to limit his explanatory words when a picture was available to the reader. This is in the sense of “a picture is worth a thousand words”. The picture is an integral part of the written book, no less important than the words.” Dr Ezra Chwat Department of Manuscripts, National Library of Israel Giluy Milta B’Almah Blog…

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Mezuzah Revisited. Parshat Vaetchanan.

Mezuzah Revisited. Parshat Vaetchanan.

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this Parsha (Devarim 6:9) says that since the word Mezuzot is written without the Vav , only one Mezuzah is necessary. It’s generally assumed that Rashi can’t argue with a clear Talmudic statement that every door of the house needs a Mezuzah and therefore he can’t be understood at face value. However the custom in many places in Medieval Europe had always been to only affix one Mezuzah per house . We will now try to examine if indeed there…

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Notes on RASHI, ArtScroll Censorship, and Emendation of Rabbinic Texts

Notes on RASHI, ArtScroll Censorship, and Emendation of Rabbinic Texts

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A new post on the Seforim blog by Professor Marc Shapiro discusses the problem of ArtScroll publishers and the way that it routinely censors rabbinical texts: http://seforimblog.com/2015/06/more-about-rashbam-on-genesis-chapter-1.html Shapiro looks at the issue of RASHBAM’s commentary to Genesis 1, a big problem for Orthodox literalists. Here is a post from Failed Messiah that explains the difficulty: http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2014/12/haredi-publisher-artscroll-censors-bible-commentary-of-leading-medieval-rabbi-678.html RASHBAM is the grandson of RASHI and the brother of Rabbenu Tam; a central figure in one of the most illustrious of all the…

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