dialectical method that harmonized Rashi with contradictory authorities in classical
rabbinic literature, the composition of polemical treatises, and the compilation of Old
French-Hebrew glossaries.
The earliest example of exegetical activity in northern France seems to have been a
group of scholars called Poterim (“translators”), whose primary activity was the
assembling of lists of words in Hebrew and Old French for teaching children. The unique
aspect of the Poterim seems to be their focus on the language of Scripture and not on the
broader dimensions of the Bible and rabbinic literature.
Rashi gave the basic shape to northern French biblical exegesis. He left Troyes to
study in the academies of the Rhineland, where scholars had been compiling notebooks,
or quntresim, of exegesis on the Talmud. This Talmud commentary focused on clarifying
the language of the dialectical arguments within the text. Rashi brought this style of
interpretation, which focused on clarification of the sequence of argument, back to
Troyes. On the basis of the quntresim of his teachers, Rashi wrote a commentary on
almost all the tractates of the Babylonian Talmud. This vast project guaranteed that his
writings would comprehend the full spectrum of rabbinic learning. Drawing upon the
linguistic works of the Poterim and the tradition of Talmudic commentary in the
Rhineland, he developed a hermeneutics that harmonized the Hebrew Bible with the
rabbinic tradition.
Rashi wrote commentaries on the entire Hebrew Bible (except Ezra-Nehemiah,
Chronicles, and the Book of Job). One of his fundamental principles was to balance the
lexical boundaries of the biblical words or phrases against a variety of potential
interpretations from rabbinic literature. He described his approach in the following way:
“There are many Aggadic Midrashim, and our Rabbis have previously set them in proper
order in Genesis Rabbah and other Midrash collections, and I have come for the plain
meaning of the biblical text and for the Aggadoth which settles the words of the
Scriptural text in their proper order” (Genesis 3.8). Rashi used the Hebrew phrase unique
to his writings, Peshuto shel Miqra (translated “plain meaning”), to describe his goal. The
goal of the exegete was to examine the sequence of biblical phrases in context and then
turn to rabbinic sources that would be adapted to interpret the phrases. Rashi thus focused
on narrative aspects of the text, through the sequence of words, joining the “plain
meaning” and rabbinic authorities.
Rashi’s commentaries generally provide an introduction to each biblical book. In most
cases, the introduction is part of the comment on the initial verse. It describes the purpose
of the book and gives some details about its author. In these, Rashi employs material
from rabbinic literature but adapts it for his own purpose.
Rashi’s biblical commentaries were the subject of glosses produced by scholars of the
next generation, who saw themselves free to explore the lexical level of the text
independently of rabbinic literature. Rashi’s younger colleague Rabbi Joseph ben Simon
Kara (b. ca. 1060/70) also traveled to the academies in the Rhineland. He wrote glosses
on the Pentateuch and full commentaries on the Prophetic and Historical Books and the
Writings. He also wrote commentaries on synagogue poetry that contained exegesis of
Scripture. Joseph Kara distinguished himself from Rashi by his focus on the biblical text
independent of rabbinic literature. In his commentaries, Kara attempts to engage the
reader of a biblical verse directly through a series of questions and answers that lead to a
comprehension of the entire passage.
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