What has been said of the first specimen quoted applies equally to the next (Hashem Elohei Hatzevaot Bore Baolionim (Yod Yod, Alef Lamed He Yod, He Tsadi Bet Alef Vav Tav, Bet Vav Resh Alef, Bet Ayin Lamed Yod Vav Nun Yod Final_Mem)), for the eve of the Day of Atonement. It would have been more effective, had there been less emphasis and a more consecutive development of the thought.

... Of all bereft we appear before Thee, — Thine is the justice, ours the sin, — Our faces flushed with shame we turn to Thee, And at Thy gates we moan like doves. Vouchsafe unto us a life of tranquil joy, Purge us of our stains, make us white and pure. O that our youthful faults might vanish like passing clouds! Renew our days as of old, Remove defilement hence, set presumptuous sins at naught; The purifying waters of truth sprinkle upon us, For we confess our transgressions, we rebellious, faithless children.

* * * * *

O that a contrite spirit, a broken, repentant heart Be acceptable to Thee as the fat of sacrifices! Accomplish for the children Thy promise to the fathers. From Thy celestial abode hearken unto us who cry to Thee! Strengthen the hearts of those inclined to pay Thee homage, Lend Thy ear unto their humble supplication. Yet once more rescue Thy people from destruction. Let Thy olden mercy speedily descend on them again, And Thy favored ones go forth from judgment justified, — They that hope for Thy grace and lean upon Thy loving-kindness.

The final specimen (tefilah lekadma (Tav Pe Lamed He, Lamed Qof Dalet Mem Final_Nun) is still more pathetic in its tearful contrition. The last lines even rise to unusual beauty when they point down a shining vista of happy, serene days.

At morn we order our prayers, and wait to offer them to Thee. Not sacrificial rams we bring to Thee, but hearts contrite and tender. O that the tribute of our lips might plead our cause, When suppliants we stand before Thy threshold, watching and waiting. The early dawn awakens us, and our faces are suffused with shame. Our hearts beat fast, we whisper softly, hoarse and weary with calling on Thee. We are cast down, affrighted, — Thy judgment comes. To Thy teaching we turned deaf ears, And unto evil were seduced. Rebellious were we, when Thou camest to guide us aright, And now we stand abashed with lowered eyes.

Our ruin Thou didst long past see — Is Thy fiery wrath still unappeased? We sinned in days agone, we suffer now, our wounds are open, Thy oath is quite accomplished, the curse fulfilled. Though long we tarried, we seek Thee now, timid, anxious, —we, poor in deeds. Before we perish, once more unto Thy children join Thyself. A heavenly sign foretells Thy blessing shall descend on us. Brute force is shattered, and with night all round about, Thy affianced spouse, loving, yearning, Calls on Thy faithfulness; she pleads with her eyes, and asks, is still she Thine, Is hers Thy love for aye?

The uniformity and monotony of this poetry, it must be admitted, weary the reader. The author never goes beyond a narrow circle of ideas, and general ideas at that. It is impossible to make out whether the allusions are to contemporaneous events, the persecutions connected with the First Crusade, for instance, or whether they refer to the ancient, traditional wrongs and sufferings. Nowhere is Rashi's poetry relieved by a touch of personal bias. It cannot be denied, however, that the poems testify to a fund of sincerity and enthusiasm, and that is noteworthy in a period of literary decadence, when it often happens that sincerity of sentiment fails by a good deal to find sincere expression for itself. Esthetic inadequacy should by no means be taken as synonymous with insincerity. Rashi proves, that without being an artist one can be swayed by emotion and sway the emotions of others, particularly when the dominant feeling is sadness. "The prevailing characteristic of Rashi's prayers," says Zunz, the first historian of synagogue poetry as well as the first biographer of Rashi, "is profound sadness; all of them are filled with bitter plaints." Finally, if the Selihot by Rashi fall far short of our idea and our ideal of poetry, they at least possess the interest attaching to all that relates to their illustrious author.

BOOK III

THE INFLUENCE OF RASHI



CHAPTER XI

FROM RASHI'S DEATH TO THE EXPULSION

OF THE JEWS FROM FRANCE

The preceding chapters show how voluminous and varied was Rashi's work. And yet we are far from possessing everything he wrote; a number of texts have disappeared, perhaps are lost forever. But this fertility is not Rashi's sole literary merit. If the excellence of a work is to be measured not only by its intrinsic value, but also by its historical influence, by the scientific movement to which it has given the impulse, by the literature which it has called into being, in short, by its general effect, no work should receive a higher estimate than that of Rashi, for, it may be said without exaggeration, no other work was ever the occasion of so much comment and discussion, and none exerted an influence so far reaching and enduring. From the moment of their appearance his writings spread rapidly, and were read with enthusiasm. After profoundly affecting his contemporaries, Rashi continued to guide the movement he had started. His influence upon rabbinical literature is comparable only with that of Maimonides. Indeed, it was more wholesome than his. The Talmudic codex established by Maimonides aimed at nothing less than to shut off the discussions and to give the oral law firm, solid shape. Rashi, on the contrary, safeguarded the rights of the future, and gave his successors full play. Again, not having introduced into his work philosophic speculations, he was shielded against criticism, and his renown was therefore more immaculate than that of the author of the Mishneh Torah, who had to undergo furious attacks.

Rashi dominates the entire rabbinical movement in France and Germany. Generally, the influence of a writer wanes from day to day; but as for Rashi's, it may he said to have increased by force of habit and as the result of events, and to have broadened its sphere. Limited at first to French, Lotharingian, and German centres [centers sic] of learning, it soon extended to the south of Europe, to Africa, and even to Asia, maintaining its force both in the field of Biblical exegesis and of Talmudic jurisprudence.

Since it is impossible to mention all the authors and works following and preceding Rashi, it must suffice to point out some characteristic facts and indispensable names in order to bring into relief the vitality and expansive force of his achievement, and to show how it has survived the ravages of time, and, what is more, how it has overcome man's forgetfulness - edax tempus, edacior homo. We shall see that Rashi directed the course of the later development at the same time that he summed up in his work all that had previously been accomplished.

"The example of a man as revered as Rashi for his piety, his character, and his immense learning was bound to make a profound and lasting impression upon his contemporaries. His descendants and his numerous disciples, pursuing with equal zeal the study of the Talmud and that of Scriptures, took as their point of departure in either study the commentaries of their ancestor and master, to which they added their own remarks, now to enlarge upon and complete the first work, now to discuss it, refute it, and substitute new views. Thus arose the Tossafot, or additional glosses upon the Talmud, and thus in the following generations arose new commentaries upon the Pentateuch or upon the entire Bible, in which the rational spirit evoked by Rashi assumed a more and more marked and exclusive form."[131]

Finally, Rashi's influence was not confined either within the walls of the Jewries or within the frontiers of France, but it radiated to foreign lands and to ecclesiastical circles.

I

It may be said without exaggeration that Rashi's Talmudic commentary renewed rabbinical studies in France and in Germany. It propagated knowledge of the Talmud there and multiplied the academies. In fact, schools were founded in all localities containing Jewish communities no matter how insignificant; and it is difficult for us to obtain any idea of the number and importance of these "Faculties," scattered over the length and breadth of Northern France, which thus became a very lively centre [center sic] of Jewish studies and the chief theatre [theater sic] of the intellectual activity of the Occidental Jews. Its schools eclipsed those of the Rhenish countries and rivalled [rivaled sic] in glory those of Spain.

What in the first instance contributed to the success of the movement begun by Rashi, is the fact that he moulded [molded sic] numerous disciples - in this more fortunate than Maimonides, who was unable to found a school and who sowed in unploughed land. It was only with the lapse of time that his work little by little made its way, while Rashi through his teaching exerted an absolutely direct and, as it were, living influence. Rashi's authority was such that Troyes became the chief centre [center sic] of studies. Many pupils flocked to it and there composed important works, casting into sure and permanent form the intellectual wealth they had gathered while with their master. They put the finishing touches to his work and labored to complete it, even during his life, and as though under his protection.

I have already spoken of Simhah ben Samuel de Vitry, author of the liturgical and ritual collection, Mahzor Vitry.[132] Among other disciples not so well known are Mattathias ben Moses, of Paris, Samuel ben Perigoros, Joseph ben Judah, and Jacob ben Simson (1123), who lived at Paris or Falaise and wrote Responsa at the dictation of his master, and, besides commentaries, a Mahzor, and an astronomic work. He was in turn the master of Jacob Tam.

Judah ben Abraham, of Paris, aided by suggestions from his master, wrote a ceremonial for the Passover. In carrying out his task, he availed himself of the notes of his older fellow disciple Simhah, and his collaborator was Shemaiah, who had already worked on Rashi's commentary on Ezekiel. Besides, Shemaiah made additions to Rashi's Talmudic commentaries, and composed several commentaries under his guidance. He also collected and edited Rashi's Decisions and Responsa, serving, as it were, as Rashi's literary executor. Moreover, he was a relative of Rashi's, though the degree of kinship is not known, the evidence of authors upon the subject being contradictory. Some maintain he was Rashi's grandson, or son-in-law, or the son- in-law of his sister; according to others - and this seems more exact he was the father-in-law of a brother of Jacob Tam.

At all events, it was Rashi's relatives who contributed most to his renown. "In regard to his family Rashi enjoyed unexampled good fortune," says Zunz. "It was not only through his disciples, but also through his family that the founder of rabbinical literature in France and Germany established his reputation, spread his works, and added to the lustre [luster sic] of his name." A fact which no doubt helped to assure the direction of the studies made by Rashi's descendants, is that they possessed the manuscripts written and corrected by their ancestor; and these autographs were veritable treasures at a time when books were rare and copies inexact.

One of Rashi's sons-in-law, Judah ben Nathan,[133] was a scholarly and highly esteemed Talmudist. At the suggestion of his father-in-law, he completed Rashi's commentaries and continued the work after Rashi's death, using as his chief aid the oral explanations he had received from him. The son of Judah, Yomtob, was also a good Talmudist.

The other son-in-law, Meir ben Samuel (about 1065-1135), was originally from the little town of Rameru,[134] which through him and his sons became an important intellectual centre [center sic] for more than a half century. Meir was a distinguished scholar whom his sons sometimes cite as an authority. He wrote Responsa in association with his master and father-in-law. As I have already stated, Meir ben Samuel married a daughter of Rashi, Jochebed, by whom he had four sons and a daughter, Miriam, the wife of Samuel of Vitry. One of the sons, Solomon, has been known to us for only about twelve years, although he had a reputation as a Talmudic and Biblical scholar, chiefly the latter, having received the surname of "father of grammarians." His reputation, however, was eclipsed by that of his three brothers, who have poetically been called the three vigorous branches of the tree of which Rashi was the trunk. These were Samuel ben Meir, surnamed Rashbam, Jacob ben Meir, surnamed Jacob Tam, or Rabbenu Tam, and finally Isaac ben Meir, surnamed Ribam. The last, who lived without doubt at Rameru and there composed Tossafot,[135] died during the life-time of his father, leaving seven young children. He did not equal his brothers either in knowledge or renown.

Samuel ben Meir (about 1085-1158) studied under his grandfather. As we have seen[136] he discussed exegetic questions with Rashi, and went so far as to express opinions in his presence concerning points of casuistry. On Rashi's death, it seems, he assumed the direction of the school at Troyes; but he was more prominently identified with the academy which he, following in the steps of his master, founded at Rameru, and which soon became prosperous. It was at Rameru, too, that he wrote his valuable Talmudic commentaries.[137] Among his pupils are said to have been Isaac ben Asher ha-Levi, of Speyer, and Joseph Porat ben Moses, known also as Don Bendit. Samuel ben Meir's was a bold, independent spirit. In some instances he sacrificed a Talmudic explanation for the sake of one that seemed more natural to him. In addition he had a fair amount of scientific and philosophic knowledge, and he was very productive in the field of literature.

But Rashbam's authority, if not his knowledge, was exceeded by that of his younger brother Jacob. Jacob Tam, born about 1100, was still a very young child when Rashi died. He studied under the guidance of his father, on whose death he assumed the direction of the academy of Rameru in his father's place. Then he went to Troyes, where he was surrounded by numerous pupils, some from countries as distant as Bohemia and Russia. One of his best known disciples was Eliezer ben Samuel, of Metz (died about 1198), author of the Sefer Yereim (Book of the Pious). Other pupils of his mentioned were Moses ben Abraham, of Pontoise, to whom he wrote in particularly affectionate terms, and Jacob of Orleans, a scholar held in high regard, who died at London in 1189 in the riot that broke out the day of Richard I's coronation. A year later, in 1190, the liturgical poet and Biblical commentator Yomtob de Joigny died at York. It seems that Jacob Tam, like his successors, had to suffer from the popular hate and excesses. In fact he tells how, on one occasion, on the second day of Pentecost (possibly at the time of the troubles resulting from the Second Crusade), he was robbed and wounded, and was saved from death only through the intervention of a lord. The end of his life was saddened by the auto-da-fe of Blois, at which numerous Jews suffered martyrdom. He perpetuated the memory of that occasion by instituting a fast day. He died in 1171, universally regretted for his clear and accurate intellect, his piety, uprightness, amiability, and modesty. His contemporaries considered him the highest rabbinical authority, and he was consulted by persons as remote as in the south of France and the north of Spain. He possessed a remarkably original, broad yet subtle intellect, and his writings display keen penetration and singular vigor of thought. He devoted himself chiefly to Biblical exegesis; but in this domain he obtained a reputation less through the purely exegetical parts than through the critical work in which he defended the grammarian Menahem against the attacks of Dunash.[138] His liturgical compositions and the short poems with which he sometimes prefaced his Responsa show that he was a clever poet, an imitator of the Spaniards. Abraham Ibn Ezra while on his rovings in France was one of his correspondents.

However, Jacob Tam, or, to call him by his title of honor, Rabbeun Tam, - in allusion to Gen. xxv. 27, where Jacob is described as "tam," a man of integrity - owed his renown to his Talmudic activity, which he exerted in an original line of work though he was not entirely free from the influence of Rashi. If he was not the creator of a new sort of Talmudic literature, he was at least one of its first representatives. Either because he considered the commentaries of his grandfather impossible to imitate, or because he could not adapt himself to their simplicity and brevity, he took pleasure in raising ingenious objections against them and proposing original solutions. These explanations joined to his Decisions and Responsa were collected by him in a work called Sefer ha-Yashar (Book of the Just), of which he himself made two redactions. The one we now possess was put together - rather inaccurately - after the death of the author according to the second recension. The Sefer ha-Yashar was used a great deal by later Talmudists. It may be said to have inaugurated the form of literature called Tossafot.

As the word signifies, the Tossafot are "additional notes," "Novellae," upon the Talmud. They display great erudition, ingenuity, and forcible logic, and they represent a prodigious effort of sharp analysis and hardbound dialectics. The authors of the Tossafot, the Tossafists, were marvellously [marvelously sic] skilful [skillful sic] at turning a text about and viewing it in all its possible meanings, at discovering intentions and unforeseen consequences. Their favorite method was to raise one or more objections, to set forth one or more contradictions between two texts, and then to propound one or more solutions, which, if not marked by simplicity and verisimilitude, none the less bear the stamp of singularly keen insight. In their hands the study of the Talmud became a sturdy course in intellectual gymnastics. It refined the intellect and exercised the sense of logic. Yet it would be a mistake to see in the Tossafot nothing but the taste for controversy and love of discussion for the sake of discussion. The Tossafists, even more than Rashi, sought to deduce the norm, especially the practical norm, from the Talmudic discussions, and discover analogies permitting the solution of new cases. Thus, while Rashi's commentary is devoted to the explanation of words, and, more generally, of the simple meaning of the text, the Tossafot enter into a searching consideration of the debates of the Talmud. Moreover, Rashi composed short but numerous notes, while the Tossafists wrote lengthier but less consecutive commentaries. At the same time one of Rashi's explanations is a fragment of the Tossafot explanation. Thus, the commentary of the Tossafists exists in abridged form, as it were, in germ, in the commentary of Rashi. Rashi was the constant guide of the Tossafists. His commentary, "the Commentary," as they called it, was ever the basis for their "additions." They completed or discussed it; in each case they made it their point of departure, and his influence is apparent at every turn. The species of literature called Tossafot is not only thoroughly French in origin, but, it may said, without Rashi it would never have come into existence. The authors of the Tossafot are as much the commentators of Rashi as they are of the Talmud.[139] The Tossafot bear the same relation to his Talmudic commentary as the Gemara to the Mishnah. Like the Amoraim in regard to the Tannaim, the Tossafists set themselves the task of completing and correcting the work of the master; for, despite their veneration for Rashi, they did not by any means spare him in their love of truth.

The first Tossafists, both in point of age and worth, were not only the disciples, but also, as we have seen, even the descendants of Rashi. "We drink," said R. Tam, "at the source of R. Solomon." One of the most celebrated Tossafists was a great-grandson of Rashi, Isaac ben Samuel (about 1120-1195) surnamed the Elder, son of a sister of R. Tam and grandson, on his father's side, of Simhah, of Vitry. Born without doubt at Rameru, he attended the school of his two uncles, Samuel ben Meir and Jacob Tam. When Jacob Tam left for Troyes, Isaac ben Samuel took his place. Later he founded a school at Dampierre,[140] where, it is said, he had sixty pupils, each of whom knew one of the treatises of the Talmud by heart. Through his departure, Rameru lost its importance as a centre [center sic] of study. He collected and co-ordinated various explanations growing out of Rashi's commentaries. Thus he established the foundations for the Tossafot, on every page of which his name appears.

He was the teacher of the most learned Talmudists of the end of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth century. His son and collaborator Elhanan, a highly esteemed rabbi, died before him, some say as a martyr. Among his disciples are said to have been Baruch ben Isaac, originally from Worms, later resident of Ratisbon, author of the Sefer ha-Terumah (Book of the Heave-Offering), one of the first and most influential casuistic collections (about 1200); Isaac ben Abraham, called the Younger to distinguish him from his master, whom he succeeded and who died a little before 1210; and the brother of Isaac, Samson of Sens (about 1150-1230), whose commentaries, according to the testimony of Asheri, exercised the greatest influence upon the study of the Talmud. He was one of the most illustrious representatives of the French school, and his authority was very great. His usual abiding place was Sens in Burgundy, but about 1211 he emigrated to Palestine in the company of some other scholars. He met his death at St. Jean d'Acre.

By this time Champagne had proved too contracted a field for the activity of so many rabbis. Flourishing schools arose in Ile-de- France and Normandy; and it is related that at Paris, in the first half of the twelfth century, lived the scholarly and pious Elijah ben Judah, who carried on a controversy about phylacteries with his kinsman Jacob Tam. But the most celebrated Tossafist of Paris without reserve was Judah Sir Leon, born in 1166 and died in 1224, a descendant of Rashi. The school of Paris having been closed after the expulsion of 1181, Judah went to study at Dampierre under the guidance of Isaac and his son Elhanan. Among his fellow-disciples, besides the rabbis already mentioned, were Samson Sir of Coucy, Solomon of Dreux, Simon of Joinville, Abraham ben Nathan, of Lunel, and others. In 1198 Philip Augustus recalled the Jews he had expelled, and the community again prospered. Judah re-established the school, which soon assumed the first place in the list of academies. Among his numerous pupils mention is made of Moses ben Jacob, of Coucy, brother-in-law of Samson and 'author of the famous Sefer Mizwot Gadol (Great Book of Precepts), abbreviated to Semag, which shows the mingled influence of the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides and of the Tossafot of the French masters; Isaac ben Moses, of Vienna, who carried into Austria the methods and teachings of his French masters, surnamed Or Zarua after the title of his work, a valuable ritual compilation; and Samuel ben Solomon Sir Morel,[141] of Falalse (about 1175-1253), whose most celebrated pupil was Meir of Rothenburg, the greatest authority of his country and his time, known for his dramatic end as well as for his great intellectual activity (1225-1293).

The successor of Judah Sir Leon was Jehiel ben Joseph, or Sir Vives, of Meaux. At this time the school is said to have counted three hundred pupils. In the disputation of 1240,[142] Jehiel ben Joseph together with Moses of Coucy, Samuel of Falaise, and another less well-known rabbi, Judah ben David, of Melun, represented the Jews. A Christian source calls Jehiel "the cleverest and most celebrated of all the Jews." When he left for Palestine in 1260 the school of Paris was closed not to be opened again.

Jehiel left behind him in France two important disciples, his son-in-law, Isaac ben Joseph, of Corbeil (died in 1280), who in 1277 published the "Columns of Exile," also called Sefer Mizwot Katan (Little Book of Precepts), abbreviated to Semak, a religious and ethical collection, which enjoyed great vogue; and Perez ben Elia, of Corbeil (died about 1295), who mentions Isaac as his master also. Perez visited Brabant and Germany, where he maintained relations with Meir of Rothenburg. Among his pupils there was Mordecai ben Hillel, an authority highly esteemed for his decisions, who died a martyr at Nuremberg in 1298. Another master of his was Samuel ben Shneor, of Evreux (about 1225), a much-quoted Tossafist, who studied under the guidance of his elder brother Moses, editor of the "Tossafot of Evreux," largely used for the present printed editions of the Tossafot. In the second half of the thirteenth century, Eliezer of Touques compiled the Tossafot of Sens, of Evreux, etc., adding his own explanations on the margin. His work forms the chief basis for our present Tossafot to the Talmud.

As always with redactions and compilations, these mentioned here are a sign of the discontinuance of studies, worn threadbare by two centuries of intense activity. Decadence, moreover, was brought about more rapidly, as we shall see, by the misfortunes that successively befell the Jews of France.

II

Rashi's influence was no less enduring and no less wholesome in the province of Biblical exegesis. An idea of the impression he made may be gained from the fact that more than fifty super- commentaries were written on his commentary on the Pentateuch, to explain or to complete it, to defend it, and occasionally to combat it. But Rashi's influence was productive of still more than this. It called into being original works superior even to his own. His disciples shook off the yoke of Talmudic and Midrashic tradition that had rested upon him. But even when they surpassed him, it was nevertheless his influence that was acting upon them and his authority to which they appealed.

Samuel ben Meir, diffuse as were his Talmudic commentaries, was admirably brief in his commentary on the Pentateuch, which is a model of simplicity and accuracy, and is marked by insight and subtlety. It is possibly the finest product of the French exegetic school. It sets forth general rules of interpretation, as, for instance, that the Bible should be explained through itself and without the aid of the Haggadic or even Halakic Midrash. Literal exegesis, said Samuel ben Meir, is more forceful than Halakic interpretation. He so resolutely pursued the method of Pesbat, that Nahmanides felt justified in declaring he sometimes overdid it. The same admirable qualities exist in Rashbam's commentaries on the Prophets and the Hagiographa, in which he everywhere turns to excellent account the works of his ancestor, sometimes merely referring to them, but also combating Rashi's explanations, though in this case he does not mention Rashi.

Eliezer of Beaugency and Moses of Paris (middle of the twelfth century) were doubtless among the disciples of Samuel ben Meir. Moses of Paris, in turn, had a pupil by the name of Gabriel.

Occasionally Rashbam did not disdain the Midrash. But the same cannot be said of his friend and collaborator Joseph ben Simon Kara (born about 1060-1070, died about 1130-1140), a nephew and disciple of Menahem ben Helbo, and the friend if not the disciple of Rashi, to whom he acknowledges himself indebted. He wrote additions to Rashi's commentaries, and on Rashi's advice wrote a part of his Biblical commentaries, several of which have been published. They enjoyed great vogue, and in certain manuscripts they are set alongside of, or replace, Rashi's commentaries. They fully deserve the honor; for, in fact, Joseph Kara surpasses Rashi and rivals Rashbam in his fair-minded criticism, his scrupulous attachment to the literal meaning, and his absolutely clear idea of the needs of a wholesome exegesis, to say nothing of his theological views, which are always remarkable and sometimes bold. He frankly rejected the Midrash, and compares the person making use of it to the drowning man who clutches at a straw. Contrary to tradition he denies that Samuel was the author of the Biblical book bearing his name.

Side by side with Joseph Kara belongs his rival and younger contemporary Joseph Bekor-Shor, doubtless the same person as Joseph ben Isaac, of Orleans, who was a disciple of Rabbenu Tam, and must, therefore, have lived in the middle of the twelfth century. His commentary on the Pentateuch, which has been published in part, is frequently cited by later exegetes, and its reputation is justified by its keen insight and its vein of odd originality. Joseph Bekor-Shor had felt the influence of the Spaniards, but he had yielded to the attractions of Talmudic dialectics, which he had acquired at a good school, although, like his master, he cites, in connection with the Bible, a certain Obadiah.

Quae secutae sunt magis defieri quam narrari possunt. In the works of the second half of the twelfth century this fault becomes more and more perceptible, and signs of decadence begin to appear. Moreover, the writings at this time were very numerous, fostering, and, in turn, stimulated by, anti-Christian polemics. The greater number of the Tossafists study the Bible in conjunction with the Talmud. Citations are made of explanations or Biblical commentaries by Jacob of Orleans, Moses of Pontoise, Isaac the Elder, Isaac the Younger, Judah Sir Leon, Jehiel of Meaux, and Moses of Coucy. All these rabbis wrote Tossafot to the Bible as well as to the Talmud. This comparative study of Bible and Talmud was continued for some time, untill [until sic] at the beginning of the thirteenth century intellectual activity was exhausted. Original works were replaced by a large number of compilations, all related to one another, since the authors copied without scruple and pillaged without shame.

Chief among these works, which bear the general title of Tossafot to the Torah and some of which have been printed, are Hazzekuni, by Hezekiah ben Manoah (about 1240), Gan[143] (Garden), by Aaron ben Joseph, (about 1250), Daat Zekenim (Knowledge of the Ancients), in which many exegetes are cited (after 1252), Paaneah Razah (Revealer of the Mystery), by Isaac ben Judah ha-Levi (about 1300), Minhat Yehudah (Offering of Judah), by Judah ben Eliezer (or Eleazar), of Troyes (1313), Hadar Zekenim (Glory of the Ancients; beginning of the fourteenth century), and Imre Noam (Pleasant Words), by Jacob of Illescas (middle of the fourteenth century).

All these works were more or less inspired by Rashi, and some, such as Hazzekuni, might be called super-commentaries to Rashi. But these disciples were not true to the spirit of the master. They gave themselves up to the Haggadah more than he did, and also to a thing unknown to him, Gematria and mystical exegesis. Thus this French school, which for nearly a century had shone with glowing brilliance, now threw out only feeble rays, and abandoned itself more and more to the subtleties of the Midrash, to the fancifulness of the Gematria. It almost consigned to oblivion the great productions in rational exegesis, always excepting Rashi's commentaries, the popularity of which never waned, as much because of the author's renown as because of his concessions to the Midrash.

It remained for a Christian exegete to free rational exegesis from the discredit into which it had fallen. The ecclesiastical commentators even more than the authors of the Biblical Tossafot were steeped in allegorism and mysticism; but among them were some who cultivated the interpretation of the literal meaning of Scriptures, and even appealed to Jewish scholars for explanations'. Unfortunately, Rashi's works, written in a language unintelligible to the Christians, could not in any degree influence a general intellectual movement.

However, exception must be made of the celebrated Franciscan monk Nicholas de Lyra (born about 1292, died in 1340), author of the Postillae perpetuae on the Bible which brought him the title of doctor planus et utilis. Nicholas de Lyra possessed knowledge rare among Christians, knowledge of the Hebrew language, and he knew Hebrew so well that he was thought to be a converted Jew. In his works, polemical in character, he comes out against the mystical tendencies in the interpretations of the rabbis, and does not spare Rashi, even attributing to him explanations nowhere existing in Rashi's writings. But these criticisms of his, as he himself says, are "extremely rare." Moreover he does not refrain from accepting for his own purposes a large number of Midrashim borrowed from Rashi. It was from Rashi's commentaries, in fact, that he learned to know rabbinical literature - only to combat it. On one occasion he said, "I usually follow Rabbi Solomon, whose teachings are considered authoritative by modern Jews." He sometimes modified the text of the Vulgate according to the explanations of the rabbi, and his commentary on the Psalms, for instance, is often only a paraphrase of Rashi's. For this reason Nicholas de Lyra was dubbed, it must be admitted somewhat irreverently, simia Salomonis, Rashi's Ape. Nevertheless, he exercised great influence in ecclesiastical circles, comparable to that of Rashi among the Jews. His commentary was called "the common commentary." Possibly it was in imitation of Nicholas's work that the name glosa hebraica (the Hebrew commentary), or simply glosa, was bestowed upon Rashi's work by a Christian author of the thirteenth century, who, if not the famous scholar and monk Roger Bacon, must have been some one of the same type. Another Christian exegete of the same period, William of Mara, cites Rashi's commentary under the title of Perus. The admiration felt for Nicholas de Lyra, which now seems somewhat excessive, is expressed in the well-known proverb: Si Lyra non lyrasset, totus mondus delirasset. A modification of the proverb, si Lyra non lyrasset, Lutherius non saltasset, is not an exaggeration; for the works of the Franciscan monk were soon translated into German, and they exercised a profound influence on the leader of the Reformation when he composed the translation of the Bible, epoch-making in the history of literature as well as of religion. It is known that Luther had large knowledge of the Hebrew and a strong feeling for it, a quality he owed to Nicholas de Lyra and, through him, to the Jewish exegetes, although his scornful pride would never permit him to concede that "Rashi and the Tossafists made Nicholas de Lyra and Nicholas de Lyra made Luther."

At the time when Rashi's influence was thus extended to Christian circles, the Jewish schools called into being by his work and his teachings fell into decay on account of the persecutions that shook French Judaism to its foundations and almost deprived it of existence. This shows how firmly intellectual activities are bound up with temporal fortunes - a truth manifested in the period of growth and maturity and illustrated afresh in the period of decadence.

Even after the First Crusade, the situation of the jews of France had remained favorable. It did not perceptibly change as a result of the various local disorders marking the Second Crusade. Nevertheless, the second half of the twelfth century witnessed the uprise of accusations of ritual murder and piercings of the host. Popular hatred and mistrust were exploited by the greedy kings. Philip Augustus expelled the Jews from his domain in 1181, though he recalled them in 1198. Yet the example had been set, and the security of the Jews was done for. The lords and bishops united to persecute them, destroy their literary treasures, and paralyze their intellectual efforts. They found the right king for their purposes in St. Louis, a curious mixture of tolerance and bigotry, of charity and fanaticism. "St. Louis sought to deprive the Jews of the book which in all their trials was their supreme consolation, the refuge of their souls against outside clamor and suffering, the only safeguard of their morality, and the bond maintaining their religious oneness - the Talmud." In 1239 an apostate, Nicholas Donin, of La Rochelle, denounced the Talmud to Gregory IX. The Pope ordered the seizure of all copies, and an investigation of the book. In France the mandate was obeyed, and a disputation took place at Paris. Naturally, the Talmud was condemned, and twenty - four cartloads of Hebrew books were consigned to the flames. The auto-da-fe of 1242 marks the decadence of an entire literature, the ruin of brilliant schools, and the check to the movement so gloriously inaugurated by Rashi. All the living forces of French Judaism were deeply affected.

But the fall was neither complete nor sudden. It was not until 1306 that the Jews were exiled from France by Philip the Fair, and a hundred thousand persons had to leave the country in which their nation had long flourished and to whose prosperity they had materially contributed.

The expulsion of 1306 withdrew French Judaism to the provinces directly attached to the crown. In vain were the Jews recalled in 1315 "at the general cry of the people." Only a very few profited by the tolerance shown them. After that their existence was troubled by riots, and broken in upon by expulsions. The schools, of old so flourishing, fell into a state of utter decay. About 1360 France could not count six Jewish scholars, and the works of the time show to what degree of degradation rabbinical studies had sunk. With the expulsion of 1394 Charles VI dealt the finishing stroke. Thereafter French Judaism was nothing but the shadow of itself. Having received a mortal wound in 1306, its life up to the final expulsion in 1394 was one long death-agony.

Thus disappeared that French Judaism which contributed so large a portion to the economic and intellectual civilization of its fatherland during the time the sun of tolerance shone on its horizon, but which was destined to perish the moment the greed of princes and the fanaticism of priests, hoodwinking the masses, united to overwhelm it. Nevertheless the three centuries of fruitful activity were not entirely lost to the future; and the Jews of France, who had gone in numbers to foreign lands, carried with them their books and their ideals.

III

For a long time previous to the events just recorded, Rashi and the Tossafists - the two words summing up the whole intellectual movement of the Jews of France - had brought to all Judaism the reputation of the academies of Champagne and of Ile-de-France. "He brew literature in France," wrote E. Carmoly, "exercised upon the Jewish world the same influence that French literature exercised upon European civilization in general. Everywhere the Biblical and Talmudic works of Troyes, Rameru, Dampierre, and Paris became the common guides of the synagogues." Rashi's commentaries, in especial, spread rapidly and were widely copied, sometimes enlarged by additions, sometimes mutilated and truncated. It is for this reason that certain commentaries of his no longer exist, or exist in incomplete form.

In view of the fact that at the beginning of the thirteenth century relations between remote countries and Christendom were rare, and that the Christian and the Mohammedan worlds had scarcely begun to open up to each other and come into contact, it is readily understood why Rashi was not known in Arabic countries in his life-time, or even immediately after his death, and why he exercised no influence upon Maimonides, who died exactly a hundred years after him. In the Orient there are no signs of his influence until the end of the twelfth century. In 1192, barely eighty years after Rashi's death, an exilarch had one of his commentaries copied; and at the beginning of the thirteenth century we find the commentator Samuel ben Nissim, of Aleppo, making a citation from Rashi.

But it is naturally in the regions nearest to France that Rashi's influence made itself most felt. The profound Talmudist, Zerahiah ha-Levi, who lived at Lunel (1125-1186), rather frequently cites "R. Solomon the Frenchman," and contents himself with merely referring to Rashi's commentary without quoting in full, a fact which shows that the work was widely spread in the Provence. A number of years later, about 1245, Meir, son of Simon of Narbonne, wrote in his apologetic work, "The Holy War": "The commentaries are understood by all readers, for the least as well as the most important things are perfectly explained in them. Since their appearance, there is not a rabbi who has studied without using them." I have already referred to the testimony of Menahem ben Zerah;[144] to his may be added that of another Provencal, Estori Parhi, who left France in 1306 to visit Spain, and wrote an interesting book of Halakah and of recollections of his travels. About 1320, David d'Estella, philosopher and poet, wrote: "It is from France that God has sent us a bright light for all Israel in the person of R. Solomon ben Isaac." Rashi was also cited in terms of praise by the brilliant commentator and philosopher Menahem ben Solomon Meiri, of Perpignan (1249-1306), and by the casuist and theologian Jacob de Bagnols (about 1357- 1361), grandson of David d'Estella.

From the Provence, Rashi's renown spread on the one side to Italy, and on the other to Spain. His Biblical commentary was used by Benjamin ben Abraham Anaw (about 1240), of Rome, whose brother Zedekiah was the author of the Halakic and ritual collection Shibbole ha-Leket (The Gleaned Sheaves), a work written in the second half of the thirteenth century, which owes much to Rashi and his successors. The celebrated scholar and poet Immanuel ben Solomon Romi (about 1265-1330) seems to have known Rashi, one of whose Biblical explanations he cites for the purpose of refuting it. The influence of the French commentator is more apparent in the works of the Italian philosopher and commentator Solomon Yedidiah (about 1285-1330) and the commentator Isaiah da Trani (end of the thirteenth century).

Rashi's influence was more fruitful of results in Spain, where intellectual activity was by far more developed than in Italy. His renown soon crossed the Pyrenees, and, curiously enough, the Spanish exegetes, disciples of the Hayyoudjes and the Ibn-Djanahs availed themselves of his Biblical commentary, despite its inferiority from a scientific point of view. They did not fail, it is true, occasionally to dispute it. This was the case with Abraham Ibn Ezra, who possibly came to know Rashi's works during his sojourn in France, and combated Rashi's grammatical explanations without sparing him his wonted sharp-edged witticisms. To Abraham Ibn Ezra has been attributed the following poem in Rashi's honor, without doubt wrongfully so, although Abraham Ibn Ezra never recoiled from contradictions.

A star hath arisen on the horizon of France and shineth afar. Peaceful it came, with all its cortege, from Sinai and Zion. .... The blind he enlightens, the thirsty delights with his honey-comb, He whom men call Parshandata, the Torah's clear interpreter. All doubts he solves, whose books are Israel's joy, Who pierceth stout walls, and layeth bare the law's mysterious sense. For him the crown is destined, to him belongeth royal homage.  When one sees with what severity and injustice Abraham Ibn Ezra treats the French commentator, one may well doubt whether this enthusiastic eulogy sprang from his pen, capricious though we know him to have been. "The Talmud," he said, "has declared that the Peshat must never lose its rights. But following generations gave the first place to Derash, as Rashi did, who pursued this method in commenting upon the entire Bible, though he believed he was using Peshat. In his works there is not one rational explanation out of a thousand." As I have said, Rashi and Ibn Ezra were not fashioned to understand each other.[145] The commentaries of David Kimhi[146] contain no such sharp criticisms. By birth Kimhi was a Provencal, by literary tradition a Spaniard. He often turned Rashi's Biblical commentaries to good account for himself. Sometimes he did not mention Rashi by name, sometimes he referred to him openly.

A pompous eulogy of Rashi was written by Moses ben Nahman, or Nahmanides,[147] in the introduction to his commentary on the Pentateuch; and the body of the work shows that he constantly drew his inspiration from Rashi and ever had Rashi before his eyes. At the same time he also opposes Rashi, either because the free ways of the French rabbi shocked him, or because the Frenchman's naive rationalism gave offense to his mysticism. In fact, it is known that Nahmanides is one of the first representatives of Kabbalistic exegesis, and his example contributed not a little toward bringing it into credit. Even the author of the Zohar - that Bible of the Kabbalah, which under cover of false authority exercised so lasting an influence upon Judaism - whether or not he was Moses of Leon (about 1250-1305) used for his exegesis the commentary of Rashi, without, of course, mentioning it by name, and sometimes he even reproduced it word for word. The Kabbalist exegete Bahya or Behaia ben Asher, of Saragossa, in his commentary on the Pentateuch (1291) cites Rashi as one of the principal representatives of Peshat - behold how far we have gotten from Ibn Ezra, and how Rashi is cleared of unjust contempt.

Although Nahmanides was wrongly held to have been the disciple of Judab Sir Leon, it was he who introduced into Spain the works and the method of French Talmudists, whom he possibly came to know through his masters. Thus the Spanish Talmudists, though they boasted such great leaders as Alfasi and Maimonides, nevertheless accepted also the heritage of the French academies. Rashi's influence is perceptible and acknowledged in the numerous Talmudic writings of Solomon ben Adret,[148] and it is clearly manifest in the commentary on Alfasi by Nissim Gerundi (about 1350), who copies Rashi literally, at the same time developing his thought, not infrequently over-elaborating it. He also refutes Rashi at times, but his refutation is often wrong. The man, however, who best represents the fusion of Spanish and French Talmudism was assuredly Asher hen Jehiel,[149] who, a native of the banks of the Rhine, implanted in Spain the spirit of French Judaism, and in his abridgment of the Talmud united Spanish tradition, whose principal representative was Alfasi, with Franco-German tradition, whose uncontested leader was Rashi.

Since that time Talmudic activity, the creative force of which seems to have been exhausted, has been undergoing a change of character. Asher ben Jehiel, or, as he has been called, Rosh, terminated an important period of rabbinical literature, the period of the Rishonim. We have seen how during this period Rashi's reputation, at first confined within the limits of his native province, extended little by little, until it spread over the surrounding countries, like the tree of which Daniel speaks, "whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much" (Dan. iv. 20-21).

CHAPTER XII

FROM THE EXPULSION OF THE JEWS FROM FRANCE TO THE PRESENT TIME

It might be supposed that the Jews of France, chased from their fatherland, and so deprived of their schools, would have disappeared entirely from the scene of literary history, and that the intellectual works brought into being by their activity in the domains of Biblical exegesis and Talmudic jurisprudence would have been lost forever. Such was by no means the case. It has been made clear that the French school exerted influence outside of France from the twelfth to the fourteenth century, and we shall now see how the Jews of France, saving their literary treasures in the midst of the disturbances, carried their literature to foreign countries, to Piedmont and to Germany. When the Jews of Germany were expelled in turn, Poland became the centre [center sic] of Judaism, and the literary tradition was thus maintained without interruption up to the present time. It is an unique example of continuity. The vitality of Judaism gained strength in the misfortunes that successively assailed it,

Per damna, per caedes, ab Ipso Ducit opes auimumque ferro.

A large number of Jews exiled from France established themselves in the north of Italy, where they formed distinct communities faithful to the ancient traditions. Thus they propagated the works of the French rabbis. Rashi's commentaries and the ritual collections following his teachings were widely copied there, and of course, truncated and mutilated. They served both as the text-books of students and as the breviaries, so to speak, of scholars.

They also imposed themselves, as we have seen, upon the Spanish rabbis, who freely recognized the superiority of the Jews of France and Germany in regard to Talmudic schools. Isaac ben Sheshet[150] said, "From France goes forth the Law, and the word of God from Germany." Rashi's influence is apparent in the Talmudic writings of this rabbi, as well as in the works, both Talmudic and exegetic in character, of his successor Simon ben Zemah Duran,[151] and in the purely exegetic works of the celebrated Isaac Abrabanel (1437-1509), who salutes in Rashi "a father in the province of the Talmud." It was in the fifteenth century that some of the supercommentaries were made to Rashi's commentary on the Pentateuch. The most celebrated-and justly celebrated-is that of Elijah ben Abraham Mizrahi, a Hebrew scholar, mathematician, and philosopher, who lived in Turkey. His commentary, says Wogue, "is a master-piece of logic, keen- wittedness, and Talmudic learning."

However, as if the creative force of the Jews had been exhausted by a prolific period lasting several centuries, Rashi's commentaries were not productive of original works in a similar style. Accepted everywhere, they became the law everywhere, but they did not stimulate to fresh effort. Scholars followed him, as the poet said, in adoring his footsteps from afar.

For if his works had spent their impulse, his personality, on the other hand, became more and more popular. Legends sprang up ascribing to him the attributes of a saint and universal scholar, almost a magician.[152] He was venerated as the father of rabbinical literature. In certain German communities, he, together with a few other rabbis, is mentioned in the prayer recited in commemoration of the dead, and his name is followed by the formula, "who enlightened the eyes of the Captivity by his commentaries." Rashi's commentaries not only exercised profound influence upon the literary movement of the Jews, but also wove a strain into the destinies of the Jews of France and Germany. During this entire period of terror, the true middle ages of the Jews, for whom the horrors of the First Crusade, like a "disastrous twilight," did not draw to an end until the bright dawn of the French Revolution, the thing that sustained and animated them, that enabled them to bear pillage and exploitation, martyrdom and exile, was their unremitting study of the Bible and the Talmud. And how could they have become so passionately devoted to the reading of the two books, if Rashi had not given them the key, if he had not thus converted the books into a safeguard for the Jews, a lamp in the midst of darkness, a bright hope against alien persecutions?

Rashi's prestige then became so great that the principal Jewish communities claimed him as their own,[153] and high-standing families alleged that they were connected with him. It is known that the celebrated mystic Eleazar of Worms (1160-1230) is a descendant of his. A certain Solomon Simhah, of Troyes, in 1297 wrote a casuistic, ethical work in which he claims to belong to the fourth generation descended from Rashi beginning with Rashi's sons-in-law. The family of the French rabbi may be traced down to the thirteenth century. At that time mention is made of a Samuel ben Jacob, of Troyes, who lived in the south of France. And it is also from Rashi that the family Luria, or Loria, pretends to be descended, although the titles for its claim are not incontestably authentic. The name of Loria comes, not, as has been said, from the river Loire, but from a little city of Italy, and the family itself may have originated in Alsace. Its head, Solomon, son of Samuel Spira (about 1375), traced his connection with Rashi through his mother, a daughter of Mattathias Treves, one of the last French rabbis. The daughter of Solomon, Miriam (this name seems to have been frequent in Rashi's family), was, it appears, a scholar. It is certain that the family has produced illustrious offspring, among them Yosselmann of Rosheim (about 1554), the famous rabbi and defender of the Jews of the Empire; Elijah Loanz (about 1564-1616), wandering rabbi, Kabbalist, and commentator; Solomon Luria[154] (died in 1573 at Lublin), likewise a Kabbalist and Talmudist, but of the highest rank, on account of his bold thinking and sense of logic, who renewed the study of the Tossafists; and Jehiel Heilprin (about 1725), descended from Luria through his mother, author of a valuable and learned Jewish chronicle followed by an index of rabbis. He declared he had seen a genealogical table on which Rashi's name appeared establishing his descent from so remote an ancestor as Johanan ha-Sandlar and including Rashi in the steps.[155] This family, which was divided into two branches, the Heilprins and the Lurias, still counts among its members renowned scholars and estimable merchants.

As if the numberless copies of his commentaries had not sufficed to spread Rashi's popularity, the discovery of printing lent its aid in giving it the widest possible vogue. The commentary on the Pentateuch is the first Hebrew work of which the date of printing is known. The edition was published at Reggio at the beginning of 1475 by the printer Abraham ben Garton. Zunz reckoned that up to 1818 there were seventeen editions in which the commentary appeared alone, and one hundred and sixty in which it accompanied the text. Some modifications were introduced into the commentary either because of the severity of the censors or because of the prudence of the editors. Among the books that the Inquisition confiscated in 1753 in a small city of Italy, there were twenty-one Pentateuchs with Rashi's commentary.

All the printed editions of the Babylonian Talmud are accompanied by Rashi's commentaries in the inner column and by the Tossafot in the outer column.

Rashi's authority gained in weight more and more, and he became representative in ordinary, as it were, of Talmudic exegesis. This fact is made evident by a merely superficial survey of the work Bet Yosef (House of Joseph), which is, one may say, an index to rabbinical literature. Rashi is mentioned here on every page. He is the official commentator of the Talmudic text. The author of the Bet Yosef, the learned Talmudist and Kabbalist Joseph ben Ephraim Karo (born 1448, died at Safed, Palestine, at 87 years of age), places Rashi's Biblical commentary on the same plane as the Aramaic translation of the Bible. He recommends that it be read on the Sabbath, at the same time as the Pentateuch and the Targum. Luria goes even further. According to him, when the Targum and Rashi cannot be read at the same time, preference should be given to Rashi, since he is more easily understood, and renders the text more intelligible.

Rashi's commentary, therefore, entered into the religious life of the Jews. It is chiefly the commentaries on the Five Books of Moses and the Five Megillot, the Scriptural books forming part of the synagogue liturgy, that were widely circulated in print and were made the basis of super-commentaries. The best of these are the super-commentary of Simon Ashkenazi, a writer of the seventeenth century, born in Frankfort and died at Jerusalem, and the clear, ingenious super-commentary of Sabbatai ben Joseph Bass, printer and bibliographer, born in 1641, died at Krotoszyn in 1718.

The other representatives of the French school of exegetes have fallen into oblivion. Rashi alone survived, and what saved him, I greatly fear, were the Halakic and Haggadic elements pervading his commentary. An editor who ventured to undertake the publication (in 1705) of the commentary on the Pentateuch by Samuel ben Meir,[156] complains in the preface that his contemporaries found in it nothing worth occupying their time. Rashi's commentary was better adapted to the average intellects and to the Talmudic culture of its readers.

Rashi's Talmudic commentary, also, was more generally studied than other commentaries, and gave a more stimulating impulse to rabbinical literature. Teachers and masters racked their brains to discover in it unexpected difficulties, for the sake of solving them in the most ingenious fashion. This produced the kind of literature known as Hiddushim, Novellae, and Dikdukim, subtleties. A rabbi, for example, would set himself the task of counting the exact number of times the expression "that is to say" occurs in the commentary on the first three Talmudic treatises. Jacob ben Joshua Falk (died 1648), who believed Rashi had appeared to him in a dream, attempted in his "Defense of Solomon" to clear the master of all attacks made upon him. Solomon Luria and Samuel Edels (about 1555-1631), or, as is said in the schools, the Maharshal and the Maharsha, explain the difficult passages of Rashi's Talmudic commentary, sometimes by dint of subtlety, sometimes by happy corrections. Still more meritorious are the efforts of Joel Sirkes (died in 1640 at Cracow), who often skilfully altered Rashi's text for the better.

By a curious turn in affairs it was the Christians who in the province of exegesis took up the legacy bequeathed by Rashi. While grammar and exegesis by reason of neglect remained stafionary among the Jews, the humanists cultivated them eagerly. Taste for the classical languages had aroused a lively interest in Hebrew and a desire to know the Scriptures in the original. The Reformation completed what the Renaissauce had begun, and the Protestants placed the Hebrew Bible above the Vulgate. Rashi, it is true, did not gain immediately from this renewal of Biblical studies; greater inspiration was derived from the more methodical and more scientific Spaniards. But his eclipse was only momentary. Richard Simon, who gave so vigorous an impulse to Biblical studies in France, and who, if Bossuet had not forestalled him, would possibly have originated a scientific method of exegesis, profited by the commentaries of the man he called major et praestantior theologus. All the Christians with pretensions to Hebrew scholarship, who endeavored to understand the Bible in the original, studied Rashi, not only because he helped them to grasp the meaning of the text, but also because in their eyes he was the official rabbinical authority. He was quoted, abridged, and plagiarized - a clear sign of popularity. Soon the need arose to render him accessible to all theologians, and he was translated into the academic language, that is, into Latin. Partial translations appeared in great number between 1556 and 1710. Finally, J. F. Breithaupt made a complete translation, for which he had recourse to various manuscripts. His work is marked by clear intelligence and great industry. This translation as well as the commentary of Nicholas de Lyra might still be consulted with profit by an editor of Rashi.

Since the Christians did not devote themselves to the Talmud as much as to the Bible, they made but little use of the Talmudic commentaries of the French rabbi. Nevertheless John Buxtorf the Elder, who calls Rashi consummatissimus ille theologiae judaicae doctor, frequently appeals to his authority in the "Hebrew and Chaldaic Lexicon." Other names might be mentioned besides Buxtorf's.

Nor did Rashi fail to receive the supreme honor of being censored by the Church. Under St. Louis autos-da-fe were made of his works, and later the Inquisition pursued them with its rigorous measures. They were prohibited in Spain and burnt in Italy. The ecclesiastical censors eliminated or corrected whatever seemed to them an attempt upon the dignity of religion. At the present time many French ecclesiastics know Rashi only for his alleged blasphemies against Christianity.

While the Catholics and Protestants who possessed Hebrew learning applied themselves to the study of Rashi, among the Jews

"he was always revered, always admired, even as an exegete, but he was admired to so high a degree that no one thought of continuing his work and of deepening the furrow he had so vigorously opened. It seemed as though his commentary had raised the Pillars of Hercules of Biblical knowledge and as though with him exegesis had said its last word. During this period the grammatical and rational study of the word of God fell Into more and more neglect, and its real meaning became Increasingly obscured. The place of a serious and sincere exegesis was taken by frivolous combinations, subtle comparisons, and mystical interpretations carried out according to preconceived notions and based on the slightest accident of form in the text. Rashi had many admirers, but few successors."[157]

Isaiah Horwitz (1570-1630), whose ritual and ethical collection is still very popular in Eastern Europe, compares Rashi's commentaries to the revelation on Sinai. "In every one of his phrases," he says, "marvellous [marvelous sic] things are concealed, for he wrote under Divine inspiration." His son Sabbatai Sheftel is even more striking in his expressions; he says, "I know by tradition that whoever finds a defect in Rashi, has a defect in his own brain." It was related that when Rashi was worried by some difficult question, he shut himself up in a room, where God appeared to throw light upon his doubts. The apparition came to him when he was plunged in profound sleep, and he did not return to his waking senses until some one brought him an article from the wall of his room. Thus a superstitious, sterile respect replaced the intelligent and productive admiration of the earlier centuries.

To revive the scientific spirit and the rational study of the Scriptures, a Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786) was needed. With the year 1780, when his translation of the Pentateuch and his commentary upon it appeared, the renaissance of Jewish learning commenced; even the study of the Talmud, regenerated by the critical spirit of the time, was resumed. Mendelssohn himself drew largely upon Rashi's commentary, correcting the text when it seemed corrupt, trying to decipher the French laazim, and paying attention to the essential meaning of Rashi's explanations, either for the sake of completing or defending them, or for the sake of refuting them in the name of taste and good sense. His collaborators and disciples, the Biurists,-as they are called, after Biur, the general title of their works- desirous of reconciling the natural meaning of the text with the traditional interpretations, often turned to good account the views of the French commentator. These writings, which renewed the rational study of Hebrew and the taste for a sound exegesis, worthily crown the work begun by the rabbi of the eleventh century. At this day the Perush of Rashi and the Biur of Mendelssohn are the favorite commentaries of orthodox Jews.

Since Mendelssohn the glorious tradition of learning has not been interrupted again, and Rashi's work continues to be bound up with the destinies of Jewish literature. The nineteenth century will make a place for itself in the annals of this literature; for the love of Jewish learning has inspired numerous scholars, and the renown of most of them is connected with Rashi. Zunz (1794- 1886) became known in 1823 through his essay on Rashi, a model of critical skill and learning, despite inevitable mistakes and omissions. Geiger 158 won a name for himself by his studies on the French exegetic school. Heidenheim[159] wrote a work distinguished for subtlety, to defend the explanations of Rashi from the grammatical point of view. Samuel David Luzzatto (1800- 1865), with his usual brilliancy, made a warm defense of Rashi; and, finally, I. H. Weiss[160] dedicated to him a study dealing with certain definite points in Rashi's life and work. When Luzzatto took up the defense of Rashi with ardor, it was to place him over against Abraham Ibn Ezra, who, in Luzzatto's opinion, was too highly exalted. The considerable progress made by exegesis and philology rendered many scholars aware of the defectiveness of Rashi's Biblical commentaries; while Ibn Ezra was more pleasing to them on account of his scientific intellect and his daring. But the French commentator lost nothing of his authority in the eyes of the conservative students of Hebrew, who continued to see in him an indispensable help. This influence of Rashi's contains mixed elements of good and evil. In some measure he created the fortune of Midrashic exegesis, and he is in a slight degree responsible for the relative stagnation of Biblical as compared with Talmudic studies in Eastern Europe.

In Talmudic literature, on the contrary, Rashi's authority is uncontested, in fact, cannot be contested. Its stimulating impulse is not yet exhausted. While the Talmudists of the old school saw in him the official, consecrated guide, the Rapoports,[161] the Weisses, the Frankels,[162] all who cultivated the scientific and historic study of the Talmud, lay stress upon the excellence of his method and the sureness of his information. About twelve years ago, an editor wanted to publish the entire Talmud in one volume. He obtained the authorization of the rabbis only upon condition that he printed Rashi's commentary along with the text.

Thus Rashi's reputation has not diminished in the course of eight centuries. On the first of August, 1905, it was exactly eight hundred years that the eminent scholar died at Troyes. As is proper, the event was marked by a commemoration of a literary and scientific character. Articles on Rashi appeared in the Jewish journals and reviews. Such authorities as Dr. Berliner, Mr. W. Bacher, and others, sketched his portrait and published appreciations of his works. Dr. Berliner, moreover, issued a new edition of Rashi's Pentateuch Commentary in honor of the anniversary, and, as was mentioned above, Mr. S. Buber celebrated the occasion by inaugurating the publication of the hitherto unedited works of Rashi, beginning with the Sefer ha-Orah.

CONCLUSION

The beautiful unity of his life and the noble simplicity of his nature make Rashi's personality one of the most sympathetic in Jewish history. The writings he left are of various kinds and possess various interests for us. His Decisions and Responsa acquaint us with his personal traits, and with the character of his contemporaries; his religious poems betray the profound faith of his soul, and his sensitiveness to the woes of his brethren. But above all Rashi was a commentator. He carved himself a niche from which he has not been removed, and though his work as a commentator has been copied, it will doubtless remain impossible of absolute imitation. Rashi, then, is a commentator, though as such he cannot aspire to the glory of masters like Maimonides and Jehudah ha-Levi. But the task he set himself was to comment upon the Bible and the Talmud, the two living sources that feed the great stream of Judaism, and he fulfilled the task in a masterly fashion and conclusively. Moreover he touched upon nearly all branches of Jewish literature, grammar, exegesis, history, and archaeology. In short his commentaries became inseparable from the texts they explain. For, if in some respects his work despite all this may seem of secondary importance and inferior in creative force to the writings of a Saadia or a Maimonides, it gains enormously in value by the discussion and comment it evoked and the influence it exercised.

Rashi, one may say, is one of the fathers of rabbinical literature, which he stamped with the impress of his clear, orderly intellect. Of him it could be written: "With him began a new era for Judaism, the era of science united to profound piety."

His influence was not limited to scholarly circles. He is one of the rare writers who have had the privilege of becoming truly popular, and his renown was not tarnished, as that of Maimonides came near being on account of bitter controversies and violent contests. He was not the awe-inspiring master who is followed from afar; he was the master to whom one always listens, whose words are always read; and the writers who imitate his work - with more or less felicity - believe themselves inspired by him. The middle ages knew no Jewish names more famous than those of Jehudah ha-Levi and Maimonides; but how many nowadays read their writings and understand them wholly? The "Diwan" as well as the "Guide of the Perplexed" are products of Jewish culture grafted upon Arabic culture. They do not unqualifiedly correspond to present ideas and tastes. Rashi's' work, on the contrary, is essentially and intimately Jewish. Judaism could renounce the study of the Bible and of that other Bible, the Talmud, only under penalty of intellectual suicide. And since, added to respect for these two monuments, is the difficulty of understanding them, the commentaries holding the key to them are assured of an existence as along [long sic] as theirs.

Rashi's writings, therefore, extend beyond the range of merely occasional works, and his influence will not soon die out. His influence, indeed, is highly productive of results, since his commentaries do not arrest the march of science, as witness his disciples who enlarged and enriched the ground he had ploughed so vigorously, and whose fame only adds to the lustre [luster sic] of Rashi's name. The field he commanded was the entire Jewish culture of France - of France, which for a time he turned into the classic land of Biblical and Talmudic studies. "In him," says M. Israel Levi, "is personified the Judaism of Northern France, with its scrupulous attachment to tradition, its naive, untroubled faith, and its ardent piety, free from all mysticism." Nor was Rashi confined to France; his great personality dominated the whole of Judaism. Dr. M. Berliner writes: "Even nowadays, after eight hundred years have rolled by, it is from him we draw our inspiration,- we who cultivate the sacred literature,- it is his school to which we resort, it is his commentaries we study. These commentaries are and will remain our light in the principal department of our intellectual patrimony."

Doubtless Rashi is but a commentator, yet a commentator without peer by reason of his value and influence. And, possibly, this commentator represents most exactly, most powerfully, certain general propensities of the Jewish people and certain main tendencies of Jewish culture. Rashi, then, has a claim, universally recognized, upon a high place of honor in our history and in our literature.

NOTE (ESW): This graphic has been reformatted to fit within 66 columns.

APPENDIX I

THE FAMILY OF RASHI / Simon the Elder Daughter=Isaac Samuel Samuel Solomon (Rashi) Nathan 1040-1105 / Simhah Meir=Jochebed Rachel Miriam=Judah (Ribam) of Vitry about (or Bellassez) Azriel 1065- divorced by Eliezer 1135 (or Jocelyn) / (?) / Yomtob Miriam Samuel=Miram Samuel Jacob Isaac Solomon (Rashbam) about (Ribam) about 1100-1171 Left 7 Judah 1085-1158 children / Isaac (Ri the Elder) / Dolce=Eleazar About 1120-1195 Isaac of Worms d.1195 d.1220 Elhanan d. 1184 Judah Sir Leon of Paris 1166-1224 Samuel



APPENDIX II

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. THE WORKS OF RASHI

A critical revision of Rashi's works remains to be made. They were used to such an extent, and, up to the time when printing gave definiteness to existing diversities, so many copies were made, that some of the works were preserved in bad shape, others were lost, and others again received successive additions.

1. BIBLICAL COMMENTARIES. - They cover nearly all the twenty - four books of the Bible.

Job. - "On Job the manuscripts are divided into series, according to whether or not they break off at xl. 28 of the text. The one Series gives Rashi's commentary to the end; the other, on the ground that Rashi's death prevented him from finishing his work, completes the commentary with that of another rabbi, R. Jacob Nazir" (Arsene Darmesteter). Geiger attributes this Supplementary commentary, which exists in several versions, to Samuel ben Meir; others attribute it to Joseph Kara. Some regard it as a compilation; others, again, assert that the entire commentary was not written by Rashi.

Ezra and Nehemiah.- Some authors deny that Rashi composed commentaries on Ezra and Nehemiah.

Chronicles. - It is certain that the commentary on Chronicles, which does not occur in the good manuscripts, and which was published for the first time at Naples in 1487, is not to be ascribed to Rashi. This was observed by so early a writer as Azulal, and it has been clearly demonstrated by Weiss (Kerem Hemed, v., 232 et seq.). It seems that Rashi did not comment upon Chronicles at all (In spite of Zunz and Weiss). Concerning the author of the printed commentary there is doubt. According to Zunz (Zur Geschichte und Literatur, p.73), it must have been composed at Narbonne about 1130-1140 by the disciples of Saadla (?).

2. TALMUDIC COMMENTARIES. - Rashi did not comment on the treatises lacking a Gemara, namely, Eduyot, Middot (the commentary upon which was written by Shemaiah), and Tamid (in the commentary on which Rashi is cited). It is calculated that, in all, Rashi commented on thirty treatises (compare Azulai, Shem ha-Gedolim, s. v., Weiss, and below, section B, 2).

Pesahim. - The commentary on Pesahim from 99b on is the work of Rashbam.

Taanit. - So early a writer as Emden denied to Rashi the authorship of the commentary on Taanit; and his conclusions are borne out by the style. There was a commentary on Taanit cited by the Tossafot, which forms the basis of the present commentary; and this may have belonged to the school of Rashi.

Moed Katan. - The commentary on Moed Katan is attributed by Reifmann to Gershom (Monatsschrift, III). According to B. Zomber (Rashi's Commentary on Nedarim and Moed Katan, Berlin, 1867), who shows that Gershom's commentary is different, the extant commentary is a first trial of Rashi's and was later recast by him. This would explain the differences between the commentary under consideration and the one joined to the En Jacob and to Rif, which is more complete and might be the true commentary by Rashi. These conclusions have been attacked by Rabbinowicz (Dikduke Soferim, II), who accepts Reifmann's thesis. Zomber replied in the Moreh Derek, Lyck, 1870; and Rabbinowicz in turn replied in the Moreh ha-Moreh, Munich, 1871. To sum up, both sides agree in saying that the basis of the present commentary was modified by Rashi or by some one else. According to I. H. Weiss various versions of Rashi's Commentary were current. The most incomplete is the present one. That accompanying Rif is more complete, though also not without faults.

Nedarim. - The commentary on Nedarim, from 22b to 25b, may contain a fragment by R. Gershom. Nor, to judge from the style, does the remainder seem to belong to Rashi. Good writers do not cite it. Reifmann attributes it to Isaiah da Trani, Zomber to the disciples of Rashi.

Nazir. - Several critics deny to Rashi the authorship of the commentary on Nazir. Although there are no strong reasons for so doing, the doubt exists; for differences are pointed out between this and the other commentaries. P. Chajes holds that Rashi's disciples are responsible for the commentaries on Nedarim and Taanit.

Zebahim. - The commentary on Zebahim is corrupt and has undergone interpolations; but there are no strong reasons why it should not be ascribed to Rashi.

Baba Batra. - Rashbam completed his grandfather's commentary on Baba Batra from 29a on, or, rather, later writers supplemented Rashi's commentary with that of his grandson. This supplement is to be found at the Bodlelan in a more abridged and, without doubt, in a more authentic form.

Makkot. - The commentary on Makkot, from 19b on, was composed by Judah ben Nathan (see note in the editions). It seems that a commentary on the whole by Rashi was known to Yomtob ben Abraham.

Horaiot. - The commentary on Horaiot was not written by Rashi (Reifmann, Ha-Maggid xxi. 47-49).

Meilah. - It is more certain that the commentary on Meilah was not written by Rashi. Numerous errors and additions have been pointed out. According to a manuscript of Halberstamm it would belong to Judah ben Nathan.

Keritot and Bekorot. - The commentary on Keritot is not Rashi's, and that on Bekorot, after 57b, according to Bezalel Ashkenazi, is also not Rashi's.

3. PIRKE ABOT. - The commentary on the Pirke Abot, printed for the first time at Mentone In 1560, was cited by Simon ben Zemah Duran (d. 1444) as being by Rashi. But Jacob Emden (d. 1776) denies Rashi's authorship, and justly so. One manuscript attributes the commentary to Isaiah da Trani, another to Kimhi. Though the numerous copies present differences, it is not impossible that they are derived from a common source, which might be Rashi's commentary; for despite some diffuseness in certain passages, the present commentary is in his style. The Italian laazim may have been made by Italian copyists.

4. BERESHIT RABRAH. - The commentary on Bereshit Rabbah. According to A. Epstein (Magazin of Berliner, xiv. Ha-Hoker I), this commentary, incorrectly printed (the first time at Venice, 1568), is composed of two different commentaries. The basis of the first is the commentary of Kalonymos ben Sabbatai, of Rome; the second is anonymous and of later date. A third commentary exists in manuscript, and is possibly of the school of Rashi.

Mention should be made of a commentary on the Thirtytwo Rules by R. Jose ha-Gelili, attributed to Rashi and published in the Yeshurun of Kobak.

5. RESPONSA. - The Responsa of Rashi have not becn gathered together into one collection. Some Responsa mixed with some of his decisions occur in the compilations already cited and in the following Halakic compilations: Eben ha-Ezer by Eliezer ben Nathan (Prague, 1670), Or Zarua by Isaac ben Moses of Vienna (I-II. Zhitomir, 1862; III-V, Jerusalem, 1887), Shibbole ha-Leket by Zedekiah ben Abraham Anaw (Wilna, 1887, ed. Buber), Mordecai, by Mordecal ben Hillel (printed together with Rif), Responsa by Meir of Rothenberg (Cremona, 1557; Prague, 1608; Lemberg, 1860; Berlin, 1891-92; Budapest, 1896), etc. (see below, section B, and Buber, Introd. to Sefer ha-Orah, pp.152 et seq.)

6. In rabbinical literature we find quotations from Responsa collections bearing upon special points in Talmudic law, such as ablutions, the making and the use of Tefillin, the Zizit, the order of the Parashiot, the blessing of the priests, the ceremony of the Passover eve, the slaughter of animals, the case of diseased animals, impurity in women, etc.

7. These collections have penetrated in part into the SEFER HA- PARDES, the MAHZOR VITRY, and the other compilations mentioned in chap. IX. Upon this point see chap. IX and articles by A. Epstein and S. Poznanski published in the Monatsschrift, xli.

8. THE LITURGICAL POEMS by Rashi, some of which are printed in the collections of Selihot of the German ritual, are enumerated by Zunz in Synagogale Poesie des Mittelalters, Berlin, 1865, pp.252-4.

Three books have been wrongly attributed to Rashi: a medical work, Sefer ha-Refuah; a grammatical work, Leshon Limmudim, actually composed by Solomon ben Abba Mari of Lunel; and an entirely fanciful production called Sefer ha- Parnes (incorrect for Sefer ha-Pardes).

B. THE EDITIONS OF RASHI's WORKS

1. THE BIBLICAL COMMENTARIES 1. - According to A. Darmesteter "twenty different editions have been counted of Rashi's commentary, complete or partial, without the Hebrew text. As for the editions containing the Bible together with Rashi's commentary, their number amounts to seventeen complete editions and 155 partial editions, of the latter of which 114 are for the Pentateuch alone." The list of these editions is to be found in Furst, Bibliotheca judaica (Leipsic, 1849, 2d vol. 1851), II, pp.78 et seq.; Steinschneider, Catalogue of the Hebrew Books in the Bodleian Library (Berlin, 1852-1860), col. 2340-57; Ben Jakob, Ozar ha-Sefarim (Wilna, 1887), pp.629 et seq. The first two works enumerate also the super- commentaries on Rashi.

II. Latin Translations. - Besides numerous partial translations, also listed in the works of Furst and Steinschneider, a complete translation exists by J. F. Breithaupt, Gotha, 1710 (Pentateuch) and 1713-1714 (Prophets and Hagiographa) in quarto.

III. German Translations. - L. Haymann, R. Solomon Iarchi. Ausfuhrlicher Commentar uber den Pentateuch. 1st vol., Genesis, Bonn, 1883, in German characters and without the Hebrew text. Leopold Dukes, Rashi zum Pentateuch, Prague, 1833-1838, in Hebrew characters and with the Hebrew text opposite. J. Dessaner, a translation into Judaeo-German with a vowelled text, Budapest, 1863. Some fragmentary translations into Judaeo-German had appeared before, by Broesch, in 1560, etc.

2. THE TALMUDIC COMMENTARIES. - All the editions of the Talmud contain Rashi's commentary. Up to the present time forty-five complete editions of the Talmud have been counted.

3. RESPONSA. - Some Responsa addressed to the rabbis of Auxerre were published by A. Geiger, Melo Hofnaim, Berlin, 1840. Twenty-eight Responsa were edited by B. Goldberg, Hofes Matmonim, Berlin, 1845, thirty by J. Muller, Reponses faites par de celebres rabbins francais et lorrains des xie et xiie siecles, Vienna, 1881. Some isolated Responsa were published in the collection of Responsa of Judah ben Asher (50a, 52b), Berlin, 1846, in the Ozar Nehmad II, 174, in Bet-Talmud II, pp.296 and 341, at the end of the study on Rashi cited below in section C, etc.

4. THE SEFER HA-PARDES was printed at Constantinople in 1802 according to a defective copy. The editor Intercalated fragments of the Sefer ha-Orah, which he took from an often illegible manuscript.

THE MAHEOR VITRY, the existence of which was revealed by Luzzatto, was published according to a defective manuscript of the British Museum, under the auspices of the literary Society Mekize Nirdamim, by S. Hurwitz, Berlin, 1890-1893, 8.

C. CRITICAL WORKS OF REFERENCE

Book I. Chap. 1. - On the situation of the Jews In France in general, the following works may be read with profit: Zunz, Zur Geschichte und Literatur, Berlin, 1845. Gudemann, Geschichte des Erziehungswesens und der Cultur der Juden in Frankreich und Deutschland, Vienna, 1880, 8 (Hebrew translation by Frledberg under the title Ha-Torah weha- Hayim, ed. Achiassaf, Warsaw, 1896).

Berliner, Aus dem Leben der deutschen Juden im Mittelalter, Berlin, 1900.

Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, 1896. Concerning Gershom ben Judah, see Gross, Gallia judaica, Paris, 1897, pp.299 et seq.

Chap. II-IV.-Works in general. Besides the accounts of Rashi in the works of the historians of the Jewish people and literature (especially Graetz, Geschichte der Juden, Leipsic, 1861, vol. vi; English translation published by the Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, 1895, vols. iii and iv; Hebrew translation by L. Rabbinovitch, Warsaw, 1894, vol. iv), there are two most important studies of Rashi:

1. Zunz, Salomon ben Isaac, genannt Rascht, in Zunz's Zeitschrift fur die Wissenschaft des Judenthums, 1823, pp.277-384. Additions by Zunz himself in the preface to Gottesdienstliche Vortrage, and in the catalogue of the library at Leipsic, by Berliner in the Monatsschrift xi and xii, by Klein, ibid. xi. One appreciates the originality of this study all the more if one reads in the Histoire litteraire de la France, xvi., the passage in which are collected all the legends retailed concerning Rashi in the world of Christian scholars at the time when Zunz wrote.

Zunz's essay was translated into Hebrew and enriched with notes by Samson Bloch, Vita R. Salomon Isaki, Lemberg 1840, 8. Second edition by Hirschenthal, Warsaw, 1862. The essay was abridged by Samuel Cahen in the Journal de l'Institute historique, I, and plagiarized by the Abbe Etienne Georges, Le rabbin Salomon Raschi (sic) in the Annuaire administratif ... du departement de l'Aube, 1868. Compare Clement-Mullet, Documents pour servir a l'histoire du rabbin Salomon fils de Isaac in the Memoires de la Societe d'Agriculture ... de l'Aube, xix.

2. I. H. Weiss, R. Salomon bar Isaac (in Hebrew), in the Bet Talmud II, 1881-82, Nos. 2-10 (cf. iii. 81). Off- print under the title Biographien judischer Gelehrten, 2nd leaflet, Vienna, 1882.

Other works on Rashi are: M. H. Friedlaender, Raschi, in Judisches Litteraturblatt, xvii. M. Grunwald, Raschi's Leben und Wirken, ibid. x.

Concerning the date of Rashi's death, see Luzzatto, in the Orient, vii. 418.

Book II. Chap. V. - Concerning the laazim see A. Darmesteter in the Romania I.(1882), and various other essays reprinted in the Reliques scientifiques, Paris, 1890, vol. i. The deciphering of the laazim by Berliner in his edition of the commentary on the Pentateuch is defective, and that of Landau in his edition of the Talmud (Prague, 1829; 2d ed., 1839) is still more inadequate. A. Darmesteter's essay on the laazim of all the Biblical commentaries will soon appear.

Chap. VI. - On Moses ha-Darshan there is a monograph by A. Epstein, Vienna 1891; and on Menahem ben Helbo one by S. Poznanski, Warsaw, 1904.

Concerning the Biblical commentaries see: A. Geiger, Nite Naamanim, oder Sammlung aus alten schatzbaren Manuscripten, Berlin, 1847.

Parshandata, die Nordfranzosische Ezegetenschule, Leipsic, 1855.

Antoine Levy, Die Exegese bei den franzosischen Juden vom 10 bis 14 Jahrhundert (translated from the French), Leipsic, 1873.

Nehemiah Kronberg, Raschi als Exeget ... , Halle [1882]. In Winter und Wunsehe, Die judische Litteratur, ii, Berlin, 1897, Die Bibelexegese, by W. Bacher.

Chap. VII. - See especially the above mentioned essay of Weiss, and by the same author, Dor Dor we-Dorschaw, Zur Geschichte der judischen Tradition, Vienna, iv, 1887.