* Translated by Janine Muller Sherr
Tonight we mark the yahrzeit of Rashi, Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak, the greatest of the Torah and Talmud commentators. What can we learn from him? How can we try to emulate his outstanding personality?
1) Greatness. It’s absolutely extraordinary to seewhat a human being is capable of achieving. One person was able to provide a clear and comprehensive commentary for almost the entire Tanach and Talmud!
2) Concise is not superficial. Rashi’s commentary is succinct. He studied thousands of sources and midrashim and chose to highlight specific ideas that would help us achieve a clearer understanding of the Torah. When you read his commentary, you realize that it takes tremendous skill to be able toexpress ideas in a concise fashion.
3) Everything has meaning. One of the principles of Judaism is that every word in the Torah and Talmud is holy and has a message to convey to us. This is a remarkable way to view the world: There is nothing meaningless—everything hassignificance—and it is up to us to discover that purpose. Rashi focuses on words, places, and “small details” in order to shine a light on their role in the larger story.
4) New is not always better. In our current era where people are constantly promoting new and innovative ideas in order to have their voices heard, it is important to point out that Rashi does not focus on introducing novel concepts—instead, he listens humbly to the words of the Torah and our Sages and chooses carefully what to highlight and explain. His commentary channels the words of the sages and elucidates them in a clear and concise manner.
5) To admit when you don’t know the answer. It takes tremendous humility and integrity to write the words: “I don’t know,” but Rashi does thismany times in his Torah commentary. He could have easily skipped over the verses he couldn’t explain and not offer any commentary at all. But this exceptional rabbi— who achieved the greatest mastery of the Torah— was not ashamed to admit that he didn’t know everything. And perhaps it wasalso his way to encourage us to think deeper and figure out our own answers…
These are only some of the reasons why today — 921 years after his passing— millions of Jews continue to study Torah with Rashi, our most beloved teacher.
