Rashi Roundup

In the world of Jewish learning, understanding Rashi is one of the most basic—and the most difficult—skills you’ll have to master.

Rashi’s commentaries on the Torah and the Talmud are indispensable and the first ones any scholar consults. But his commentaries are most-often found in what’s come to be known as “Rashi-script�—a way of writing so different from normal Hebrew print or cursive that it’s almost like learning to write a new language. 

If it’s so challenging to read, why not skip it? As one of our discussion board posters commented: If you want to understand the Jewish point of view, you have to read commentaries. That is to say, you need the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, the Word and its Interpretation.

Chabad.org offers a full English text of the Tanakh with English Rashi. Rashi Yomi, which also provides English Rashi along with a Hebrew text (all in a searchable database), also strives to teach you HOW Rashi works and what his commentaries mean.

When you’re ready to move on to Hebrew Rashi, Torah School offers an interactive crash course in Rashi script. Study up, then test your skills with this fun game from the Jewish Theological Seminary! 

Talmud

Pronounced: TALL-mud, Origin: Hebrew, the set of teachings and commentaries on the Torah that form the basis for Jewish law. Comprised of the Mishnah and the Gemara, it contains the opinions of thousands of rabbis from different periods in Jewish history.

Torah

Pronunced: TORE-uh, Origin: Hebrew, the Five Books of Moses.