Between Innovation and Conservatism

This chapter explores the innovations that Rashi introduced. There is a degree of innovation in the attention Rashi devoted to interpreting the Bible and liturgical poems, in the breadth of his interpretative effort, and in the very transformation of the interpretative genre into the central intellectual activity within the Jewish society of his time—at first in France and Germany and ultimately beyond them. However, Rashi's four most important innovations are in the area of education. First is the openness and willingness to accept Torah teachings from all the Jewish centres in Europe and the Muslim lands, including Babylonia, the Land of Israel, Italy, Germany, Provence, and Spain. Second is critical analysis, while the third is Rashi's encouragement of literary production by students while they were still students. Fourth is his attitude to custom. In his willingness to abrogate some customs, Rashi took an independent path at odds with those of his contemporary Ashkenazi sages. The chapter then considers how Rashi attained his historic status.