RASHI (RABBI SHLOMO YITZCHAKI)

A grape grower living in Northern France, Rashi (1040-1105 C.E.) wrote the definitive commentaries on the Babylonian Talmud and the Bible. Rashi pulled together materials from a wide variety of sources, wrote them down in the order of the Talmud and the Bible for easy reference, and wrote them in such clear, concise and plain language that it can be appreciated by beginners and experts alike. Almost every edition of the Talmud printed since the invention of the printing press has included the text of Rashi's commentary side-by-side with the Talmudic text. Many traditional Jews will not study the Bible without a Rashi commentary beside it.  

Acronym (abbrevation) for Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki was considered the commentator par excellence. Rashi’s commentary on the Pentateuch (the Five Books of Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) as well as his commentary on the Talmud (Oral Torah) are considered absolutely basic to the understanding of the text to this very day. 

Rashi is considered to have been divinely inspired with the Ruach HaKodesh, the divine inspiration. The Ruach HaKodesh is considered the lowest level of prophecy. The Ruach HaKodesh makes it possible to perceive matters which lie outside the confines of natural human understanding, such as special knowledge or "concealed" Higher Knowledge.

Rashi was one of these blessed souls who was selected to help explain Hashem's law for the sea of the Jewish people through the generations.

Others considered to have the Ruach HaKodesh were the Rabbi Abuchatzeirah the Baba Sali, Rabbi Schneerson of Lubavitch, etc. 

Rashi didn't make things up on his own; rather, he drew on the entire oral tradition with the authentic Jewish understanding of Tanach and Talmud.  He is also much more comprehensive than most other commentators on both Tanach and Talmud; it would be very difficult to gain a proper understanding without his insights -- though if you had photographic memory and a decade to study the Talmud and midrashim, you might at least be able to find most of the sources for his commentary on the Tanach.   

Personally, I don't have photographic memory, nor do I have a decade to devote full time to studying Talmud and midrashim, so I'm very glad Rashi is there :-)

SOURCE

Judaism 101 [ http://www.jewfaq.org/sages.htm#Rashi ]

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