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.
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