What did Rashi do?
Rashi is content to accept the responsibility of teaching us the correct pshat but does not take the trouble to explain why the Torah presents this halachic material in such a mysterious way. Rashi sees himself as completing the information of the Torah by making reference to the interpretations found in the vast body of literature known as the “oral Torah”. It seems to me that Rashi learned the material in a different way. He knew that Moshe taught the written Torah to the people and that as Moshe taught various instances of unclear formulation were dealt with. Moshe would teach the verse and then explain the interpretation that he had been taught at Mount Sinai. This was not a problem for Moshe or for the people who were his students. As time passed, there were more and more teachers of the Torah. Also, more and more questions were asked and answered. The material of the oral torah was still studied, as it was in Moshe’s time, but it was more difficult to locate. Eventually, the oral
He was only a glorified secretary. All he did was transmit the words of other people.” That man was fooled into his assessment by the fact that Rashi says in many places, “Lo shomati,” I did not hear [what was said about this topic], and therefore I cannot tell you the meaning or answer. This gives the impression that Rashi only transcribed whatever he heard. But this is a severe misunderstanding. Rashi’s commentaries are the basis for almost everything that followed him. Rashi himself seems to have been completely unaware of any special quality that he possessed. In his teshuvoh, he is unaware that he is the most luminous figure in his time and in his place, that he has no rival. There was no one else who even felt himself to be in the same category — of course not of the same stature as Rashi, but not even in the same category. All of Torah learning, in breadth and in depth, was built on this one man’s teaching. He was the master of all of French and Spanish Jewry and, with the pass
