(acoustic guitar music)
- [Narrator] Welcome to
the Jews and history.
Rashi: A Light After the Dark Ages.
Set in the 11th century,
Rashi is about a man.
An extraordinary medieval
French scholar who lived
in the years just before the
Crusade's reign of terror.
Rashi's legacy is in the
clarity and timelessness
of his commentaries on
the Bible and the Talmud.
Rashi became, and still is, not
the just the most reproduced
and widely studied
commentary on the Bible,
but one of the strongest
forces and role-models
in Jewish and World history.
In this age of the millennium,
with renewed interest in the Bible,
Rashi's almost 1,000-year-old commentary
continues to stand out.
To understand Rashi is to
understand the story of the Jews.
So come back into history, to
France, and through one man
enter a world that began
with the belief in one God.
(horses neigh)
One can always see things
more clearly in retrospect,
so it is here, near Notre
Dame, in Place de Greve,
150 years after Rashi died,
that we begin our story.
Here, in 1240, Louis IX of France
ordered the public burning of the Talmud.
Perhaps if he really
understood what he was burning
he might never have dared to do so.
Just before this outrage,
from the 9th century,
when Charlemagne invited
the Jews to leave Babylon
and settle in France, till
the middle of the 10 century,
for a very brief period of
time, there was relative peace
between the Jews and
their Christian neighbors.
It was during this
peace, in the year 1040,
that Rashi was born.
Rashi was only about eight
years old when he left
his home town, Troyes, on
his way to Worms and Mainz,
the centers of Jewish learning.
After years of study, now
married with two daughters,
Rashi chose to go back home to Troyes,
to lead the Jewish community
in which he was born.
- Rabbeinu, Rabbeinu.
- Ah, these stay with me.
- Our loss is Troyes' gain,
Rabbi Shlomo.
- Rabbeinu, I have a full set
of Rabbeinu Gershom's Talmud.
I also have a full set of
the yeshiva's commentary,
a kuntres on almost every
volume of the Talmud.
- You're going to need
a lot more than books
and commentaries to be
a leader, Rabbi Shlomo.
- Ah, Rabbeinu, I don't be a leader,
I just want to be a rabbi.
I want to study, and write my kuntresim.
- Yes, you must write.
You have a gift.
And your commentary is the
next generation of Torah.
But you must lead, too.
- (laughs) Lead, too?
My studies and my vineyard
will keep me busy enough.
Rabbeinu, the books have
never taught me how to lead.
- You never have to be
afraid to lead, Yitzchaki.
You just lead by example,
that's all you need to know.
Now, go.
And remember, Yitzchaki,
your copy of the Talmud
has been preserved since
the Jews came to France
from Babylon.
Don't change even a letter.
- Of course, Rabbeinu.
(bell rings)
- Rabbi Shlomo.
Mainz will never be the same without you.
- Nor I without Mainz, Monsignor Lutine.
- Have I managed to
convince you of anything?
- Of your friendship.
- Oh, you had that long ago.
- And that to understand the Bible,
one must study Talmud.
- I convinced you of that?
- (laughs) The more you
argued against it, my friend,
the more I was convinced of it.
- I see was I wasting my breath, wasn't I?
- No, no, not so.
We learn from everyone.
Perhaps even more from
those with whom we disagree.
- Well, I will have to find someone else
with whom to disagree.
Be careful, the roads are not safe.
Especially for a Jew.
- Do not worry, Monsignor Lutine.
The roads are filled with merchants
going to the Troyes fair.
With God's help, we'll be fine.
- [Wagon driver] Allez, allez!
- Stop, thief!
- Cheat!
I might not be Jewish, but I do know
what 12 lengths of flax looks like.
And that's not and never
will be 12 lengths.
- But this is 12 lengths,
12 Troyes lengths.
I don't know what this
is where you come from,
but here in Troyes, this is 12 lengths.
Here, one, two, three, four--
- I am from Troyes, and you know that!
Give me that.
Bring the official measure.
(crowd mutters)
You see?
Your measure is short.
- [Crowd] Cheat, cheat!
- Rabbeinu, this is not the first time
a Jew cheated a non-Jew in Troyes.
- It is the first time since I got here.
And the last.
- Rabbi, in all due respect,
there are more important
considerations in Troyes
at this moment than a business
confrontation at the fair.
Believe me, it's just as often
a non-Jew cheating a Jew.
- We must always remember
what the nation of Amalek
did to the Jewish people in the desert.
The Torah commands us to do so.
- Amalek?
- Deuteronomy, Chapter 25, Verse 17.
Here it is.
This is where God tells us
of Amalek's savage attack.
It happens right after the
Jewish people complain to Moses
about their lack of faith in God
to provide food and
sustenance in the desert.
But look, look at the context.
The reminder about Amalek
comes right after God tells us
about the laws of weights and
measures in the marketplace.
Do you think that's a coincidence?
No.
There's no coincidence in the Bible.
When you cheat on weights and measures,
you demonstrate a lack
of faith in God's ability
to provide for you.
In the Torah, and is Jewish history,
what follows unethical behavior
is, God forbid, Amalek.
- Come, let us go to the evening service.
It is our first prayer
service with our new rabbi.
- Not you, Herman.
You go straight to the
merchant, and beg forgiveness.
Your prayers can wait.
- [Narrator] Rabbi Shlomo quickly became
the spiritual leader of the
Jewish community of France.
He continued his writings,
and modestly introduced them
to Troyes in the third person,
calling them the works of
Shi, an acronym for his
name, Shlomo Yitzchaki,
Solomon the son of Isaac.
The Jews of Troyes, in a name change
that would sweep the world,
and take a permanent place
in Jewish history, added and
an R for Rabbeinu, our rabbi,
to the front of the name to make it Rashi.
Our rabbi, Shlomo Yitzchaki.
Some say that Rashi stands for more,
for Rabban Shel Yisrael,
Teacher of Israel.
Rashi became as much as
acronym of endearment
as of reverence.
- Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, shalom aleichem.
- Aleichem shalom.
You know me?
- (laughs) The first copy
of Rabbeinu's commentary
on the marriage tractate reached
Algiers just before I left.
It was an event.
- And what brings a fine judetois
all the way from Algiers?
France has more than its
share of quill and ink.
- Ah, Rabbeinu, I've developed
a new mixture for ink.
It dries faster, lets you work quicker.
- It's not made on the sabbath, is it?
- My ink? (laughs)
Heaven forbid.
The students of the great
Rabbi Alfasi use my ink.
The entire Babylonian Talmud
has been copied with my ink,
many times over.
Here, here.
Run your hand over that.
- Hm. Good.
Very good.
- [Narrator] Located about
90 miles southeast of Paris,
and at the junction of
two main trade routes
leading to Italy and the Near East,
Troyes brought out the
cosmopolitan side of Rashi.
But it was his Torah scholarship
that really flourished.
At first it was just
the Talmud commentary,
tractate by tractate, law
by lay, debate by debate.
Written in Babylon as a
commentary to the oral law
nearly 700 years before
the Jews came to France,
the Talmud became forever
more accessible and alive
through the work Rashi
started in Mainz and Worms.
But as he grew older, Rashi
took on a new commentary,
so concise, insightful,
and sweet, that it would
forever be known as his
gift to the Jewish people
and to the world.
(whispers)
- Ah? (laughs)
Yes, yes, my livelihood.
And the source of my faith in God.
I have a regular market,
mostly local Christians.
- Ah, winemaking.
The special gift to the Jews of Champagne,
a noble profession.
- Noble, only because it
allows time to study Torah.
- Well, yes, it is
difficult to learn Torah
when your mind is constantly
worrying about making a living.
What exactly are you working
on now, Rabbi Shlomo?
- I have started a commentary
on the Five Books of Moses.
- Ah, well there is a need.
Textual or the hidden meaning?
- I always stick to the strict
interpretation of the text,
to understand the plain meaning.
The simplicity of God's word.
As you would expect from
a rabbi as French as I am.
But at the same time, I try
to not forget the stories
and the folklore that have
passed through the generations.
- Midrashim, yes that too is Torah.
Ah, the transmission of Torah.
My family's livelihood for centuries.
But Rabbeinu,
what about the mysteries of the Torah?
The concealed messages?
- Oh...
I leave that to the commentaries
from your side of the world.
- You're afraid of the hidden meaning.
- Afraid?
No, no.
What I'm afraid of is a
drought that will ruin my crop.
Or the local governor raising my taxes,
or taking away a Jew's right to own land.
- Well then you are afraid.
- Call it what you will.
- But it takes a deep man to
write a simple commentary.
- But Moreinu, wasn't
the transmission of Torah
supposed to be an oral transmission only?
- Yes, it was.
And many believe that it
should continue to be so.
But it was the Jewish year
3949, and Reb Yehuda Hanasi
saw a new Amalek, the Romans.
He feared that their
oppression would cause the loss
of the oral tradition, and he took action.
(speaking Hebrew)
Exactly.
There are times we must
take action for God,
so that His Torah should not be destroyed.
What action do you think
the Psalmist meant?
War, revenge?
Writing it down,
committing it to parchment.
That's the action Reb Yehuda Hanasi meant.
To prevent the oral law from, God forbid,
just drifting off into history.
Writing it down.
What was the next action to be taken?
- Writing down the Gemara,
the commentary on the Mishnah.
- When?
- 300 years later.
- Good.
And ever since, the
act of preserving Torah
has become a part of history.
The Talmud we have was perfectly preserved
by Rabbeinu Gershom--
- [All] The Light of the Exile.
- All the kuntresim that circulate.
Even your note-taking.
All this is Torah.
- [Narrator] In an age of illiteracy,
and in one of the truly
remarkable parentheses
in the history of education,
Rashi taught his daughters
to read and write both Hebrew and French.
With no sons, and in
order to meet the demands
of his kuntres, he shared
with them the complex language
of the Talmud,
the intricacy of her thought,
the beauty of her logic.
- Of course the employer can
keep the worker's clothes.
The law is clear: if a
worker hauling vessels
breaks one of those vessels,
the worker is responsible,
it's clear.
- What's clear is that the
clothes the man left behind
that morning were all he had.
He shouldn't be held responsible.
- But the law says he is responsible.
- The law, but what about his dignity?
- Read, read, Yocheved.
(speaking Hebrew)
- Some porters negligently
broke vessels of wine
belonging to Rabba, the son of Rab Huna.
He seized their garments.
The workers complained to the rabbi.
"Return, return them their
garments," the rabbi ordered.
- Ha, he also says, pay them their wages.
- But, Papa, who should be paying whom?
- Well daughters, for a
change, you're both right.
The law is the law, Yocheved.
But there's another side to the law.
- Papa?
- Yes?
- What if you had sons?
- (laughs) If I had sons, Miriam,
you would have had brothers.
- But Papa, if you had sons,
would you have taught Torah
to me and Yocheved?
- I don't know, Miriam.
I really don't know.
Why is that so important?
- It's not, I suppose.
- Here, read.
Proverbs, Chapter 2, Verse 20.
(speaking Hebrew)
- So that you may walk
in the ways of good men.
- In the ways of good men means
to sometimes look beyond
the letter of the law.
- But by definition the
law is ethical and moral,
right Papa?
- Yes, but not always,
didn't Papa just say
we should sometimes look beyond the law?
- Yocheved, Miriam.
Your Torah is as sweet to me
as any son's Torah could ever be.
- [Narrator] Rashi's family
grew in size and Torah.
His daughters, Yocheved and Miriam,
married two Talmud scholars,
Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehudah ben Nathan,
who would both write Torah
commentaries of their own.
Their children and grandchildren
would also become scholars
and leaders of the
French Jewish community.
Together, they would be
known as the House of Rashi,
a tribute not just to Rashi himself,
but to the transmission of Torah
which he so nobly stood for.
- It looks so powerful, Grandpapa.
- Powerful, but gentle.
Watch how she enters her nest.
She'll never go in suddenly
and scare off her young.
- [Narrator] When you study Rashi,
you are always amazed at how much he knew
about so many different things.
About goldsmithing, and raising cattle.
Building castles, and botany.
Trade routes, the tides of the
sea, the customs of nobility.
- She first beats her wings,
and makes noises to wake them up.
- Deuteronomy, 32:11.
- Good.
As an eagle stirs up her nest,
that's how God led our
people out of Egypt.
Gently, God led us out gently.
- [Narrator] To understand Torah
and its application to everyday life,
Rashi's attention to detail was precise.
So precise that in over 3,000 instances
he resorts to his command of French
to give the exact meaning of the word.
A command so pure and perfect that today
it is used by scholars in
their study of Old French.
- She's hardly even touching them.
Look.
- Hovers over her young.
- Spreads her wings, takes them,
and bears them on her wings.
- Does God have wings, Grandpapa?
- (laughs) It's a Mashal,
Shmuel, an allegory.
It's easier to understand an eagle
than to understand God himself.
- [Narrator] History tells us very little
about Rashi's wife.
Which intimates that she could
have died at an early age.
If true, it gives one
a deeper understanding
of the closeness he
developed with his daughters.
Besides vintner, scholar, and rabbi,
Rashi was also dayan, head
judge of the beis din,
the Troyes Jewish court.
Here, Rashi's interpretation of Jewish law
was put to a variety of practical issues,
concerning divorce,
relationship with the Christian community,
and business matters.
Much of what we know about
Rashi's life and attitudes
comes from the record of
his rulings in Jewish law.
- Rabbis, I am a man of charity.
There isn't a Jew in Troyes
who doesn't know that.
But I have explained to
the rabbis, I took an oath.
These men are my witnesses.
I swore in front of them
that under no circumstances
would I support or give money
to the community's Jewish pauper fund.
I give my charity on my own,
not through the community.
- Your oath is an invalid
oath, Monsieur Jacques.
- Invalid?
Everyone knows the power of an oath
witnessed by two valid witnesses,
and these men are valid, Rabbi.
- I do not question the
validity of your witnesses.
I question the validity of your oath.
You cannot swear an oath
against the community,
because the community is more
powerful than any individual.
Your oath is invalid.
- I swore it in the name
of God, ask these men.
- These men witnessed
nothing more than perhaps
an idle utterance of God's name.
(audience murmurs)
Monsieur Jacques, you must
continue to be a man of charity.
Give on your own, directly
to people in need,
but not at the expense of the community.
- Rabbeinu, I used the
name of God in vain.
- Perhaps, Monsieur
Jacques, but think about it.
The community will grow
because of all this.
Now go, you don't belong in a beis din.
- [Narrator] Although
his peaceful relationship
with the Troyes Christian
community was well known,
Rashi was apprehensive.
His concern, assimilation,
would continue through the 20th century.
Only later would Rashi
add fear of physical harm
and persecution.
- We do business with
the Christian community.
I trust them every day with loans.
You give them credit with your wines,
our relationship is fine.
- But sharing Torah with the Church?
Now that's a whole other matter.
What exactly did Bishop Lutine say?
- He said he wants a closer relationship
with the original Hebrew texts
through public dialog with
you on the book of Isaiah.
- Isaiah?
- Yes.
- Hmm.
I knew this bishop when he
was a young priest in Mainz.
I learned back then there are differences
that we can never reconcile.
This kind of interaction
can only lead to trouble.
- We must do something,
we can't just ignore this.
He expects to meet with you personally
before the end of the coming week.
- But a public dialogue?
- The kuntres.
What if we send the bishop
a copy of your commentary on Isaiah?
- That could work.
Yes, I think that would work.
- Against my better judgment.
Do it.
- I was expecting the
father-in-law, not the son-in-law.
- My father-in-law couldn't come
because he couldn't agree
to the public dialogue.
- This wouldn't be our first dialogue.
- He sends his best personal regards
and congratulates you on
being appointed bishop.
- I don't want his
congratulations, I want him.
- This will represent him.
- This?
I don't want this.
I want Rabbi Shlomo himself.
(laughing)
- Ah, shalom aleichem.
And how are the Jews of Algiers?
- To tell you the truth Rabbeinu Shlomo,
I haven't been back to Algiers
since the last time we met.
I have been to Yerushalayim.
- Ah, I haven't even
left the city of Troyes,
and you've been to Jerusalem and back.
- Oh, but I haven't written
the world's finest commentary on Torah.
Some copies of Rabbeinu's kuntres
have reached the Holy Land.
- I always think of Torah as
flowing from there to here.
Not the other way around.
- There's so much happening
in the world today.
The Jews of Yerushalayim are frightened.
- Of what?
- of the Christians.
More and more come every year,
from Germany and even
from right around here.
The see the Holy Land as theirs.
- But don't the Muslims control Jerusalem?
What are the Jews afraid of?
- Ah, Rabbi Shlomo, when
extremists seek out their enemies,
they always find the Jews.
I understand parts of your commentary
have found their way to the Church?
- Hmm.
If we actively explain our ways,
we're accused of proselytizing.
If we refuse to cooperate,
we're accused of rejecting their messiah.
Sending the commentary was a compromise.
- Well then you are
afraid of repercussions.
- No, no, no, not afraid.
I'm, I'm, concerned, I'm apprehensive.
- Call it what you will. (laughs)
Well there's nothing wrong
with a little bit of fear, Rabbeinu.
Fear eternally keeps our people prepared.
And fear of God is the prerequisite
for living in the way of the Torah.
- Fear of God is fine.
Fear of anything else is weakness.
Showing it means you doubt
the validity of your actions.
- So you cannot accept
your own imperfections?
- God forbid.
I'm forever aware of my flaws.
- Stop being so hard
on yourself, Rabbeinu.
Only God himself is perfect,
and sometimes even he
doesn't seem to make any sense.
Your hand is guided, Rabbi Shlomo.
You're but the messenger.
We're all but messengers.
- But my commentary is now
representing the Jewish people.
It must be perfect.
- Well, no matter how perfect, Rabbeinu,
you can never win the word
games these extremists play.
Ultimately they'll resort to the sword.
A little fear will keep you
and Jews of Troyes on their toes.
- (laughs) Spoken by a man who
knows how to get in and out
of a country faster than any Jew I know.
(speaking Hebrew)
Blessed are you, Hashem our God.
King of the universe,
who has sanctified us
with His mitzvot.
And commanded us to sit in the sukkah.
- Amen.
Mori, there's so much to know.
Why did you make the
blessing over the food first,
and then the blessing over the sukkah?
Why not the other way around?
And do we make a prayer over
the sukkah each time we eat,
or just once a day?
What about mourners?
Can a mourner lead a service on a holiday?
- Rabbi Simcha, Rabbi Simcha.
Enough, enough with the details.
- [Narrator] Rabbi Simcha of Vitry,
Rashi's most diligent
student, carefully documented
his teacher's practice of Jewish
law for the Jewish holidays
in a volume called Machzor Vitry.
Machzor Vitry survived the
generations, and is to this day
one of our greatest halakhic
and historical resources.
- Rabbi Simcha, do you
know why we sit in a sukkah
for seven days?
- It makes us pious Jews.
- No, it makes us humble Jews.
It makes us realize where we come from.
Not from France, Babylon, or Rome.
But from a generation of
slaves who were freed,
and left to grow and learn
about God in the desert.
In little huts like these.
- Do we really need a
sukkah to make us remember?
- Judaism gives us concrete ways
to understand abstract ideas.
That's what all the details are about.
To remind us of who we are,
who we are responsible to.
Don't be fooled, Rabbi Simcha.
Jewish history is filled
with ups and downs.
Our French neighbors could
easily turn on us tomorrow.
And it won't be because of
our quaint little details.
- But Mori, our people are
protected by the local officials.
We even own land.
France has been good to the Jews.
Why such apprehension?
- I'm simply remarking on
the course of Jewish history
as I see it.
With God's help, we will agree to disagree
with our neighbors, in peace.
- Rabbeinu.
(speaking Hebrew)
Happy Sukkos.
I'm sorry to interrupt with bad news.
The blacksmith, Jolen, died suddenly.
The people are already
gathering for the funeral.
- Baruch dayan emes, blessed
is the righteous judge.
(mourners weep)
There are many wonderful
things to say about Jolen,
the blacksmith of Troyes.
But we are in the middle
of the festival of Sukkos,
and holidays take precedence
over our personal loss.
All eulogies and mourning
will be postponed
until after the festival.
I know this will be difficult.
It is natural to mourn
for the people we love.
We all feel deeply for you,
and we share your loss.
But Sukkos, the holiday of joy,
comes before your personal tragedy.
Say the kaddish.
(speaking Hebrew)
- [Narrator] What is unique
about Rashi's commentary
is its perfect blend of explanation,
storytelling, and morals.
Along with an absolute
commitment to clarifying simply
many of of the complexities
raised in each and every
letter, word, and phrase in the Torah.
- Grandpapa, it's a holiday.
Don't you ever take a
rest from your studying?
- (laughs) Actually, I find
examining the words of the Torah
quite enjoyable.
Here, try this.
The Torah talks about Jewish leaders.
It says, "Asher," "When a
king or Jewish leaders sins."
Anything strange about that?
- Sure, it should say, "im", "if."
If a king sins.
The Torah made a mistake.
- God forbid, my little Yitzchak.
There are no mistakes in the Torah.
Every nuance, every word,
every syllable is correct.
- Then why does it say "when"?
- Because the Torah is
telling us something about
the nature of human leadership.
Even though they be kings,
even though they have power,
even though they might
think themselves superior,
they are still human.
And no human in perfect.
No human can escape sin, mistakes.
- We learn all that from the word "when"?
- When a king sins, little
Yitzchak, not if a king sins.
- Tell me more, Grandpapa, tell me more.
- All right.
The blind man and the stumbling block.
Do you know that one?
- Sure, don't put a stumbling block
in front of a blind man, he'll trip.
- But what does it really say?
The word, Yitzchak, the words.
(speaking Hebrew)
- Don't give a stumbling
block in front of a blind man.
- Give a stumbling block?
Why "give"?
- OK, I give up.
What does "give a stumbling block" mean?
- (laughs) It's not just
what it means, Yitzchak,
it's how we interpret it,
what we learn from it.
It's easy to understand why it's wrong
to trip a blind person.
But the Torah wants us to learn more.
Sometimes even people
who can see are blind.
They're blind because they
lack knowledge or information.
The Torah, through it's choice of words,
tells us that we must equally
understand how wrong it is
to give misleading
information, bad advice,
to people who lack knowledge.
They too are blind.
They too must not be
given stumbling blocks.
- There is a problem.
Jolen's wife and sons are sitting shiva.
They have torn their garments
and are on the floor in mourning.
Your ruling has been trampled upon.
The community wants to hear from you.
- Where are they sitting?
- In their home.
Upstairs from Jolen's shop.
- Come, let's go.
- Rabbeinu, they have
refused your guidance.
- I'm going upstairs.
Come with me.
All of you.
Sit, sit.
Mourners do not stand.
Rabbeinu, please forgive us,
we couldn't feel the joy of Sukkos.
We had to mourn.
- And I wish I could mourn with you.
Jolen was a giant, nobody had
a bad word to say about him.
His life was a model for all of us.
It was very difficult for
me to not eulogize him.
I loved him, very much.
- Is it so bad that I
sit shiva on the holiday?
He was my husband.
- If your grief will not let
you celebrate then sit, sit.
- Mori, are you changing your ruling?
Were you wrong?
- No, my dear son-in-law, I
was not wrong in my ruling,
but I was wrong in my
judgment of their grief.
Let them come to accept
God's will in this fashion.
(speaking Hebrew)
(speaking Hebrew)
- May God comfort you
among the rest of the mourners
of Zion and Jerusalem.
(speaking Hebrew)
- [Narrator] Rashi was
not a political man,
but he was aware and
concerned about the events
and activities of his day.
In his very first commentary,
on the very first sentence
in the Bible, Rashi gives
the Torah's point of view
on the most important
political issue of his time.
- Rabbi, how are the
grapes in the Holy Land?
- The grapes in the Holy Land?
Holy, I suppose.
Why do you ask?
- I'm going with a group.
As soon as the trees begin to blossom.
We're going to make sure
the city of Jerusalem
is restored to the Christians.
- Jerusalem does not belong
to the Christians, monsieur.
- Oh, and who does it belong to?
The Jews?
- Monsieur Lionel, you
studied the Book of Genesis,
didn't you?
- Not as extensively as a
great scholar like yourself,
and not in the original,
as I'm sure you have.
But yes, all good Christians
have studied Genesis.
- Isn't it strange, Monsieur
Lionel, that the Bible,
which is really a book of laws
of codes, not a storybook,
begins with a story.
The story of creation.
Why not begin with a law?
A commandment?
- Certainly you have an answer, Rabbi?
- Yes, I do.
It is because, right from the beginning,
God wanted to tell us who the
city of Jerusalem belongs to.
Who the Holy Land belongs to.
Who the entire world belongs to.
- And who does it belong to, Rabbi?
- To Him.
(speaking Hebrew)
In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth.
He created it, it belongs to Him,
He can do anything he wants with it.
- And He wants the Christians to have it.
- Monsieur Lionel, I think we
should keep our conversations
to wine-related matters.
Theology, or should I say politics,
doesn't seem to agree with us.
Your wine, Monsieur Lionel.
- Papa, it's the middle of the day,
why are you still
wearing your prayer shawl
and your tefillin?
- Maybe I'm getting pious in my old age.
- Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, pious, never.
Papa, really.
What have you been working on?
- Mostly correspondence.
We've been so busy in the vineyards.
The courier's leaving tomorrow morning.
- Here, let me help.
- You answer this one.
You know this as well as I do.
- My dear Yusef, it is not a sin
if a man interrupts his grace after meals
in order to feed his animals.
The Torah itself commands
us to feed our animals
before we feed ourselves.
With Torah blessings.
To the rabbis of Auxerre,
regarding your reference
to my commentary on the Book of Ezekiel.
I made a mistake in that reference.
I was wrong.
I have gone through it with my grandson
and have corrected it.
Thank you for bringing this
matter to my attention.
To my dear, learned and
respected son-in-law in Worms.
I hereby inform you that I
have not retracted my opinion
and shall not retract it.
I refuse to cause any
financial loss to my people
by prohibiting the sale
of perfectly kosher meat.
It is clear to me that one
should be lenient in this matter.
Tells the Worms rabbis
that if they keep on
handing down prohibitions
they will soon lose their authority.
- That strong, Papa?
- It takes courage to exercise leniency.
Keep this matter quiet
and among the rabbis only.
The Worms community must not
be divided over this issue.
What portion of the Talmud
are you studying with Shmuel?
Has the little one started
to read French yet?
With blessings of good health
and prosperity, we miss you.
And make sure you add a couple
of words to your sister.
- Papa...
- [Narrator] Rashi stressed
the law above all else.
Nevertheless he also defended
simple Jewish customs
or minhagim, even if they
had to real legal basis.
Rashi felt that a custom
passed down from our fathers
must come from a holy source,
and therefore must be maintained.
Even if we are not prophets, he would say,
we are still the sons of prophets.
- Shalom aleichem.
- [All] Aleichem shalom.
- Come, read us the Aleph-Beit.
- Not yet.
- Aleph.
Beit.
Gimel.
- [Narrator] Among the earliest reference
to the education of
children is a holiday custom
found in Rabbi Simcha of Vitry's Machzor.
To truly appreciate this beloved ritual,
you have to appreciate the
secular ideal of education
of that day.
The secular ideal of education
was the ideal of obedience.
Rooted in the Augustinian
teaching that the birch,
the strap, and the cane are indispensable
to overcome ignorance.
Break your child's will
in order that he may not perish.
It should be forced to do as it is told,
even if you have to whip it 10 times.
- A Rashi for the next generation.
- But not yet as humble.
- [Narrator] In the Jewish
world of 11th century France,
making learning a positive
experience was the ideal.
This ideal created a
Jewish population who,
regardless of social standing,
wealth, or even scholarship,
made the study of Torah a daily routine.
Not only out of obligation,
not only out of commitment,
but out of love.
- Your words are as pleasant as honeycomb,
sweet to the soul, and
healing to the bones.
Now.
(applauding)
- Rabbi Solomon son of Issac?
- Yes.
- From Duke Godfrey of Bouillon.
- Did he say why he wants to see you?
- Copies of my commentary on
Isaiah have been circulated
by the Church.
- But did he say why he wants to see you.
- Here.
You read between the lines.
- He says he's leaving for Jerusalem,
and wants the opinion of
a holy man like yourself
as to the possibilities of
his recapturing the Holy City
for the Christians.
- Now I ask you, why could
he possibly need my opinion?
- But he's asking to see you.
- My dear son-in-law, I
haven't left the city of Troyes
in 25 years.
Not even to see my old
masters in Mainz or Worms.
Tell me, must I give in now
to the whims of this crusader?
(thunder crashes)
- So, bishop.
- He refuses to see you, Duke Godfrey.
He refuses to debate.
- He knows that nothing he would say
would make a difference.
He's smarter than you made him out to be.
- The Jews of Mainz have been attacked!
(crowd mutters)
The Jews of Mainz have been attacked!
Forced into the synagogue,
burned to the ground!
Mobs with swords killed them,
raped them.
There's nothing left!
(speaking Hebrew)
- Are they coming here?
- We're protected, King
Henry signed an edict.
- The Jews of Mainz were protected, too.
- They won't settle for anything less
than baptizing the
entire Jewish community.
- They might not even settle for that!
- We should have gone to see the duke.
- Should have, should have,
what difference does it make?
We didn't.
- Maybe it doesn't have
to happen in Troyes.
Maybe we can buy our safety.
- You can't buy zealots like
you buy kings and nobleman.
You don't even know who they are.
(door knocks)
- What do they want from us, Froco?
- A crusade is on its way to Jerusalem,
and the Jews just
happened to be in the way.
They want you to believe
what they believe,
they want everyone to
believe what they believe.
- And what do you believe, Froco?
- Monsieur Jacques, rabbis,
you are my friends and neighbors.
I am not one of them, most
of us are not one of them.
You must know that.
- Of course, we do know that.
- I thought it couldn't' happen here.
Not in France.
Not in France.
- [Narrator] The First Crusade
began its reign of terror
in 1096, towards the end of Rashi's life.
Jews in the Rhineland
communities, including mentors,
colleagues, and friends of
Rashi were tortured, killed,
and forcibly baptized.
The Jews of Troyes were
spared the bloody path,
but they weren't spared the terror.
(bells ringing)
- I see you have come
to greet me, old man.
- Not to greet you, Duke
Godfrey, but to make sure
you do not interrupt the study of Torah.
- I'm not coming with an
interruption, holy Jew.
You refused to come to
me, now I have come to you
with a bishop, an army,
and my plans of conquest.
- I know your bishop, I know your army.
And I know your plan of conquest.
What do you want from me?
- We are leaving for Jerusalem at dawn
with 200 ships and over 10,000 men.
What does an old Jew think of that?
- Why not ask your bishop?
He knows how I think.
- I am asking you.
- Then I'll tell you.
You will conquer Jerusalem, Duke Godfrey,
but you'll hold it for less than a week.
And if you return, you'll
return to Troyes beaten,
with two horses, no more.
- What makes you Jews so
sure you know so much?
I will ride back into Troyes in victory.
But should I return
with even three horses,
I will make you the
first order of business!
I will kill you and
everything Jewish around you!
To Jerusalem!
- [Soldiers] To Jerusalem!
- [Narrator] Legend says that Duke Godfrey
conquered Jerusalem and returned to Troyes
with three horses.
Eager to seek out Rashi,
he passed through the arches of the city,
and a huge boulder fell,
killing one of his horses.
History says however that Duke Godfrey
did capture Jerusalem
briefly, as Rashi predicted,
but died in the Holy Land shortly after.
The story about the boulder
and the horses remains legend.
In the last years of his
life, Rashi had to confront
disturbing questions in Jewish law
that were a result of the Crusades.
The French Jewish
communities were outraged
at fellow Jews who gave in
to the Christian demands.
Rashi saw things differently.
- Rabbis, you cannot for a moment
believe his claim against me.
Not more than two years ago,
this man left the Jewish
community, was baptized,
and only recently returned to Judaism.
- And what might his
being forcibly baptized
have to do with this claim
that you have refused payments
for the services he rendered?
- You can't believe a Jew
who allowed himself to be baptized.
- But I should believe you?
A man who publicly
embarrasses a repentant?!
How dare you remind this
man of his past weaknesses
in my beis din?
Or anywhere?
We will judge this
business case on it merits,
only on its merits.
- But Rabbeinu, Asher
ben Zev is living in sin.
(crowd murmurs)
- I was married while I
was living as a Christian,
but it was a Jewish
marriage to a Jewish woman,
with two witnesses and a minyan.
Rabbeinu, we were Jews in our hearts.
We let them baptize us, but
we never stopped being Jews.
They put a sword to our throat.
What could we do?
- Are the witnesses here?
Tell me what you saw.
- In a dark cellar,
late at night, this man,
Asher the son of Zev, then known as Sean,
handed a ring to that woman,
Rahel, the daughter of Yakov,
then known as Francesca.
And he said, you are
hereby sanctified to me
according to the laws of Moses and Israel.
(crowd murmurs)
- And what did you see?
- I saw the same thing, Rabbeinu.
(speaking Hebrew)
- A Jew, even though he
has sinned, is still a Jew.
This man is married, he is a Jew.
He has returned to his
people, and is welcome.
How would you have stood up to
the pressures he gave in to?
How would any of us stand up?
Are there are any more
business issues we must hear?
- [Narrator] Rashi not
only offered his opinion
in the courtroom,
but made his ruling come
alive in the synagogue.
(chanting Hebrew)
(chanting Hebrew)
- I would like to call up the next honor.
(speaking Hebrew)
- Asher, the son of Zev,
is honored with the lifting of the Torah.
(crowd murmurs)
(speaking Hebrew)
- [All] This is the Torah
that Moses put in front
of the children of Israel
in the name of God and the hand of Moses.
- Grandpapa, pick me up.
- There are only two things
that could get me to stop learning.
The harvest and you, my little Jacob.
(speaking Hebrew)
- Amen.
Grandpapa, can I watch you study alone?
- Study is not something you watch.
Study is something you do.
- But you argue with my father
when you study with him.
Who do you argue with
when you study alone?
- With myself.
The Prophet Yirmiyahu says that Torah
is like a rock split by a hammer, Jacob,
it ends up in many different pieces.
Sparks.
We don't really argue, we
have different points of view.
We disagree in order to understand.
- Can I disagree with you?
- Only when you know how to learn.
Then you can disagree all you want.
- I want to disagree now.
(Rashi laughs)
- He's a frisky young man, your grandson.
- I don't know what to do with him.
When did you arrive?
- I haven't really arrived.
I'm just passing through.
- As always.
Is there trouble in Spain?
How far have these mobs taken their venom?
- Italy, France, Germany.
But Spain will have its day.
Is that fear I hear in your voice?
Of you, Shlomo?
- Is there an end to all of this?
- Ah, Rabbeinu we must think of ourselves
as part of a chain.
Not a chain of suffering,
a chain of Torah.
There's no end, there's no beginning.
Look, you've taken Torah
straight from Rabbeinu Gershom.
- [Both] The Light of The Exile.
- Yes, and you've passed
it on to your sons-in-law.
Your grandson has started
a kuntres of his own.
Rabbi Simcha, Rabbi Shemiah,
you've built a house,
Reb Shlomo, a house of Torah.
The house of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki.
- If only I could know what would be
with my frisky little grandson.
- Well, surely he'll become very learned
and disagree with you.
And so will the others.
- I hope so.
I only hope so.
- [Narrator] For his remaining years,
Rashi stayed mostly at home,
and dictated to his scholarly grandson,
the son of Rabbi Meir,
who would later write
a widely accepted Talmudic
commentary of his own,
known as the Rashbam.
- Read the first part of
the Mishnah as a question.
Read the second part as an interpretation.
- Grandpapa, it takes me 50
words to write the same thing
you explain in two sentences.
- But you'll have many more
years to write them than I will.
- Grandpapa, why is this happening to us?
- Why is what happening?
- The killings, the fires, the baptisms?
- Arrogance.
Separating from the various
sources of man strength.
It all happens when man
thinks that, when we think,
we're above God's law.
- Is there nothing we can do?
- Pray.
Repent.
Learn Torah.
Live Torah.
Keep the chain alive.
Now, tell me again.
Why did Reb Ashi take
such a strong position?
- [Narrator] Always, the
Talmudist, the teacher,
the interpreter, Rashi was
never one to philosophize.
But sad and near death,
he did turn his feelings
directly to heaven,
in seven poetic prayers that he composed.
These prayers of petition, Slichos,
are still recited today.
(speaking Hebrew)
- Rabbi Yosef, son of Rabbi Hanina says,
that in the latter part of the Mishnah,
since he ate outside the
walls, the second time is...
- Tahor.
- Tahor.
Pure.
And the man himself for
the same reason is...
- Tahor.
(rending clothes)
- [Daughters] Baruch atah Hashem,
King of the universe, the true judge...
(sobbing)
(speaking Hebrew)
- [Narrator] In the Middle Ages,
before the days of record-keeping,
it is rare that we know
the actual date of a man's death.
But in the case of Rashi, a
beloved leader in his own time,
the date lived on in history.
The place of his burial,
however, is not known.
His works remain his monument.
(speaking Hebrew)
Rashi made Torah accessible to everyone,
from the giants of Torah who
would follow in his footsteps,
to the most ordinary.
To this day, even a Jew
with only the most basic
Jewish education prides himself
on his study of Chumash,
or Bible with Rashi.
(chanting Hebrew)
All of Rashi's grandchildren
became learned scholars.
Collectively they became known as Tosfos.
Each commenting directly
on their grandfather's text
as their way of continuing
the chain of Torah.
Little Jacob became Rabbeinu Tam,
and grew into the most famous
of all the grandchildren.
Throughout his commentary he
regularly argues with Rashi
on many issues, including
the order of the placement
of the parchments in tefillin.
But he was also his
grandfather's strongest defender,
and would later lead the
generation of Franco-German Jewry
who would most suffer at
the hands of the Crusades.
(chanting Hebrew)
(cheerful music)
