Christians and Christianity in Rashi's Commentaries. Overview and Disscusion of the Most Important Studies

Abstract

The article provides a critical analysis of both linguistic and historical aspects of selected Talmudic texts containing the preserved commentaries of Rashi, one of the most prominent medieval Jewish exegetes. It soon appeared that the undertaken studies would be hindered by the scarcity of source material on the one hand, and by the censorship of Talmudic manuscripts on the other. The implemented inductive study, which consists of lexical tracing of the words nosrim and minim in selected Talmudic texts, seemed to be a plausible solution. The presented study, which falls into the scope of theological and religious studies, argues that Rashi explains the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) above all as a rabbi, by showing the literal as well as the hidden meaning of the text. As the commentaries contain no elements of polemics or dispute with Christianity, it can be assumed that it is beyond his scope of interest. Even if such polemics is present implicite, it still cannot be considered as the purpose of the commentaries per se.