Rashi's Grandson and the Family Business

This, then, is the line of Jacob: At seventeen years of age, Joseph tended the flocks with his brothers, as a helper to the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought bad reports of them to their father.

THIS IS THE LINE OF JACOB - Lovers of learning should know and understand that our sages taught us that no verse may legitimately be explained in a manner which contradicts the plain meaning of the text. While it is true that the Torah teaches and tells us by means of allusions, parables, laws and statutes, and through extended language and through methods of exegesis the 32 principles of R' Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yosi Haglili and the thirteen principles of Rabbi Yishmael. Exegetes of former times, thanks to their piety, relied exclusively on these drashot (i.e. allegorical and ethical interpretations of anomalies in the text of the Torah) which are primary, thereby neglecting a thorough study of the plain meaning of the text. Seeing that our sages stated, “do not burden your children overly with interpretation based on logic,” and they also said, “he who studies the written text of the Torah has accomplished something positive but has also failed to accomplish something positive, but on the other hand, he who has studied Talmud has chosen by far the best path [in study],” the result of such statements has been that students have not become used to studying the plain meaning of the text. This principle has been illustrated in the Tractate Shabbat [in the name of Rav Kahana] “I was already eighteen years old and had studied the entire Talmud, but had not ever been taught of the principle that, that the text of the Torah must not be interpreted in a manner which contradicts its plain meaning.” Also Rabbi Shlomo, my mother’s father enlightened the eyes of the diaspora [community] with commentaries on the entire Bible, intended to elucidate the plain meaning of the text. I, Shmuel, son of Rabbi Meir, [Rashi’s] son-in-law, have argued with him, and he admitted to me that if he had the opportunity, he would compose additional commentary according to the plain meanings which are discovered anew with each passing day. I am now presenting to the reader what earlier exegetes had to say [on our verse].

Intelligent people should know and understand that I have not come to explain halachot (laws), even though they are the they are the most important thing, as I explained [in my commentary] on Bereishit. While halachot and aggadot (midrashic stories) may be derived from the text, and some of these may be found in the commentaries of my mother's father, R' Shlomo (Rashi), may the memory of the righteous be a blessing. I have come to explain the simple meaning of the text, and will [only] explain rules and halachot according to common sense. And even so, the halachot are the most important thing, as our rabbis taught: the halacha uproots the scripture.

THIS IS THE LINE OF JACOB - “the following describes events and problems which Yaakov encountered in his life.” This exegesis is nonsense. Whenever the expression "The is the line of" occurs in the Bible, sometimes this word introduces the names of the people themselves, but often it talks about the grandsons of the party referred to...

(1) There are many Midrashic explanations and our Teachers have already collected them in their appropriate places in Genesis Rabbah and in other Midrashim. I, however, am only concerned with the simple meaning of Scripture and with such Aggadot (midrashic stories) that explain the words of Scripture in a manner that fits in with them.