Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak (1105-1040), known as Rashi (רש''י), is considered both a great commentator on the Bible and a great commentator on the Babylonian Talmud. Bible (תורה ותנ''ך) and Talmud begin with their commentaries. Because of his important contribution, he was known as one of the designers of Judaism as a whole, and Ashkenazi Judaism in particular.
Rashi was born in the city of Troyes, now Troyes in northern France. At the age of twenty, he went to study at the important yeshivas in Magnesia and Virmeiza in Germany. A central link in the Ashkenazi tradition and connected our Rabbi Gershom and his disciples to the owners of the Tosafot, the first of whom were the grandchildren of Rashi and his disciples.
Rashi returned to Troyes and served as a local rabbinical court judge and halakhic adjudicator for about five years. Apart from another stay in Worms, he lived in Troyes until his death, where he made a living from commerce. Rashi founded a yeshiva in his city that attracted prominent scholars. He soon became famous as the head of a yeshiva and as a halakhic decision. Rashi wrote his commentary on the Babylonian Talmud in notebooks, which were copied and distributed to other rabbinical scholars. Over the years, Rashi corresponded with the greatest rabbis in the Jewish world.
Rashi died in 1105 and was buried in his hometown.
Rashi's commentary - פרוש רש''י
Rashi's influence is known mainly due to his interpretations of the Bible (Torah Neviim Ketuvim) and the Babylonian Talmud, and apart from them he also composed piyyutim and lamentations. In his commentary on the Torah and many of the books of the Bible, Rashi relied mainly on the Midrashim of Chazal (חז'''ל) and combined them with the Pesht in a unique way of which he wrote: Many of the sages' midrashim that were included in Rashi's commentary became iron sheep assets in traditional Jewish culture thanks to him. Throughout the generations, many commentaries on Rashi's commentary have been published, as well as critical editions based on manuscripts.