Rashi's Secret Wisdom: A Guide to Proverbs

In our opening class we will investigate the unique structure of the Book of Proverbs. Is Proverbs one unified book or is it composed of numerous collections? Close attention will be paid to the superscriptions in the book and Rashi’s interpretation of those headings. Additionally, Rashi’s interpretation will be compared to those of other commentaries.

We will uncover Rashi’s unique exegetical method in explaining the Book of Proverbs and compare it to his method of interpreting other Biblical books. We will search for the historical reasons which precipitated his exegetical breakthrough.

Extensive descriptions of the Strange Woman/Isha Zara appear four times in the opening chapters of Proverbs. We will investigate this unusual motif according to both its literal and allegorical meanings and gauge it’s impact upon Rashi’s exegesis of the whole book.

Rashi’s Proverbs commentary contains more than 55 glosses which acknowledge and refute the dangers posed by Christianity. We will investigate the content of some of these glosses and endeavor to answer why does his Proverb’s commentary contain so much anti-Christian polemic.

We will examine Rashi’s sources for his Proverb’s commentary with particular attention placed upon uncovering the sources for his peshat explanations. Understanding these sources will enlighten us not only regarding Rashi to Proverbs but regarding Rashi’s commentary to all the books of the Bible!

The book of Proverbs describes day to day life and depicts all types of people, such as: rich, poor, wise, slow, lazy and diligent. In our final session we will examine Rashi’s innovative methods for ” Judaizing” the contents of this book and thereby uncover his most important contribution regarding the study of Proverbs.