Rashi, an eleventh century Bible commentator who lived in France, is the most influential Jewish exegete of all time. The popularity of his Pentateuch commentary has resulted in many extant manuscripts and printed editions, and the effect of scribal activity involved in the work's large circulation has led to extensive textual variants. Moreover, the earliest extant dated manuscript of the commentary was copied 130 years after Rashi's death. This extended length of time facilitated the introduction of countless changes into the work that, over time, have become virtually undetectable. / One key to uncovering the most authentic version of Rashi's commentary is to examine texts written as close to his lifetime as possible. Since neither Rashi's own copy of his commentary nor any reasonable alternative has been discovered, the Pentateuch commentaries of his immediate successors, the Franco-German writers known as the Tosafot, provide the closest possible substitute. For the most part, the writings of these twelfth- and thirteenth-century relatives and students of Rashi consisted of glosses, explanations and criticisms of his work. / This study compares citations of Rashi in over fifty manuscripts of Tosafot commentaries with texts of Rashi published in both early and modern printings and in over thirty manuscripts of his commentary. It suggests that the text of Rashi utilized by the Tosafot was significantly different from the printed versions. Examples show that portions of the printed interpretations attributed to Rashi are actually explanations and criticisms offered by the Tosafot that, through various processes, were attributed to the master himself. Awareness of this helps establish a reliable witness to the text of Rashi's Pentateuch commentary, and it suggests that the Tosafot must be an important component of any future efforts to establish a scientific edition of it.

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