Rashi Script Origin

Question

Hi Rabbi,

Why is Rashi’s commentary written in “Rashi script” as opposed to the standard Hebrew font or print?

Thanks

 

0

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    Great question. Rashi script was originally introduced by the Sephardim (not Rashi) as an alternative to the square Hebrew script. Since there is a custom not to use the script of the Torah scroll for anything but Torah, Tefillin and Mezuzahs (Responsa Maimonides, Quoted in Yoreh Deah 283), they invented a style of writing somewhat radically different from that of the Torah.

    It was first used in printing in the Bomberg, Venice, Talmud, in about 1520, to distinguish between the text (square print) and the commentary of Rashi (in “Rashi Script”). This custom still remains to this day.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team