On the First Rashi in the Torah

Jacob of Orléans

On Genesis 1:1

Mid-12th Century

In the beginning (Genesis 1:1)

Rashi explains: R. Isaac said, the Torah should have started from This month shall be for you (Exodus 12:2), as it is the first commandment in which Israel was commanded.

If you ask, “But what about circumcision, the sciatic nerve, the seven Noahide commandments, and the other commandments that were commanded earlier, before This month shall be for you?,” one might answer that Israel was not commanded to observe those commandments until they received This month shall be for you, as they had not yet left the category of Noahides. 

Another response is that there is no difficulty according to Rashi’s explanation, as he states that it is the “first commandment in which Israel was commanded.” His wording implies that he calls it the “first commandment” because it was stated to Israel as a whole, from the outset, unlike circumcision, which was stated only to Abraham, and the sciatic nerve, which was stated only to Jacob.

Translated by Avi Steinhart.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

Engage with this Source

This comment, written in Hebrew, was found in a manuscript of scriptural exegesis by the Tosafists. Jacob of Orléans asks why Rashi indicates that the commandment in Exodus 12:2 to sanctify the new month was the first law given to Israel. Were the many rules found in Genesis not relevant for the Jewish people? Jacob offers two answers. His commentary on Rashi is an important part of the process of canonization for this work and illuminates the importance it had among the first generations of its readers. In later centuries, supercommentaries on Rashi became a vibrant genre in their own right.

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Related Guide

Early Medieval Bible Translations and Commentaries

7th to 12th Century

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