Jewish Exegesis and Accessing Rashi’s Commentaries

You can access Rashi’s commentary freely and quite conveniently online, primarily through two major portals: Chabad.org and Sefaria.org. Both provide extensive access to his work, though their interfaces and emphases differ.

Using Chabad.org

The simplest way to begin is through Chabad.org, which gives you the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) with an English translation and Rashi’s commentary side by side.

1. Go to textttchabad.org.

2. In the top navigation, hover over or select Learning & Values.

3. Under that, choose Texts & Writings.

4. From there, select Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible (sometimes labeled simply as Hebrew Bible).

This brings you to "The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi." On the page you will see the Hebrew text on one side and a modern English translation on the other. This English is not a Christian translation; it reflects the outlook of an Orthodox, Hasidic community, which makes it useful for seeing how contemporary observant Jews render and understand the passages.

You can navigate to any book and chapter by using the menus. For example, to reach Isaiah 13:

1. Under Prophets, click Isaiah.
2. Then select chapter 13.

To display Rashi’s commentary, look for a control such as "Show Rashi" or "Rashi’s Commentary" and activate it. When enabled, the commentary appears interwoven with the biblical text, typically with the portion of the verse being explained in bold and Rashi’s explanation immediately following.

For instance, on Isaiah 13:2 ("Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles" in the English text), Rashi’s comments appear as something like: "Wave your hand to the distant ones who cannot hear, let them see the waving of the hand and enter the gates of the nobles of the princes of Babylon." He may then discuss particular Hebrew words, offer alternative interpretations, and provide cross references such as to Genesis 38:11 or other passages. These cross references are highly valuable, because they reflect ancient rabbinic instincts about which texts illuminate one another.

Rashi frequently cites earlier authorities, grammarians, or Midrashim, often by name (for example, Menachem ben Saruq) or by referencing works like Midrash Tehillim or particular Rabbinic pages. That can make his notes dense, but it is precisely this density that provides a window into Jewish interpretive traditions. You may not immediately recognize all the sources he names, yet their mention shows you what to research further if you wish to trace his argument.

Many readers find it useful to keep an AI tool or Bible software open alongside Chabad.org to get help unpacking particularly opaque references. For example, you might copy a line where Rashi mentions a grammarian and ask an AI assistant to explain who that figure was and what interpretive option he represents. That does not replace careful study, but it can speed up the initial orientation to his world.

Using Sefaria.org

The second major resource is textttSefaria.org. This is a large digital library of Jewish texts, including Bible, Talmud, Midrash, halakhic works, philosophical writings, and many commentaries.

When you arrive at Sefaria:

1. Use the search bar and type "Rashi." Among the results you will see entries such as "Rashi on Tanakh," "Rashi on Talmud," and so forth.
2. For biblical commentary, select "Rashi on Tanakh," then select the specific biblical book (for example, Isaiah), and then choose the chapter (such as chapter 13).

Sefaria typically displays the biblical text and commentary in a structured way, sometimes with the verse on one side and a commentary column on the other. You can click on verses to open Rashi’s comments, and in many cases you can switch between Hebrew and English for both the scripture and the commentary. Sefaria’s coverage of Rashi in English is substantial, though occasionally a note may appear only in Hebrew or with partial translation.

Sefaria is more exhaustive than Chabad in the range of texts it provides and the depth of interlinking—cross references, related sources, parallel commentaries, and so on. It can, however, feel overwhelming at first, especially if you are not familiar with the internal structure of the Jewish canon (Tanakh, Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash, halakhic codes, etc.). Chabad’s Tanakh with Rashi is thus usually the better starting point for focused biblical study, with Sefaria available when you want to chase down connections beyond the basic Rashi note.

How to Profit from Reading Rashi

Rashi is not a shortcut for those who want quick, ready-made answers. He often assumes a readership conversant with Hebrew, with Talmudic discourse, and with earlier midrashic traditions. He will mention, for example, that "our rabbis interpreted it as referring to Abraham our father" or that "the sages taught" a certain tradition, without fully spelling out how they reached that conclusion.

The real strength of using Rashi lies in at least three areas:

1. He alerts you to interpretive options you might never have considered. Where an English reader might assume a word must mean "gates," Rashi may note that another authority took it as "swords," which in turn changes how the whole phrase functions. Even if you ultimately disagree, you now know there is an ancient debate about that word.
2. He exposes you to Jewish cross-referencing habits. When he aligns a phrase in Isaiah with a verse in Genesis or Psalms, he reveals how older Jewish readers saw canonical connections. Those cross references sometimes anticipate, illuminate, or challenge Christian cross-reference systems.
3. He opens a door into Jewish theological and traditional assumptions about key messianic or prophetic texts. Even when you consider his interpretation an intentional move away from what you see as the messianic sense (for example, explaining Psalm 110 in terms of Abraham rather than Messiah), the way he makes that move can help you understand modern Jewish reluctance toward Christian messianic readings.

In short, Chabad.org’s Tanakh with Rashi is the best entrance point if you want to begin reading his commentary systematically on the Hebrew Bible. Sefaria.org is an expansive, though more complex, environment where you can explore not only Rashi but a broad array of related Jewish texts. Used thoughtfully, Rashi’s notes can significantly deepen your grasp of the Hebrew scriptures and of the interpretive world of Judaism.

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