How to Start Reading Torah With Rashi: A Beginner's Guide

If you have ever opened a Chumash, read three verses, and felt like you walked into a movie halfway through, this one is for you. You are not slow. The Torah is written in very compressed Hebrew, and it assumes you already know a lot. The good news: a man from northern France figured out nine hundred years ago how to fix exactly that problem.

His name was Rashi.

Who is Rashi, in one minute

Rashi is an acronym for RAbbi SHlomo Yitzchaki. He lived from 1040 to 1105 in Troyes, in the Champagne region of France, and he wrote a running commentary on almost the whole Hebrew Bible and most of the Talmud. You can read his full profile on our page for Rashi in the OGz, where the OGz are the originals: the sages whose work everything else is built on.

What makes Rashi the best first commentator is simple: he wrote for the person sitting alone with the text and getting stuck. He does not comment on every verse. He comments where a careful reader would trip: a strange word, a missing detail, a contradiction, a repetition. In yeshiva, the standard first question about any comment is "What is bothering Rashi?" That question is the whole method, and you can learn it today.

Rashi also described his own approach. In his comment on Genesis 3:8 he says he is after the plain meaning of the verse (peshat) and the teachings of the Sages that settle the words of the verse, each in its place. He does not use every beautiful midrash he knows, only the ones that help the verse make sense. And in Genesis 28:5 he admits that he does not know what a certain phrase teaches us. A teacher who can say "I don't know" is one you can trust when he says he does.

What you need

You do not need a yeshiva, a hat, or a Hebrew degree. You need:

1. A text with translation. Sefaria is free, has the Hebrew and English side by side, and lets you click from a verse straight to Rashi on that verse.
2. Fifteen quiet minutes. One verse, or one short paragraph, is enough.
3. A notebook or a notes app. You will write down your questions. That is where the learning happens.
4. A real person, eventually. Reading alone is a start. A teacher or a rabbi is what turns reading into learning. If you are thinking about the road to conversion, you will need one anyway.

The five-step method

Take any verse. Let's use the opening of the Torah, Genesis 1:1.

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹקִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ "In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

Step 1: Read the verse slowly, twice. Once for the story. Once for the words. Do not look at any commentary yet.

Step 2: Write down what bothers you. Anything. "Why does it start with the Hebrew letter bet?" "What was there before the beginning?" "Why 'heavens and earth' and not just 'the world'?" Your own question matters more than the answer, because it is the part you will actually remember.

Step 3: Read Rashi on that verse. On Sefaria, click the verse and open Rashi on Genesis 1:1. Notice that Rashi opens by raising a question about the verse itself. He is doing the same thing you just did: noticing what does not sit right.

Step 4: Ask what he is answering. This is the heart of it. Rashi's comments are almost always an answer to something. Ask yourself: what exactly is he solving? Is it a word? A missing detail? A conflict with another verse? When you can name the problem, you understand the comment.

Step 5: Say it out loud in your own words. To a friend, to your phone, to the wall. If you cannot explain it in two sentences, read it again. This is how Torah goes from your eyes to your head to your life.

That is the whole method. A verse a day, five steps, fifteen minutes.

A worked example: "righteous in his generations"

In Genesis 6:9 the Torah says Noach was righteous "in his generations." Why add that? If he was righteous, say so.

This is a perfect Rashi moment, and we walked through it in our Parshat Noach post. Rashi brings both readings: some of our Sages take the phrase as praise (even in a bad generation he stayed righteous, so imagine him in a good one), and others take it as a limit (he was righteous only compared to the people around him).

Look at what just happened. Two verses of narrative turned into a question you can use on your own block: Am I good because I am good, or because everyone around me is worse? That is Torah doing its job. You came for a story and got a mirror.

Mistakes beginners make

• Reading too much. A chapter a day feels productive and teaches almost nothing. One verse with real attention beats ten with none.
• Skipping the question. If you go straight to the answer, you did not learn the question, so the answer slides right off.
• Treating Rashi as the last word. Rashi is the first word, not the last. Later commentators agree and disagree with him, and that conversation is part of Torah. Start with him, then widen out.
• Quitting after one confusing day. Some days it will feel like fog. Everyone who ever learned went through that. Come back tomorrow.
• Learning alone forever. Torah is a community text. Find a class, a chavruta (learning partner) or a rabbi.

Where Rashi sits in the Torah-learning ladder

Rashi is one of several OGz we feature, and each one helps in a different way. When you want to know how the Torah was understood in the language of the ancient world, look at Onkelos, whose Aramaic translation has been read next to the Torah for centuries. When you want to know who the first person to walk toward G-d was, meet Avraham. When you want to see what it looks like to start from zero and become a giant, read about Rabbi Akiva.

Jewish law even honors Rashi's work: the Shulchan Aruch records that one who reads the weekly portion may read Rashi's commentary instead of the Aramaic translation, because Rashi explains the text so well.

Why this matters if you are on a journey

I grew up between Jamaica, Queens, and Bogotá, I was in the street life, and today I am on the road toward a conversion. I am not a rabbi, and nothing here replaces one. What I can tell you from my own seat is this: nobody walked into Torah already knowing it. Rashi himself spent years in the yeshivot of Mainz and Worms as a student before he taught anyone. The man whose commentary is printed next to every Chumash was once the beginner in the room.

You do not need to be ready. You need to open the book.

If you want to see how a whole story of change can look from the inside, G2G is free to read here.

Your first week

• Day 1: Genesis 1:1 and Rashi. Write three questions.
• Day 2: Genesis 1:2–3. Same five steps.
• Day 3: Genesis 6:9 and the Rashi we looked at above.
• Day 4: Pick any verse from this week's parasha.
• Day 5: Re-read your questions from Day 1. Which ones did Rashi answer? Which ones are still open?
• Day 6 (before Shabbat starts): Rest your notebook. Tell one person one thing you learned.
• After Shabbat: Pick one place (a class, a rabbi, a friend) where you can bring your open questions.

FAQ

Who is Rashi and why does everyone study him?

Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 1040–1105) was a French sage who wrote a short, clear commentary on almost the whole Bible and the Talmud. He is studied first because he writes for the confused reader: he stops where a careful student would stumble and explains the problem in a line or two.

Do I need to read Hebrew to learn Torah with Rashi?

No. English translations of both the Torah and Rashi are free on Sefaria, with the Hebrew beside them. Learning Hebrew will deepen your reading over time, but it is not a requirement to begin. Start with the translation and add Hebrew words as you go.

How long should a beginner study each day?

Fifteen focused minutes on one verse and its Rashi is a strong start. Consistency beats volume: a small daily habit builds more than a long session once a month. Add time slowly once the habit holds, and bring your questions to a teacher.

Is Rashi enough, or do I need a teacher?

Rashi is a great first guide, but not a replacement for a teacher. A rabbi or learning partner corrects misunderstandings, shows you what later commentators say, and applies Torah to real life. If you are considering conversion, you will need a rabbi and a beit din regardless.

Sources: Rashi on Genesis 3:8, 6:9 and 28:5; Genesis 1:1 and 6:9; Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 285:2, all on Sefaria. Biographical details follow our Rashi profile. This is general education, not a halachic ruling.