formed distinct communities faithful to the ancient
traditions. Thus they propagated the works of the
French rabbis. Rashi's commentaries and the ritual
collections following his teachings were widely copied
there, and of course, truncated and mutilated. They
served both as the text-books of students and as the
breviaries, so to speak, of scholars.

They also imposed themselves, as we have seen, upon
the Spanish rabbis, who freely recognized the superiority
of the Jews of France and Germany in regard to Tal-
mudic schools. Isaac ben Sheshet ¹⁵⁰ said, "From France
goes forth the Law, and the word of God from
Germany." Rashi's influence is apparent in the Tal-
mudic writings of this rabbi, as well as in the works,
both Talmudic and exegetic in character, of his successor
Simon ben Zemaḥ Duran, ¹⁵¹ and in the purely exegetic
works of the celebrated Isaac Abrabanel ( 1437-1509),
who salutes in Rashi "a father in the province of the
Talmud." It was in the fifteenth century that some of
the super-commentaries were made to Rashi's commen-
tary on the Pentateuch. The most celebrated--and justly
celebrated--is that of Elijah ben Abraham Mizrahi, a
Hebrew scholar, mathematician, and philosopher, who
lived in Turkey. His commentary, says Wogue, "is a
master-piece of logic, keen-wittedness, and Talmudic
learning."

However, as if the creative force of the Jews had been
exhausted by a prolific period lasting several centuries,
Rashi's commentaries were not productive of original
works in a similar style. Accepted everywhere, they
became the law everywhere, but they did not stimulate

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