By Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin in Pikesville, Maryland
Lisa Fredman, the author of The King and the Commentator, is an Israeli-based biblical scholar, educator, and author whose work focuses on the Hebrew Bible and medieval Jewish biblical interpretation.
She earned a bachelor’s degree from Stern College and completed both her MA and PhD in Bible at Bar-Ilan University. Her focus is on biblical studies, textual analysis, and the history of Jewish biblical teachings.
She examines Rashi’s commentaries. Rashi was one of the most influential commentators on the Hebrew Bible. Her 2026 book, The King and the Commentator: Rashi’s Holistic Readings of Solomon’s Song, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, was published by Maggid Books. The work explores how Rashi read these three seemingly different biblical books as parts of a single theological vision.
The King and the Commentator is one of the more original recent studies of Rashi. It does not examine his commentaries verse by verse in isolation. Instead, Dr. Fredman asks a larger question: how did Rashi understand all three Solomonic books as a unified whole?
The book begins with a puzzle. The passionate love poetry of the Song of Songs, the practical wisdom of Proverbs, and the philosophical skepticism of Ecclesiastes appear so different that many readers wonder why they belong together in Scripture.
Dr. Fredman answers that Rashi believed they are not different. They form an intellectual progression. She argues that each book expands and illuminates the others. Song of Songs portrays the covenantal relationship between God and Israel. Proverbs teaches the practical discipline needed for proper living. Ecclesiastes confronts life’s uncertainty while directing readers toward reverence for God.
Rather than treating these books as unrelated works, Rashi saw them as expressing one theology of human growth. She explains her understanding clearly while remaining faithful to the medieval sources. The book is valuable because it combines literary analysis, theology, and classical Jewish interpretation without being technical.
Rashi (1040–1105), whose full name was Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, was born in Troyes, France. He is generally regarded as the greatest medieval Jewish commentator on both the Hebrew Bible and the Babylonian Talmud. His principal writings include a complete commentary on nearly the entire Hebrew Bible, a commentary on almost the entire Babylonian Talmud, Responsa (rabbinic legal decisions), Liturgical poems (piyyutim), and various halakhic (legal) writings.
His biblical commentary became the standard Jewish explanation of Scripture for many Jews. It is the first commentary studied in Hebrew schools by children and adults reading the Bible with a commentary today.
Rashi explained the plain meaning (peshat) of Scripture, although he more often cited rabbinic Midrash, often sermonic, containing religious and moral lessons that he and some rabbis saw reflected in the biblical text.
Dr. Fredman argues that Rashi teaches readers in this case and others to see apparent contradictions as unified truths. Instead of viewing Scripture as a collection of unrelated and sometimes books with radically different ideas, she encourages readers to appreciate its unity.
According to her understanding of Rashi, wisdom is basic and part of everything. Even love belongs to wisdom, and morality, philosophical reflection, and reverence for God unite all.
She offers a new view of Rashi. Previous scholarship often studied Rashi’s commentary one at a time. Dr. Fredman instead argues that Rashi possessed a holistic understanding of Solomon’s writings. This broader perspective reveals Rashi not merely as a verse-by-verse commentator but as a sophisticated biblical theologian who understood relationships among all books of Scripture. That holistic approach is the book’s principal contribution.
According to Dr. Fredman’s interpretation of Rashi, God desires a relationship with humans; the Bible reveals wisdom; it encourages people to live morally; and its lessons remain relevant even when life appears confusing or uncertain. She also teaches that human beings are capable of moral and intellectual growth, which they can learn through love, discipline, and experience. They should pursue wisdom throughout life, and ultimately find meaning through reverence for God rather than wealth, pleasure, or worldly success.
The three Solomonic books, therefore, describe different stages of life’s journey rather than conflicting worldviews.
She sees that religion and reason complement one another rather than compete. People need to learn patience with life’s uncertainties instead of expecting simple answers; appreciate that genuine wisdom includes emotional, ethical, intellectual, and spiritual development; become more compassionate by recognizing that every person’s life journey includes different stages; learn to read Scripture more thoughtfully; seek connections in the Bible rather than isolated passages; and develop humility, recognizing that wisdom is a lifelong pursuit rather than a destination.
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Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin is a retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps.