re: ArtScroll Shir Hashirim ‘Editing’ Rashi…
In reference to ArtScroll deceptively tampering with Rashi on Shir Hashirim, a loyal reader wishes to remind us of the ongoing, egregious censorship of the Rashbam, as exposed by Dr. Marc Shapiro here.
One excerpt:
…I have no doubt that according to halakhah [Orthodox Jewish law], anyone who demands a refund from ArtScroll is entitled to his money back, as what I will show you is nothing less than a betrayal not only of the reader, who paid good money to get what he thought was a complete mikraot gedolot chumash [Five Books of Moses with a group of accepted medieval rabbinic commentaries], but also of one of the greatest rishonim [medieval rabbis], [Rashi’s grandson,] R[abbi] Samuel ben Meir (Rashbam).
Soon after Rosh ha-Shanah 2014, ArtScroll released the first volume of its mikraot gedolot chumash. It is a beautifully typeset edition, completely punctuated. The response was so positive that within a month the volume was reprinted, and it would not be a surprise if the ArtScroll mikraot gedolot became the new standard.
One of the new elements of this edition is that Rashbam to Genesis chapter 1 is included, which is not the case with the old mikraot gedolot chumashim. (It is found in the Mossad ha-Rav Kook Torat Hayyim mikraot gedolot).…[T]he Rashbam’s commentary is taken from the Rosin edition (which is where the commentary to Gen. ch. 1 first appeared).
In his commentary to [Genesis] chapter 1 Rashbam advances the notion that according to the peshat [plain meaning] of the Torah, the day does not start in the evening, but in the morning. This is only one of many examples where Rashbam’s commentary explains biblical verses in accordance with the peshat, and in opposition to the [accepted] rabbinic understanding. He even states that according to the peshat the commandment of tefillin [phylacteries] in Exodus 13:9 is not to be understood literally. Of course, Rashbam put on tefillin, but in this case he was only explaining what he thought the peshat was. Similarly, he began Shabbat in the evening, not in the morning, but this did not stop him from offering a peshat that differed from the halakhah [Jewish law].
For some reason, ArtScroll finds this difficult to take, and therefore decided to delete all of Rashbam’s “problematic” comments regarding the beginning and end of the day. I repeat, since I know this will be hard for people to believe: ArtScroll omitted portions of Rashbam’s commentary from its mikraot gedolot.…