JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A remarkable discovery has generated considerable interest among Torah scholars and researchers of ancient manuscripts: a manuscript that was long believed to contain Rashi’s commentary on the Torah has recently been identified as the lost manuscript of Rashbam’s Torah commentary. Rashbam was one of the leading Tosafists and the grandson of Rashi, according to a report by Arutz Sheva.

According to the report, the discovery was made by researcher Yisrael Dovitzky. While studying manuscripts attributed to Rashi in the Ginzburg Collection at the National Library of Russia, he noticed details that raised doubts about the manuscript’s true identity.

According to Rabbi Yoel Katan, the investigation revealed that the manuscript had arrived in the Soviet Union after World War II. Because of its incomplete physical condition, and particularly because it begins in the middle of the Book of Genesis and lacks an identifying title, it had been cataloged over the years as a copy of Rashi’s commentary.

This cataloging error accompanied the manuscript for many generations and effectively prevented researchers from recognizing its true significance. Only during Dovitzky’s research into the Ginzburg Collection did it become clear that the manuscript was not Rashi’s commentary at all, but rather a copy of Rashbam’s commentary on the Torah, which had long been considered lost.

Dovitsky wrote on Facebook that “I am proud to share that I have located and identified a manuscript that had long been considered lost: the famous manuscript used by David Rosin when he published his edition of Rashbam’s commentary on the Torah in Breslau in 1881–1882 (Hebrew year 5642). It was housed in the legendary Jewish Theological Seminary of the Fraenckel Foundation in Breslau and was cataloged as Manuscript No. 103. Its location and journey from Breslau to Berlin are currently being investigated.”

The new identification is being viewed as a major breakthrough in the field of Torah manuscript research. Beyond the historical importance of locating a manuscript that had escaped scholars’ attention for generations, the discovery also provides valuable new material for the study of Rashbam’s commentary, one of the most important Torah commentaries of the medieval Rishonim period.

In the world of Torah scholarship, the discovery is being hailed as a significant milestone. It brings to a close a long period of uncertainty surrounding the manuscript’s fate and restores to public attention a Torah work that had been regarded as lost for many years.