Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, known as "Rashi", passed away on the 29th of Tammuz of the year 4865 from creation (1105 CE).
Rashi was born in Troyes, France, in 1040. His commentaries on the Torah, Prophets and Talmud are universally accepted as the most basic tool for the understanding of these texts for schoolchild and scholar alike. Numerous commentaries have been authored on his commentary. In his famed "Rashi talks", the Lubavitcher Rebbe repeatedly demonstrated how Rashi's "simple meaning of the text" style enfolds many layers of meaning, often resolving profound difficulties in the text and presenting new, innovative interpretations with a simple word choice or rephrasing of a Midrashic passage.
Links:
A brief biography (from "Gallery of Our Great")
Text of Rashi's commentary on this week's Torah reading (English translation)
An analysis of a section of Rashi's commentary by the Lubavitcher Rebbe
During the Three Weeks, from 17th of Tamuz to the 9th of Av, we commemorate the conquest of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Holy Temple and the dispersion of the Jewish people.
Weddings and other joyful events are not held during this period; like mourners, we do not cut our hair, and various pleasurable activities are limited or proscribed. (The particular mourning customs vary from community to community, so consult a competent halachic authority for details.)
Citing the verse (Isaiah 1:27) "Zion shall be redeemed with mishpat [Torah] and its returnees with tzedakah," the Rebbe urged that we increase in Torah study (particularly the study of the laws of the Holy Temple) and charity during this period.
Links:
The Three Weeks
Immersed in deep meditation, secluded from the confusion of human society, a prophet in Ancient Israel saw with his eyes the splendor of the Infinite Light.
But if the light was infinite, why did it shine only for him?
In the ancient Temple of Solomon, any person, great or small, was able to perceive that same Infinite Light with such clarity that all sense of being was lost, time and space became meaningless, nothing existed other than a total oneness, a perfect serenity.
But if the light was infinite, why did it only shine in that place?
In a time to come, when the fruits of all our labor will blossom and the world will attain its state for which it was created, then every small child will see more than the greatest prophet has ever seen and the physical eye will perceive the Infinite Light in a way that has never before been revealed. The very stones of the earth will scream out, “There is nothing else but He!” in every corner of the world, “for all the earth shall be filled with the knowing of G‑d, as waters fill the ocean basin.”
There will be a world, and the world will know that it is nothing but a commentary on the Infinite Light.
The true Infinite Light.