While few facts are known about his life, the legends abound. The following are a selection:

	Rashi's father owned a precious jewel, which was greatly desired by the local Christian authorities for idolatrous purposes. Under pressure to sell and not wishing to benefit in anyway from idol worship, his father cast the precious gem into the sea. A heavenly voice was heard to proclaim: "You have lost a brilliant jewel that the Name of Heaven may not be profaned; you shall have a son who will illumine the eyes of all Israel in the Torah, and the Name of Heaven will be sanctified through him."
	Rashi's mother was imperiled in a narrow street in Worms during her pregnancy, shortly before his birth; two vehicles moving in opposite directions threatened to crush her. As she leant hopelessly against a wall, it miraculously fell inwards, carving out a safe niche for her.
	Rashi is said to have started school at the age of five on the festival of Shavuot (Pentecost), traditionally the festival celebrating the receipt of the Torah on Mount Sinai, as well as the birth and death of King David. According to another tradition, he himself was a descendant of King David.
	Legend sends Rashi as a student to southern France, and even on a tour of the world. At an inn in the Orient he cured a sick monk, who later on, as bishop of Olmlitz, returned the kindness by saving the Jews from massacre. In fact, Rashi never went farther than from the Seine to the Rhine; the utmost limit of his travels were the academies of Lorraine.
	Godfrey de Bouillon (1058-1100), Duke of Lower Lorraine and one of the leaders of the First Crusade, held an audience with the saintly Rashi and asked whether he would be successful on his mission. Rashi replied that while Godfrey would be initially victorious, his forces would eventually be decimated and he would return with only three horses. Reacting as though Rashi's words were a hex, the furious Godfrey swore that if he returned with even four horses he would destroy the Jewish community of Troyes. Rashi's words came true. Godfrey returned with only four horses, which he guarded with his life. As he passed through the city wall of Troyes, a stone dislodged from the wall and struck one of the horses dead.