Rashi

Rashbam read the Torah according to its most literal reading--even in contradiction of Jewish law.

This medieval talmudist's religious tolerance was ahead of his time.

Through centuries of exile, Jewish hopes and prayers were focused on the Promised Land.

Because most Jews of this period lived in the Diaspora, Israel was an abstract concept.

The most widely read Jewish Bible commentator, he also wrote a running commentary to the Babylonian Talmud.

From his day until the present, Rashi has been the most beloved of all medieval teachers.

Evidence from Qumran shows that the medieval debate about the order of biblical passages in tefillin has ancient roots.  

The mirrors used to create the basin in the Tabernacle teach us that sanctified sexuality means seeing ourselves in relation to others.