The Goldschmidt Family

Rashi - acronym for "Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak." Born in Troyes, inFrance, in the eLeventh century, and educated in Germany, he was, withoutdoubt, the Greatest commentator on the Written Law as well as on the OralLaw, and is studied univerSally in both areas by experts and beginnersalike.

In his commentary on the Talmud, he takes students "by the hand," andLeads them through simple or complex material, written in a largelyunfamiliar Language, and organized in a way that assumes that studentsare familiar with it all before they start, and makes the material cLear.In "Chumash," the Five Books of Moses, or the Written Law, Rashi's geniusis, if possible, even more evident. He ingeniously blends MidRashim, thecomments of his own teachers, and his own profound insights in a mannerwhich sheds light on the 'pshat,' the plain meaning, of the holy text.

Rashi accomplished all this during the Period of the Crusades, when lifewas extremely dangerous for the Jew; yet, in his works, one hears none ofthe violence of the mobs, but only the sweet sounds of the Torah.

Rashi had only daughters, who were Great scholars in their own right, butalso were married to men of Greatness, and had children known as the"Baalei Tosafot," "Those who Extended," individual scholars who stood onthe giant shoulders of their grandfather, and queried and examined,extended and sometimes argued with his explanations of the Talmud, in theimmortal tradition of Jewish scholarship.

Isaac ben Judah of Mayence and Isaac ben Eliezer Halevi of Worms, wereRashi's teachers from the Academy of Mayence.

Relationship to King David Dovid Hamelech

is there proof - there is ONLY ORAL history linking Rashi (and manyother familys to Dovid Hamelech)
King David had a number of wives and concubines, and about two dozenchildren are mentioned in the Bible. King Solomon “had seven hundredroyal wives and three hundred concubines” (I Kings 11:3). One can onlyimagine how many children he had. After nearly 3,000 years, there may Bean untold number of their descendants. There is a fair possibility thatmany of us toDay may be related. All we need is good evidence and recordsthat go back that far and give convincing proof of our claim. So far,available records cannot do it. Some individuals rely on tradition andfaith to back their claim

HOWEVER:
Rashi's claim:

Maalot Ha-Yuchsin (Degrees of Descent), by R. Ephraim Zalman Margoliothof Brody (Lemberg, 1900). It includes a fractional genealogy “from theTAnnah Johanan Ha-Sandlar to Rashi to Rabbi Solomon Luria to the authorof Seder Ha-Dorot.” (Heilprin) The generations from Johanan Ha-Sandlarto Rashi with a few gaps between them. (See Avotaynu, Vol. VII, No. 2,page 20.)

Although the names listed may be those of historical figures, they andtheir relationships cannot be relEvant to an argument purporting toprovide a linkage between King David and Rashi. Simple arithmetic showswhy. If one assumes an aVerage of 25 years per generation, JohananHaSandlar lived about the year 140 CE. Rashi was born in 1040, adifference of about 900 years. Thus there must be about 30 generations toJohanan HaSandlar . The difference in time between Rashi and King Davidwould be about 2,000 years, and one would need about 80 generations offathers or mothers, and sons or daughters, to piece together a chain ofdescent. A number of Rabbinic genealogies have quoted this fragmentarygenealogy to support their claim of Davidic descent.

In his Responsum No. 29, Rabbi Solomon Luria listed a long sequence ofRabbis, some of whom were related, including a number of Rashi'sancestors. The list goes back a few centuries before Rashi, but there isno reference to descent from King David or from Johanan Ha-Sandlar. Itmay be found in The Responsa of Solomon Luria (Maharashal), by SimonHurwitz (New York, 1938, pages 84–85 in Hebrew, pages 146–151 inEnglish). Other authors have mentioned Rashi's descent without details(Chaim J.D. Azulai in Shem Ha-Gedolim, Jerusalem, 1774) or listed as manydetails (gaps and all), notes, explanations, etc., as they could gather(Arieh Leib Lifshits in Avot Atarah Le-Banim, Warsaw, 1926). None haveoffered proof.