His uncle and teacher was Menachem ben Helbo, whom Ḳara often cites in his commentaries, these quotations being almost the only source of knowledge concerning Menahem's exegesis.
[2] In Rashi's house Ḳara also made the acquaintance of Samuel ben Meïr.
[6] Adolf Jellinek points out, however,[7] that "Ḳara," as contrasted with "Darshan," means the representative of the "Peshaṭ" ("Pashṭan").
Rashi too was influenced by R. Yosef who repeated his teacher's comments to him and incorporated several of them in his commentary.
He quotes Menahem ben Saruḳ, Dunash ibn Labraṭ, Judah and Moses ha-Darshan, Ḳalir, Meïr Sheliaḥ Ẓibbur, Kalonymus, and others.
He does not go into grammatical or philological research, and cares more for the sense of the whole sentence than for a single word.
He shows more common sense than depth, and though he does not altogether hold aloof from aggadic interpretations, he takes a leading place among the exegetes of northern France, who in general preferred the rational exegesis.