R’ חיים הלברשטאם, the גאון of Sanz, related that he received an inquiry from a רב who didn’t know a straightforward רש״י.  “When I wrote my response to him,” רבי חיים said, “I didn’t know by which title to address him.  I couldn’t call him גאון because that would be a lie.  But not calling him גאון was also difficult because that is the honorific he is accustomed to.  So I decided to call him גאון because in the days of the גאונים, they also didn’t know פירוש רשי.”

06/10/2021