Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan

Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan, an 11th-century rosh yeshiva in Narbonne, is primarily known for his midrashic scholarship, which led to his appellation, HaDarshan. One of the earliest French exegetes, he compiled a work on the Bible that included and expanded on ancient midrashim as well as apocrypha, even sources at odds with rabbinic tradition. Usually called Yesod, but never fully organized or given a formal title, it was quoted by Rashi and others but is no longer extant. The midrash Bereshit Rabbati on Genesis is often attributed to Rabbi Moshe but was likely composed later, based on Yesod.