Vilna Gaon

The Vilna Gaon (April 23, 1720 – October 9, 1797) was a prominent Jewish rabbi, Talmud scholar, and Kabbalist.

His real name was Elijah (Eliyahu) ben Shlomo Zalman "Kremer" (or "Kramer"), but he is commonly referred to in Hebrew as ha'Gaon ha'Chasid mi'Vilna, meaning "the saintly genius from Vilna", or in similar forms (Gaon of Vilna, Gaon mi Vilno, or Vilna Gaon), and as the Gra (a Hebrew acronym of "Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu"). While now commonly known by the surname Kremer, neither the Vilna Gaon nor his descendants apparently used that surname (meaning "shopkeeper", seemingly derived from a nickname of his ancestor Rabbi Moshe "Kremer").^*

Youth and education

Born in Vilna (now Vilnius), Lithuania, he displayed extraordinary talents while still a child. As young as three years old he had committed the Bible to memory. At the age of seven he was taught Talmud by Moses Margalit, rabbi of Kaidan and the author of a commentary to the Jerusalem Talmud, and was supposed to know several of the tractates by heart. The Vilna Gaon is well known for having possessed a photographic memory. By eight, he was studying astronomy during his lunch time. From the age of ten he continued his studies without the aid of a teacher, and by the age of eleven he had committed the entire Talmud to memory.

When he reached a more mature age, Elijah wandered in various parts of Poland and Germany, as was the custom of the Talmudists of the time. By the time he was twenty years old rabbis were submitting their most difficult halakhic problems to him for decision. Non-Jewish scholars sought his insights into mathematics and astronomy. He returned to his native town in 1748, having by then acquired considerable renown.

Methods of study

The Gaon applied to the Talmud and rabbinic literature proper philological methods. He made an attempt toward a critical examination of the text; and thus, very often with a single reference to a parallel passage, or with a textual emendation, he overthrew tenuous decisions made by his rabbinic predecessors.

He devoted much time to the study of the Hebrew Bible and Hebrew grammar, and was knowledgeable in the secular sciences, enriching the latter by his original contributions. His pupils and friends had to pursue the same plain and simple methods of study that he followed. He also exhorted them not to neglect the secular sciences, maintaining that Judaism could only gain by studying them. The Gaon was also attracted to the study of Kabbalah; but from his controversy with Hasidic Judaism it would seem that he was not prepared to follow the mystics to the full extent of their teachings.

The Vilna Gaon was very modest and objective; he declined to accept the office of rabbi, though it was often offered to him on the most flattering terms. In his later years he also refused to give approbations, though this was the privilege of great rabbis; he thought too humbly of himself to assume such authority. He led a retiring life, only lecturing from time to time to a few chosen pupils.

In 1755, when the Gaon was only thirty-five, Jonathan Eybeschütz, then sixty-five years old, applied to him for an examination of and decision concerning his amulets, which were a subject of discord between himself and Rabbi Jacob Emden. The Vilna Gaon, in a letter to Eybeschütz, stated that, while in full sympathy with him, he did not believe that words coming from a stranger like himself, who had not even the advantage of old age, would be of any weight with the contending parties.

Antagonism to Hasidism

When Hasidic Judaism became influential in his native town, the Vilna Gaon, joining the rabbis and heads of the Polish communities, took steps to check the Hasidic influence. In 1777 the first excommunication by the Mitnagdim was launched at Vilna against the Hasidim, while a letter was also addressed to all the large communities, exhorting them to deal with the Hasidim after the example of Vilna, and to watch them until they had recanted. The letter was acted upon by several communities; and in Brody, during the fair, the cherem (ban of excommunication) was pronounced against the Hasidim.

In 1781, when the Hasidim renewed their proselytizing work under the leadership of their rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (the "Ba'al Ha'tanya"), the Gaon excommunicated them again, declaring them to be heretics with whom no pious Jew might intermarry. The Gaon also accused Rabbi Zalman and his adherents of belief in pantheism, which is generally considered heretical in Judaism.

After this, the Gaon went into retirement again, and the Hasidim seized the opportunity to spread a rumor that he had sided with them and that he repented of having persecuted them. The Gaon then sent two of his pupils (1796) with letters to all the communities of Poland, declaring that he had not changed his attitude in the matter, and that the assertions of the Hasidim were pure inventions. Still, it was to be that the excommunications would not stop the tide of Hasidism.

Other work

Except in this instance, the Vilna Gaon almost never took part in public affairs and, so far as is known, did not preside over any great school in Vilna. He was satisfied with lecturing in his bet ha-midrash to a few chosen pupils, whom he initiated into his scientific methods. He taught them Hebrew grammar, Hebrew Bible, and Mishna, subjects which were largely neglected by the Talmudists of that time. He was especially anxious to introduce them to the study of midrash literature, and the minor treatises of the Talmud, which were very little known by the scholars of his time.

He laid special stress on the study of the Jerusalem Talmud, which had been almost entirely neglected for centuries. Being convinced that the study of the Torah is the very life of Judaism, and that this study must be conducted in a scientific and not in a merely scholastic manner, he encouraged his chief pupil, Rabbi Chaim Volozhin, to found a yeshiva (college) in which rabbinic literature should be taught. Chaim did not carry out the injunction of his master until some years after the death of the latter. The college was opened at Volozhin in 1803.

Ascetism

The Vilna Gaon led an ascetic life. He interpreted literally the words of the ancient rabbis, that the Torah can be acquired only by abandoning all pleasures and by cheerfully accepting suffering; and as he lived up to this principle, he was revered by his countrymen as a saint, being called by some of his contemporaries "the Hasid".

The Gaon once started on a trip to the Land of Israel, but for unknown reasons did not get beyond Germany. (In the early nineteenth century, three groups of his students, known as Perushim, did manage the trip, settling mostly in Tzfat and Jerusalem). While at Königsberg he wrote to his family a letter which was published under the title Alim li-Terufah, Minsk, 1836.

Works

The Vilna Gaon was a voluminous author; there is hardly an ancient Hebrew book of any importance to which he did not write a commentary, or at least provide marginal glosses and notes, which were mostly dictated to his pupils. However, nothing of his was published in his lifetime. It must be noted that the " Gra" was very precise in the wording of his commentaries, because he was obligated by Torah Law that only the " Torah shebichtav" (the written law) is permitted to be written down - the rest of " Torah shel ba'al peh" (oral law) cannot be, unless circumstances permit. So the Vilna Gaon abided by this law by reducing his extensive explanations. Glosses on the Babylonian Talmud and Shulkhan Arukh are known as Biurei ha-Gra ("Elaboration by the Gra"). His running commentary on the Mishnah is titled Shenoth Eliyahu ("The Years of Elijah"). Various Kabbalistic works have commentaries in his name. His insights on the Pentateuch are titled Adereth Eliyahu ("The Splendor of Elijah"). Commentaries on the Proverbs and other books of the Tanakh were written later on in his life.

He also wrote on mathematics, being well versed in the works of Euclid and encouraging his pupil Rabbi Baruch of Shklov to translate the great mathematician's works into Hebrew. A mathematical work titled Ayil Meshulash ("A Ram in Three Parts", a reference to Abraham's "Covenant Between the Parts" in Genesis 15:9) is generally attributed to him. Many credit him with the discovery of Cramer's Rule of matrices, although this is a matter of controversy.

Influence

He was one of the most influential Rabbinic authorities since the Middle Ages, and – although he is counted as an Acharon – he is held by many authorities after him as belonging to the Rishonim (Rabbinic authorities of the Middle Ages). Large groups of people, including many yeshivas, uphold the set of customs (minhag) that can be traced back to him: the minhag ha-Gra.

His main student Rabbi Chaim Volozhin, founded the first yeshiva in his home town of Volozhin, Lithuania (now in Belarus). The results of this move, which met with the Vilna Gaon's approval, revolutionised Torah study, and the results of this process are still felt in Orthodox Jewry.

In accordance with the Vilna Gaon's wishes, three groups of his disciples and their families, numbering over 500, made aliyah to Palestine between 1808 and 1812. This immigration is considered to be the beginning of the modern settlement of Israel. These groups of ascetics were called Perushim, meaning "separated", because they separated themselves from worldly pleasures to study the torah. They originally settled in Safed, but after numerous devastating calamities there, including plague and earthquake, most moved to Jerusalem. Their arrival revived the presence of Ashkenazi Jewry in Jerusalem, which for over 100 years had been mainly Sephardi.

The aliyah of the Perushim had a widespread and ongoing effect on the Jews in Palestine. They spread the teachings of the Vilna Gaon, which had a considerable influence on Jewish thought and religious practice amongst the Ashkenazi community. They also set up several Kollels, founded the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim, and were instrumental in rebuilding the Yehudah Hechassid Synagogue (the Churvah, or “Ruins”), which had lain in ruins for 140 years.

There is a statue of the Vilna Gaon and a street named after him in Vilnius, the place of both his birth and his death.

External links

Biography from the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum
Biography (University of Calgary)
Biography by Eliezer C. Abrahamson
Article on burial location
Family tree
Vilna Gaon Museum in Lithuania
Biggest collection of Vilna Gaon links and initiative of global portal dedicated to Vilna Gaon

References

Etkes, Immanuel, et al. The Gaon of Vilna: the man and his image (University of California Press, 2002) ISBN 0520223942
"The Gaon of Vilna and the Haskalah movement," by Emanuel Etkes, reprinted in Dan, Joseph (ed.). Studies in Jewish thought (Praeger, NY, 1989) ISBN 0275930386
"The mystical experiences of the Gaon of Vilna," in Jacobs, Louis (ed.). Jewish mystical testimonies (Schocken Books, NY, 1977) ISBN 0805236414
Landau, Betzalel and Rosenblum, Yonason. The Vilna Gaon: the life and teachings of Rabbi Eliyahu, the Gaon of Vilna (Mesorah Pub., Ltd., 1994) ISBN 0899064418
Shulman, Yaacov Dovid. The Vilna Gaon: The story of Rabbi Eliyahu Kramer ( C.I.S. Publishers, 1994) ISBN 1560622784
Ackerman, C.D. (trans.) Even Sheleimah: the Vilna Gaon looks at life (Targum Press, 1994) ISBN 0944070965
Schapiro, Moshe. Journey of the Soul: The Vilna Gaon on Yonah/Johan: an allegorical commentary adapted from the Vilna Gaon's Aderes Eliyahu (Mesorah Pub., Ltd., 1997). ISBN 1578191610
Freedman, Chaim. Eliyahu's Branches: The Descendants of the Vilna Gaon (Of Blessed and Saintly Memory) and His Family (Avotaynu, 1997) ISBN 1886223068
Rosenstein, Neil. The Gaon of Vilna and his Cousinhood (Center for Jewish Genealogy, 1997) ISBN 0961057858

1720 births | 1797 deaths | Orthodox rabbis

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