38 Facts About Vilna Gaon

Vilna Gaon is commonly referred to in Hebrew as ha-Gaon mi-Vilna, "the genius from Vilnius".

Vilna Gaon was a prolific author, writing such works as glosses on the Babylonian Talmud and Shulchan Aruch known as Bi'urei ha-Gra, a running commentary on the Mishnah, Shenoth Eliyahu, and insights on the Torah entitled Adereth Eliyahu, published by his son.

When Hasidic Judaism became influential in his native town, the Vilna Gaon joined the "opposers" or Misnagdim, rabbis and heads of the Polish communities, to curb Hasidic influence.

Vilna Gaon's grandfather was Yissachar Dov, the son of Rabbi Eliyahu Chassid, after whom he was named.

At the request of Rabbi Heschel, the Av Beit Din of Vilna Gaon, he added his own scholarly discourse to demonstrate his ability to innovate independently.

Vilna Gaon's wife took responsibility for managing the household so he could devote himself entirely to study.

Nevertheless, the Vilna Gaon community, considering it an honor to have him in their city, granted him a small monthly stipend for his livelihood.

Vilna Gaon dedicated all his time exclusively to Torah study.

The Vilna Gaon attained an extraordinary and undisputed status during his lifetime.

Vilna Gaon was perceived as belonging to the ranks of the Tannaim and Amoraim, the sages of the Talmud, or as akin to the Geonim of Babylonia.

We regard the Gaon of Vilna as belonging to the ranks of Moses, Ezra, Rabbeinu HaKadosh, Rav Ashi, and the Rambam.

The Vilna Gaon advocated for a study approach focused on the peshat and was himself widely knowledgeable and erudite.

Vilna Gaon opposed sharp dialectical analysis in learning, just as Maimonides, the Maharal, Rav Kook, and other Jewish sages did.

The Vilna Gaon was highly original in his halachic rulings and often ruled based on his own understanding of the Talmud, even against the Rishonim and the Shulchan Aruch, or in opposition to established customs.

Vilna Gaon's learning was based on a deep pursuit of the literal meaning from the sources, as well as on textual emendations, especially in less commonly studied works such as the Jerusalem Talmud, the Tosefta, and the Zohar.

Vilna Gaon did this based on the teaching of the Sages:.

Since, on the night after Yom Kippur, everyone went home to eat, the Vilna Gaon would continue learning until people finished their meals and returned to study.

The Vilna Gaon wrote commentaries on Sifra de-Tzeniuta, which he regarded as the foundational work of Kabbalah, as well as on Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkunei Zohar Chadash, and other sections of the Zohar, as well as on Sefer Yetzirah.

However, unlike other Kabbalists, the Vilna Gaon opposed the reception of maggid revelations, as he wished to toil in Torah study and receive divine wisdom directly from God rather than through intermediaries.

In our generation, the writings of the Vilna Gaon have been studied by Rabbi Yitzhak Shlomo Zilberman, Rabbi Sharya Dublitzky, Rabbi Israel Eliyahu Winterob, Rabbi Yaakov Edes, and Rabbi Yosef Avivi, who wrote a special book explaining the uniqueness of the Vilna Gaon's Kabbalah and the differences between it and the Kabbalah of Arizal.

The Vilna Gaon considered each millennium as a day, based on the verse "For a thousand years in Your eyes are but as yesterday when it passes", meaning that the year 5500 is the morning of the sixth day.

The Vilna Gaon supported secular studies, which included some of the sciences, primarily the natural sciences, and even wrote a book on mathematics, astronomy, and geometry titled Il Mishulash.

Vilna Gaon studied human philosophy but opposed the study of general humanities because he did not see them as having true value for Jewish life.

The Vilna Gaon distinguished between the humanities and the natural sciences, which he saw as "pharmacology and medicine" assisting in the understanding of the Torah.

Dov Eliyach, in his book "The Vilna Gaon," tries to prove from the wording of the letter that the attempt occurred when the Vilna Gaon was around forty years old, likely in the winter of Tavkuf Kaf.

Vilna Gaon believed this would pave the way for the arrival of the Messiah, whom he anticipated would appear in the year Tav Resh.

Vilna Gaon proclaimed, "The voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land".

The Vilna Gaon opposed the Hasidic movement due to various distortions he saw in it, which led him to classify it as heresy and a movement stemming from impurity.

Vilna Gaon refused to meet with the founder of the Chabad Hasidic movement, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, and instructed that the book Tzav HaRivash be publicly burned.

Rabbi Joseph Dov Halevi Soloveitchik of Boston added that the Vilna Gaon saw Hasidism spreading rapidly, which caused him to fear that it was "the work of Satan," as holiness usually spreads slowly.

The Vilna Gaon did not have students in the usual sense of the word and did not serve as the head of a yeshiva.

Vilna Gaon's students felt the immense gap between themselves and him and refused to be called his "students".

The Vilna Gaon's sons write that in his later years, two brothers from Shklov, Rabbi Binyamin and Rabbi Menachem Mendel, came closer to him:.

The teachings of the Vilna Gaon were published in books covering many areas of Torah, including commentaries on the Torah, the Prophets, the Megillot, the book of Chronicles, Mishnahs from Zeraim and Taharot, explanations of the Jerusalem Talmud, Tosefta, Minor Tractates, Torat Kohanim, and more.

The Vilna Gaon frequently explained Midrashim through the lens of Kabbalah.

The Vilna Gaon was the eldest of his siblings and had four brothers:.

All eight of the Vilna Gaon's children were born to his first wife, Chana:.

In 1999, the Government of Israel requested to bring the Vilna Gaon's remains to Israel, but the request was denied by the Lithuanian government, partly due to the opposition of the Jewish community there.