The Gaon of Vilna: The Man and His Image

Index

Index 295 Aaron of Prague, Rabbi, 58 Abeli, Rabbi Abraham, 72, 252–53n82 Abraham, Rabbi (son of the Gaon), 32, 69, 70, 252n75 Abraham of Kalisk, Rabbi, 83–84, 85 Abraham Simh . ah of Amcislaw, Rabbi, 15, 19, 29–30, 53 ADERET. See Rabinowitz-Teumin, Rabbi Eliahu David Adrot, 18 Aggadah, 12 Aharonim, 16 Amoraim, 12, 14 ARI (Rabbi Isaac Luria), 18, 23, 111; ascent of the soul of the, 30; Gaon’s attitude toward the, 24 –25, 26, 136; opposition to the, 114 –15 Asher ben Yehiel, Rabbi (ROSH), 180 Ashkenazic Jewry: secular studies by, 56 –57 Avigdor of Pinsk, Rabbi, 145 Avivi, Y., 26 Avot de Rabbi Nathan, 12, 240 Ba’al Shem Tov, Rabbi Israel (BESHT), 23, 76, 115, 129; ascent of the soul of, 30; Hasidism of, 92–93; opposition to, 78; on traditional study, 154, 155, 156 Bachrach, Rabbi Yair, 57 Baraitot, 17–18 Barit, Rabbi Ya’aqov, 70 Barukh of Shklov, Rabbi, 37–38, 53, 55–56, 64 –66 Ben-Sasson, H . ayyim Hillel, 57, 76 –77, 95 Berlin, Rabbi Naphtali Zvi Yehuda (NATSIV ), 226 BESHT. See Ba’al Shem Tov, Rabbi Israel Bible, 2, 14; Gaon on study of, 59, 61; Haskalah movement on study of, 60, 61, 62 bitah .on, 234 Blaser, Rabbi Yitshak, 211 commandments: emphasis by some Kabbalists on, 266n62; Gaon on, 234 –35, 241– 42; in Hasidism, 192–96, 198–99 Council of the Four Lands, 74, 76, 128 David of Novhardok, Rabbi, 217 David of Makov, Rabbi, 161 Dinur, Ben-Z . ion, 230 divine immanence, 189–91 Dov Ber, Rabbi, 84, 104 –6, 115 Dubnow, Shimeon, 74 –75, 94 Ecclesiastes, 240 El’azar ben Tsadok, Rabbi, 180 Elijah the Prophet, 136 Elior, Rachel, 125–26 Eliyahu Ben Shlomo Zalman, Rabbi. See Gaon of Vilna Emden, Rabbi Yakov, 113 Epstein, Rabbi Barukh, 140– 41 Ethics of the Fathers, 240, 242 evil impulse, 165–66, 235 Eybeschuetz, Rabbi Yehonatan, 57, 65–67, 113 Fin, Samuel Joseph, 39– 41 Fishman, David, 69–70, 254 –55n29 Frankists, 29, 75 Gaon: definition of, 277 Gaon of Vilna: on ascent of the soul, 30–31; ascetic withdrawal of, 233–37; attitude toward secular studies of, 37–38, 39– 40, 53– 58, 63; attitude toward the ARI, 24 –25, 26, 136; B. Landau on, 146; ceremony held by, 21–22; claims that he was misled by false witnesses, 98–100, 103– 4, 114 –15; on commandments , 234 –35, 241– 42; commentaries on Mishnah by, 17, 62; commentary on Shulh .an ‘Arukh, 17–18; commentary on Sifra Dez .eni’uta, 18; commitment to truth of, 15–16; condemns new Hasidism as heresy, 85, 92, 93, 94, 95; death of, 107, 110; disciples of, 69, 70; educational reform and, 58–63, 64; emendations of Talmud by, 16 –17, 62; as gaon, 11–13; as h .asid, 2, 23– 33, 237; influence of, 1–3, 8–11; Kabbalah and, 3, 12, 17, 18, 24 –31, 94, 135–36; maggidim and, 27–30; in Maz .ref Ha’avodah, 112–16; Mishnah and, 12, 14, 17, 59, 62; myth of as maskil, 3– 4, 37– 46, 67, 251n68; opposition to pilpul, 50, 51, 59, 61–62; orthodox Judaism and, 41– 46; Rabbi H . ayyim on, 12, 14, 18–19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26 –27, 31; Rabbi Israel on, 12–13, 16 –17, 19–20, 21–22, 55; Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn on, 128–29; Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Vitebsk on, 98–99; Rabbi Yehuda Leib Maimon on, 145; as seen by Hasidim, 98–150; sitra ahra and, 29–30; struggle against Hasidism and, 82–95, 98– 100, 103– 4, 114 –15, 148; on study of Bible, 59, 61; supernatural abilities attributed to, 270n132; on tiqun hamidot, 237– 40, 242, 243; Torah study of, 3, 8, 11–14, 15–19, 20– 21; on Torah study and yira, 8, 241– 44; turning point in life of, 19–20, 40; veneration of, 35–36; works of, 54 –55; Y. Mondshine on, 131, 132–33; Y. Wolfsberg-Avi’ad on, 141– 42; Zohar and, 24 –26. See also under Haskalah; Shneur Zalman, Rabbi Gemara, 12, 59, 62 God: “cleaving to,” 179–80, 181–82, 186, 187–88, 197, 198; connection between the worlds and, 190–91; Hasidic view of, 153– 54; transcendental conception of, 153 Gordon, Rabbi Eli’ezer, 224, 226 –27, 230–31 Graetz, Heinrich, 48 Habad, 6 harbingers, 51–52; Gaon as harbinger of Haskalah, 52–66 Haredi community, 121, 146, 147 h .asid, 23, 237, 277 Hasidism: cleaving...