Elijah ben Solomon (redirected from Vilna Gaon)

Elijah ben Solomon, 1720–97, Jewish scholar, called the Gaon of Vilna, b. Lithuania. A leading Jewish scholar of his time, he opposed the spread of Hasidism in Lithuania and Poland because he feared that the creation of these new groups would weaken the Jewish community. His many influential works include commentaries on the Hebrew Bible, the Mishna and Talmud, Midrash, and the kabbalah. He upheld the primacy of Torah study and the halakah, which he held as being of supreme importance for Jewish life.

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Elijah ben Solomon

(born April 23, 1720, Sielec, Lith., Russian Empire—died Oct. 9, 1797, Vilna) Lithuanian scholar and Jewish leader. Born into a long line of scholars, he traveled in Poland and Germany before settling in Vilna, the cultural centre of eastern European Jewry. He refused rabbinic office and lived as a recluse while devoting himself to study and prayer, but he nevertheless became famous and revered in the Jewish community. His scholarly interests included biblical exegesis, Talmudic studies, folk medicine, grammar, and philosophy. A vehement opponent of Hasidism, he denounced its claims to miracles, visions, and spiritual ecstasy, calling instead for the intellectual love of God.