The Genius by Stern

A fabulous 300-odd page work, The Genius is an outstanding piece of contemporary scholarship on 'the Vilna Gaon' (Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna). The Gaon was well known for his incredible Torah knowledge, wisdom and scope, so Stern has done the near-impossible task of bringing some of his main thoughts to bear.

Not surprisingly, there is a whole chapter dedicated to the attitude on Hasidism and other elements of his 'welanshaung' (worldview). Perhaps equally impressive is how the author manages to intertwine the 'thinking' of the Gaon with the biographical and historical context surrounding his life. A nicely sized chapter is dedicated to his life growing up in Vilna and the so-called 'enlightenment' period that took place during his lifetime.

Packed withe footnotes, this work will also serve as a strong foundation for further study in this subject. In many ways in fact, this is a one-of-kind book - such strong technical analysis of his most well known positions, such as the opposition to Hasidism, combined with a more birds-eye perspective on his position in Eastern Europe society at a time of intense Torah scholarship. Further, Stern gives a good perspective on how the Gaon become such a memorable figure in Jewish history and learning, a legacy that still lives strong today.

The Genius by Stern is published by Yale University Press

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