Part I
In his three-volume work HaGaon (that was put
together under the supervision of HaRav Chaim Kanievsky) Rav
Dov Eliach brought together an enormous amount of material to
try to give us some concept of what the Vilna Gaon was. The
Gaon was outstanding in many aspects of human development.
Our concepts do not do justice to what the Gaon really was.
The section printed here is taken from Chapter Five, and is
centered around the breadth of knowledge of the Gaon. When
reading it, one should keep in mind that this is just one of
many areas in which the Gaon lived at a such an outstanding
level.
Rav Eliach has added a new series of volumes to the
bookshelf of works related to the Gaon with the ongoing
publication of Chumash HaGra, an arrangement of the
comments of the Gaon arranged according to the
parshiyos of Chumash, with the full Chumash text. So
far Bereishis, Shemos and Bamidbar have
appeared, and we eagerly await the completion of the
series.
*
The Chazon Ish wrote, " . . . his level of Divine inspiration
and the like, and his diligence and breadth of knowledge, in
profound depth, in all the Torah that is now in our
possession — we cannot imagine how it is even possible"
(Kovetz Igros).
The Gaon's mechuton, the Chayei Odom, said of him,
"His mind contained the entire Torah, both the revealed and
hidden portions, to such an extent that it was unfathomable
how an individual could hold so much in his head."
In describing someone who studied all of Talmud Bavli,
one might say: "He completed Shas." If this person
then reviewed it until he knew it perfectly, one could call
him "an expert in Shas." If he studied the Talmud
Yerushalmi too, then he is "an expert in Shas
Bavli and Yerushalmi." Similarly, if he were to
study other parts of Torah one could list all the areas of
his expertise, and that would give a sense of what he had
accomplished.
However this is not true of one who studied Torah diligently,
in great depth, throughout his entire life, without
neglecting anything in the entire Torah. Even by saying, "He
studied and knew the entire Torah," one has not conveyed the
scope of the Gaon's accomplishments, for people cannot really
grasp what that is. As the Chazon Ish writes, "We cannot
imagine how it is even possible."
Of the Torah it says, "Its size is longer than the earth and
wider than the sea." The Gaon explained that the very
yardstick for measuring the Torah is itself "longer than the
land and wider than the sea" (Peninim MiShulchan HaGra,
Iyov 11:9).
A Man Who Encompassed Everything
The Chazon Ish speaks about the Gaon's "breadth of knowledge,
in profound depth, of the all the Torah that is now in our
possession." What is "all the Torah that is now in our
possession?"
The prime disciple of the Gaon, HaRav Chaim of Volozhin,
explains:
"He did not neglect anything — small or large,
Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi, Mechilta, Sifro,
Sifrei, Toseftos and all the midroshim, and the
holy Zohar, the Tikkunim, Ma'asei Bereishis,
Ma'asei Merkovoh, the Sefer Yetziroh, and all the
holy works of the early Kabbalists and the Kisvei
Arizal.
"To master all of them he exerted great and wondrous efforts
that cannot be measured, analyzing their words and descending
to amazing depths and shedding light where there was
murkiness or copyists' errors in the texts, until pathways
were illuminated through their holy words, and all was clear
and elucidated. The Torah of truth was in his mouth; it was
the absolute Torah. Everything that he studied was organized,
structured, and preserved in his memory." (Introduction to
the Bi'ur HaGra on Safra Detzni'usa)
The Sages said, "A person should always study Torah in the
area that his heart desires" (Avodoh Zora 19a). People
have different preferences. One focuses most of his attention
on studying Tanach, while another loves to study
Talmud. One studies practical halacha, while another
concentrates on aggodoh and mussar. One prefers
to cover ground, while another will not proceed until he has
studied the topic in great depth.
This was not true of the Gaon, whose accomplishments were
outstanding in every area of Torah study and every approach
to it. He succeeded in intellectually developing every aspect
of Torah, delving deeply into it until his studies had
integrated all approaches and areas of G-d's Torah. He was a
man who encompassed everything, an ish eshkolos in
every sense of the term.
The Gaon spoke as little as possible, and especially avoided
talking about himself. However, in a rare moment of
revelation he once summarized what he had been privileged to
achieve during his lifetime, and described the extent of his
phenomenal command of Torah.
It was in his later years, when his disciple, Rav Menachem
Mendel of Shklov, had finished transcribing his
rebbi's commentary on Shir HaShirim. In his
great joy over the completion of the project, the Gaon called
his mechuton, the Rov of Serhi (where they were
staying at the time) and he also called his eldest son, Rav
Yehuda Leib who was married to the Rov's daughter. The Gaon
told them to close the door and the window shutters of the
room, even though it was the middle of the day. Inside,
isolated and insulated from the rest of the world, they lit
up the room with many candles in honor of the occasion.
The Gaon finished dictating his commentary to Rav Mendel in
the presence of the others. Then he lifted his eyes
heavenward, in tremendous devotion, and blessed and thanked
Hashem for giving him a grasp of the light of the entire
Torah, both its inner and outer parts.
In his elevated mood, the Gaon revealed many measures of his
all-encompassing knowledge in all areas of wisdom, and his
amazing and rare breadth of knowledge of the entire Torah. He
listed all the external disciplines that are prerequisites to
the understanding of Torah, along with their benefits. The
Gaon had completely mastered each of these disciplines.
Afterwards, he said that, Boruch Hashem, he knew all
the Torah that was given at Sinai. He also understood how all
of Nevi'im and Kesuvim, as well as
Mishnayos and the Oral Torah are hidden in the Written
Torah. Now, in his old age, he had no remaining uncertainties
regarding any halacha or topic in the entire Torah. He
also knew all the details of the Oral Torah, including all
the poskim through the Acharonim who comment on
the Shulchan Oruch. He clarified and corrected errors
in all the texts and left them like refined flour that is
cleansed of all impurities.
The Gaon mastered all portions of the hidden Torah that we
possess: the Zohar, the Tikkunei Zohar, Sefer
Yetziroh, and the writings of the Arizal and the
Pardes. Those too, he purified of all errors that had
crept in and he corrected them based on proofs that were as
clear as day. There were only two serious matters among the
secrets of the Zohar that were unclear to him. After
he told his listeners where those difficulties are found, he
announced that if he knew of someone who understood them, he
would go to him on foot, wherever he was. In the meantime, he
was waiting for the Moshiach Tzidkeinu to come and
explain them to him.
The Gaon also said that, as is well-known, there are six-
hundred-twenty pillars of light, whose names and locations
were not revealed. He, however, had grasped them and knew the
names of each and every one, as well as where it was hidden
in the Written Torah. This information is not in the world:
the Gaon did not tell anyone and he did not write it down.
With this, the Gaon concluded his unusual survey of his
knowledge and achievements in all of Torah and all areas of
wisdom.
When the Rov of Serhi heard what the Gaon said about the six-
hundred-twenty pillars of light, he fell at his feet and
begged him to put these things into writing, even in a closed
and sealed book, so that they would at least remain in the
world. The Gaon refused however, saying that he was saving it
for his first discourse in the World to Come.
The Gaon warned the three people in his presence not to
reveal his awesome words to anyone. After the Gaon died
however, Rav Mendel of Shklov told his friend, Rav Yisroel of
Shklov, who wrote them down based on the verse, "That they
should know the greatness of Torah and it should not be
forgotten" (Introduction to Pe'as HaShulchon). Rav
Mendel himself later published a few parts of the incident in
his introduction to the Bi'ur HaGra on Ovos.
Backwards and Forwards
To ordinary people, the word "beki'us" is familiar
from mundane matters — proficiency thus connotes a
quantitative familiarity. The phrase, "boki in the
entire Torah" would therefore imply knowledge of the whole
text, meaning all the words of the text.
Clearly, however, this is not what is meant when we apply the
term to gedolei Yisroel. What, then, is the nature of
the expression we used to describe the Gaon, "no secret
escaped him"?
Rav Chaim of Volozhin once told his students about the
greatness of his brother, the amazing genius Rav Zelmaleh. He
too was a close disciple of the Gaon. Rav Chaim noted his
brother's profound beki'us in Torah, all parts of
which he knew by heart. "Even in the days of the
Tanoim and the Amoroim, he would have been
considered a scholar," Rav Chaim said of his brother, in
awe.
Surprised, one student said, "If so, then in what way was the
master, the Gaon, greater than the student, Rav Zalman?"
Rav Chaim's face immediately lit up like a blazing flame, as
it usually did when he spoke about his great rebbi,
and he said: "Even if Rav Zelmaleh, my brother, had lived two
thousand years, he would not reach the ankles of the
Gaon!"
The students whispered amongst themselves, "Surely he means
in terms of sharpness . . . "
But Rav Chaim scolded them and said, definitively, "Even in
beki'us!"
At this, the students were astonished. How much was left for
Rav Zelmaleh to learn that after two thousand years he still
would not have reached the ankles of the Gaon?
Rav Chaim explained what he meant with an analogy:
Every Jew, young or old, scholar or layman, is able to say
the prayer `Ashrei yoshvei veisecho' (Tehillim 145),
by heart. I can testify that my brother, the holy genius Rav
Zalman, was an expert in all the words of the Tanoim
and Amoroim, in the revealed and the hidden portions
of the Torah, in the Bavli and Yerushalmi, in
the Zohar and in Eitz Chaim. All that we have
from the words of the Sages, he could study and say by heart.
Is this not amazing wisdom?
Yet, if a normal scholar were asked, "What is the word before
the ninth verse of Ashrei, `Hashem is good to all who
call to Him' (Tov Hashem . . . )?" With all his
knowledge, he would have to start from the beginning of the
previous verse, "Gracious and merciful, (Chanun
veRachum)" and review it mentally up to its last word,
`kindness (chossed).' And this is in the case of
Ashrei, in which all the verses are arranged in
alphabetical order. In other prayers or in Bircas
Hamozone, one doesn't even have this alphabetical order
to help him and would likely need a siddur in order to
answer correctly.
Our master the Vilna Gaon however, knew all of Torah, both
revealed and hidden, such that every word stood before his
eyes — to the extent that for any word, he was able to
give the preceding word on the spot. The entire Torah,
backwards and forwards, was at his command, exactly like
someone with an open book in front of him (Se'aras
Eliyahu).
In this way, Rav Chaim showed that "beki'us in the
entire Torah" is not the highest level, and that there exists
a much greater level that only the Vilna Gaon achieved.
This distinction between the Gaon and his student Rav
Zelmaleh was summarized in a pithy saying by the scholars of
the time: "Rav Zalman was an expert in Shas from
"Mei'eimosai" [the first mishna] to "Tanna
Debei Eliyahu" [the last section of the end of
Shas], but not from "Tanna Debei Eliyahu" to
"Mei'eimosai." However the Gaon was a boki from
"Mei'eimosai" to "Tanna Debei Eliyahu," as well
as from "Tanna Debei Eliyahu" to
"Mei'eimosai."
A Brisker Question — and Answer
The Brisker Rov, HaRav Yitzchok Zeev Soloveitchik, was
surprised by this new concept of proficiency. What is the
difference, he asked, if one knows how to read the Torah from
the end to the beginning — has he fulfilled of the
mitzvah of Torah study any better?
He then explained that knowing the Torah backwards and
forwards is not just an additional skill. It is rather an
indication of a higher, ideal level of knowledge. As it says
in Mishlei (7:3), "Write them on the tablet of your
heart." In other words, the words of Torah should be so
familiar and clear to a person that it is as if they were
written on a tablet in front of him. The ability to recite
backwards is just an indication of this ideal level, since
one who is reading from a text will be able to read backwards
easily, unlike one who is reciting from memory alone.
This is the degree of Torah knowledge that is required - for
it to be engraved on one's heart so deeply that one can read
it backwards. The Vilna Gaon achieved this lofty level.
"Write Them on the Tablet of Your Heart"
Such a degree of proficiency is also a powerful key to
understanding Torah. Command of the entire Torah like that of
the Gaon can open new worlds in understanding the Torah.
Rav Shraga Feivush was a son-in-law of the Gaon, the Av
Beis Din of Dubrovna and the publisher of Aderes
Eliyahu, a collection of the Gaon's commentaries on the
Torah. He once had a discussion with the Gaon about the
spelling of various words without the additional letters
(chosser) and with the additional letters
(yesser) in the Torah portion that discusses the
Menorah. The Gaon decided that his own approach was
correct and based his decision on the tradition that in this
parsha the letter yud appears a certain number
of times and the letter vov appears a certain number
of times. On the spot, the Gaon listed them by heart, one by
one, like one counting money on his table (Aliyos
Eliyahu).
Rav Menasheh of Ilyah suggested a new interpretation of a
particular topic in tractates Shabbos and
Eruvin that differed from Rashi and the other
commentators. The Gaon asked him, "What forced you to explain
it in this manner?"
Rav Menasheh answered, "From Kesuvos."
The Gaon questioned, "If so, then how do you resolve what
such and such says in the gemara . . . ?"
Rav Menasheh was silent. He had no reply. But he was also
shocked and amazed by the Gaon's tremendous beki'us
and his grasp of the material. He had very subtly hinted his
thoughts to the Gaon, and the Gaon immediately understood and
reviewed the entire matter in his mind and then responded
without any hesitation (Aliyos Eliyahu).
Another incident that Rav Menasheh from Ilyah told over:
Regarding the verse in Tazria, "And it is not deeper
in appearance than the skin" (Vayikra 13:4), Rashi
wrote, "I do not know its meaning." Yet the Ramban and other
commentators were surprised by Rashi's perplexity and
explained the verse in various ways.
Rav Menasheh once came to the Gaon and began to confide his
own opinion of how to explain Rashi's question on the
Chumash. However, as soon as he began to present his
ideas, the Gaon interrupted and said, "Rashi's question is
clear," and he proceeded to explain all that Rav Menasheh had
wished to tell him. Not only that, but he also answered
Rashi's question according to a passage in Toras
Kohanim.
When Rav Menasheh told the Radal about this incident, he
added with astonishment, "The Gaon would respond in the same
way to everything, whether [obscure] topics in Nego'im
and Oholos or other laws that are well-known and
practiced, for he organized and preserved all of them in his
heart equally" (Aliyos Eliyahu).
This is an advanced fulfillment of the Talmudic statement,
"Teach them thoroughly — the words of Torah should be
sharp in your mouth, so that if someone asks you something,
you should not stammer before telling him, but rather, [be
able to] tell him immediately" (Kiddushin 30a).
Incidentally, the Sages learned this from the verse, "Tell
wisdom that I am your sister . . ." and the verse, "Tie them
on your fingers — write them on the tablet of your
heart."
A Test on Tractate Succah
Rav Yisroel of Shklov tells of a student of the Vilna Gaon
who came to visit his rebbi on Chol Hamoed
Succos and asked the Gaon to test his knowledge of
Tractate Succah by heart.
Before the holiday, the Gaon had told his students that it is
important to know at least one tractate by heart so as not to
lose time from Torah study while walking or sitting in
darkness. One of his students decided to study Succah.
After he had studied it many times and after his peers had
tested him and found him fluent in it, he came to be tested
by his rebbi.
A group of Torah scholars had come to visit the Gaon in honor
of Succos, and they were sitting with him at the time. The
young man entered and said to the Gaon, "I have learned
Tractate Succah and I know it by heart."
The Gaon asked him, "Do you want me to ask you a
question?"
The student agreed, saying, "After all, I know it by
heart."
However, he was unable to respond to the Gaon's question.
What did the Gaon ask?
How many disputes are there in this tractate between R' Meir
and R' Yehuda, and between R' Akiva and R' Tarfon; how many
disputes between Abaye and Rava, and how many between Rav
Papa and Rav Huna . . .?
The student, who was not expecting that sort of question, was
stunned.
Then the Gaon then began to list the number of disputes one
by one, noting how many times the halacha was decided
in favor of each Tana or Amora. He then
proceeded to dissect the tractate, down to the number of
sugyos and shittos, and even mentioned how many
laws in the tractate are derived from Tosefta and
Yerushalmi.
When the Gaon counted the number of halachos dealt
with in the Talmud (Bavli, Tosefta and
Yerushalmi) regarding Succah, he noted that the
number of succas mentioned as invalid is equal to the
numerical equivalent of the word "Succah" spelled
without a vov (85), and the number of kosher
succas is equal to the numerical equivalent of the
word "Succah" spelled with a vav (91)
(introduction to the Pe'as HaShulchan).
Rav Yisroel of Shklov added: "That was the way he knew all of
Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi and the entire
Torah."
"All in all," Rav Chaim of Volozhin concluded, "all the words
of the Tanoim and Amoroim that we are aware of,
in both the revealed and hidden portions of the Torah, all
were methodically arranged on his lips, organized in all
areas and preserved in his heart, and he deduced lessons by
counting their letters, to weigh on the scales of his holy
intellect and to resolve with his truthful analytical
abilities" (introduction to Shenos Eliyahu).
End of Part I
