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Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman,〔Recently he has been given the surname Kremer. However neither the Vilna Gaon nor his descendants apparently used this surname, which means shopkeeper. It was possibly mistakenly derived from a nickname of his ancestor Rabbi Moshe Kremer. ()〕 ((ヘブライ語:ר' אליהו בן שלמה זלמן)) known as the Vilna Gaon ((イディッシュ語:דער װילנער גאון), (リトアニア語:Vilniaus Gaonas)) or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym HaGra ("HaGaon Rabbenu Eliyahu") or Elijah Ben Solomon, (Vilnius April 23, 1720 – Vilnius October 9, 1797), was a Talmudist, halakhist, kabbalist, and the foremost leader of mitnagdic (non-hasidic) Jewry of the past few centuries. He is commonly referred to in Hebrew as ''ha-Gaon he-Chasid mi-Vilna'', "the saintly genius from Vilnius".〔The Threefold step of Academia Europeana: a case of Universitas Vilnensis. 2009, p.24〕 Through his annotations and emendations of Talmudic and other texts he became one of the most familiar and influential names in rabbinic study since the Middle Ages, counted by many among the sages known as the ''Acharonim'', and ranked by some with the even more revered ''Rishonim'' of the Middle Ages. Large groups of people, including many ''yeshivas'', uphold the set of Jewish customs and rites (''minhag''), the "''minhag ha-Gra''", which is named for him, and which is also considered by many to be the prevailing Ashkenazi ''minhag'' in Jerusalem. Born in Vilnius, capital city of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Gaon displayed extraordinary talent while still a child. By the time he was twenty years old, rabbis were submitting their most difficult ''halakhic'' problems to him for legal rulings. He was a prolific author, writing such works as glosses on the Babylonian Talmud and ''Shulchan Aruch'' known as ''Bi'urei ha-Gra'' ("Elaborations by the Gra"), a running commentary on the Mishnah, ''Shenoth Eliyahu'' ("The Years of Elijah"), and insights on the Pentateuch entitled ''Adereth Eliyahu'' ("The Splendor of Elijah"), published by his son. Various Kabbalistic works have commentaries in his name, and commentaries on the Proverbs and other books of the Tanakh were written later on in his life. None of his manuscripts were published in his lifetime. When Hasidic Judaism became influential in his native town, the Vilna Gaon joined the "opposers" or ''Mitnagdim'', rabbis and heads of the Polish communities, to curb Hasidic influence. In 1777, one of the first excommunications against the nascent Hasidic movement was launched in Vilna. He encouraged his students to study secular sciences, and even translated geometry books to Yiddish and Hebrew, chief among them ''Sefer HaEuclid''. ==Youth and education== Legend has it that by the age of three he had committed the Tanach to memory. At the age of seven he was taught Talmud by Moses Margalit, rabbi of Kėdainiai and the author of a commentary to the Jerusalem Talmud, entitled ''Pnei Moshe'' ("The Face of Moses"). The young Elijah was said to have already known several of the Talmudic tractates by heart. He is known for having possessed an eidetic memory. By eight, he was studying astronomy during his free time. From the age of ten he continued his studies without the aid of a teacher, and by the age of eleven he had committed the entire Talmud to memory. When he reached a more mature age, Elijah decided to go into "exile" and he wandered in various parts of Europe including Poland and Germany, as was the custom of the pious of the time. By the time he was twenty years old, rabbis were submitting their most difficult ''halakhic'' problems to him. Scholars, Jewish and non-Jewish, sought his insights into mathematics and astronomy. He returned to his native city in 1748, having by then acquired considerable renown. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vilna Gaon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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