Vilna Gaon + Russia In The 1800s Flashcards
What was the Vilna Gaons real name
R’ Eliyahu of Vilna
When was he born
When did he die
(Where)
Born - 1720
Die - 1798
Vilna, Lithuania
How were jews of lithuania living
Generally very poor - aside from 2 large cities
They lived mostly in small towns and villages
What was The Jew’s greatest accomplishment?
Torah knowledge and most parents dreamed of their sons becoming great Torah scholars
What was the city of Vilna called? Why?
- the Jerusalem of Lithuania
2. For its tremendous number of Torah scholars and Jewish life
What was Vilna Gaon known as from a young age?
Genius (memorized all of Chumash)
What was well known through by his early 20s?
One of the greatest Torah scholars of the generation
How did he sleep from the age of 20-70?
He did not sleep more than two hours in any 24 hr period
And not for more than 30 mins (took 4 cat naps)
what was one of Vilnas main accomplishemnts?
correcting mistakes he found in many of the major books of judaism including Gemara
How were most of his corrections done? When were they confirmed?
Through his vast knowledge at all areas of Torah
Later on - when manuscripts were discovered
What did he do in his 30s?
Traveled throughout Eastern Europe for 3 yrs and spent a lot of time searching in libraries and storage rooms
What was he doing while he was traveling around?
He made ppl aware of local scholars who are otherwise unknown
What else was he an expert in? How did he know this?
Many areas of secular knowledge: philosophy, math, and many of the sciences
A lot was self taught through Torah knowledge
What was he the greatest expert at in his time?
Kabbalah
What did he think abt Kabbalah? How was this seen later on?
He was against it for the common people
That was one of his main complaints of chassidus
What was his fight against chassidus based upon?
Things that were told to him
What was he afraid abt chassidus? So what did he do?
That it might break off from Judaism and become a Jew religion
Everything he could to keep that from happening including signing the חרם (ban against them)
What happened after Vilna’s death?
Many books were written after his death by his students
Quoting thousands of his original explanations of the Torah
Where did Vilna try to move?
A number of times to Eretz yisrael but each time he received some sign from heaven that he should return home
Who was his most famous student?
R’ Chaim of Volozhin
What did R’Chaim of Volozhin do?
He founded the modern yeshiva system
What did many of Vilnas students do?
Moved to Israel and helped start the ashkenaz community in yerushalim
When and where did Vilna die and where did he get buried?
In 1798 on chol hamoed sukkos and buried in Vilna
How was the population like during the 1800s in Eastern Europe?
It exploded. In the 1800s there were one and half million Jews in europe
By 1900s - 9 1/2 million
where had jews been living? what was currently happening at that time?
in small towns and villages for hundreds of yrs
now they began moving into cities looking for opportunities to make their lives better
there was a …..
mass migrartion of jews both from country to another and within the same country
what had these changes bring into jewish life?
disruption and unpredictability
what happened when napolean invaded russia?
most jews stayed loyal to rusia
whayt was their “reward” (jews for staying loyal 2 Russia)
the russian gov issued a series of harsh decrees against the jews
what did one of the russian ministers say?
hat 1/3 of the jews should imigrate
1/3 should be exterminated
1/3 should convert
1st decree = creation of pale settlement?
this was only area in russian in which jews were allowed to live
what happened to the jews that lived outside of that area?
were forced to move and 100,000 of them became refugees
how did forbidden cerain cities affect jews?
they were forbidden for jews which made it difficult for Jews to earn a living and support themsleves
2nd Decree = where were jews banned? what ha dthe russians happen to do?
from being involved in traditional jewish business
the russians happened to encourage jews to either leave or convert
3rd decree - Cantonist Decree - when did it go into effect
1827
what did the 3rd degree ask of boys?
young boys age of 8-12 were taken 2 military skool for training and then drafted to army 4 25 yrs
what would happen if the quota wasnt filled?
children of town leaders were taken or the leaders or even the whole town would be sent into exile
how would the jewish community fill the quota needed?
chose by lottery
took orphaned children or who had sick or poor parents
what had been developed
black market of kidnapped children developed and kids were sold from 1 town to another
what would wealthy jews do?
bribe russian officials to have their children set free
what did many jews develop? why?
hatred towards wealthy jews as well as towards religion
bc of the things that these ppl were doing
what did many rabbis do? what abt others
they protested and as a result they were fired
others resigned in protest and many kept quiet
what were many of these cantonist children forced to do? what did some do?
convert
usually after tortue
some committed sucide to avoid this
what were the results fo teh cantonist decree like?
How many survived
How many remained religious
sevre
few survived
less remained observant jews
how long was it in effcet for? was it consistently enforced? how many jewish children were affected?
Cantonist Decree
- for aound 30 yrs
- not
- 50,000
Decree #4 - what did teh russian gov decree in 1835
that jews take last names
what were the last names meant to do?
to give the govt the authority to keep track of the jews
what did many jews do to avoid the govt? what did this also utilize
more than 1 last name
avoid having their sons drafted into the army
where did some jews take their last names?
from tombstones
decree 5 - what did the Russian govt made illegal?
to dress in their traditional style
what did all these decrees create?
an attitude amongst jews of not trusting govt which was the only way to survive
