The Mystical Path of the Vilna Gaon

Alan Brill Fordham Universiry

The teaching and personality of Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman (1720- 1797), (known as the Vilna Gaon or the Gra) did much to form the char- acter of the Mitnaged movement of Lithuania. His activities made him one of the greatest spiritual and intellectual leaders of Jewry in modern times. His image was the inspiration for the founding of the Yeshiva movement, yielding a surge of Torah study unsurpassed in breadth and creativity. His writings forge a return to studying the classic texts themselves, and his readings of the texts display a radical creativity and synthesis. I. Despite his vast originality, the Gaon's extensive writings have scarcely been studied at all, and his Kabbalistic works have almost been ignored by modern scholarship, creating a major lacuna in the history of the Kabbalah. R.J.Z. Werblowsky commented that had the Vilna Gaon lived in another century he might have been the equal of even Isaac Luria.2 The Gra's Kabbalistic writings are a fundamental part of both his own life's work and of the Kabbalistic tradition, yet, scholarship has almost neglected the writings of this seminal figure. His mysticism was both a major shaper of the modern Kabbalistic tradition producing many followers, and was the source for his critique of Hasidut. In this paper, I will present three aspects of the Vilna Gaon's own unique mystical path to God, that will evidence the need for the Gra's writings to be addressed in scholarship. I will start with his innovations within the theory of the Lurianic Kabbalah that pertain to his mysticism, then I will examine the nature of his mysti-

1 On the Vilna Gaon, and his followers, see H.H. Ben Sasson "Lithuania: The Structure and Trends of Its Culture" in Encyclopedia judaica Year Book 1973 Oerusalem: Keter, 1973) pp.120- 134; H.H. Ben Sasson "Personality of Elijah, Gaon of Vilna and his Historical Influence' in Zion, 31 (1966) pp. 39-86, 197-216; Immanuel Etkas Rabbi IsraelSalanter Oerusalem: Magnes Press 1982); Immanuel Etkas "The Life and Thought of R. Hayyim of Volozhin as a Response to Hasidut" in PAAjR Vol. 38-39 (1972)pp.I-45.

2 R.J.Z. Werhlowsky,jo.reph Karo: Lawyer and Mystic (phila.: ].P.S., 1980), p. 312.

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cism, and finally, I will conclude with his relationship to the world of Hasidic spirituality.

Theory The theoretical Kabbalistic basis of the Gra's thought is his innovative reading of the Kabbalistic tradition, sharply different from other Lurianic commentators. The Gra reads the Kabbalah as a hierarchy of texts, placing the Sefer Yezirah as the description of the creation of this world, the Heikhalot of the Zohar as the hierarchy of religious experiences and the Sifra DeL;eni 'uta and the Tikkunry Zohar as the process of emanation. These texts are the core texts of Kabbalah, other Kabbalistic texts including the Lurianic writings are the commentary on them.} The Gra sees his own writing as the true Lurianic Kabbalistic tradition, separating himself from other Lurianic Kabbalists in his quest to return to the original texts of Kabbalah, and holds that R. Issac Luria can only be a commentary on those texts. Whenever the Gra thinks that Luria is not consistent or that Luria's understanding is not the correct reading then the Gra differs. The Lurianic text has to refer to either the creation of the world, or to experi- ence, or to emanation. Luria is not allowed to combine various texts, because, each remains a separate topic. The Gra also expects Kabbalah to be in complete agreement with the Bible, Talmud, and Halakhah.4 I will not be giving an exposition of the Gra's Kabbalah. My comments on the Gra's Kabbalah will be limited to those aspects that are relevant to his mysticism or his anti-Hasidic worldview. First, the Gra understands the Zohar as dualistic in nature. Desire and the evil inclination are the Sitra' Apra and are opposed to Torah, which is God's presence in the world. This dualism is one between the physical realm which is pure absence of God and the spiritual realm of God's name and emanation that enters the world. The Gra's reading of the Zohar is that the world is the domain of the sitra 'apra and God's presence is made

3 A traditional presentation of the Lurianic system including the perspective of the Gra is found in Israel Ratner, LeOhr HaKabbalah (Tel Aviv:1961); see the Gra's introduction to the Heikhalot (Vilna, 1882 and from manuscript Jerusalem 1970). It is instructive to use the critiques of the Gra found within traditional Lurianic commentators as a source of his innovations, for example R. Zvi Hirsch Shapira Be'r Lehai Roi passim.

4 Current scholarship based on selected 13th and 16th cents. halakhic examples assumes that the Kabbalah of the Zohar contradicts the halakhah, and that they are two different incompatible realms of discourse. See Jacob Katz, Halakhah and Kabbalah Gerusalem:Magnes Press, 1984). The Gra con- siders both the halakhah and the kabbalah as one single realm of discourse, and denies that the halakhah and the kabbalah disagree.