[Avodah] Yeridas Ha'Doros

[T613K at aol.com]

From: "kennethgmiller at juno.com" _kennethgmiller at juno.com_ 
(mailto:kennethgmiller at juno.com) 


>>  In short: Is yeridas hadoros a subjective opinion or is it objective 
reality?  <<

Akiva Miller

 
>>>>>
 
It is an objective reality,  but only /in general/.  In a few  exceptional 
cases, there are individuals in later generations who achieve such  
greatness that they are considered throwbacks to earlier  generations.   It was for 
exactly that reason that the Vilna Gaon was  given the appellation "Gaon" by 
a generation that viewed him as a throwback to  the era of the Gaonim.  
 
(Of course, subsequently, we have begun to use the word "gaon" much  more 
loosely, as a synonym for "genius" -- and a "gaon" nowadays is  any  
precocious child or even somebody who is just a little bit smarter  than his peers 
-- so even the word "gaon" has seen a yeridas hadoros!)
 

--Toby  Katz
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