[Avodah] A Vilna Gaon story that was too weird for Artscroll

[Prof. Levine]

On the Mainline has a very interesting post with the above title at 
http://tinyurl.com/8yyzykd

Below are some excerpts.

Interestingly, the Misnagdim did not know that Mendelssohn was doomed 
to 18 million years in Hell, and there was a time when the following did occur.

In 1799 an anonymous book called Sefer Ha-bris was printed in Bruenn. 
It was written by Rabbi Pinchas Eliyahu Hurwitz of Vilna (1765-1821), 
although no reader would have known it at the time, unless you knew 
the author (and he left hints, as we will see below).

In the censor's page, Karl Fischer describes the book as full of 
"firsternen, kometen (astronomy), logik, physik, geographie, 
botannik, optik and anatomie." In other words, it is a science book.

The book became an instant classic, eventually being reprinted many, 
many times. It discusses everything from America to geese that grow 
on trees in Scotland.

Thus, we see that there was a time when the public could actually 
believe that the same Torah-Science work was either written by the 
Vilna Gaon or Moses Mendelssohn.

Please see the above URL for the entire most interesting and well 
researched article. YL

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