[Avodah] The Importance of Secular Knowledge for Torah Knowledge

[Prof. L. Levine]

The following is from

The Debate Over Secular Studies Among the Disciples of the Vilna Gaon by B. Raphael Shuchat
The Torah U-Madda Journal , 1998-1999, Vol. 8 (1998-1999), pp. 283-294B. Raphael Shuchat
Source: The Torah U-Madda Journal , 1998-1999, Vol. 8 (1998-1999), pp. 283-294

The Vilna Gaon (Gra) saw value in the study of secular knowledge and made a point of educating himself in these fields. R. Israel of Shklov, the youngest of his disciples, writes: This is what he [the Gra] said, "All knowledge is necessary for our holy Torah and is contained therein." He knew them all thoroughly and mentioned them; the wisdom of algebra, trigonometry, geometry, and music which he greatly praised. He used to say then that most of the inner meanings of Torah and the secrets of the Levites' songs and the secrets of Tikunei Zohar cannot be understood with- out this [knowledge of music]. . . . Only concerning medicine [did he limit his study thereof]. He knew human anatomy and all things relevant to it, but concerning the composition and prescription of medicines, which he wanted to learn from contemporary physicians, his saintly father commanded him not to study it so as not to diminish his Torah study in case he might have to save lives . . . and of the wisdom of philosophy he said that he had studied it thoroughly."

and

Despite studying philosophy "thoroughly", the Gra had an lent attitude toward it; this, however, was not the case with the sciences in which he showed great interest. It was this love for sciences which motivated him to write an essay on geometry trigonometry called Ayil Meshulash, an unusual act considering he wrote nothing else in book form.5 A further proof of the positive attitude toward the sciences can be found in the introduction to R. Baruch Shick of Shklov's translation of Euclid's geometry. tells the following story: When I was in the holy and grand community of Vilna, by Rabbi, that great light, the great Gaon, my master and teacher, illuminator of the exile, the well-known saint, our honorable teacher Elijah, may God guard and protect him, in 5538[=1778], I heard from his holy mouth that to the extent that one lacks in knowledge of other wisdom, he will lack one hundred fold in Torah know- ledge, for Torah and [general] knowledge are linked to one another . . . and he commanded me to copy into our holy language whatever is possible from general knowledge.

Yitzchok Levine
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