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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>> Looking back now, for example, I think everybody would agree that
the <BR>> ... Vilna Gaon was "the" godol hador of his
dor...[--TK]<BR><BR>Maybe. Maybe not. I think that even today, some might give
that title to<BR>the Baal Shem Tov. [--R' Joel Rich]</FONT></DIV><FONT
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<DIV>>>>>></DIV>
<DIV>They were not exactly the same dor. The Ba'al Shem Tov died in 1760,
the Vilna Gaon in 1797. A person doesn't become a godol hador until he is
at least in his fifties and more often not until he's 70, so the Vilna Gaon (who
was 40 when the Baal Shem Tov died) would not yet have been the godol hador when
the Besht was still alive. Thus, each could well have been "the" godol
hador of his dor.<BR></DIV></FONT>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR><B>--Toby Katz<BR>=============<BR></B>"If you don't read the
newspaper you are uninformed; <BR>if you do read the newspaper you are
misinformed."<BR>--Mark Twain<BR>Read *Jewish World Review* at <A
href="http://jewishworldreview.com/">http://jewishworldreview.com/</A></FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="fa5d49f68bc3473f90da1f70f8bb7129"><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Make your life easier with all your friends, email, and favorite sites in one place. <a href="http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000010">Try it now</a>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>