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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>From: "kennethgmiller@juno.com" <A href="mailto:kennethgmiller@juno.com">kennethgmiller@juno.com</A><BR><BR><BR>>>
In short: Is yeridas hadoros a subjective opinion or is it objective reality?
<<<BR><BR>Akiva Miller</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>>>>>></DIV>
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<DIV>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. </DIV>
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<DIV>(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!)</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff></FONT><BR><FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG>--Toby
Katz<BR>================</STRONG></FONT><FONT lang=0 color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>_____________________
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