The following is taken from the recent biography of Reb Shlomo Zalman "Gaon Yisroel" (Introduction, p. 10):
אפילו כאשר מדובר היה במעשים נוראים המפורסמים על גדולי גאוני הדורות משנתו [של הגרשז"א] היתה ברורה לדחותם משולחן גבוה, כגון המעשה הנודע בשם הגאון רבי מנדל משקלאו אודות רבינו הגר"א זצ"ל שאמר שאם היה בא לפניו אריסטו היה מוריד על שולחנו את כדור העולם ומערכות השמים להראות כי יש בורא לעולם, אמר על כך רבינו, כי אין להבין הדברים כפשטן ואפילו על אדונינו הגר"א אין מן הראוי לספר דברים משונים כאלו. מעניין לציין שגם הגרא"מ שך העיר כך על מעשה זה וכו'.
I guess that's possible. But the fact that he insisted that Aristotle would then never imagine that the world was of natural origin suggests that he was trying to change Aristotle's scientific position.
I don't understand that either, Aristotle believed in a version of God, he just didn't believe God had free will. He also believed the universe existed forever. As the Rambam explains at length in Moreh. So I'm not sure what a vision of the universe on the table would change.
Interesting. As a previous comment noted, however, there's a גליוני הש"ס (https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=15247&st=&pgnum=175) that reports seeing in עלית אליהו that the Gra held of a flat earth - which might be hard to square with geocentrism. Although both that source and the intro to Avos I quoted in the article were not written directly by the Gra. Was his perush to Yetzira?
I'm pretty certain he did write his perush to Sefer Yetzira. Yes, it makes sense that he had a flat earth too. By geocentrism I meant that the Earth is in the centre and the sun and everything else revolves around the Earth. That would work even if the Earth is flat.
It IS very strange though given he seems to have been quite up to date with other scientific matters.
Whoops. I just realised that my eyes saw "geocentrism" in your comment but my brain somehow read "heliocentrism". I've got to work harder at reading comprehension. :)
The following is taken from the recent biography of Reb Shlomo Zalman "Gaon Yisroel" (Introduction, p. 10):
אפילו כאשר מדובר היה במעשים נוראים המפורסמים על גדולי גאוני הדורות משנתו [של הגרשז"א] היתה ברורה לדחותם משולחן גבוה, כגון המעשה הנודע בשם הגאון רבי מנדל משקלאו אודות רבינו הגר"א זצ"ל שאמר שאם היה בא לפניו אריסטו היה מוריד על שולחנו את כדור העולם ומערכות השמים להראות כי יש בורא לעולם, אמר על כך רבינו, כי אין להבין הדברים כפשטן ואפילו על אדונינו הגר"א אין מן הראוי לספר דברים משונים כאלו. מעניין לציין שגם הגרא"מ שך העיר כך על מעשה זה וכו'.
I updated the article to include a reference to your comment. Thanks.
Thanks. Regards from Shmuel.
That's very interesting.
Thanks!
You are interpreting the Gra as some sort of scientific statement. I understand that he was suggesting a miraculous vision, מעין the מעשה מרכבה .
I guess that's possible. But the fact that he insisted that Aristotle would then never imagine that the world was of natural origin suggests that he was trying to change Aristotle's scientific position.
I don't understand that either, Aristotle believed in a version of God, he just didn't believe God had free will. He also believed the universe existed forever. As the Rambam explains at length in Moreh. So I'm not sure what a vision of the universe on the table would change.
Back when I learned Sefer Yetzira with Perush HaGra, it was clear that the Gra held of geocentrism.
Interesting. As a previous comment noted, however, there's a גליוני הש"ס (https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=15247&st=&pgnum=175) that reports seeing in עלית אליהו that the Gra held of a flat earth - which might be hard to square with geocentrism. Although both that source and the intro to Avos I quoted in the article were not written directly by the Gra. Was his perush to Yetzira?
I'm pretty certain he did write his perush to Sefer Yetzira. Yes, it makes sense that he had a flat earth too. By geocentrism I meant that the Earth is in the centre and the sun and everything else revolves around the Earth. That would work even if the Earth is flat.
It IS very strange though given he seems to have been quite up to date with other scientific matters.
Whoops. I just realised that my eyes saw "geocentrism" in your comment but my brain somehow read "heliocentrism". I've got to work harder at reading comprehension. :)
Very interesting. I'm going to have to explore those sources a bit more.
Possible. Do you have a source?