They say that when the aron kodesh was opened on Simchat Torah and they brought out the Torah scrolls the Gra burst into wild, joyous dancing, which did not stop until they put them back.
The Vilna Gaon Was a Serious Guy, But …
Wednesday, October 10, 2007 by ianpear
Posted in Stories | Tagged Dancing, Simchat Torah, Vilna Gaon | 1 Comment
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more on this: in his fantastic book, Thinking God, Alan Brill writes how the Vilna Gaon was a “kabbalistic lamdan-hasid.”
“According to R. Hayyim of Volozhin’s account, the Gaon received maggidim and angelic visitors, was versed in magical techniques, monitored his dreams, and devoted himself to kabbalistic study.” there is much more in the book on the Gra (and also about R. Zadok Hacohen, who is the focus of the book) but the main cool part is just the breaking down of the usual binary between piety (hasid) and scholarship (lamdan).