OCTOBER 4/TISHREI 19

5558 (1797):

Yahrzeit of Rabbi Eliyahu Kramer, known as the Gaon (genius) of Vilna, the outstanding talmudic personality of the 18^th century. At age three he already knew the entire Bible by heart, and legend has it that by age twelve he was able to kabbalistically create a Golem (life out of formless mass). He was known to have slept only two hours per day, in six 20-minute intervals. He wrote more than 70 commentaries on all the classical Jewish works -- Bible, Talmud, Code of Jewish Law, plus various Kabbalistic works. He was also a renowned expert in mathematics and astronomy. He set out for Israel in 1783 and for unknown reasons did not attain his goal, but he inspired his disciples to make the move, and in 1809 a group of 70 became pioneers of modern settlement in Israel.

Winograd (Public Domain)