Eliyahu Stern. The Genius: Elijah of Vilna and the Making of Modern Judaism.

Abstract

Rez. http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=37984 --------- Elijah ben Solomon, the 'Genius of Vilna', was perhaps the best-known and most understudied figure in modern Jewish history. This book offers a new narrative of Jewish modernity based on Elijah's life and influence. While the experience of Jews in modernity has often been described as a process of Western European secularisation - with Jews becoming citizens of Western nation-states, congregants of reformed synagogues, and assimilated members of society - the book uses Elijah's story to highlight a different theory of modernisation for European life. Elijah and Vilna in historical perspective -- Elijah's worldview -- Elijah and the Enlightenment -- The Gaon versus Hasidism -- The biur and the yeshiva -- The genius.