The Gaon of Vilna: The Man and His Image, Immanuel Etkes's 2002 study from the University of California Press, is a scholarly biography of the eighteenth century Talmudic authority Elijah ben Solomon Zalman and, distinctively, a study of how his later reputation and image were constructed by his own tradition. Its strength is that it treats both the historical man and his later legend as separate, equally examinable questions, by an established historian of Jewish thought. Its limit is that, like any single biography, its particular interpretive balance between the man and the myth is one scholar's argued synthesis, open to be weighed against other historians' accounts.
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Reliability Tier1
Immanuel Etkes's The Gaon of Vilna, University of California Press, 2002, the top tier reflecting a scholarly biography treating both the historical man and his later legend as separate, examinable questions, by an established historian of Jewish thought. Its limit is that, like any single biography, its interpretive balance between man and myth is one scholar's argued synthesis, open to be weighed against other historians' accounts. NotesScholarly biography and study of the reputation of the Gaon of Vilna, University of California Press, 2002.
Citation
AuthorImmanuel Etkes
PublisherUniversity of California Press
Publication Year2002
Source Typeacademic biography
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Associated With
This source names Elijah directly: "eighteenth century Talmudic authority Elijah ben Solomon Zalman and, distinctively, a study of how his later reputation and image were constructed by his own tradition."
Claims Backed By This Source (11 claims)
This source backs 11 claims across the atlas. As facts: 9 well-attested. As cited relationships: 1 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
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- Sources, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Articles, 2 claims: 2 well-attested.
- Cities, 1 claims: 1 general references.
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