Gadol or godol (, plural: gedolim ) (literally "big" or "great" in Hebrew language) is used by religious to refer to the most revered of the generation.
Usage
The term
gadol hador refers to the "great/est (one of) the generation" denoting one rabbi who is presumed to be even greater than the others. Other variations of the term are
Gadol Yisrael or a
Gadol BeYisrael (plural:
Gedolei Yisrael), meaning "great one of the Jewish people".
A similar title is Rashkebahag, which is an acronym for " Rabbon shel kol bnei hagolah" (The sage and teacher of the entire Jewish diaspora). Another term is Manhig Yisroel (plural: Manhigei Yisroel), literally "leader of Israel".
The title gadol hador is usually only given to one Jewish Sage at a time, while the title "Rashkebahag" can be given to a few, and the term Gedolei Yisrael collectively refers to all leading rabbis in the Haredi Judaism community.
The term is generally applied to rabbinic leaders since World War I. Major rabbis from earlier generations are known as Rishonim or Achronim.
Role
Often, a
gadol functions as a
rosh yeshiva (the head of a
yeshiva school), and/or can be a
Hasidic Judaism Rebbe. A
gadol is quite often also a
posek (a decisor of
Halakha - Jewish law) and may be the author of rabbinic literature and responsa.
Adherents of Haredi Judaism often presume that a gadol has some degree of ruach hakodesh ("divine spirit"); the gadol's teachings and statements therefore become the crux of Daas Torah.
According to Rabbi Nota Greenblatt, posek and rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva of Memphis, a true gadol is far more than a great Talmid Chakham; he is someone that has wisdom, concern for others, and has fully developed his Jewish ethics.
Rabbi Chaim Epstein has been quoted as saying:
Related concepts
In Hebrew halachic texts,
gadol is also used as a term for a Jewish boy who turns thirteen, and is viewed as an adult regarding to his obligation to practice the 613 commandments. This is the age of
Bar Mitzvah. When a Jewish girl reaches the age of twelve, according to Jewish law, she is called a
gedolah (the feminine form of
gadol).
Kohen Gadol refers to the high priests in the Jewish Temples. Shabbat Hagadol is the Shabbat prior to Passover.
In modern Hebrew, gadol as slang is used as an interjection to mean something is extremely cool, out of this world, superb, awesome, absurdly funny or hilarious. For example, upon hearing a funny joke one might interject "Gadol!"
In English writing, the transliterated word "gadol" generally refers to a prominent rabbi.
Recognized gedolei hador
The following are names of rabbis of the non-Hasidic communities that were or are widely recognized to be the
gadol hador:
haredi_">
[[Haredi|Haredi Judaism
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Vilna Gaon
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Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin
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Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (Beis Halevi)
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Rabbi Akiva Eger
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Rabbi Moses Sofer (Chasam Sofer)
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Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik (Chaim Brisker)
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Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor
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Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan
-
Rabbi Aharon Kotler
-
Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski
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Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz (the Chazon Ish)
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Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin
-
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky
-
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
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Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
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Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner
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Rabbi Elazar Shach
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Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv
-
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
-
Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel
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Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg
-
Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman
-
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky
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Rabbi Gershon Edelstein
-
Rabbi Dov Lando
Modern Orthodox/Religious Zionist
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Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook
-
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik ("the Rav")
-
Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein
-
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
See also
External links
