tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post9182163846733149985..comments2024-01-21T02:58:08.208-05:00Comments on On the Main Line: An unknown portrait of the Vilna Gaon.Mississippi Fred MacDowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02734864605700159687noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-44514225668520998822012-07-02T21:43:44.994-04:002012-07-02T21:43:44.994-04:00I have the original Ripley's picture. The GRA...I have the original Ripley's picture. The GRA was my great-great-great-great Grandfather.Stewart Schwartzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00085891011494964004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-34520338219155264652012-07-02T21:42:09.735-04:002012-07-02T21:42:09.735-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Stewart Schwartzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00085891011494964004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-53032153436674938042011-04-05T21:48:36.411-04:002011-04-05T21:48:36.411-04:00"The reader who knows who he is should know t..."The reader who knows who he is should know that I still haven't found the original Ripley's, but I will."<br /><br /><br />I've let your blog drop off my radar (sorry!) but I finally decided to take a peek through the past four months of posts. I think you were referring to me. I wish you continued success in your research and your blog in general!<br /><br />PhilAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-35234907636221085172011-02-23T09:04:46.489-05:002011-02-23T09:04:46.489-05:00Nope. It is "prodigal."
Yes, it is a m...Nope. It is "prodigal." <br /><br />Yes, it is a mistake, the sort that the autodidact might have made (and Ripley and his researcher were not exactly Harvard types). But I did do a little searching to see if anyone else had ever made the same mistake, and it turns out that "prodigal memory" is not that uncommon. You can even make a case that using one of its subdefinitions the word is not wholly inappropriate.S.http://onthemainline.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-13792130569598865782011-02-23T00:10:27.330-05:002011-02-23T00:10:27.330-05:00> The Mental Marvel, Elijah, the Gaon, chief Ra...> The Mental Marvel, Elijah, the Gaon, chief Rabbi of Lithuania, possessed such a prodigal memory<br /><br />Probably 'prodigious'.Yitzhakhttp://bdld.infonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-42020259865321636102011-02-18T14:24:59.117-05:002011-02-18T14:24:59.117-05:00Simon, yes, but the Gra's lengthy comments dis...Simon, yes, but the Gra's lengthy comments discuss covering generally as well.S.http://onthemainline.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-13718906865893186742011-02-17T20:51:01.533-05:002011-02-17T20:51:01.533-05:00Well, according to the post, the Gra could read a ...Well, according to the post, the Gra could read a book once and remember it word for word [=total recall] for the rest of his life. Hence etc.DFhttp://www.yahoo.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-25563755626733514412011-02-17T18:57:25.278-05:002011-02-17T18:57:25.278-05:00Correct me, but isn't OC 8:2 about covering on...Correct me, but isn't OC 8:2 about covering one's head with the <i>tallit</i>, and not about wearing a yarmulka?Simon Hollowayhttp://benabuya.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-73304701911359457282011-02-17T16:16:39.707-05:002011-02-17T16:16:39.707-05:00Yes, but it's possible that it wasn't scan...Yes, but it's possible that it wasn't scanned well (though it really does like it probably did say 1791).<br /><br />Now, Shimon, what's wrong with Camden, Arkansas?S.http://onthemainline.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-6085865190767645632011-02-17T16:11:26.091-05:002011-02-17T16:11:26.091-05:00Should be 1720-1797. No?Should be 1720-1797. No?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-67661771058506879152011-02-17T14:46:40.558-05:002011-02-17T14:46:40.558-05:00Not to mention that only 1 out of 3 dates is corre...Not to mention that only 1 out of 3 dates is correct. <br /><br />Mezzofanti was known to speak 39 languages and dialects(some of them closely related, such as Biblical Hebrew and Rabbinical Hebrew, or Chaldean and Syriac). <br /><br />But then again, we are taking about Camden, Arkansas.Shimon Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-88058421430666809202011-02-17T14:34:59.218-05:002011-02-17T14:34:59.218-05:00In my opinion. it is better to be depicted as Rasp...In my opinion. it is better to be depicted as Rasputin, compared to a masculine girl from the 20s (and having your name misspelled as Mezzofanti).Shimon Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-28359156614068327242011-02-17T14:29:56.750-05:002011-02-17T14:29:56.750-05:00Sigh. Yes, thank you.Sigh. Yes, thank you.S.http://onthemainline.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-64603225504309557032011-02-17T14:22:11.118-05:002011-02-17T14:22:11.118-05:00Or Ha-chaim? Orach Chaim?Or Ha-chaim? Orach Chaim?Shimon Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-88429748072566902392011-02-17T14:19:52.001-05:002011-02-17T14:19:52.001-05:00"What actual eyewitness accounts do we have o..."What actual eyewitness accounts do we have of the Gra having TOTAL recall of a book after a single read? "<br /><br />I don't know if that's even part of the Vilna Gaon legend. Is it? <br /><br />Anyway, good memory is a gift, and cultivating it is a possibility.S.http://onthemainline.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-83796107100074101712011-02-17T14:06:08.160-05:002011-02-17T14:06:08.160-05:00What actual eyewitness accounts do we have of the ...What actual eyewitness accounts do we have of the Gra having TOTAL recall of a book after a single read? To be conversant in the general contents of many books, espeically when nearly all of them overlap with each other, is not that big a deal. <br /><br />It's intressante - there is an enormous amount of legends concerning the supposed abilities of both the Gra and the Ari. Both of them spent a lot of time in seclusion, and both of them never really published anything in their lifetime. Seems to me these facts gave license to people to make up anything they want, or any claim they wanted, and attribute it to the Gra [or Ari] because, you know, who could refute it?DFhttp://www.yahoo.comnoreply@blogger.com