Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman (1720-1797) of Vilan was called Vilna Gaon. The word "gaon" means genius. Rabbi Eliyahu was one of the greatest Talmudic Scholars of his day. In addition to Talmud, he excelled in all aspects of Torah study, including Kabbalah.

Possibly the Gaon's single biggest contribution to the Jewish people was his corrective notes on most of our ancient texts, particularly the Talmud. Over the centuries errors had crept into the various texts due primarily to scribal mistakes. These errors were serious obstacles to advanced study of the Talmud and other texts. The Gaon, with his phenomenal knowledge of the entirety of the Torah literature, was possibly the only individual capable of creating authoritative corrections of these texts. There is almost no ancient Torah text that does not bear the notes of the Gaon.

In addition to his genius, Rabbi Eliyahu is also known for his righteousness and kindness. Despite his personal poverty he always gave 20% of his income to charity.

Vilna Gaon was fiercely opposed to Chassidut, which was initiated in 1736 by the Baal Shem Tov. He and his followers in this anti-Chassidic Movement were known as "Mitnagdim," or opponents. Their opposition was based on the beliefs, vigorously denied by Chassidic leaders, that Chassidut took liberties with the Oral Law, that it substituted emotion for intellect in the Study of Torah, and that its form of prayer departed too far from the traditional form of prayer.

The Vilna Gaon passed away in 1797. He left behind a tremendous legacy, both from his vast writings on the Torah and from his students who went on to spread Torah.