Periodization of the Eras and the Evolution of the Generations

Rabbi Elhanan related:

“I once asked the Hafetz Chaim:

“Granted that we are accustomed to a division of eras in Jewish religious history—the Tannaitic era separately, and the Amoraic era separately, the era of our rabbis the Savora’im separately, the era of the Geonim separately and the era of the Rishonim separately—one may concede that this division applies in the time of our sages of blessed memory, who possessed the power to distinguish the different eras, as they were aware of what was written in ‘the Sifra of Primeval Adam,’ i.e., ‘Rabbi [Judah the Prince] represented the conclusion of the Mishnah; Rav Ashi and Ravina the conclusion of halakhic teaching’ (b.Bava Metzia 85b). However, from then onward, where are the boundary lines to enable us to determine when a certain era ended and a fresh era commenced?”

The Hafetz Chaim replied to me:

“The successive generations are continually diminishing in focused learning, each generation being of lower standard than its predecessor, but the pace of the decrease within each era in itself varies in degree. A succeeding generation still retains some connection in its basic essence to a section of the previous generation; but when an era changes, an immense chasm is created at one stroke; the spiritual descent of the generation is then, insofar as its type of fall is concerned, like ‘from a high rampart into a deep well’; and wherever one sees that the generation in general is not in the same category as the preceding one, one realizes that a new era has begun.

“There is this too: we possess a tradition that at the end of each era, there lives and flourishes a great man who is greater than virtually all the great ones of his era, and who, in his essential nature, is comparable to the previous generations; that is to say, that in accordance with his measure of greatness, he would have fitted in more appropriately with early periods. For instance, Rav Hai Gaon, the last scion of the Gaonic age, is considered the greatest among the Geonim, and solely on account of his greatness did one instinctively sense, when he departed this life, that his era had really and truly ended. There is generally nothing at all to which to compare it; and so it is upon every occasion when an era ends.”

And Rabbi Elhanan added:

“He too—the Hafetz Chaim—marked the end of his age. As to when this era commenced, I do not know. Perhaps it was from the days of the Gaon R. Elijah [of Vilna], and possibly even before his time; but I do know when it ended. We feel that, after he was taken from us, a new era commenced in Israel. There is nothing at all with which to compare it. And since he was the last scion of his era, he was the greatest within it. His greatness did not bear any relationship to that of the sages of his generation, but was like a remnant of preceding generations.”

Rabbi Elhanan similarly asked:

“For what purpose is the soul of an outstandingly great individual, belonging in its essence to a previous era, brought down into a later generation?”

And the response was:

“The generations are diminishing, progressing ever downward on the spiritual slope. It is the function of the greatest man of his generation to slow down the pace of the descent. But there are occasions where the descent is proceeding at such a high rate that no one can arrest its progress except for the soul of one of the genuine ancients!”