Handwritten Order of Goral HaGra by Harav Eliyahu Lopian
Harav Eliyahu Lopian received instructions regarding conducting Goral HaGra from the Chafetz Chaim, as taught by Harav Chaim of Volozhin, prime disciple of the Vilna Gaon. (Testimonial of Harav Eliyahu Lopian’s son Harav Chaim Shmuel Lopian in sefer Ravcha Shmattsa.)
Harav Chaim Shmuel Lopian further describes that his father Harav Eliyahu Lopian made use of Goral HaGra at the start of World War One while sitting in the beis medrash in Kelm. When soldiers stormed the city suddenly, he was at a loss, terrified to venture into the street, yet aware that delaying his return would cause his family to fear the worst.
As a final recourse, he attempted Goral HaGra and was rewarded with an answer from Sefer Tehillim “Make my steps steady through Your promise; do not let any harm dominate me …” indicating that it was safe to return home.
Harav Eliyahu Lopian likewise conducted a Goral HaGra prior to relocating from Lithuania to London and emerged with the verse, “I shall travel with you down to Egypt and I shall surely bring you up.”
Harav Eliyahu Lopian (1876 - 1970) was one of the leaders of the mussar movement. A disciple of the Kelm yeshivah, he traveled to Eretz Yisrael from England in 1949 where he settled in Yerushalayim and disseminated Torah. In 1950, he accepted the position as mashgiach in the Yeshivah in Kfar Chassidim. His Torah novellae are recorded in his sefer Lev Eliyahu.
Handwritten on a scrap of envelope. [Endorsement of Harav Chaim Shmuel Lopian, editor of Ravcha Milsa.] Page size: 14×15 cm.
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Goral HaGra
“If you wish to seek advice from the Torah, seek it.” This aphorism from Chazal led the Chida to conclude that it is permissible to “Open the Torah to see which verse arises” (Birkei Yosef Yoreh Deah Ch. 179).
Goral HaGra, a ritual attributed to the Vilna Gaon, is conducted in order to seek answers to questions of great import. This ritual was used by Gedolei Yisrael throughout the ages in order to deal with extenuating circumstances and resolve weighty issues.
Among the great Lithuanian sages who made use of Goral HaGra were the Chafetz Chaim, Alter of Novardok, Harav Yerucham Levovitz of Mir, Harav Eliyahu Lopian, , Harav Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik, the Ponovizcer Rav and Harav Aryeh Levin. It is still used in contemporary times by Harav Chaim Kanievsky, whose late wife Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky was a granddaughter of Harav Aryeh Levin, the Tzaddik of Yerushalayim.
The Goral is conducted by randomly opening a Tanach (see adjacent lot # Amsterdam Tanach) and skipping pages, verses, words and letters in groups of seven.
(Source: B. Landau, Hagaon Hachassid Mi’Vilna 3rd Edition, p. 399)
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