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Discover Jewish Vilnius The Jerusalem of LithuaniaToday, vibrant Vilnius is known as the City of a Thousand Spires, with 65 churches that make the city’s skyline unforgettable. But before WWII it had another name--the Jerusalem of Lithuania--and contained over 100 synagogues! Its thriving community of nearly 100,000 Jews – an astonishing forty-five percent of the city’s population! – supported the development of both city and nation in their roles as merchants, artisans, and traders, while renowned Jewish scientists, teachers, writers, sculptors and musicians greatly impacted the intellectual life of the Lithuanian capital. What do Menachem Begin, Marc Chagall, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Nadine Gordimer have in common? They are all of Lithuanian Jewish or, as it is called locally, Litvak descent! Vilnius served as a major centre of Torah study in Europe, where such scholars as the Vilna Gaon and Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski learned and taught, and indeed many Jewish secular and religious institutions flourished here, including Der Yiddisher Visenshaftlicher Institut in the 1920’s and 30’s. Very little of this Jewish cultural diversity remained after the Holocaust. Vilnius is a city trying to deal with its past, as a small but growing Jewish current community re-establishes itself. Any visit to Jewish Vilnius should begin by wandering the main streets of the Old Jewish Quarter, Stikliu, Gaono, Zydu and Antokolsko, and viewing the monument to the Vilna Gaon, one of the most influential Rabbinical authorities since the Middle Ages. As you walk the streets of the Old Town, you may see remnants of Vilnius’s past in the form of Hebrew inscriptions that remain on the sides of buildings, or faded Yiddish signage where Jewish businesses used to be. All of these serve as an access point to understanding Jewish Lithuania. Visit the place where the 14th century Great Synagogue and its yard were located, as well as the Choral Synagogue and the Jewish Community Center. The city’s two Jewish Museums give a well-rounded view of Jewish Lithuanian culture throughout history, showcasing both the art and culture of the communities, and a tremendous amount of information about the Holocaust and the decimation of the Jewish communities in Lithuania. Learn about how the modern-day Vilnius Jewish Community honors its past while also learning to move forward, with new institutions like the Vilnius Yiddish Institute at Vilnius University, and especially the Vilnius Jewish Library – a collection now in progress, started by American Wyman Brent, with a dream to commemorate Jewish Lithuania by accumulating over 100,000 volumes! . Tour Options 6-hour driving tour, Jewish and general Vilnius 4-hour driving tour of Paneriai Please see the "Discover Europe" section of our website for further tour options in Vilnius.
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