About this talk

Lithuania became home to an Ashkenazi community seven hundred years ago, and suddenly, its members became known as Litvaks. Why? When? What did it mean then and what does it mean today?

Vilnius was an outstanding religious center with Rav Eliyahu - the Vilna Gaon, as its main spiritual personality. Later on, Vilnius became the territory of an enlightenment movement, slowly transforming into a platform for social and political leadership.

In this talk I will use my own personal and family stories to illustrate the past and present of Vilnius and Lithuania, explaining how the word Litvak evolved, and the main reasons why Vilnius is famous in the Jewish world.

I also want to show you the principal hallmarks of a Jewish tour in Vilnius. To do this, we will watch a few of my own recorded materials, some of which were especially made for this talk. I hope you join us on this virtual trip.

About Daniel

Daniel Gurevich was born in Vilnius in 1979 and made Aliya to Israel in 1997 before returning to Lithuania and becoming an expert in the travel industry.

Today he is the General Manager of his own family business, the Travel Agency Jerulita. His tours are conducted in Hebrew, English, Russian and Lithuanian, and focus on Jewish heritage, religion, history and culture. Holocaust and relations between Jews and local people are subjects of his particular interest and in which he does personal research. Architecture, especially Art Nouveau, is one of his specialties.

He really enjoys working with people and every tour gives him new energy for the next one.