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 the term mean then, and what does it mean today?

Vilnius was an outstanding religious center, with Rav Eliyahu, the Vilna Gaon, as its main spiritual figure. Later, Vilnius became a hub for the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah) movement, gradually transforming into a platform for social and political leadership.

In this talk, I will use my 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 main highlights of a Jewish tour in Vilnius. To do this, we will watch some of my own recorded material, some of which was made specifically for this talk. I hope you will join us on this virtual trip.

About Daniel

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

Today, he is the General Manager of his 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. The Holocaust and relations between Jews and local people are subjects of particular interest to him, and he conducts personal research in these areas. Architecture, especially Art Nouveau, is one of his specialties.

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