Thought for the Week

Dear Members and Friends,

I am writing this Thought For The Week from Vilnius, Lithuania. On Tuesday, 23 July 2024, the group has arrived to Lithuania for a 5-day guided tour organised by The LJS.

Unfortunately, like many other Jewish sites, the Great Synagogue was demolished, but this monument serves as a powerful reminder of the rich culture and intellectual heritage of the Litvak Jewish community.

The Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, was a highly respected Jewish scholar born in 1720 in Vilnius, Lithuania. What makes the Vilna Gaon truly ahead of his time was his belief that faith and reason can work together. While many people of his time were wary of secular studies, he saw them as a way to deepen his spiritual and intellectual understanding of Torah and Talmud. Rabbi Zalman had a keen interest in mathematics, astronomy, geography and medicine. He was an orthodox Rabbi, whose teachings paved the way to Progressive Jewish ideas in the age of Enlightenment.

Apart from the pleasure of learning about the rich Jewish history of Lithuania, the purpose of The LJS’s visit is to provide support and recognition to the newly established progressive community of Lithuania ‘Bnei Maskilim’, Hebrew for ‘Children of the Enlightened’.

Giving this name to the new community is very symbolic. The Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, had a significant presence in Lithuania before the Holocaust. This intellectual and cultural movement began in the late 18th century and sought to modernise Jewish life by promoting secular education, integration into broader society, and the use of vernacular languages alongside Hebrew.

In Lithuania, despite some opposition, the movement was very successful, particularly in Vilnius. The Maskilim established schools and advocated for the study of secular subjects in addition to traditional Jewish texts. They aimed to foster a more rational approach to Judaism, aligning with broader European Enlightenment ideals.

It seems to me that the ideas of Jewish Enlightenment, combining Jewish thought with secular science, was natural for Lithuania because of the work of Vilna Gaon. Therefore, the newly established community is in fact a continuation of the authentic and deeply rooted Jewish tradition and a natural evolution of Jewish Lithuanian teachings.

At the time you received this email, our group is on our way to the Jewish community centre where we will be joined by members of Bnei Maskilim community to have a Friday night service and dinner together. I am sure this visit will be one of many and I hope The LJS and other European and Worldwide organisations will keep supporting this inspiring and exciting new community.

Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Igor