In a country that has turned to be relatively safe, the Lithuanian Jewish community has been able to go through the pandemic comparatively unscathed, and it still managed to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of one of the country’s most well-known figures, Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, or the Vilna Gaon, who was born on April 23, 1720.
Once home of one of the most prominent Jewish communities in the world influencing Judaism to this day – “Lithuanian or Litvak” is the term that identifies non-hassidic Ashkenazi Jews – today Lithuania has a Jewish population of about 5,000, most of them living in the capital Vilnius.
