Apart of lectures held inside the Jewish Public Library, our study tours take place outside of the Library premises to the Jewish quarter of Vilnius.

International Yiddish Center at the World Jewish Congress and the Jewish Public Library have initiated a way of various Yiddish topics to be presented to the general public in Vilnius. This project gathered a lot of people, who are interested in the history of the local Jewry.

Another walk in Jewish Vilnius took place in 10 July. This time it gathered 35 participants. The professional historian Ilja Lempertas told them about the beginning of Jewish history in Vilnius, the Great Synagogue, the Gaon of Vilnius, Jewish life in XVII – XVIII centuries.

Ilya Lempertas has been dedicated to the Lithuanian Jewish history for more than 40 years. He worked in various museums, teaching institutions and research centers; he also acts as a tourist guide in Vilnius since 1988.

The excursion passed by the statue of Tzemach Shabad, the place where one of the leading Yiddish writers of the XX century Chaim Grade lived before the war, and many other Jewish sites of the Lithuanian capital.

The participants seemed to already have an interest in the Jewish life and brought some knowledge with them to the tour.

We are glad that the number of people participating in those walks is increasing. That allows us to be ever more sure that common work will bring general public closer to Jewish culture.