Exhibitions

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We recall the figure of the Vilna Gaon because of his merits for the study of the Talmud and to honor him after the 300th anniversary of his birth, celebrated in 2020. The great scholar is an example of the durability of Polish-Lithuanian relations and a proof of the authority enjoyed by representatives of the Jewish community living in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

To this day, the methods of studying Torah and its commentaries developed by Gaon Wileński are used. It is thanks to his activities that two important concepts appeared - the yeshiva as a religious university and the Talmud in the system in which it is also studied today. Gaon remains one of most mysterious and fascinating figures of Judaism.

The exhibition is accompanied by a rich program of accompanying events. We invite you to online meetings about Kabbalah, legends about the Gaon and Jewish Vilnius, as well as free guided tours of the exhibition on selected Tuesdays and Sundays. For the first time, we will also invite you to the spaces of the Jewish Historical Institute that are inaccessible to visitors: digitization and conservation workshops and the Library, where you will be able to get to know the backstage of the work of museologists.

The exhibition "Hidden Image. Vilna Gaon" will be available at the Jewish Historical Institute from October 22, 2021 to April 28, 2022.

Exhibition: Hidden Image. Vilna Gaon

Dates: 22.10.2021-28.04.2022 

Organizer: Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. Emanuela Ringelbluma

Curators: Marta Kapełuś we współpracy z zespołem naukowym  

Team of scholars: Magdalena Bendowska, Jan Doktór, Anna Michałowska-Mycielska, Larisa Lempertienė, Jurgita Verbickienė  

Texts written by: Magdalena Bendowska, Jan Doktór, Monika Krawczyk, Anna Michałowska-Mycielska

Coordination: Jakub Bendkowski, Franciszek Bojańczyk, Michał Krasicki, dyr. Monika Krawczyk 

Arrangement project: Aneta Faner 

Graphics: Bartosz Tymosiewicz  

Edited by: Przemysław Batorski, Marta Wojas   

Translated into English by: Zofia Sochańska 

Translation proofreading: Natalia Kłopotek 

Conservation: Violetta Bachur  

Acknowledgements: Krzysztof Czajka-Kalinowski, Anna Duńczyk-Szulc, Agnieszka Kajczyk, Alicja Kościan, Grzegorz Kwolek, Ada Małczyńska, Alicja Mroczkowska, Julia Parfiniewicz, Olga Pieńkowska, Jakub Pobocha, Aleksandra Przeździecka-Kujałowicz,  Piotr Rypson, Noam Silberberg, Małgorzata Sołtysik,  Magdalena Szyszkowska. 

Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage