LITHUANIA - Great Synagogue Treasures Uncovered

Locals walking through the center of Vilnius now pass a hole in the ground, a portal to the rich Jewish past of a city once called the “Jerusalem of the North.” For the first time since 1940, they can see the polished, colorful floor and entire prayer platform of the Great Synagogue of Vilna, built in the 17th century, which became one the most important religious, cultural and intellectual hubs for Diaspora Jews.

The community’s main representative body plans to build a new Jewish community center over the excavation, where visitors could view the Great Synagogue floor through a glass layer or a basement-level exhibit. Above, the center would celebrate current-day Jewish life through cultural, social and educational events.

On the eve of World War II, the massive Great Synagogue stood among more than 100 synagogues and Jewish prayer houses in Vilnius, where about 40% of people were Jewish. Over 90% of Lithuanian Jews were killed in the Holocaust, and from 1944 until 1990, Vilnius was remade as the capital of the Soviet Lithuanian Republic. The synagogue was burned and largely destroyed by the Nazis, then razed by the Soviets to build a school in its place.

-www.jta.org, 4 August 2026

Commentary: When reading excerpts from the article, we notice the words, “Jerusalem of the North.” This clearly point to the prosperity of the Jews in Lithuania during those days.

Research reveals: “The Great Synagogue of Vilna in Vilnius, Lithuania, was completed in 1633. It was built out of stone and brick in the Renaissance and Baroque styles to replace an older wooden house of prayer from 1573.” That mean going back to 1573, which is way before there was an “America.”

While Europe has a reasonably well-documented history, the Jews were rather exceptional. Historically, Jewish culture places a deep emphasis on literacy, textual study, and intellectual curiosity. Thus, they are often called the “people of the book.”

Reddit user TheApiary quoted a twelfth-century Christian writer: “When Christians send their sons to school, they do not send them for the love of God but for lucrative reasons [...] But a Jew, even if he is poor, even if he has 10 sons, will send them all to school, not in order to obtain any benefit, as Christians do, but for the study of the law of God, and not only the sons but also his daughters.”

These factual discoveries, supported by archaeological excavations and historic writings, often become an embarrassment to the various governments of today.

For example, in Germany, the AfD party was founded in April of 2013: “The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party does not have an official platform of Holocaust denial, but prominent members have frequently downplayed, trivialized, or challenged Germany’s culture of remembrance regarding Nazi crimes.”

The horrible crimes committed under Nazi rule in Germany have been carefully recorded and emphasized in Jewish communities.

But there is more. Take the continent of America. Virtually all countries on this continent were established on the basis of genocide: Kill the Indians and take their land. Here we must also note that God remembers; He knows the beginning from the end. He is not impressed by the national historians, who emphasize the positive and withhold the negative. That, however, does not hinder God the Almighty from revealing and exposing all that is painful.

We read in Revelation 11:10: “And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” Take note of the last sentence, “because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.”

What do prophets do? Tell the truth, and the truth—particularly at that time—will be hidden. Of those who do not believe, Revelation 22:15b describes them as “whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” We also note this takes place in Jerusalem, the city of truth!

(See Antisemitism in the End Times, Item #2436, $18.99.)