If the Gaon of Vilnius, Rabbi Elijah of blessed memory would have lived during the Holocaust period the Lithuanians would have tortured and killed him just like they tortured and killed most of the Rabbis of our day.
The Vilna Gaon is considered the representative par excellence of Lithuanian Jewry because he possessed the highest virtues and qualities of that population. This genius who lived according to the edicts of the Torah and Halachah left a legacy of followers through whom his influence is felt to this day. Many famous Lithuanian Yeshivot were founded by his pupils and in turn by their pupils. Thousands of those pupils spread the word of the Torah to all of Israel
First and foremost learning Torah -
The passion of learning and teaching Torah burned brightly among Lithuanian Rabbis. Learning Torah among Lithuanian Rabbis was all consuming and since the Lithuanian Jews were rationalists, the Chasidic movement never caught on among the local population as it did in the neighboring countries. Chasidism was in the eyes of the Lithuania Rabbis a mystic movement and did not fit their healthy rational thinking.
The ethics movement -
Even the ethics movement of Rabbi Israel Salanter who tried to teach the Torah not in the classical way but through awe and ethics encountered many difficulties and resistance from famous Rabbis like the Kovno Rabbi Leib Shapiro who feared that learning ethics would divert from learning Torah and waist time.
Learning the Torah; a legacy for all -
A majority of Lithuanian Rabbis represented the typical classical healthy approach to religion, faith, ethics and thinking and raised rationality to its highest level According to known Torah scholars the teaching and learning Torah in Lithuania became famous all over the world. Torah learning was away of life and paramount in the towns and villages all over Lithuania.
Most of Lithuanian Rabbis were Zionists -
Lithuanian Rabbis that made the study of the Torah a way of life understood also that with the change of times there was a particular need to return and reestablish the Jewish State. In spite of the resistance of some fanatical Lithuanian Rabbis to this idea the majority of them and specifically the famous ones were instrumental in establishing the Zionist movement and enriched it with their presence.
Spiritual contribution to the Jewish settlement -
Since the great alyah of the followers of the Gaon from Vilna to Israel their Rabbis and Yeshiva students greatly enriched the Jewish settlement.
Abundance of spiritual nourishment -
Thanks to Lithuanian Rabbis and other spiritual leaders in the fields of enlightenment and education, the spiritual life in Lithuania was effervescent and reflected ageless Jewish traditions. Lithuania’s Rabbis supplied spiritual nourishment that strengthened the spirit and self esteem of the Jewish population.This spiritual nourishment helped to preserve the Jewish traditions even in the period of the Soviet occupation when, using cosmopolitan ideas, Lithuanian Communists with the help of a few very active Jewish collaborators tried to destroy Jewish culture and traditions. The spiritual attack of the Communists and their Jewish collaborators against the Jewish religion and traditions came to naught.
