Lithuania: Volunteer to take part in the archaeological excavations at the Great Synagogue and Shulhoyf in Vilnius — after last year’s session was cancelled because of the pandemic, this year’s will go ahead in August

After being cancelled last year because of the pandemic, the ongoing archaeological excavation of the Great Synagogue and Shulhoyf of Vilnius is back on track for this summer — with a session scheduled to take place August 9-27.

Organizers welcome volunteers to come and help on the project — but volunteers will have to cover their own travel and accommodation expenses.

The archaeology of the site began in 2011 with a preliminary excavation, followed by a Ground Penetrating Radar Survey in 2015 and full excavation seasons in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. The project is partnered and sponsored by a variety of Lithuanian, Israeli, and American institutions.

This excavation goal this year will be to focus on the full exposure of the Bimah and Aron Kodesh of the Great Synagogue.

The synagogue was built in the early 1600s in Renaissance-Baroque style. It became the center of Jewish life in Vilnius (Vilna), towering over the Shulhoyf, a teeming complex of alleyways and other Jewish community buildings and institutions including twelve synagogues, ritual baths, the community council, kosher meat stalls, the Strashun library, and other structures and institutions. The complex was ransacked and torched by the Nazis in World War II, and the postwar Soviet regime torn down the ruins and built a school on the site.

The previous seasons of the excavations have seen extraordinary discoveries — sections of the Great Synagogue, including parts of its magnificent Bimah were uncovered in 2018 and 2019. Also discovered in 2019 was  an inscription dedicated to the donation of a Torah reading table by followers of the Gaon of Vilna.

Excavation co-leader Dr. Jon Seligman, Director of the Excavations, Surveys and Research Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority, told JHE at the time that the discoveries were “spectacular.”

In 2017 and 2018, major finds were the discovery of two ritual baths (mikvehs).

People interested in volunteering should contact the team by email.

Click here to see full details, along with reports of all seasons of excavations

Access the project’s web site