Kiryah ne’emanah (Faithful City)

History of the City [of Vilna] from Its Original Foundation by Giedymin to Zygmund August I

1. Giedymin, the great prince of Lithuania, who dwelt in the fortress of the city of Troki, once went forth to hunt venison in the mountains surrounding the River Vilna. He shot with his bow and felled a huge wild ox on one of the mountains, where the crematoria for the princes of Lithuania and the house of worship for the idol Pieron were located; and he lodged there overnight. Giedymin had a dream, and lo and behold! A huge wolf was standing at the top of the mountain carrying an iron buckler, crying out in a loud voice equivalent to that of a hundred wolves; he trembled and awoke. He made inquiry of the chief priest, whose name was Lesdaika, to interpret his dream for him, and Lesdaika said to him: “The huge wolf that you have seen symbolizes a strong fortress and a great city which will one day stand on this place, and the sound of the hundred wolves symbolizes the renown and praise of the fortress and of the city, which will travel forth to the remotest portions of the earth.” The prince Giedymin listened to what the interpreter had said, and commenced building the fortress and the city, which he called Vilna (in the year 1382 according to the Christian calendar—corresponding to 5082 in our calendar). This is the substance of the tradition hovering over the lips of the leading early writers of the Lithuanian nation. Whether it is true or merely allegorical, it attests to the greatness and the glory which became the heritage of the city in later times. It was a city of joy for the princes of Lithuania, the town where its sages and its great men resided, and besides this, it became the foremost of the settlements in which the Jews lived, a place for dissemination of Torah and wisdom to this day. While this prince was building the city and the fortress, he informed all the other cities, both near and far, about the city that he was building, and he invited anyone who so desired to acquire property in it. He apportioned fields and gardens to the agricultural laborers and granted them relief from all royal taxes for ten years; for merchants and workmen he announced exemption from all taxation, and he permitted them to do business and to pursue their crafts as they desired. On hearing of this announcement, many Russians and Germans came, and the city was firmly established. And it is quite possible that, at that time, Jews too came to Vilna from the lands of Germany and Poland, which are close to Lithuania; and already from the year 1326 (corresponding to our year 5086) the Jews owned a special house for commercial purposes.

2. The early days of the inhabitants of Lithuania were an era in which idolatry prevailed, and except for those few of the citizens of Vilna who had accepted the Greek Christian faith (Greek Orthodoxy), the Lithuanians were the last of all the nations of Europe to accept that faith. However, when Jagiello, prince of Lithuania, sat on the throne of the Kingdom of Poland (in the year 1387, corresponding to 5147), and after he and all the noblest members of his family and the princes had converted to the Roman Catholic faith, he labored steadfastly to draw his people to the tradition of the covenant of his faith, and he began this process with Vilna.

This great event had the effect of bringing the position of the Jews of Lithuania into line with the position of the remainder of their Jewish brethren in all the lands of Christendom in that era. Indeed, the rulers of this country acted with greater benevolence toward the Jews than all the other rulers of Europe in those times, and they extended kindness to them in the early days, before the Jesuits arrived and created conflict in the land. When Jagiello entered into a pact with the rulers of Europe, he also took note of customary practices in their countries, and took up several of them and introduced them into his own country. He negotiated with Vilna with a view to conferring upon its citizens the right of the Magdeburg Law. This right, which raised the status of the citizens, on occasion demoted the status of the Jews, and became a stumbling block impeding every step they attempted toward progress for a lengthy period of time, as will become apparent.

3. When Jagiello ascended the throne of Poland, he handed Lithuania over to his brother, Skirgiello, and this country, and in particular the city of Vilna, were plundered as a result of the numerous wars waged by his brother’s son, Witold, until such time as the Princedom of Lithuania, together with the city, became Witold’s (1392, corresponding to 5152 of our calendar). It was then that the city of Vilna began to see the light of dawn. [ . . . ]

The terms of this charter of rights and privileges provide us with the following information:

That the Jews were already resident in the country from ancient times, that they had numerous occupations, and that most of them were engaged in moneylending in accordance with the practice of their coreligionists in other countries at this time.

That the enmity of the native inhabitants of the country toward the Jews had already inspired them to seek out false allegations against them, and in particular in relation to their moneylending, and that the Jews were found to be trustworthy and guiltless against their accusers, to the point where the prince regarded them as sufficiently trustworthy to afford them protection from the spirit of people’s private hatreds, and to give credence to them, as trustworthy people, as against those making claims against them.

That they obtained the right to bring their lawsuits before the prince or his court, and the determination of their cases was not dependent upon the decrees of the courts of the city-governors; and this constituted a significant and notable right in those days, and it was this that stood them in good stead to liberate them from the yoke of the Magdeburg Law which the princes of Lithuania had instituted in Vilna.

That authority had been granted to the ecclesiastical judges of the Jews to judge their coreligionists in accordance with the law of Israel in respect of all matters, and thus the Jews would constitute a distinct community vis-à-vis the community of their neighbors, the Christians.