On the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Vilna Gaon, a new Italian-language documentary sheds new light on the life of the great rabbi, scholar and Talmudist.

The documentary, entitled, “The sign of the Gaon, a giant of Jewish thought” was edited by Giorgia Calò, Ariela Piattelli and Raffaella Spizzichino at the initiative of the Lithuanian embassy in Italy.

“A gigantic personality. Since childhood, the Gaon shows precocious, brilliant qualities ”recalls rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, chief rabbi of Rome, whose testimony opens the documentary.

Among the personalities exploring the life of the Gaon in its many dimensions are Faina Kukliansky, Chair of the Lithuanian Jewish Community; Rabbi Amedeo Spagnoletto, director of the National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah in Ferrara; Lara Lempertienė, director of the Hebrew department of the National Library of Lithuania; Saulė Valiūnaitė, director of the Museum of Culture and the Identity of Lithuanian Jews; and Renaldas Gudauskas, director of the Lithuanian National Library.