LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Litvakai; Musar judėjimas; Žydai; Žydai, kultūra, politika, Aleksandras II; Žydų bendruomenė Vilniaus, Kauno ir Gardino gubernijose; Jewish community in Vilnius, Kaunas and Grodno gubernias; Jews; Jews, culture, politics, Alexander II; Litvaks; Musar movement.
ENAušra Pažėraitė, in her article "The shift in Jewish cultural and political orientation in Alexander II’s time" confirms the long-held view in historiography that the reforms under Alexander II led to a breakthrough in the cultural and political orientations of the Jewish community. Pažėraitė examines how these reforms impacted the social and cultural aspirations of the traditional Jewish elite and the newly arising intelligentsia. She also looks at the Musar movement founded by Israel Salanter. Unlike the new Jewish intelligentsia, Salanter and his movement sought to retain traditional Jewish cultural elements (above all religious tradition) in the face of social and economic reforms and to transform them gradually.