The Lithuanian Jewish community has always been different from the Jewish communities in other countries. Back in the Lithuanian Grand Duchy (roughly from AD 1200 to just before 1800) the Jewish communities enjoyed the special favor of the grand dukes and the Vilna Jewish community especially but Litvaks in general as well gained world renown for scholarship and religious knowledge, and many celebrated rabbis, cantors and Talmudic scholars issued forth from Lithuania. Litvaks have long had a reputation for being more conservative and for being more immune to innovation than other communities. The special worldview of the Litvaks, distinct for its synthesis of rational thought, logic, reason and religious imperatives, evolved under the influence of great local religious authorities and social conditions within the cultural zone of the Grand Duchy. The Litvak attitude, point of view and worldview is a distinct form of Jewish mentality for which the Litvaks became known as a distinct group within Judaism and Jewish culture over the centuries. The greatest religious authority, largely responsible for the religio-cultural identity of the Lithuanian Jewish community, was the wise Vilna Gaon of the 18th century.