Dear community members,

Greetings to you on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. I wish all of you health and happiness in your families! I sincerely wish you human warmth, that you would always be happy in your families and that you would come visit the community more often, and feel a deeper connection with the community.

This year now ending, 5775, was very complicated for our community and for me, but I think the unpleasant experience as we now have no rabbi will make our community stronger and will bear us good fruit in the future. As the major events over the last year, I would point to Lithuanian prime minister Algirdas Butkevičius’s visit to Israel where at the highest level, the president, prime minister and members of the Knesset of Israel said very clearly they have no complaints regarding our community, and on the contrary, the cooperation of the Lithuanian Government with Israel and with the Lithuanian Jewish Community was presented very positively.

Many times over at all levels the contributions made by the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Lithuania and in improving the country’s relations with Israel were underlined. In wishing you happy holiday spirits, I would like to say the Jews of the community are very active and work hard in all fields, from the preservation of the cultural and religious heritage, to organizing activities for children and youth, in the field of human rights and in everyday but nonetheless vital work with the elderly at the Social Center.

The regional communities are also working very intensively. I can say Litvak life has revived, and our events we have prepared for this fall show that only a well-organized team of people can achieve so much. We are publishing newsletters in Russian and Lithuanian. We have our own webpage which in three languages provide timely insight to matters of concern for the entire community as well as global Jewish issues, and everyone who wants to find out how the Lithuanian Jewish Community is doing has access to that information.

Let’s be happy that the community is harmonious, growing, stable, and that we have so many young people. The entire year I have worked with the community I have felt your great support, my friends, and your desire for me to continue, and now I hope the community will be able to select the best rabbi of those who have presented themselves as candidates for working with us, one who not only provides religious knowledge, but who will love his people and try to help them in trouble and in happiness.