The World Union of Jewish Students has nominated the Lithuanian Union of Jewish Students of the Lithuanian Jewish Community for awards in two categories.

Lithuanian Union of Jewish Students director Amit Belaitė is up for one of the awards, and says her friends and colleagues in the Union need to learn more about Jewish life and Jewish traditions. She said Jewish students in Lithuania have been cut off from many Jewish things, including how to celebrate Sabbath, largely because Jewishness was forced into hiding in Lithuania after the Holocaust. She added there is a revival underway in Lithuania, including of Jewish holidays our great-grandparents celebrated, and said now there is a great deal of communication with Litvaks of the same age as Union members living around the world who have not lost their traditions.

Amit continued: “The most interesting thing is that the president of the World Union of Jewish Students is a Litvak. Once when we, members of the Lithuanian Union of Jewish Students, were cleaning up the cemetery in Žasliai, I sent him a photograph from there, and he replied his ancestors were from there. He sent their surname and we found the headstone… Life surprisingly brings people and generations together. Earlier not much happened in the Community, but now we are trying, organizing, planning, and really there is a sense of expansion in the Student Union and the Community now. We are reviving what was forgotten. First, our membership is growing. We accept those born in Lithuania who have left to study abroad, and those who live abroad and have Lithuanian roots, and we accept converts, and there are some. There are 664 students in our Union now. We hold several events every month. Now that we have two rabbis in the community, we’re trying to renew our knowledge of Judaism… We are different from Jewish student unions in other countries because we don’t reject those coming from abroad, we accept them into our ranks. It is beneficial for all us to have this mutual communication and to spend time in a Jewish environment.

The Lithuanian Union of Jewish Students has been nominated for growth in membership, and Amit Belaitė is in the running for best director.