LJC Gešer and Kaveret Young Families Clubs Putting on Purim Party

The Gešer and Kaveret Young Families Clubs invite you to come celebrate the happiest Jewish holiday of the year, Purim, with a Purim Carnival, with music and atmosphere from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s and the unforgettable Michailas Frišmanas and DJ Titas Morkūnas.

The Carnival theme is стиляги (hipsterism), including foxtrot, jive, boogie woogie and rock’n’roll. Recommended attire includes loud shirts and dresses of all eras, colorful jackets, ties, umbrellas and fedoras, but use your imagination and go wild, hipsters come in all shapes, sizes and historical eras. Only those in costume to be admitted.

The party starts at 7:00 P.M. on March 17 at the Natali restaurant located at Žalgirio street no. 92. The cost of ticket per person is €10.00 and reservations may be made from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. from March 7 to March 14, please call Žana Skudovičienė at 8 678 81514

Condolences

With deep regret we mark the passing of Anna Vasiljeva on March 11. She was born February 17, 1931, and was a member of the Vilnius Jewish Community.

Condolences

Margarita Intriligator, a member of the Vilnius Jewish Community, passed away March 11. She was born March 18, 1950. Our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones.

Purim: Shame, Power and Dumb Luck


Andres-Spokoiny-medium

by Andrés Spokoiny

What if we are wrong about Purim? What if Purim is not the joyful holiday that we think it is, but a mordant exercise in self-criticism, a painful look at the mirror, a scathing self-deprecation designed to inspire shame rather than glee?

Let’s go back to the basics of the story: King Ahasuerus of Persia tries to publicly humiliate Queen Vashti. The Queen refuses and Ahasuerus sends her away. He replaces her with Esther, a Jewish woman who is the cousin of Mordechai, a Jew of some renown. Mordechai subsequently uncovers a plot to kill the king, but does not immediately receive any reward. A showdown takes place between Mordechai and the evil viceroy Haman, who demands that all subjects bow to him. Mordechai refuses and Haman convinces the king to exterminate all the Jews, because they are a people “scattered among the peoples of all the countries of your empire, whose laws differ from every other people, and they don’t obey the laws of the king” (Esther 3:8). Haman draws lots and determines that the 14th of Adar will be the day of the massacre. (Purim means “luck” or “lots”). Esther plans a convoluted plot to expose Haman in front of the king by revealing her own true identity and accuse the viceroy of disloyalty. Haman gets hanged on the same tree on which Mordechai was supposed to be executed, and the Jews go on a rampage to kill those who sought to harm them. Since then, and for some 2,500 years and counting, we party and get drunk. In the famous epigram: they tried to kill us, they failed, let’s eat and drink.

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Purim at the Panevėžys Jewish Community

Purim is the spring holiday when we celebrate the rescue of the Jews from death in Babylon. On March 12 the Panevėžys Jewish Community began the celebration with chairman Gennady Kofman reading the Purim story out loud, the Book of Esther from the Bible which tells of the destruction facing the Jews living in Babylon and the miracle of their rescue due to the efforts of queen Esther, the Jewish wife of the Persian king. Not only were the Jews saved, they defeated the king’s evil vizier Haman who chose the day for the destruction of the Jews by casting lots, but who was himself punished. Many children attended the Panevėžys Jewish Community’s Purim celebration. There was a dining table for children, the children put on plays and watched films and concerts in connection with Jewish history. Purim is the happiest Jewish holiday and there was much song and much laughter. Everyone received a small gift as well.

Lithuanian Jewish Community Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky’s Greetings on March 11, Day of Restoration of Lithuanian Independence.

I wish all members of the community a happy holiday!

For Litvaks Lithuania is the land of our ancestors, and March 11, the day 27 years ago when Lithuanian independence was restored, is an important holiday for us, marking as well the beginning of the rebirth of the surviving Jewish community. March 11 is for each of us an exceptional and dear day, and we cannot allow ourselves to forget how important the state where we live and where our children grow is to us. In 1918 as the first Republic of Lithuania was being born her Jewish citizens volunteered to fight for Lithuanian freedom, and went on to foster the economic and social welfare of this state.

In the run-up to March 11, significant activity by the Lithuanian Jewish initiative group took place in 1988 dedicated to the rebirth of Jewish culture. After the Lithuanian independence movement Sąjūdis was established, Lithuanian Jews were faced with the dilemma of how Jewish relations with the Lithuanian national movement would develop as the wounds of the Holocaust remained painful, recalling the tragedy which took place in this country.

Along side the rebirth of Lithuanian independence, first came the rebirth of Jewish cultural activity, and the Jewish Cultural Association was the first to hold a congress, beginning the conversation about the destruction of the Jewish community during the Holocaust in 1989, for the first time since the decline of the Soviet era in Lithuania. I have to say Jewish-Lithuanian relations in the historical context, their evaluation and research began exactly with the rebirth of independence when there had to be an assessment of the Holocaust and the active role played by Lithuanians in it had to be admitted. There were also efforts made to help Jews restore their Jewish identity.

The Jewish communities in the shtetls were exterminated in the Holocaust, the shtetls are gone and Yiddish is no longer spoken in Lithuania. Currently the Jewish communities in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Panevėžys and Švenčionys have been re-formed. We still dream of a revival of the Yiddish language.

In the recent past we have sensed the emergence of a new generation in Lithuanian society who are interested in Jewish history and the life of the Jews in Lithuania, and slowly but surely stereotypical thinking is fading away.

When we speak of the values of March 11, we underline human rights and freedoms and their necessary consolidation and growth. We hope for the generation who understand their importance and who cherish and protect these rights and freedoms, and who connect love for their native land with self-respect and respect for all of its citizens.

Bagel Shop Café Wishes You a Happy Purim and Offers Traditional Holiday Foods

Hag Purim sameakh!

The Bagel Shop this week offers vegetarian bebelakh. During the Purim holiday period we are also making a variety of delicious treats including hamentashen and serving wine. We are making vegetarian dishes in honor of Queen Esther, who was a vegetarian. The Bagel Shop is located at Pylimo street no. 4 at street level in Vilnius.

Bean bebelakh, a recipe from Riva Portnaja’s mother Sara Berienė

Sara always made this dish for the Purim holiday where all dishes were vegetarian in honor of Queen Esther.

Soak a liter of large beans overnight, boil in salted water for a long time until they go soft. Served cold sprinkled with salt. Simple and delicious!

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Free Hamentashen for Kids!

hamentash

Children who come into the Bagel Shop Café in Purim masks or who say the secret code phrase–Hag Purim sameakh!–will receive a small gift.

This week Jews in Vilnius and around the world are baking the pastry called hamentashen, aka Haman’s ears, engage in an exchange of gift bags or Purim baskets of food and drink called mishloakh manot and put on the best parties of the year. Purim is the one holiday where adult Jews are allowed to get drunk and it considered customary to do so.

Our Litvak hamentashen are made with yeast according to recipes from families of Lithuanian Jewish Community members. Head baker Riva Portnaja tells how in her family they called hamantashen “ormentashen,” and her mother always added yeast to the dough. Classical Litvak hamantashen only used poppy seeds for filling and the triangles forming the base and top of the pastry are almost sealed close.

For more, see this facebook page.

Thief Hits Klaipėda Jewish Community, Steals Donations

Vagis apšvarino Klaipėdos žydų bendruomenę – išnešė dalį suaukotų pinigų

Yesterday evening at around 4:30 P.M. a thief robbed the Klaipėda Jewish Community. At the time most of the community members had left and only a few men were in the building engaged in Torah study. They suddenly heard the sound of breaking glass. When they went out into the hall, they saw the glass donation box had been broken open. The thief quickly exited and they were unable to pursue him. The thief didn’t manage to steal all the money. Community members guessed he didn’t have time and took what he could carry and stuff into his pockets. The donations hadn’t been counted yet so there is no figure on exactly how much was stolen.

The chairman of the Klaipėda Jewish Community said these donations were special and were to be used for a real Purim celebration this year.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

Purim Celebration at Choral Synagogue

The Vilnius Jewish Religious Community invites you to come celebrate Purim at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius at 3:30 P.M. on March 12, 2017. The address is Pylimo street no. 39, Vilnius.

Rabbi Shimshon Isaacson will talk about Purim, there will be traditional treats and the least among us shall receive small gifts.

Please come and bring your family!

Condolences

Liza Lukinskaya, a member of the Vilnius Jewish Community, passed away March 7. She was born May 13, 1920. Our sincere condolences to her family.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Su Moters diena, mielos bendruomenės moterys!

When Lithuania broke free of the Soviet Union, many of us began to look askance at International Women’s Day, as if it had been a purely Soviet holiday. But the truth is the origin of the holiday lies much deeper, reaching back even into antiquity.

There is evidence the women of ancient Greece demanded special attention from their husbands on a certain day. Even if they were at war, they had to stop and spend time with their wives.

The modern Women’s Day was the product of politics. In 1899 social democrat Klara Zetkin was one of the first to demand equal rights for men and women. In 1907 the first international women’s conference was held on her initiative in Stuttgart. That conference resolved to establish an international women’s organization to fight for equal rights for women.

A women’s conference was held in Copenhagen on March 8, 1910, with delegates from about 100 countries. Klara Zetkin proposed establishing one day of the year focusing on women’s struggle for freedom and equal rights. On March 8, 1911, International Women’s Day was marked for the first time in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Australia. In some countries women avoided celebrating the day openly for fear of arrest by the police.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes all its female members and women around the world a happy International Women’s Day!

Separate Program for Jewish Heritage Proposed


Diana Varnaitė. Photo courtesy Lithuanian Parliament

BNS–Director of Lithuania’s Cultural Heritage Department Diana Varnaitė is proposing separate financing for preservation of Jewish heritage. Lithuanian parliamentary speaker Viktoras Pranckietis approves the idea.

“We would think it would be appropriate to increase financing, and I told the speaker of parliament about our hope that it would be worthwhile for all of us together, with the leadership of the Ministry of Culture, to discuss … a separate line for Jewish heritage, not just for synagogues, because we have some [other] unique monuments, for example, the former religious school, the yeshiva building in Telšiai. These are sites in which we should take pride, as our own heritage, and which would make our [rural] regions more attractive and draws for tourists,” Varnaitė told BNS Wednesday after a meeting with the parliamentary chairman.

Parliamentary speaker press representative Dalia Vencevičienė said speaker Pranckietis expressed approval for the idea. “We have a policy direction on heritage and its preservation. The chairman would welcome the idea if the Ministry of Culture adopted a decision on a separate line in the budget,” she told BNS.

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Gešer Club Sabbath Celebration and Quiz

Dear friends,

The Gešer Club invites you to greet the Sabbath and take part in our quiz game “Who? What? Where? Why?” at 7:00 P.M. on Friday, March 10. Teams will be formed when we meet. Moderator: Irina Slucker.

We’ll meet on the third floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius.

For more information, contact Žana Skudovičienė by telephone at 8 678 81514 or by email at zanas@sc.lzb.lt

LJC Youth Clubs Celebrate Purim

Dear Community members,

The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Vilnius Religious Jewish Community greet you on the upcoming holiday of Purim and invite you holiday celebrations on March 12.

The LJC youth clubs Ilan, Dubi and Dubi Mishpaha will hold a Purim celebration at 1:00 P.M. on March 12 on the third floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. Entrance is free but only those in costume and/or masks will be allowed in!

For more information contact Jelizaveta Šapiro at +370 65527411 or Pavel Guliakov at +370 68542463.

Condolences

Feliksas Teitelman passed away March 5. He was born July 16, 1935 and was a member of the Vilnius Jewish Community. Our deepest condolences to the family of the departed.

A Big Thank-You for Making Kaziukas Fair Such a Success

17098700_1437182829647139_7414218332616588683_nRiva ir Estera

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky thanks everyone who helped make the Bagel Shop stand such a success at the annual Vilnius event this year, the Kaziukas Fair which began way back in the 17th century.

For their help, a big thank-you goes to Dovilė Rūkaitė, Rokas Dobrovolskisi, Riva Portnaja, Valentina Kot-Osipian, Gražina Pečkuvienė, Michailas Tarasovas and all the volunteers, including Simona Glazkova, Neta and Naomi Alon, Estera Reches, Vincentas Dobrovolskis, Asta Rainytė and her daughter, Elzė Rasimavičiūtė, Justė Čeičytė, Elena Grašytė, Daniela Mendelevič, Akvilė Ferguson and Geoff.