The students of the Vilnius Polish Saulėtekis school gave another outstanding performance of song, dance and skits to celebrate Israeli independence day at the Lithuanian Jewish Community April 19.

The third floor hall of the LJC was packed well before the performance began. Žana Skudovičienė and LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky welcomed the audience–mainly senior citizens in the Community’s Abi Men Zet Zikh Club–to this remarkable celebration of Israel’s 70th birthday. Also in attendance were various Jewish Community leaders, including Mikhail Shapiro, the chairman of the Švenčionys Jewish Community.

Students from all different grades at the Vilnius Saulėtekis School sang in Yiddish, Hebrew, Lithuanian, Russian and English in high quality, well-choreographed performances.

The highlight of their performance was a moving rendition of the 1967 hit song Yerushalayim Shel Zahav, Jerusalem of Gold, as the penultimate song in their program. The sincerity of the young student singers was unmistakable and a good portion of the audience stood up as if it were the national anthem of Israel (which it almost became in the 1970s). Some remained standing until the end of the song, others actually wiped tears from their eyes. This was followed by the Israeli anthem haTikvah, The Hope, for which everyone stood. The students’ version was so good it was impossible not to give them a standing ovation.

Following the Israeli national anthem the audience lingered in the foyer drinking coffee and eating pastry and sandwiches.