by Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman, Lithuanian Jewish Community

Jews as with any people are not homogenous. The history of Jews in Lithuania stretches back almost 700 years and during that time all sorts of things happened, rises and declines, and the effects of the Holocaust were especially painful in Lithuania, and following the attempt at physical annihilation the Soviet occupation attempted to destroy the Jewish people spiritually.

People often ask me, Jews are so united, why is it different in Lithuania? It’s not different in Lithuania, divisions exist in secular and religious Jewish communities in Israel as well as the rest of the world. The wealth of the Jewish people is our diversity, our knowledge, our faith and our ability to remain Jews.

I am proud of my people. Unfortunately, all sorts of things go on inside the Jewish community. It’s sad, but we have only partially passed our “trial by money.” On the one hand, we have the well-functioning Goodwill Foundation, which only adopts decisions by consensus and allocates compensation for Jewish communal/religious properties, and which has been audited for many years now by the Office of State Auditor, the highest auditing institution, and has always received a glowing review. On the other hand, we have over-ambitious community members who believe they can do everything the best, in the most transparent manner and preferably all by themselves. They claim the opinion of the majority is merely a simulation of democracy.

In Lithuania, as in the world, volunteer leaders lead the Jewish communities. This post is for me first of all an honor and a pleasure. Before I assumed responsibility, I learned much from the earlier chairmen, Grigory Kanovitch and Dr. Simon Alperovitch. Much of what is needed for this work I learned from active Community members and intellectuals attorney professor Jurijus Bluvšteinas, Josif Levinson and Maša Grodnikienė.

Yes, I have made mistakes during my leadership of the LJC, but I believe only those who talk much theoretically and practically do little are the only people who never make mistakes. We can only achieve something together, by coming together as a community, with the support of international organizations and the state of Israel. And Lithuania, following the restoration of independence, has provided us with all the preconditions for working, operating and achieving. If we don’t utilize this opportunity for working together and instead cat mud at one another publicly, we will be the parties guilty for the disappearance of the community.

I take great shame in and accept my part of the responsibility for the community not being united and that dialogue has turned into dispute. We shouldn’t have let this happen. Internal conflicts are too great a luxury for the Jewish people and the community in Lithuania who have experienced so much. After all there are so few left of us Jews and no one wants the community in Lithuania to disappear and for our children to forget they are Jews.

We have done much in the last five years as a community. It has become normal to speak publicly about historical memory. We argue a lot and perhaps we frequently react too emotionally and categorically, but at least we’re ready to talk.

No one is surprised any longer by Jewish heritage, cultural and commemorative marches, events and holidays in different Lithuanian towns, the former shtetlakh. Almost every municipality has produced publications now about the local Jews and their contributions.

Slowly but surely in cooperation with local communities and municipalities we are maintaining and refurbishing mass murder sites and Jewish cemeteries as we try to commemorate the lives and memories of our fellow Jewish citizens murdered.

The Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium in Vilnius has become a beacon of Jewish education and has earned its excellent reputation through directed work with young people. I am so proud of our children who celebrate the Jewish holy days, remember the culture of their forefathers and come together in Jewish life. The interest in Jewish culture is growing in society at large and we see a great desire to participate in learning about Judaism and in Hebrew language classes.

We have revived for new life one synagogue after another, in Pakruojis, Kėdainiai and Joniškis, and soon in Žiežmariai, Kalvarija and Alanta as well. We have discussed the monumentalization of the Great Synagogue in Vilnius, the memorialization of headstones collected at the Užupis Jewish cemetery and the realization of a monument to commemorate the rescuers of Jews. The public discussion continues on the creation of a modern museum of the Holocaust and Jewish history.

Agreement has been achieved at the national level on a general definition of anti-Semitism which, it is hoped, will aid law-enforcement institutions in identifying more instances of violations of rights with an anti-Semitic element.

New Holocaust education aids have been presented to the public, for instance, the Lithuanian translation and publication by the LJC of the Vilnius ghetto diary of the boy Yitzhak Rudashevski, which received great attention at the Vilnius Book Fair and other events in Lithuania and abroad. We feel safe in Lithuania.

At the same time we cannot fail to see the continuing expressions of anti-Semitism in public life and by public figures. We are also concerned by political processes in neighboring states. With that in mind, we are grateful to the coalition of human rights organizations for their cooperation, and to the public for their support.

We are grateful to the Lithuanian parliament, who after consultations with the Community adopted the Solomonic decision to proclaim 2020 the Year of the Vilna Gaon and the History of the Jews of Lithuania. We have solid plans for that year and want to come together to appropriately mark 700 years of Jewish history in Lithuania.

I feel motivated daily because of my concern for the welfare of Jews, I am concerned by my people’s relationship with the majority society. I am concerned about the future of this small community. We are probably the only community which devotes so much care to our most vulnerable members, the elderly and the poor. Today 120 service providers are caring for our almost three hundred senior citizens throughout Lithuania. Young families are receiving aid in preparation for sending their children off to school. Less well-to-do Jews are receiving support for purchasing food, medicine, heating fuel and health-care items.

Each year the LJC allocates aid to those who rescued Jews during the Holocaust and their descendants. We are happy when we are able to help them, this is our duty, this is our calling. Mutual aid is one of the fundamental principles of our people which has allowed us to survive as human beings in even the most unfavorable of circumstances. It is vital for the Community to extend a helping hand to every Jew in need. The mitzvah (Hebrew “good deed”) is the primary duty of every Jew and the community cannot survive if because of personal ambition we forget that. Even in the face of conflict we must not renounce our basic values as a people, our identity; the time has come to remember what unites us, it is time to remember what truly makes us Jews.

The future of the community largely depends upon us. According to different sources, there are today about 3,500 Jews living in Lithuania, whose unity has survived yet another test following the 2013 law on restitution. Diversity of opinion and pluralism is the necessary prerequisite for democracy. For that reason I appreciate the criticism of the opposition and their civic activity. At the same time there is sometimes disappointment that personal attacks against me, my family, the legitimate leadership of the LJC and non-Jewish Community staff hides under the cover the democracy.

Time will show the true intentions of this demonstrated division and enmity, but for now each of us must answer our own conscience: do the ends really justify the means, the blackening of the name of the Jewish Community?

Full text in Lithuanian here.