Natalja Cheifetz’s discussion club will discuss the greenest of Jewish holidays, Tu b’Shvat, at their next meeting via zoom at 5:30 P.M. on Thursday, January 16. Sometimes described as Jewish Arbor Day, the 15th day of the month of Shvat falls on February 13 this year. Everyone is invited to attend. To gain zoom credentials and indicate topics of interest for discussion, click here.
Australian media outlets reported two more attacks on synagogues in the last two days. The Allawah Synagogue in Sydney was spay-painted with anti-Semitic phrases and swastikas early Friday morning local time. The Newtown Synagogue was graffitied and fire officials detected accelerant intended to set the house of prayer ablaze. Times of Israel reports Australian police and government officials are undertaking counter-terrorism measures to prevent the continuing anti-Semitic attacks.
Full story here.
Petras Kaplanaitis passed away January 9. He was born in 1933 and was a member of the Klaipėda Jewish Community. We extend our deepest condolences to his brother, daughters and many friends and family members.
Gennady Pinkhasevich passed away January 8. He was born in 1940 and was a member of the Kaunas Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. We send our deepest condolences to his family and many friends.
The Sabbath begins at 4:14 P.M. on Friday, January 10, and concludes at 5:20 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 3:58 P.M. and completed before sunset at 4:14 P.M. Friday is also Asarah b’Tevet, a fast day to mourn the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia.
The Panevėžys Jewish Community celebrated Hanukkah with gusto this year. Pictures below.
Jewish tradition expert and educator Natalja Cheifec’s Shalom discussion club is starting the new year with a zoom meeting at 5:30 P.M. on January 9. To receive log-on credentials click here. Please indicate your topics of interest on the registration page. Everyone is welcome.
A public menorah display in the city of Šiauliai’s central square and walking mall was lit on each consecutive night of Hanukkah to remind passers-by of the victory of the light over darkness. Chabad Lubavitch also provided holiday food at the Šiauliai District Jewish Community.
The Kaunas Jewish Community celebrated Hanukkah with an evening of music with guests from Israel, Scotland and the USA. The celebration at the Višta Puode restaurant included traditional foods and a holiday quiz as well.
“Be healthy, curious, positive. Dream bravely and make your plans, even if they seem unrealistic to others and to you yourself at first, come true. May happiness and success visit you and your homes ever more, and more and more light and peace visit the world,” Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas wished the audience.
Michailas Kravecas passed away Sunday. He was born in 1952 and was a member of the Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. We extend our deepest condolences to his daughter, his sister and his many friends in the Community.
Mina Levitan-Babenskienė died Sunday at the age of 92. She was a member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. She was known as one of Lithuania’s best tapestry makers and her works were demonstrated at numerous exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad over many decades. Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and the entire Community extend our deepest condolences to her son Edmondas and her many friends and family.
The Sabbath begins at 4:06 P.M. on Friday, January 3, and concludes at 5:11 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 3:48 P.M. and completed before sunset at 4:06 P.M.
Galina Bugelskaya died on December 29. She was born in 1934 and came from Druskininkai. She was a member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. We send our deepest condolences to her son and many friends and family members.
Oktyabriana Tulchina passed away December 28. She was born in 1924 and was a member of the Kaunas Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. The entire Lithuanian Jewish Community extend our deepest condolences to her family, including her children and grandchildren.
Everyone is invited to attenda 3-D light show, accompanied by music and traditional Hanukkah treats and warm tea. Boris Kizner and the Faylerkh ensemble will perform.
Time: 6:30 P.M., Monday, December 30
Place: Outside the Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
The Sabbath begins at 3:58 P.M. on Friday, December 27, and concludes at 5:04 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Friday is also the third night of Hanukkah. Hanukiya and Sabbath candles should be lit before the onset of Sabbath, starting at 3:40 P.M.
Hanukkah starts today, December 25. Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky sends her holiday greetings to everyone and wishes you light in your life, love in your family and friendship in your surroundings.
Happy holidays! Hag Hanukkah sameakh!
by Grant Gochin
The government of Lithuania’s threats of criminal charges against me remain open. These threats were instigated as an intimidation tactic to silence me. My supposed crime was investigating the truth about who perpetrated the Holocaust in Lithuania.
I began my efforts towards exposing the truth about the Holocaust in Lithuania in the early 2000s. I was perplexed by the apparent acquiescence of some major Jewish organizations to the rampant Holocaust frauds committed by the government of Lithuania. My repeated outreach made me realize that if I did not address the issues myself, they would be ignored. Over the course of the past 15 years, this revelation has repeatedly proven itself to be accurate.
Approximately thirty legal actions I launched against Lithuania displayed how resolutely the Lithuanian government coalesced to invert Holocaust truth, while continuing their intimidation tactics against history researchers and activists. The Lithuanian courts took instruction from members of the government to deny legal review of governmental Holocaust fraud. Historical researchers such as Evaldas Balčiūnas and Andrius Kulikauskas were insulted, intimidated and threatened by the Lithuanian government simply for conducting research on inconvenient subjects and exposing the truth.
There was an attempt to bribe documentarian Michael Kretzmer to create a falsified narrative. Their conduct revealed to Kretzmer the country’s Holocaust inversions. His response was to make the documentary J’Accuse! which revealed to the world the full ghastly truth about Lithuania’s Holocaust frauds.
Eduard Kuznetsov has died. He was born in 1939. He was a prominent Soviet-era dissident and former Prisoner of Zion who endured imprisonment for anti-Soviet activities. He died Sunday at the age of 85.
Born to a Jewish father and a Russian mother, Kuznetsov established himself as a journalist, writer and editor before his activism led to his first arrest by Soviet authorities in 1961. He served seven years in prison for publicly reading protest poetry and anti-regime literature in Moscow’s central square.
In June of 1970 after being denied permission to leave the country, Kuznetsov joined fellow activist Mark Dymshits in a bold attempt to hijack an empty aircraft bound for Israel. The escape plan failed and both men were sentenced to death. Their sentences were later commuted to 15-year prison terms following intense international pressure, while Kuznetsov’s wife received a 10-year sentence.
Kuznetsov finally gained his freedom in 1979 through a US-negotiated prisoner exchange that released him and four other dissidents. He subsequently immigrated to Israel.
His daughter Anat Zalmanson-Kuznetsov shared an emotional tribute on Facebook: “At 1:00 A.M., Eduard Kuznetsov, the man, the legend and my father, passed away. I can’t write these words without breaking into tears.”
She recounted a meaningful moment from 2018 when they shared the stage, where he received recognition for his contributions to Russian-language journalism in Israel. “I knew this was a defining moment in my relationship with my father, one I would return to again and again throughout my life,” she wrote. Despite his reluctance to accept the honor, claiming, “I don’t deserve it. I haven’t been involved in journalism for many years,” she insisted on his worthiness.
by Michelle Rosenberg
In its largest one-time seasonal award, Jewish Foundation for the Righteous sends £250k to rescuers in 10 countries including Australia, Hungary, Romania and Sweden
The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous is sending more than £254k to 83 Righteous Gentile rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust living in 10 different countries–the largest one-time seasonal award in the foundation’s history.
The JFR provides financial stipends for aged and needy Righteous Gentiles, helping to repay a debt of gratitude on behalf of the Jewish people for their heroism.
Since its founding, the foundation has provided more than £35 million to an estimated 3,600 rescuers in more than 34 countries.
As the years pass since the Holocaust the number of living rescuers has dwindled. The remaining Righteous Gentiles receiving this year’s holiday awards live in Australia, Belarus, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden and Ukraine.
Full story here.
