The Gesher Club of the Lithuanian Jewish Community invited members and friends to a ceremony to end the Sabbath, havdalah, on Saturday, February 13. Many community members attended a Gesher evening for the first time. The decorations, beautifully set tables and pleasant music set the mood for celebration. Organizer of the event and LJC program coordinator Žana Skudovičienė greeted each guest individually with a smile. Skudovičienė, who took over administration of the Gesher Club to fill the gap left by Junona Berznitski’s departure as administrator, has many years of experience doing organizational work.
Vilnius Choral Synagogue cantor Shmuel Yatom led the havdalah ceremony. He spoke about the significance of the ceremony and of maintaining tradition. “The word havdalah, it’s verbatim translation from Hebrew means to separate or usher out. This is the meaning of this brief but beautiful symbolic ritual of Judaism which ends the Sabbath, because havdalah separates the Sabbath from other days, in other words, it separates the holy day from daily life. The ceremony is not mandatory according to the Torah. According to the Talmud, Sabbath celebration began in the fourth or fifth century before the Common Era. The havdalah ceremony evolved as the conclusion of the Sabbath to prepare the individual for the coming work week, and the havdalah ceremonies are for our soul, to provide another opportunity to become focused together before the beginning of the week, to gather strength and to ask for G_d’s blessing. According to Judaic tradition, havdalah begins at dusk when you can see at least three stars in the sky. After darkness falls, the havdalah candle is lit.”
After ceremony, perhaps the only singing anesthesiologist in Lithuania, Vygantas Kazlauskas, presented the song program in Lithuanian, French, Yiddish and other languages.
We asked participants to share their impressions of the evening and the Gesher Club.
Julius: “If it weren’t important to me, I wouldn’t be here. My friends are here, people my age, people with whom I talk and whom I love… That’s love… If there’s an opportunity to communicate with friends, that’s what a holiday is. Gesher means bridge. We are building bridges.”
Markas: “Gesher is a special club and people attend it specially, so it’s nice to speak with them, and as I communicate, I begin to feel special myself. Really, in our times you probably feel the lack of live communication. Gesher gives us that opportunity: to meet Friday or Saturday evening and communicate in person. Our life now is virtual, but here we talk directly.”
Eleonora: “Just the fact that we’re active enough to come to the community on a Saturday evening despite the poor weather and flu, that we all know each other for many years now, we love each other. We want to be together, to share our thoughts and joys.”
Viktorija: “The Gesher Club unites. This is our community, our friends. We are all citizens of Lithuania, but we also have to remember we are part of the Lithuanian Jewish community. That’s important to us.”
Ala: “The meetings this evening are very important to us, they make us cheerful. We are always ready to support the community in all matters and aspirations. Sometimes the time comes when we have to speak our minds, to express our position and remind people about the Jews of Lithuania. These people have done so much good for the Lithuanian state and we are ready to continue working that way.”
