Register here:
https://wjc-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ghRb-2S1TBazKv0aVUDnyg
Vilna Gaon Museum Opens New Litvak Culture and Identity Museum
Photo by I. Gelūnas
The Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum reopens its branch in the former Tarbut Gymnasium at Pylimo street no. 4a Thursday, January 18, following reconstruction and the installation of a new Litvak Culture and Identity exhibit.
The space used to house the museum’s History Department and Gallery of Righteous Gentiles, and has been undergoing renovation for several years. The third floor will now house a permanent exhibit on the life and work of Rafael Chwoles, the Litvak artist. Other exhibits feature Litvaks who found fame and achievement around the world in various fields of endeavor. The space includes four storeys accessible by stairs.
The Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum includes consists of several sub-museums and spaces including the Tolerance Center, the Holocaust Museum, an information space at the Ponar Memorial Complex outside Vilnius and soon an exhibit inside the former Jewish ghetto library in the Vilnius Old Town.
Full story in Lithuanian here.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 4:00 P.M. on Friday, January 12, and concludes at 5:22 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Plaque Commemorating Lazaris Gutmanas to be Unveiled in Palanga
The Palanga Jewish Community is marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day a day early on January 26 by unveiling a plaque commemorating professor Lazaris Gutmanas (1875-1957) on his family home. Gutmanas was a professor at Kaunas University’s Nerve and Mental Disease Faculty and one of a number of remarkable members of the Jewish academic intelligentsia. Everyone is invited to attend the unveiling ceremony.
Time: 11:00 A.M., January 26
Place: S. Daukanto street no. 25, Palanga
Klaipėda Jewish Community to Hold Meeting in Support of Israel
The Klaipėda Jewish Community invites members and the public to turn out this Sunday as part of the global initiative “One Million Bells” to mark 100 days since Hamas’s attack on Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, and to remember the hostages still being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and appeal for their release.
The meeting starts at 4:00 P.M. on Sunday, January 14, at Turgaus aikštės no. 24 in Klaipėda.
Evening to Commemorate Israel Elyashev in Kaunas
The Kaunas Jewish Community invites you to an evening commemorating literary critic and writer Israel (Isidore) Elyashev.
Bal-Makhshoves as he was also known, “man of thoughts,” used that nom-de-plume in his Jewish writing at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The commemoration will be held in the former Jewish cafeteria near Elyashev’s home where he died 100 years ago on January 13, 1924. Speakers will touch upon his friendship with the painter Marc Chagall, Jewish life in Kaunas, Elyashev’s home street now known as Daukšos gatvė but formerly called Yatkever or Butcher’s street with five synagogues located along it, about the return of “evacuated” Jewish exiles in 1921 and about the shared and separate Lithuanian and Jewish cultural legacy in Lithuania’s interwar provisional capital Kaunas.
Speakers will also detail his family, including his sister Ester Veisbart who was an art critic, teacher and Lithuania’s first female doctor of philosophy who died in the Kaunas ghetto; the rest of his family who were killed in the Kaunas and Vilnius ghettos and Soviet labor camps and the members of his family to made it to Palestine and lived.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 3:50 P.M. on Friday, January 5, and concludes at 5:13 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Regarding Lithuania’s Assistance, Support and Cooperation on Israel-Hamas War Matters
To: Government of the Republic of Lithuania
Gedimino pr. 11, LT-01103, Vilnius
e-mail.: LRVkanceliarija@lrv.lt
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
J.Tumo-Vaižganto g. 2, LT-01108, Vilnius
e-mail.: urm@urm.lt
IN REGARD TO LITHUANIA’S ASSISTANCE, SUPPORT AND COOPERATION ON ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR MATTER
2024-01-02
Vilnius
The Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) Community (LJC) is keen to bring to Lithuania’s attention three critical issues that require urgent attention and cooperation on significant matters related to the Israel-Hamas war. The Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) Community believes that Lithuania, a democratic state, should announce a unified stance on the Israel-Hamas war and stand on the right side of history.
Firstly, it is important to bring to your attention that South Africa has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinian people. This is a serious and baseless allegation that requires condemnation. LJC kindly requests your support in opposing this accusation and is urging the government to condemn such unfounded claims. Israel is planning to send a representative to the International Court of Justice at The Hague to challenge this motion, and we believe that collective international condemnation is crucial in this matter.
Secondly, as the world approaches the 100th day since the horrific terror attack by Hamas happened against Israel on October 7, 2024, the European Jewish Congress (EJC) is initiating a day of protest to raise awareness for the 129 hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza in inhumane conditions. Several countries are considering symbolic actions such as illuminating government buildings in yellow with the hashtag #bringthemhomenow. LJC urges the Lithuanian government to participate in this global effort and ensure that our state’s actions are visible and heard.
Lastly, LJC is deeply concerned about the behavior of the International Red Cross, which appears to neglect the Jewish hostages. While they voice concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, they remain silent on the hostages’ conditions that are still being held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. LJC requests Lithuania’s support in protesting against this discrepancy and urging the International Red Cross to engage actively in ensuring the well-being of the hostages.
The Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) Community understands the importance of these matters and appreciates the Lithuanian Government’s attention to them. We are certain that the right support for Israel, which is fighting barbaric terror organizations in Gaza, would significantly contribute to addressing these urgent concerns.
Respectfully,
Faina Kukliansky
Chair of the Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) Community
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 3:41 P.M. on Friday, December 29, and concludes at 5:05 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 3:36 P.M. on Friday, December 22, and concludes at 5:00 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Art Exhibit in Inspired by Abraham Sutzkever
The Shofar Gallery of the Jewish Culture Information Center in Vilnius is hosting an exhibit of works by art and book restorer and artist Modestas Saukaitis inspired by Abraham Sutzkever’s poetry. Saukaitis’s works on exhibit are verre églomisé, an ancient technique which uses white gold painted on glass to produce an extraordinary effect.
The exhibit runs till December 23 and is open to the public during the gallery’s working hours, from noon to 6:00 P.M. on weekdays and from noon till 4:00 P.M. on Saturday. The gallery is located at Mėsinių street no. 3A in the Vilnius Old Town.
For more information, see here.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 3:34 P.M. on Friday, December 15, and concludes at 4:57 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Tomas Venclova Wins Lithuanian Writers Union Prize
The Lithuanian Writers Union announced they were awarding their bi-annual prize to writer and thinker Tomas Venclova for his latest book of poetry entitled “Už Onos ir Bernardinų” [Behind/Beyond the Church of St. Anne and the Church of the Bernardines (aka Franciscans)]. The book was published by the Apostrofa publishing house and contains 31 poems Venclova wrote over the past seven years.
The Lithuanian Writers Union awards their prize to one author every two years in recognition of high literary value. They will present the prize to Venclova on January 6 at Union headquarters in Vilnius.
Play for Kids
The Amehaye children’s day camp invites children of members to the closing ceremony for the winter day camps, a performance of Charles Perrault’s version of the “Puss ‘n Boots” fairy-tale.
Actors from Mroj-Hall theater will perform the tale. It takes place at 12 noon on Sunday, December 17. Registration is required and please register by December 16 by sending an email to viljamas@lzb.lt.
Lost World Photo Exhibit
December 13 the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture opened an exhibit of 15 specially selected photographs of the former Jewish quarter and Great Synagogue by pre-war photographer Jan Bulhak as part of closing ceremonies in the celebration of Vilnius’s 700th birthday, the newspaper Lietuvos Rytas reports on its website lrytas.lt
Culture minister Simonas Kairys, former culture minister Arūnas Gelūnas who now directs the Lithuanian National Art Museum which selected the photographs for the exhibit, Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Hadas Wittenberg-Silverstein, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and others attended the opening. Boris Kizner provided Jewish airs on violin.
Gelūnas told Lietuvos Rytas television only two of the fifteen photographs contain human beings because the photographer thought empty streets and vacant sidewalks showed off the architecture better and presented a more romantic picture of the city.
“In a way he was prophetic in this: after World War II all these streets were emptied of people,” Gelūnas noted. He added the lessons of history haven’t been learned, anti-Semitism is alive and well in the world and people still cling to authoritarianism.
Lecture: The Miracle of Hanukkah
You’re invited to a lecture by Natalja Cheifec called The Miracle of Hanukkah this Wednesday at 5:30 P.M. via the zoom internet platform. You’ll learn:
-about Hanukkah as a holiday preserving tradition
-what the Most High does during Hanukkah
-why Jews gaze at candle flames during Hanukkah
-about Hanukkah doughnuts and Hanukkah gelt
Register and receive log-in credentials here: https://bit.ly/3K73kEE
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 3:35 P.M. on Friday, December 8, and concludes at 4:57 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Maria Krupoves Lecture and Concert
Eastern European folklore and folk-song expert and performer Maria Krupoves-Berg will present a lecture and concert at the Lithuanian National Library’s Hall of Statehood at 6:00 P.M. on December 14. The event is free and open to the public.
The event called “The Sounds of Eastern European Jewish History and Music” sponsored by the National Library’s Judaica Studies Center will talk about and demonstrate genres of Yiddish song and how some songs became a kind of national anthem, accompanying Ashkenazi and especially Litvaks at crucial points in history, reflecting yidishe neshama, Jewish identity. Krupoves will perform with Boris Kizner on violin. The scheduled duration is one and a half hours.
Big Hanukkah Finale
The Lithuanian Jewish Community, the Vilnius Religious Jewish Community and the Shalom Aleichem ORT Gymnasium invite you to a big event to mark the eighth and final day of Hanukkah on Friday, December 15. It all happens at the Litexpo exhibit and concert center in Vilnius starting at 7:00 P.M. Students will perform a play called “Hanukkah: The Festival of Light,” the musical group Yes Duet will perform, the dance troupe Simcha will appear and Arkadijus Vinokuras will be there with another quiz/game show, along with more singing, dancing and dinner. Michailas Frišmanas will serve as master of ceremonies and madrichs will be on hand to provide child-care and children’s holiday activities.
The cost is €20 for adults and €10 for children under 13. Payment can be made by bank transfer to the LJC’s account LT067044060005757425 with purpose of payment indicated as Hanukkah and the names of the people for whom payment is being made. Registration must be made before December 13 by filling out the internet form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfR6VpFNmGPs9k_1z42Jwt20x563ULujZoIFInjcJuLi1VuDQ/viewform
For more information, call (+370) 659 52604.
Hope to see you there!
Amehaye Winter Day Camps 2023
The Lithuanian Jewish Community is pleased to announce Amehaye weekend day camps on December 8 through 10 and December 15 through 17 for children 17 and under. The camp is free for children of members.
Seven to 17-year olds will be provided day camps on December 8-10 and December 15-17, and should register with Viljamas Žitkauskas at viljamas@lzb.lt or by telephone at (+370) 67816741, and parents can contact him for more information.
Four to 6-year-olds will have weekend day camps on December 9-10 and December 16-17, and those interested should contact Margarita Koževatova at margarita.kozevatova@gmail.com or by telephone at (+370) 61800577. Registration closes at midnight December 6.