Natalja Cheifec’s #EDUKACIJOS discussion club invites you to join the zoom call at 5:30 P.M. this Thursday, October 10. She’ll discuss Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and what these holidays mean to Jews, traditions for observance and what to avoid to protect yourself from misfortune.
Zoom credentials available here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfRZKhoOgl_UbN-IxT4SO7m4uerwQONUveXaWQvFMKDghE-1A/viewform
Everyone is welcome.
The Sabbath begins at 6:28 P.M. on Friday, October 4, and concludes at 7:37 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Sunday is also Tzom Gedaliah, a minor fast day falling after the end of Rosh Hashanah. It is observed with dawn-to-dusk fasting on the third day of Tishrei starting at dawn. This day laments the assassination of the Babylonian-appointed official named Gedalia who was appointed to administer the Jewish population after the destruction of the First Temple and the resulting exile of the Jews in 586 B.C. Also known as the Fast of Gedalia, this fast day’s history can be traced back over 2,600 years to immediately after the death of Gedalia.
Monday is World Architecture Day. Observed annually on the first Monday in October. World Architecture Day is a holiday celebrating the world’s ancient, classical, mediaeval and modern architectural structures. It us also a day to celebrate the architects who designed these works of art. It dates from 1985 and was instituted by the International Union of Architects.
Dear Community members,
In celebration of Rosh Hashanah a shofar procession will make its way from the inner courtyard of the Old Arsenal next to the Tower of Gediminas, in honor of grand duke Gediminas who invited Jewish merchants, artisans and craftsmen from European cities to come settle in Lithuania, and wind through Cathedral Square to end up at the Vilnius Old Town Hall on Wednesday, October 2.
Shofar horns and shofar blowers from the Baltic states, the Ukraine, Israel and Great Britain will take part in the procession and sound the ancient ram horn instrument, dispelling evil and announcing the new year 5785.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community will hold a reception at the Old Town Hall following the procession.
Schedule (approximate):
October 2
4:00 P.M. Ceremony to kick off the march, inner courtyard, Old Arsenal, Arsenalo street no. 3
4:30 P.M. Procession along Arsenalo and Vrublevskio streets
4:40 P.M. Procession through Cathedral Square and along Pilies and Didžiosios streets
5:05 P.M. LJC reception for participants at Old Town Hall with sampling of holiday dishes
5:45 P.M. End of event
Rosh Hashanah is almost here. When the sun sets Wednesday, the celebration begins.
Program of LJC Rosh Hashanah events:
Choral Synagogue:
October 2
6:00 P.M. Mincha and Maariv prayer service
October 3
10:00 A.M. Shacharis
12:00 noon Blowing of the shofar
12:15 P.M. Torah reading and Musaf
2:30 P.M. Mincha
6:00 P.M. BLowing of the shofar
7:42 P.M. Maariv
Dear reader,
As Rosh Hashanah draws near, the Jewish new year 5785, with its accompanying holiday, we invite you to join in with our community’s holiday prayers and events.
This year one of our guests will be former US Army chaplain Rabbi Hanoch M. Fields.
During the celebration we will pray, sing and sample sweet symbolic foods, for example, apples with honey, so that the New Year would be sweet and filled with delight.
May this New Year bring everyone health, peace and happiness!
Shana tova u’metukah!
The cost is 20 euros per person. For more information and to register, send an email to viljamas@lzb.lt.
Time: 6:30 P.M., October 3
Place: Third floor, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
Šiauliai Jewish Community members are planning to leave the Šiauliai Jewish Community building at 10:00 A.M. on Sunday, October 6, to reach the town square in Žagarė where a ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust will be held. Everyone is invited to attend.
The final concert of the Shalom Culture and Music Festival will take place at 7:00 P.M. on October 3 at the Church of St. Catherine (St. Kotryna) in Vilnius. The special ROsh Hashanah program includes works by Ofer ben Amots, Philip Glass, Faustas Latėnas and others.
Tickets available here: https://bit.ly/4d3993B
The LJC’s Saul Kagan Welfare Center and the Abi Men Zet Zich Club invite seniors to celebrate the new year 5785 together.
Registration required by contacting Žana at zanas@sc.lzb.lt or +370) 678 81514.
Time: 2:00 P.M., Tuesday, October 1
Place: Third floor, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
Shana tova!
The Sabbath begins at 6:46 P.M. on Friday, September 27, and concludes at 7:55 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
The western Lithuanian town of Vilkaviškis is to unvei a public sculpture Friday commemorating native Sonia Gaskell, a world-class ballerina who went on to teach ballet in Paris and the Hague, according to Lithuanian state television LRT. Gaskell was born in Vilkaviškis on April 14, 1904, and died in Paris on July 9, 1974.
The statue by sculptor Lukas Šiupšinskas is located in a square in front of the Vilkaviškis Children’s and Youth Center near where Gaskell is believed to have been born. She was originally named Sarah. Vilkaviškis reportedly also has a small museum dedicated to the details of her rather amazing life which includes making aliyah to Palestine and returning to Europe before the Holocaust. Vilkaviškis, aka Vikovishk, had a Jewish population which hovered at about 50% compared to the Christian population, sometimes reaching 60% and falling back to 45% just before the Holocaust. William Shatner’s maternal grandmother was born in Vilkaviškis, as were Aharon April, Jonas Basanavičius, Vincas Kudirka, Miriam Markel-Mosessohn and Galina Shurepova.
Earlier LRT reporting in Lithuanian on Sonia Gaskell here.
Traditionally there is a commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust in Švenčionys held the first Sunday in October. We remember the Jews tortured and murdered, and those imprisoned in the ghetto set up in the town square and later murdered at nearby Platumai village. You are invited to attend the commemoration this year on October 6.
Program:
11:00 A.M. – 11:30 A.M. Remembering the victims in a gathering at the Menorah statue in the central park
12:30 P.M. Paying respects to the victims at the mass murder site in Platumai village approximately 13 kilometers to the west of Švenčionys
The Cvi Park Israeli street food kiosk and performance space will host a performance Saturday by vocalists Julija Stupnianek-Kalėdienė and Vakarė Banuševičiūtė with Giedrė Muralytė on piano of opera arias, duets and songs by Italian, French and Lithuanian composers. The kiosk is located in Petras Cvirka Park across the street from the Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius. The music starts at 2:00 P.M. on September 28. The events is free and open to the public and food will be available for purchase from the kiosk.
Natalja Cheifec’s #ŠALOM club invites you to a zoom meeting at 5:30 P.M. on September 26 featuring an intriguing account of Jewish life and traditions. Receive zoom credentials by registering and don’t forget to include your questions of interest on the registration form.
Register here: https://forms.gle/BTA6PZpaHLmKfM969
The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club is holding its annual sporting spectacular for athletes, family and friends. This year’s program includes a number of branches of sports and new challenges.
The event is free to all who register and to approved contestants. The program includes volleyball, 3-on-3 basketball, soccer, chess, orienteering and a krav maga class with a professional trainer. Snacks and drinks will be served as well.
The celebration begins at 12:00 noon and carries on till 5:00 P.M. on Sunday, September 29.
To register, click here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdlBOoVrQUbr4RtJF2g-dLs93YtS87uBREjgIYnDA6xyMYlyA/viewform.
The Sabbath begins at 7:04 P.M. on Friday, September 20, and concludes at 8:13 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
The Cvirka Park Israeli street food kiosk and performance space across the street from the Lithuanian Jewish Community will host a picnic this Sunday with food and beverages on sale, chess matches, badminton and ping-pong. Čižas, Puppystyle, Kajus, Zemenu, Herman Drowning and Ryo Ishimoto.will perform music. So far the weather looks good.
The Kaunas Jewish Community invites you to an evening to remember Righteous Gentile Ona Šimaitė at the Vincas Kudirka Public Library, A. Mapu street no.18, Kaunas at 6:00 P.M. on Thursday, September 19.
Author of a biography in Lithuanian and researcher Rimantas Stankevičius will speak at the event hosted by the historian Linas Venclauskas. Rokas Makštutis will provide musical accompaniment.
You’re invited to attend a commemoration of the Day of Genocide of Lithuanian Jews to be held in in Panevėžys, Lithuania, starting at 1:00 P.M. on Monday, September 23.
Program:
1:00 P.M. Opening ceremony and wreath-laying at “Sad Jewish Mother” statue on Memory Square on Vasario 16-osios street.
1:30 P.M. Trip to mass murder site in Kurganava Forest.
2:00 P.M. Trip to Holocaust memorial site in Žalioji Forest.
3:30 P.M. Screening of Yad Vashem film about the Holocaust at Panevėžys Jewish Community
Please indicate your intention to attend by calling the chairman of the Panevėžys Jewish Community at 8 611 20882 or the administrator at 8 610 17608.
September 23 is the Day of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide and the Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to attend a commemoration ceremony at the Ponar Memorial Complex outside Vilnius to remember the more than 70,000 people murdered there.
There will be a bus to ferry participants from central Vilnius to the memorial complex and back. Those wishing to ride the bus are required to register by sending a request to info@lzb.lt including your name and contact information. The bus will leave promptly at 12:15 P.M. on September 23 from the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium at Kraševskio street no. 5 in Vilnius and will not wait for late arrivals.
Time: 2:00 P.M., September 23
Place: Ponar Memorial Complex, Agrastų street no. 15A, Vilnius district
The Sydney Jewish Museum in Australia has taken down from their webpage an announcement for an event called “Remembering the Holocaust in Lithuania” without explanation.
The event had been scheduled for 11:00 A.M. on September 29 and was billed to include USHM resident historian and professor emeritus Konrad Kwiet and Lithuanian ambassador to Australia, former ambassador to Israel and South Africa Darius Degutis who was supposed to speak on ongoing efforts to insure the Holocaust be properly remembered and commemorated in Lithuania at the current time.
Sources close to the Museum said ambassador Degutis’s appearance had been cancelled due to the Lithuanian state’s ongoing Holocaust distortion and a recent finding from the Lithuanian Genocide Center exculpating Lithuanian Nazi leader Kazys Škirpa.