Bring your whole family to the Lithuanian Jewish Community Passover Seder starting at 5:00 P.M. on April 15 at the Radisson Blue Hotel Lietuva, Konstitucijos street no. 20, Vilnius. Tickets are 12 euros. For more information and to buy tickets from April 4 to April 12, contact Žana Skudovičienė at telephone 867881514 or Julija Lipšic at 865952604.
The Shtetl Commemorative Garden is located in the Žemaitija National Park in Medsėdžiai village in the Plateliai aldermanship in the Plungė region of Lithuania. Go visit!
Dear members of the board of the Vilnius Jewish Community,
I would like to inform you that a demand was received on March 23 signed by Vilnius Jewish Community (VJC) board members Aleksandr Arončik, Simon Ceitlinas, Arkadij Goldin, Aleksandras Lukas Jurevičius, Dovydas Kocas, Margarita Koževatova, Simonas Portnoj, Simon Gurevičius and Rachmil Garber to convene a meeting of the VJC executive board on March 30, 2017, to discuss the issues of convening an extraordinary VJC conference and of adopting new VJC members as well as confirming existing memberships.
I would like to thank the above-mentioned LJC board members for their initiative and also to state that this demand is not legally correct according to the regulations of the VJC and the laws of the Republic of Lithuania (the reasons are indicated in a letter to VJC board members which will be sent to all VJC board members by registered mail).
We would like to inform you that the plan is to convoke the board of the VJC at 6:00 P.M. on April 28, 2017, and to ask that VJC board members mark the date on their schedules. Information about elections will be posted on the official Community website, www.lzb.lt, and we also invite anyone with questions about the elections to contact us.
Sincerely,
Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Vilnius Jewish Community
You are warmly invited to attend Rabbi Shimson Isaacson’s lesson
Everything You Need to Know about Passover
at 7:30 P.M. on March 30 at the Choral Synagogue at Pylimo street no. 39 in Vilnius.
Rebbetzin Esther Isaacson invites you to a lesson in Russian on the blessing of food. Come, listen and let’s find out the answers together. The lesson will be held at 6:30 on Wednesday, March 29 in auditorium no. 306 on the third floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community located at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius.
The Panevėžys Jewish Community greet you on the upcoming holiday of Passover and invite you to a series of events for the holiday:
April 6 Concert “From a Forgotten Book” at the Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Panevėžys Regional Public Library, Respublikos street no. 14 at 5:00 P.M.
April 10 First Passover Seder at the Rojaus paukštė café, Respublikos street no. 4A at 6:30 P.M.
April 11 Second Passover Seder at the Panevėžys Jewish Community, Ramygalos street no. 18 at 2:00 P.M.
April 14 Third Passover Seder and Sabbath at the Panevėžys Jewish Community, Ramygalos street no. 18 at 2:00 P.M.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community’s webpage is providing information about election procedures for the Vilnius Jewish Community and there will be a method for commenting implemented for upcoming elections.
Dates for Sittings of the Vilnius Jewish Community Board of Directors and Vilnius Jewish Community Conference
Section 7, point 7.1.1 of the regulations of the Vilnius Jewish Community provides a conference of the Vilnius Jewish Community must be convoked and organized by the Vilnius Jewish Community once annually and not more than 4 months after the end of the fiscal year and following independent audit. The Vilnius Jewish Community is planning to hold a meeting of the Vilnius Jewish Community board of directors in April, 2017, at which an annual activities and financial report of the Vilnius Jewish Community and the results of an independent financial audit will be presented, and a decision adopted on the convocation and agenda of a Vilnius Jewish Community conference. Section 7, point 7.1.2 of the regulations of the Vilnius Jewish Community provides announcement of the convening of a conference of the Vilnius Jewish Community must be made publicly in the Lithuanian newspaper Lietuvos rytas at least 30 calendar days in advance of the conference. The announcement must include the date, location and agenda. Based on this point the Vilnius Jewish Community is planning to hold a conference in May or June of 2017.
Voting at the Vilnius Jewish Community Conference
Section 7, point 7.2.12 of the regulations of the Vilnius Jewish Community says each member of the Vilnius Jewish Community has a single vote. The number of members participating at the Vilnius Jewish Community conference is determined from registration pages where Vilnius Jewish Community members attending the conference have registered. A quorum is established by consent of the Vilnius Jewish Community and based on common sense. Once a quorum has been established, it is considered to be in effect throughout the Vilnius Jewish Community conference. Note that based on section 7, point 7.2.13 of the regulations of the Vilnius Jewish Community if there is no quorum determined for the Vilnius Jewish Community conference, a repeat conference must be called after 5 days but before 15 days have elapsed which has the right to make decisions on the agenda of the previous failed conference without regard to the number of Vilnius Jewish Community members participating. Member are to be informed of the repeat Vilnius Jewish Community conference in the same way as the first Vilnius Jewish Community conference was called. Therefore the Vilnius Jewish Community calls upon all Vilnius Jewish Community members to be active, to follow informational announcements and to participate at the Vilnius Jewish Community conference, so that a second conference wouldn’t be necessary.
Section 7, point 7.2.14 of the regulations of the Vilnius Jewish Community prescribes decisions are adopted by a simple majority of votes, i.e., a decision is made if more participating Vilnius Jewish Community members vote “for” than the number voting “against” (abstentions aren’t counted and those voting to abstain are not considered participants in the poll). Note that the chairman of the Vilnius Jewish Community is elected if more than half of the members participating at the Vilnius Jewish Community conference vote for him (section 9, point 9.2.2 of the regulations of the Vilnius Jewish Community). If no candidate receives more than half of the votes, another poll is held. In the second poll the two candidates with the largest number of votes compete. The candidate in the second poll with the largest number of votes is considered elected (section 9, point 9.2.3 of the regulations of the Vilnius Jewish Community).
Under section 7, point 7.2.15 of the regulations of the Vilnius Jewish Community, decisions at the Vilnius Jewish Community are adopted through a public vote. Secret balloting may be held if more than half of the Vilnius Jewish Community members participating demand it.
Section 7, point 7.2.5 of the regulations of the Vilnius Jewish Community provides that a Vilnius Jewish Community member (real person) who is unable to participate at the Vilnius Jewish Community conference may authorize another member to cast a vote in his place on all items on the agenda of the Vilnius Jewish Community conference. Such authorization must indicate clearly how the proxy is to vote on each item on the agenda. Under the laws of the Republic of Lithuania, these powers granted by a real person to represent another in relation with corporate entities must be confirmed by notary public.
Current Term of Office of Chairman of the Vilnius Jewish Community
Faina Kukliansky was elected chairwoman of the Vilnius Jewish Community April 3, 2013. Based on the regulations of the Vilnius Jewish Community, the chairman of the Vilnius Jewish Community is elected once every four years. That means the current term of Faina Kukliansky ends on April 3, 2017, but the person in the post of chairman/chairwoman of the Vilnius Jewish Community will remain in that post until a new person is elected if she is re-elected, in this case at the Vilnius Jewish Community conference in 2017, under the procedures set forth in the regulations of the Vilnius Jewish Community.
Additional Information
The Vilnius Jewish Community calls upon its members to take part actively in the election for the post of chairman/chairwoman of the Vilnius Jewish Community and recommends members become acquainted with the regulations and articles of incorporation and the membership roster of the Vilnius Jewish Community which may be inspected on work days at the office of Monika Antanaitytė (room 201, second floor, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius). Membership rolls will not be made available to the general public via internet. If you aren’t sure whether you are a member, find out by contacing Monika Antanaitytė, info@lzb.lt, telephone +370 672 40942.
Note as well that all Vilnius Jewish Community members planning to attend the Vilnius Jewish Community conference must have paid their membership dues for the period before the conference.
Under section 5, point 5.3 of the regulations of the Vilnius Jewish Community, the Vilnius Jewish Community board of directors may suspend a member’s activities on the Vilnius Jewish Community board of directors and/or in the Vilnius Jewish Community if that member has systematically (more than three times) failed to pay membership dues.
Remembrance. Responsibility. The Future. These are the sequential steps leading to real changes in society. The future of democracy and tolerance depends on memory and responsibility assumed, allowing for moving forward. A step towards the future–after surveying, judging and adopting expertise from the best initiatives aimed at fighting discrimination–this is the goal of this new start-up project.
The new project is called Development and Publication of Recommendations for Actions to Fight Anti-Semitism and Romophobia in Lithuania.
The project is supported by the Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft foundation or EVZ in Germany. This foundation supports systematic and long-term studies of discrimination against and marginalization of Jews and Roma in Europe.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community has brought together a group of leading experts from among Lithuanian human rights organizations, community activists, academics and specialists from abroad. This group is undertaking to come up with effective and valuable recommendations on actions for fighting anti-Semitism and Romophobia in Lithuania.
JULY 17 – AUGUST 11, 2017
Offering four levels of intensive language instruction:
YIDDISH I: for beginners
YIDDISH II: intermediate
YIDDISH III: higher intermediate
YIDDISH IV: advanced
The Kaunas Jewish Community invites you to come and remember the victims of the Children’s Aktion in the Kaunas ghetto during the Holocaust. Approximately 2,000 children were murdered during the mass murder operation. This will be the 73rd anniversary of that tragic day. The event will be held at 4:00 P.M. on March 24 at E. Ožeškienės street no. 13 in Kaunas.
Members of the Vilnius Jewish Community are invited to pick up a box of matzo bread in room 201 at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius on workdays between 8:30 A.M. and 4:30 P.M. from March 22 to March 28. On Sunday, May 26, please come between 11:00 A.M and 5:00 P.M. Try to remember to bring you membership card!
Please note: Matzo will be distributed to social program clients separately. They are invited to pick up a box of matzo bread in the computer classroom on the first floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius on workdays between 11:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M. from March 21 to April 4.
Every member will receive a full box of matzo without charge, but due to financial constraints we are unable to provide more than one box per member. Additional boxes may be purchased at the Bagel Shop Café for €3.50 per 1 kg box.
An evening of cocktails to celebrate Purim for young people (but of legal drinking age) starting at 7:30 on Saturday, March 18.
Register by internet:
http://apklausa.lt/f/purim-aveu3f1/answers/new.fullpage
Michael Ben Oren, deputy minister for diplomacy at the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Israeli MK in the Kulanu party as well as former Israeli ambassador to the United States (2009-2013) visited the Lithuanian Jewish Community March 16, where he met and spoke with LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky. He asked about current events in the community and took in the architecture of the building. On March 17 the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University is hosting a lecture by Mr. Oren on Israel’s foreign policy, to be followed by a discussion with students, teachers and the public.
Michael Ben Oren is an American-born Israeli historian, writer and politician. He was visiting professor at Harvard in 2006 and visiting professor at Yale in 2007. He is the author of New York Times-bestseller Power, Faith and Fantasy, and also of Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East.
The public event at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University located at Vokiečių street no. 10 is scheduled for 10:00 A.M. March 17 and is being co-sponsored by the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For more information contact Viktorija Gailutė at the email address viktorija.gailiute@spmi.stud.vu.lt or call (5) 251 4148.
The Lithuanian Union of Jewish Students invites you to a reception at the European Commission office in Vilnius hosted by director Arnoldas Pranckevičius at 5:00 P.M. on March 17.
Registration only by internet at
http://apklausa.lt/f/priemimas-europos-komisijos-atstovybeje-7pqgday/answers/new.fullpage
or to register or find out more, contact lujsinfo@gmail.com
The Department of Ethnic Minorities to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania invites the public to attend the launch of a multimedia DVD on Polish and Jewish heritage in Lithuania.
The event is scheduled for 2:00 P.M. March 16, 2017, at the Department of Ethnic Minorities building at Raugyklos no. 25 in Vilnius.
For more information and the register, please email informacija@tmde.lt
The Gešer and Kaveret Young Families Clubs invite you to come celebrate the happiest Jewish holiday of the year, Purim, with a Purim Carnival, with music and atmosphere from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s and the unforgettable Michailas Frišmanas and DJ Titas Morkūnas.
The Carnival theme is стиляги (hipsterism), including foxtrot, jive, boogie woogie and rock’n’roll. Recommended attire includes loud shirts and dresses of all eras, colorful jackets, ties, umbrellas and fedoras, but use your imagination and go wild, hipsters come in all shapes, sizes and historical eras. Only those in costume to be admitted.
The party starts at 7:00 P.M. on March 17 at the Natali restaurant located at Žalgirio street no. 92. The cost of ticket per person is €10.00 and reservations may be made from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. from March 7 to March 14, please call Žana Skudovičienė at 8 678 81514
I wish all members of the community a happy holiday!
For Litvaks Lithuania is the land of our ancestors, and March 11, the day 27 years ago when Lithuanian independence was restored, is an important holiday for us, marking as well the beginning of the rebirth of the surviving Jewish community. March 11 is for each of us an exceptional and dear day, and we cannot allow ourselves to forget how important the state where we live and where our children grow is to us. In 1918 as the first Republic of Lithuania was being born her Jewish citizens volunteered to fight for Lithuanian freedom, and went on to foster the economic and social welfare of this state.
In the run-up to March 11, significant activity by the Lithuanian Jewish initiative group took place in 1988 dedicated to the rebirth of Jewish culture. After the Lithuanian independence movement Sąjūdis was established, Lithuanian Jews were faced with the dilemma of how Jewish relations with the Lithuanian national movement would develop as the wounds of the Holocaust remained painful, recalling the tragedy which took place in this country.
Along side the rebirth of Lithuanian independence, first came the rebirth of Jewish cultural activity, and the Jewish Cultural Association was the first to hold a congress, beginning the conversation about the destruction of the Jewish community during the Holocaust in 1989, for the first time since the decline of the Soviet era in Lithuania. I have to say Jewish-Lithuanian relations in the historical context, their evaluation and research began exactly with the rebirth of independence when there had to be an assessment of the Holocaust and the active role played by Lithuanians in it had to be admitted. There were also efforts made to help Jews restore their Jewish identity.
The Jewish communities in the shtetls were exterminated in the Holocaust, the shtetls are gone and Yiddish is no longer spoken in Lithuania. Currently the Jewish communities in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Panevėžys and Švenčionys have been re-formed. We still dream of a revival of the Yiddish language.
In the recent past we have sensed the emergence of a new generation in Lithuanian society who are interested in Jewish history and the life of the Jews in Lithuania, and slowly but surely stereotypical thinking is fading away.
When we speak of the values of March 11, we underline human rights and freedoms and their necessary consolidation and growth. We hope for the generation who understand their importance and who cherish and protect these rights and freedoms, and who connect love for their native land with self-respect and respect for all of its citizens.
Hag Purim sameakh!
The Bagel Shop this week offers vegetarian bebelakh. During the Purim holiday period we are also making a variety of delicious treats including hamentashen and serving wine. We are making vegetarian dishes in honor of Queen Esther, who was a vegetarian. The Bagel Shop is located at Pylimo street no. 4 at street level in Vilnius.
Bean bebelakh, a recipe from Riva Portnaja’s mother Sara Berienė
Sara always made this dish for the Purim holiday where all dishes were vegetarian in honor of Queen Esther.
Soak a liter of large beans overnight, boil in salted water for a long time until they go soft. Served cold sprinkled with salt. Simple and delicious!
Children who come into the Bagel Shop Café in Purim masks or who say the secret code phrase–Hag Purim sameakh!–will receive a small gift.
This week Jews in Vilnius and around the world are baking the pastry called hamentashen, aka Haman’s ears, engage in an exchange of gift bags or Purim baskets of food and drink called mishloakh manot and put on the best parties of the year. Purim is the one holiday where adult Jews are allowed to get drunk and it considered customary to do so.
Our Litvak hamentashen are made with yeast according to recipes from families of Lithuanian Jewish Community members. Head baker Riva Portnaja tells how in her family they called hamantashen “ormentashen,” and her mother always added yeast to the dough. Classical Litvak hamantashen only used poppy seeds for filling and the triangles forming the base and top of the pastry are almost sealed close.
For more, see this facebook page.
The Vilnius Jewish Religious Community invites you to come celebrate Purim at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius at 3:30 P.M. on March 12, 2017. The address is Pylimo street no. 39, Vilnius.
Rabbi Shimshon Isaacson will talk about Purim, there will be traditional treats and the least among us shall receive small gifts.
Please come and bring your family!