Announcements

World Jewish Congress Meets in Buenos Aires March 15-17

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World Jewish Congress to meet in Buenos Aires March 15-17; Argentine president Macri to address delegates

International Jewish leaders to convene in Argentina to discuss unresolved terror attacks

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky to attend plenary session

NEW YORK/BUENOS AIRES–More than 400 Jewish community leaders from around the world are expected to gather in Buenos Aires next week, as the World Jewish Congress (WJC) holds a special session of its Plenary Assembly, the organization’s highest decision-making body. Argentina’s [resident Mauricio Macri will deliver a keynote speech at the opening event of the assembly, and Paraguay’s president Horacio Cartés will be awarded the Latin American Jewish Congress’ Shalom Prize for his support for Israel.

WJC President Ronald S. Lauder said ahead of the Plenary Assembly meeting: “This will perhaps be the largest gathering of international Jewish leaders in Latin America in recent decades. We look forward to fruitful discussions and to a show of solidarity with the Jewish community of Argentina, the largest and most vibrant in Latin America.

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Come Join the March 11 Holiday Procession

Lithuania is celebrating 26 years of the restoration of independence this year. We’re inviting members and friends of the Lithuanian Jewish Community to assemble at Independence Square in front of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library at 11:45 A.M. on March 11 to watch the ceremonial raising of the flags of the three Baltic states and to join the holiday procession from there to Cathedral Square. Together, let’s create a tolerant Lithuania free from stereotypes and hate!

Fayerlakh Concert

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The Jewish song and dance Ensemble celebrate their 45th anniversary with a concert at the Russian Drama Theater in Vilnius. The concert is scheduled for 6:00 P.M. on March 22. Tickets cost 12 euros for the general public, 9 euros for Community members and 2 euros for students and senior citizens. To purchase tickets, see here.

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Fayerlakh Concert and Bagel Shop at the Kaziukas Fair in Vilnius

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The opening of Vilnius’s annual street fair will feature a concert by the Jewish song and dance ensemble Fayerlakh, at 5:00 P.M. at the Vilnius Old Town Hall square. The group is promising a whole range of music and performances, including a traditional Sabbath prayer and song.

Don’t forget, the Bagel Shop Café will also be at the fair on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. LJC staff, members and volunteers are all invited to come and help sell Jewish bagels during the fair. It should be a lot of fun and this year the annual street fair will include a Jewish shtetl section.

Taglit 2016

If you’re between 18 and 26 and always wanted to visit the Promised Land, the Taglit Program offers a wonderful opportunity to make this dream come true. For more information, contact Pavel Guliakov, telephone 8 685 42463, email p.guliakov@gmail.com

Farewell Herr Schwarz (Schnee von gestern, 2013)

You’re kindly invited to the preview of the documentary “Farewell Herr Schwarz” (2013, Germany / Israel) and the meeting with the director Yael Reuveny. The event is to be held at the Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum (Naugarduko street 10/2) at 4.00 P.M. on March 10, 2016.

The documentary is in several langaugues with English and Lithuanian subtitles. The discussion with the director is to take place in English. 

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Help Wanted at the Kaziukas Shtetl!

The Bagel Shop Café will participate at the annual Kaziukas Fair this year on all three days–Friday, Saturday and Sunday–at the Old Town Hall Square in Vilnius. All LJC staff, members and volunteers are invited to take part at the fair and help sell bagels. It should be a lot of fun, and don’t forget: there’s a Jewish shtetl at Kaziukas this year!

Please contact Indrė: irutkauskaite@gmail.com

International Studies Days

The exhibition International Studies Days will be held from 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. on March 3 in the conference center at the Radisson Blu Hotel located at Konstitucijos prospect no. 20 in Vilnius. This will be the first time the cultural center of the embassy of Israel participates. Anna Keinan, first secretary of the Israeli embassy in Vilnius, and Ray Keinan, director of the Israeli cultural center, will greet participants.

The exhibition will also be held on March 5 in Riga, Latvia, and on March 6 in Tallinn, Estonia.

For more information contact lietuva@balticcouncil.org or see www.balticcouncil.org

Jewish Mysticism

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Dear friends,

We invite you to attend the lecture “Mysticism in Judaism” this Sunday, February 28, at 6:00 P.M. at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius.

Shimson D. Izakson
Rabbi of Vilnius

Documentary Film about Osip Mandelshtam

The Vilnius Jewish Public Library is to host the premiere of a film about the life of the poet Osip Mandelshtam called Sokhani Moyu Rech Navsegda [Save My Speech Forever]. The film was completed in 2015 by director Roman Liberov of Moscow. Its running time is 84 minutes. It is in Russian but the premiere will make Lithuanian subtitles available. This year is the 125th anniversary of the birth famous poet and essayist who worked in the Russian language but who is often described as a Polish Jew. In fact his father, grandfather and great-grandfather allegedly all hailed from Žagarė, Lithuania. Director Liberov is to attend the premiere to be held at the Vilnius Jewish Public Library located at Gedimino prospect no. 24 in Vilnius at 5:30 P.M. on Monday, February 29.

Rabbinate Now Working in Lithuania

Dear Community member,

A rabbinate supported by the Conference of European Rabbis has begun work in Lithuania. It will provide solutions to urgent questions and problems ranging from birth to death:

-circumcision
-weddings (with the Ministry of Justice)
-certification of Jewish origins
-training for conversion
-registration of vital statistics and civil ceremonies (with the Ministry of Justice)
-others

Appointments and consultations will be conducted either at the LJC or the Choral Synagogue at a time agreed upon with Rabbis Kalev Krelin and Shimson Izakson. Telephone numbers, contacts and additional information will be provided at a later time.

Shuel (Simas) Levin, chairman
Vilnius Jewish Religious Community

Presentation of Book about the Maccabi Sports Club

You’re invited to attend a presentation of V. Žeimantas’s new book “Lietuvos sporto klubas Makabi 1916-2016” [Lithuanian Sports Club Maccabi 1916-2016] by Maccabi Sports Club president Semionas Finkelšteinas at 5:00 P.M. on Monday, February 29, at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius.

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Presentation of New Issue of Brasta, an Almanac of Jewish History and Culture

You’re invited to attend a presentation of issue number 4 of Brasta, an almanac of Jewish history and culture, at the Vilnius Jewish Library at Gedimino prospect no. 24, Vilnius, at 4:00 P.M. on Friday, February 19. This issue is in English and Lithuania and is arranged on the theme of the origins of Jewish humanitarian medicine and Vilnius doctors.

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“This issue of Brasta is not just about showcasing famous or not-so-famous names from the world of medicine, but to make explicit the foundational principles of Jewish medicine and the loyalty of doctors to a centuries-old tradition. The publication attempts to bring into focus the core of Jewish medicine and its foundations enriching the practice and science of healing world-wide, to publicize the traditions Lithuania’s doctors held dear and which are still alive today,” editor-in-chief Dalia Epšteinaitė said.

Attending the event: MEP Petras Auštrevičius; chemist, biotechnologist, businessman and scholar professor Vladas A. Bumelis; historian Arūnas Bubnys; editor-in-chief, author and translator Dalia Epšteinaitė; and project director and director of the Vilnius Jewish Library Žilvinas Beliauskas.

Brasta is a publication published by the Vilnius Jewish Library’s Charity and Welfare Foundation. It describes itself as an almanac of Jewish culture and history which publishes popular, literary and theoretical pieces. The annual publication presents readers interesting positions and insights by Lithuanian and foreign authors, studies and ongoing research on Jewish cultural phenomena and insight and analysis of same.

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Opening of Exhibit “YIVO in Vilnius: The Legend Begins”

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You are invited to the opening of the exhibit “YIVO in Vilnius: The Legend Begins” at the Lithuanian National Museum at Arsenalo street no. 1 in Vilnius at 4:00 P.M., February 18. Exhibit curators: Dr. Lara Lempertienė and Dr. Giedrė Jankevičiūtė.

The exhibit was created to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the creation of YIVO in Vilnius. It includes previously unseen material from Lithuanian state collections on the history and work of YIVO. It demonstrates how YIVO’s work gave stimulus to the intellectual life of the Jews of Vilnius and the wider Central and Eastern European arena. It also presents the city and urban community as a source of inspiration and as the historical and cultural hearth and sustenance for the institute’s work. The exhibit was first shown at the Galicia Jewish museum in Cracow from September 30 to November 8, 2015. The exhibit to open in Vilnius contains additional material.

Come Meet Author and Art Historian Kristina Sabaliauskaitė

The Destinies series invites you to come meet Dr. Kristina Sabaliauskaitė at a presentation/seminar called

Jewish Motifs in the Art of Kristina Sabaliauskaitė

This will be the 24th seminar in our series and will be moderated by teacher and essayist Vytautas Toleikis.

Time: 6:00 P.M. on Wednesday, February 17
Place: Jascha Heifetz Hall, third floor, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius

Series organizer and MC: Lithuanian Jewish Community deputy chairwoman Maša Grodnikienė

World Jewish Congress on Social Media

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Dear friends and colleagues,

The World Jewish Congress has made enormous leaps with its social media profiles since I joined the WJC three years ago, becoming an important and ever-present fixture on the digital platforms viewed and used by people of all ages, all over the world.

Thanks to our growing and expanding presence on widely used platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+, the WJC is maintaining its relevance in far reaches of the world for Jews and non-Jews alike: we are considered an important and well-respected source of news about Jewish communities and their activities everywhere; people turn to us for in-depth analyses and commentaries on a range of issues including anti-Semitism, Holocaust remembrance, Israel advocacy, Jewish traditions and Judaism in general.

The World Jewish Congress’ Facebook pages–available in four languages–are among the most popular of all Jewish organizations and have more posts and engagements with users than any other Jewish organization.

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LJC Seeks Partners for Integration Projects

LJC Seeks Partners for Integration Projects

Call for proposals:  Call for proposals on projects in the area of integration

Deadline for submission of applications: February 29, 2016 (12:00 noon CET)

>>More information on the call

The Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius, Lithuania is a non-profit organization expanding its activities and seeks partners under the call for proposals aimed at funding transnational projects to foster integration of third country nationals in the member-states of the European Union.

We would like to share our experience in the field of integration initiatives for female migrants and active cooperation with various actors on the national level.

Our best practices under this call meet the priority described below:

Priority 1: to foster the integration of migrant women.

Outcome 1.1: to share knowledge and experiences of actions to support migrant women, in particular beneficiaries of

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United with Israel Celebrates Tu B’Shvat by Promoting Tree Planting in Israel

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The New Year for Trees (Tu B’Shvat) has arrived. Now is the best time to plant fruit trees in Israel!

Join the First Massive Planting of Fruit Trees in 2 Years!

Since last year was Shmita, the Sabbatical Year, Israeli farmers did not plant, in fulfillment of the biblical command to allow the Land to rest in the seventh year.

STARTING RIGHT NOW, OVER 20 KINDS OF FRUIT TREES WILL BE PLANTED.

Apples, Apricots, Almonds, Dates, Figs, Pears, Plums, Pomegranates and so much more!

In the Bible, God promises to bless those who properly observe the laws of planting in Israel:
“I will ordain My blessing for you…” (Leviticus 25:21)

Full promotion here.

You’re Invited to a Chess Tournament

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The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the elite chess and checkers club Rositsan and Maccabi

invite you

to a chess tournament to celebrate

February 16,

Lithuanian Independence Day.

The tournament is to take place at 11:00 A.M. on February 14 at the Lithuanian Jewish Community at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius.

Tournament director: FIDE master Boris Rositsan

For more information and to register, contact: info@metbor.lt, telephone +3706 5543556

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The Smell of Fresh Jewish Bagels Returns to Vilnius

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The Bagel Shop, a new kosher food café, opens its doors February 4. The café will prepare kosher food and different traditional sweets according to the rules of Judaism. The Bagel Shop’s main draw will be freshly-baked bagels and bagel sandwiches. Adhering to the strictest rules, the bagels will be made under the supervision of a rabbi versed in kosher food rules.

Bagels are a traditional European Jewish food product often referred to as a “baronka” in Lithuania in the past, and when cooked may be cut in half and made into a sandwich. The book Joy of Yiddish furnishes one version of the origin of the bagel, according to which the recipe for bagels was created in Cracow at the beginning of the 17th century, and that bagels were given then as gifts to women giving birth. The bagel was supposed to symbolize the “wheel of life” because of its roundness. The bagel’s popularity quickly grew and spread to other countries where Jews speaking Yiddish lived, and was quickly adopted in America, where today about five million bagels are baked daily!

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