The Bagel Shop newsletter is now a magazine and is available on-line in three languages, Lithuanian, English and Russian.
In this issue we present an interview with Laurina Todesaitė about Jewish cuisine, an excursion through the world of Jewish botanists in the inter-war period, a tour of Jewish Vilna, a new questions section and a new Mystery Photograph contest as well as all the usual columns.
“The busier you are, the more you get done,” Vilnius University medical student Amit Belaitė says. The young woman studying social medicine has earned the tolerance award for her work with the Bagel Shop campaign and she is an active promoter of Jewish culture. Belaitė currently heads the Lithuanian Jewish Student Union and was elected vice-president and executive board member of the European Jewish Student Union last summer.
The organization Belaitė leads operates at the Lithuanian Jewish Community. She says the student union’s spectrum of activities is broad and shouldn’t be construed as an exclusively religious or exclusively cultural institution.
“We celebrate Jewish holidays, attend cultural events and attempt to learn more about our history. We organized a Purim holiday party, for example…”
Full article in Lithuanian at the Vilnius University website.
Lithuanian NGO Programme operator Human Rights Monitoring Institute is organizing a conference on Anti-Semitism, Radicalisation and Violent Extremism. The event will take place on 30 September, 2015 in Vilnius.
The Synagogue‘s Cantor Shmuel: What Jews Need in the Diaspora, Is Unity
Even though Shmuel Yatom, the cantor of the Vilnius Choral Synagogue and a Hebrew teacher, wasn‘t born in Vilnius, he has a special connection with this town. Shmuel says that he comes from a family with a long-lasting cantorial tradition, which was transferred from generation to generation.
Vilnius, June 5 BNS — On Friday the Government House in Vilnius hosted an awards ceremony by the Lithuanian Jewish Community for fostering tolerance in Lithuania. The awards are presented to six people or organizations.
Historian Lara Lempertienė was recognized for her work in passing on the Jewish cultural legacy to future generations and Žana Skudovičienė, long-time coordinator of LJC Social Center programs, received the award for her lifelong devotion to her work.
Museum specialist Monika Žąsytienė received the distinction for her work in preserving historical memory and the heritage of ethnic minorities, and the Jewish song-and-dance ensemble Fayerlakh were awarded for their enduring promotion of Yiddish culture in Lithuania and abroad.
The Jewish (Litvak) Community of Lithuania kindly invites
to the opening of the exhibition “The White Rose: Student Resistance against Hitler 1942/1943” and reception
to be held on April 28, 2015, 17:00
in the Jewish (Litvak) Community of Lithuania, Pylimo Street 4, Jascha Heifetz Hall (3rd floor).
Tolerance campaign “The Bagel Shop” is glad to announce that the photo contest “Signs of the Lithuanian Jewish Culture” is now open for submissions.
You are kindly invited to send us photos or their compositions, capturing traces of the Lithuanian Jewish cultural and historical heritage as well as signs of the Jewish Community’s presence in Lithuania nowadays.
The deadline for submissions is 30 April, 2015. The winners will be rewarded!
Please find more information in the Regulations listed below.
In the activities it carries out, the Lithuanian Jewish Community constantly emphasizes the importance of human respect. In its various programs, initiatives and projects the Lithuanian Jewish Community strives not only to preserve and pass on historical memory, but also to foster relationships based upon tolerance and mutual understanding between people of different cultures.
Are you an active personality looking for a new experience?
Do you want to eliminate at least one stereotype about ethnic minorities in Lithuania?
Do you believe that human equality and variety make life more beautiful?
“Bagel Shop” IS WAITING FOR YOU!
As an initiative of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, special “Bagel” nominations will be given for actions which promote tolerance in the society. The Authoritative Commission will decide who will be awarded and for what endeavours.