Vilnius Jewish Religious Community Sends Hanukkah Greetings
Hanukkah Song “Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah!” by Theodore Bikel
Happy Birthday to Maša Grodnikienė
We wish Maša Grodnikienė a wonderful birthday, good health, love and affection, many happy moments, domestic joy and happiness.
Maša has served as deputy chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community for more than 20 years and has initiated and held many important cultural events. The first World Litvak Congress held in 2001 was her initiative and she authored and moderated her Fates cultural events for many years.
Dear Maša, what you have started is being continued. No one has forgotten and the work goes on.
Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Pumpkins and Bagels: Halloween at the Community
Fun is tricks, costumes, ghosts, pumpkins and screaming children.
Last Friday evening the third Kinder Tish event was held at the Bagel Shop Café. The children made bagels with maple syrup and pumpkin-seed toppings. Friends from the US embassy in Vilnius also attended. We learned all about Halloween, received many horrible gifts and had fun ushering in the Sabbath. Cultural attaché Caitlin Nettleton from the US embassy in Vilnius and colleagues explained Halloween traditions, costumes, tricks and jack-o’-lanterns.
Chaim Frenkl Memorial Soccer Tournament
A soccer tournament was held by the Šiauliai district soccer federation and the Šiauliai Jewish Community on September 23. Four teams competed in three matches each. The Šiauliai Soccer Chain team came in first, followed by the Šiauliai “Police” team, then Šiauliai Makabi, and in fourth the ShAFF team. Thanks to everyone for participating. We hope it becomes a regular thing.
Volunteer Clean-Up at Šiauliai Jewish Cemetery
The Šiauliai Jewish Community organized a volunteer clean-up at the Donelaitis cemetery in Šiauliai. Everyone did a great job and many graves were put in good order. Well done!
Bagel Shop Café Produces Seventy-Five Loaves of Challa Bread
The Bagel Shop Café baked 75 small and large loaves of challa bread Friday evening as part of the world Shabbos Project. The Sabbath on October 22 was special. The Lithuanian Jewish Community invited everyone young and old to bake challa together with the world Jewish community. Members, friends and a ton of children gathered at the Bagel Shop Café, had fun making and baking challa, and were treated to a performance by the Fayerlakh ensemble. We counted around 75 loaves. Snapshots below.
Chief Rabbi Goldstein from South Africa Greets Jews in Lithuania
Happy Birthday to Borisas Traubas
A very happy birthday to Borisas Traubas, the famous violinist born in Vilnius and the founder of the Jerusalem of Lithuania ensemble, among others. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Lithuanian Parliament Awards Prize to Daniel Šer, 12, Youngest Chess Champion Ever
The Lithuanian parliament holds an annual chess tournament in March before March 11, Lithuania’s Restoration of Independence Day, but the date was moved to the fall due to health fears for two years in a row now. The 27th annual Lithuanian Seimas Cup took place on October 8 this year and Daniel Šer, 12, a Makabi Athletics Club member from the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community, caused a sensation. He became youngest ever champion in the annual competition. His name will adorn a trophy which will be housed in the parliament’s museum. Well done, Daniel!
Markas Petuchauskas Is 90
by Ginas Dabašinskas, Vilnius Jerusalem of Lithuania Jewish Community
And over those nine decades I never happened to meet theater expert, art historian and professor Markas Petuchauskas, I’ll allow myself to say in a bit of fun.
But I always knew Markas Petuchauskas is, first of all, the constellation of the publication “Literatūra ir menas,” where my student contact with theater studies, more precisely theater criticism, began. He is among the ranks of the other great lights–Irena Veisaitė, Egmontas Jansonas, Irena Aleksaitė and Dovydas Judelevičius, all of whom, unfortunately, have passed on.
Eight months ago, or maybe nine, I received a passage from a book about to go to press from Markas Petuchauskas. The passage was called “Fiddler on the Roof of Vilnius” and was dedicated to the memory of Vilnius-born violinist Jascha Heifetz.
The author only had one condition: not to change anything.
Happy Birthday, Markas Petuchauskas
A very happy 90th birthday to theater critic, thinker and author Markas Petuchauskas from the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community and the entire LJC. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Happy Birthday to Ela Gurina
The entire Community wishes Ela Gurina a very happy birthday. May your life be filled with bright moments, happiness and meaning. We wish you much love. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Lithuania’s Department of Ethnic Minorities Presents Annual Award to LCJ Chairwoman
Congratulations to Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky on receiving a gold medal prize from Lithuania’s Department of Ethnic Minorities at a ceremony held at the Vilnius Old Town Hall on Monday, September 27. She received the prize in recognition of her work in the year 2020.
Many others received similar prizes, including the mayor of the regional administration of Jurbarkas and the Zundelovičius family for the memorial to the Synagogues’ Square in Jurbarkas erected in 2019. The regional administration of the Telšiai district and its mayor were also recognized for the conservation of the Telz yeshiva building and its adaptation for public use in 2020.
Happy Birthday to Faina Kukliansky
The Lithuanian Jewish Community and all of its member organizations sincerely wish LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky a very happy birthday. May you always enjoy the energy you’ve shown as chairwoman and may the light you spread to all of us shine back upon you. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Happy Birthday to Anita Fridberg
Long-time Community volunteer and former Kaunas ghetto inmate Anita Fridberg celebrated a milestone birthday September 10. We wish her a very happy birthday, health, success and endless happiness. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Rosh Hashanah Greetings
Lithuanian Makabi Competes at Makkabi Deutschland 2021
The German Makkabi Games 2021 took place in Dusseldorf from September 2 to 5 and athletes from the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club took part. Over 600 athletes were there to compete from Germany, Lithuania, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland and other countries.
All six of our Lithuanian makabites earned medals. Danielius Dubrovinas took first prize in rapid chess matches. Our youngest athlete, 12-year-old Danielius Šeras, took first place in matches in the under-14 category and came in at fifth place in the entire fast chess category. Danielius Šeras earned third place in the overall category in the “lightning round.”
Swimmer Virginija Valadkaitė takes home three gold medals in three distance competitions.