Greetings – Page 34 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Lithuanian Prime Minister Thanks Fayerlakh Ensemble

To the Vilnius Cultural Center Jewish song and dance ensemble

Fayerlakh

Dear guardians of ethnic tradition,

There is no doubt the identity of a people resides in the depths of their folklore where a unique world of music beckons to us and symbolic meanings cavort. For many a year now the Fayerlakh ensemble in their concerts have brought lovers of folklore together and have popularized Yiddish culture wonderfully.

Inventive musicians, great singers and expressive dancers have come together nicely under the Fayerlakh flag. And so your concerts are dominated by a sense of beauty and cohesion. Your playful appearances are eagerly awaited by many admirers around the world.

You are probably the only ensemble in Europe who so creatively, cleverly and tightly present your own musical sources and roots.

I sincerely congratulate the entire Fayerlakh collective on the beautiful 45th anniversary of your establishment.

Let your music ring out widely across the nations for many centuries. Celebrate and preserve your foundational values. I wish you great success, creative talent and many happy meetings with the real lovers of folklore on all continents.

Algirdas Butkevičius
March 22, 2016
Vilnius

2016-03-29

Purim at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius

There was a celebration of the Purim holiday at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius March 24, which was also proclaimed a day of mourning in Lithuania to pay honors to the dead in the bombings in Brussels. Everyone observed a moment of silence for the victims at the synagogue.

Lithuanian Jewish Religious Community chairman Simas Levinas presented holiday greetings to the assembled and spoke about the meaning of Purim: Haman’s attempt to kill all the Jews. “History has seen more than one Haman, who sought to destroy the Jewish people. Stalin, Hitler and now ISIS, but no one has succeeded,” Levinas said.

Rabbi Samson Daniel Isaacson also gave holiday greetings and said Purim is a unique holiday which is about getting drunk, which seems strange, since this is considered a bad thing among Jews. “Only during Purim is it remembered that salvation comes from affliction. After all, getting drunk was suggested so that no one would be able to tell the difference between Haman and Mordecai. And it so happens that way often in life, when you think one thing, but it happens another way. Purim sameach!”

Fayerlakh ensemble musicians Miša Filipov Jablonskis and Leonardas Zinkevič performed a rousing set of Purim songs for young and old.

LJC deputy chairwoman Maša Grodnik said she was glad that things were finally getting back to normal at the synagogue and that the holiday was being celebrated with a rabbi, which for a long time was missing from the community. “Today the tragic events in Brussels remind us that Israel is setting an example for Europe on how to protect society,” Grodnik commented.

Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon recalled how he looked forward to Purim as a child, and that it always began to rain when Purim came around. “Today in Vilnius on Purim the sun was shining, and we are celebrating the liberation of the Jews. The victory of the Jews of Lithuania that they can celebrate in their own synagogue,” the Israeli ambassador remarked.

More snapshots from the event here.

2016-03-24

Bagel Shop Café Purim Holiday Schedule

The kosher Bagel Shop Café of the Lithuanian Jewish Community is in full gear getting ready for the Purim holiday. There are several new pastry items the chefs there have cooked up, including the “red velvet” pastry taking the Jewish culinary internet by storm. Their special hamantashen recipe passed down through the generations uses yeast as well.

Senior chef Riva Portnaja says her family calls hamantashen “omentashen,” and that her mother always put yeast in the dough. According to her, Litvak hamantashen only contain poppy-seed fillings, and the triangular pastry is made so that is almost closed.

2016-03-23

Hag Purim Sameach!

Purim is a happy time when sorrow, worry and fear take a vacation as the holiday of delicious food and jokes arrives. Purim is one of the most-anticipated and interesting of holidays on the Jewish calendar. It’s a celebration harkening back to the time when the Jews living in Persia were saved from destruction.

Book of Esther

The Purim story is contained in the Book of Esther in the Old Testament of the Bible. The heroine of the story is Ester, a beautiful young woman who lived in Persia, and the hero is her brother Mordecai. Ester was taken into the harem of king Ahasuerus and became queen, but the king didn’t know Ester was a Jew because she hid this from him. The villain of the story is Haman, the arrogant, egotistical vizier to the king. Haman hated Mordecai because he wouldn’t bow down and serve him, so Haman decided to destroy the Jewish people. In his well-known speech to the king, Haman said:

2016-03-22

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!

2016-03-09

Congratulations to the Young Swimmers of the Vilnius Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium!

The boys’ swim team of the Vilnius Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium took first place in intermural competition in Vilnius. This is a first in the history of the school! Now we’ll go on to the Lithuanian intermural competitions in Kėdainiai.

Congratulations to the boys and to their trainer, Ela Pavinskienė!

2016-03-09

Happy February 16!

Dear community members,

Today we celebrate the 98th anniversary of the restoration of the Lithuanian state. Our greetings to you all on this, one of the most important dates in Lithuanian history, February 16. This holiday symbolizes the spiritual power of our country. Then as now, our highest hope is for our family, relatives, friends and countrymen to live in a free country. Freedom has become our everyday reality now and we often take it for granted without considering how much was sacrificed and how much freedom and democracy cost for us to live free and independently. A happy holiday!

2016-02-15

Valdas Balčiūnas Named Person of Tolerance of the Year for 2015

February 13, BNS–The Person of Tolerance of the Year for 2015 was named Saturday at a ceremony in Kaunas, the Sugihara Foundation informed BNS. Chiune Sugihara’s son Nobuki presented the award to the recipient. Recipients usually receive a commemorative medal designed by the sculptor Edmundas Frėjus and a certificate. The award is made annually to people who through their words and deeds stand against xenophobia and anti-Semitism and the persecution of members of minority ethnicities, religions and schools of thought, and who speak out against violence and radicalism in Lithuanian public life. This year the Sugihara Foundation had a field of five candidates to choose from, including businessman Valdas Balčiūnas, Lithuanian Lutheran bishop Mindaugas Sabutis, editor and journalist Rimvydas Valatka, psychologist Paulius Skruibis and author and activist Sergejus Kanovičius.

2016-02-15

Chief Rabbi of Israel Welcomes New Rabbi in Lithuania

Dear Rabbi K. Krenlin,

I send the lines of this letter in the desire to bless you upon your having begun work as rabbi in Lithuania.

Lithuania is a historic location famous for Torah studies and the influence of that activity is significant in the Jewish world even now.

The Holocaust destroyed the major portion of the community, but thanks to G_d the community exists, and so the story of the Jews in Lithuania has not ended.

I understand the challenges which await you. You must solve them honorably.

May G_d help you.

I would gladly, as much as I am able, help with spreading the Light of the Torah.

Sincerely,

Rabbi David Lau,
Chief Rabbi, Israel

2016-02-03

Panevėžys Jewish Community Member Oksana Navickienė Receives Yad Vashem Diploma

Oksana Navickienė, a member of the Panevėžys Jewish Community, has received a diploma from the Yad Vashem Memorial Authority and Museum in Jerusalem for completing a course at the International School for Holocaust Studies there. We hope she is able to apply her new knowledge to teaching the Holocaust to primary and secondary students throughout Aukštaitija. Congratulations, Oksana!

2016-02-02

Happy Holidays from the LJC!

The Lithuanian Jewish Community, which recently celebrated the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah,

symbolizing Victory and the Miracle of Light, wishes all the friends and partners of the Community

a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We wish you the best holiday experience ever!

Thank you for your friendship, help, ideas and for caring about the history and culture of the Jews of Lithuania.

We hope to share the next year, 2016, with you as well.

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky

2015-12-26

Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum greetings

Dear Friends and Partners of the Museum,

Wishing you a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year we’re taking this opportunity to thank you for your support, for following our news and for participating in our events during the whole year around!!

Sincerely,

Team of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum

2015-12-24

Ten Most Memorable Moments in Human Rights

A message from the Human Rights Monitoring Institute in Lithuania:

Dear readers,

Our warm holiday wishes to you for the upcoming holidays. We wish you deep relaxation, a rest from worry and work, good time spent with your family and time to reflect on the last year and thing about what you expect from the new year.

Thank you for being with us, for taking an interest in human rights, for supporting us and inspiring us to ever new work. We invite you to remember the most interesting moments in the field of human rights in Lithuania, Europe and the world in 2015. See here.

The eighth human rights review covering the year 2013-2014 has been published and presented to the President’s Office and Parliament. You may read it on our website in English:

http://pasidomek.lt./en/

2015-12-21

Hanukkah Greetings from Reuven Rivlin, President of Israel

My dear brothers and sisters, in Israel and around the world: at Hanukkah we stand around the lights, watch as they glow and sing together “Ma’oz Tzur Yeshu’ati,” a song that tells about the many challenges that have risen against the Jewish people in the past. We celebrate the survival of our people and our faith against all odds. We celebrate the freedom that was won in these days and that we enjoy today with Israel as national home for the Jewish people. It is no coincidence that the symbol of the government of Israel is the menorah, the symbol of Jewish independence that lights our path. In each generation we must find that path; to reinforce the bonds between Jews across the world; to share together, to hold high the torch of freedom; to bring lights where there is darkness, just as it was for the heroic Macabbee, the light of the menorah inspired us all.

Today, hatred, incitement and terrorism threaten the whole world. In the face of these threats, we need to be firm. We need to be firm and strong, like a rock, like ma’oz tzur [the rock of ages] in our beliefs in freedom, in justice, in the values of our tradition and of democracy. So this year, as we gather with our families and our communities and look at the wonderful lights, it is my prayer that we will be reminded of the bonds that we all share and the important role we have– we all have–of bringing a light unto the nations. Our thoughts at this time are of course with those who will be celebrating with heavy heart, those injured and the families who have lost loved ones in the wave of terror that has struck in Israel and around the world. To them especially and to all the Jewish people, I wish a very, very happy Hanukkah! Shalom from Jerusalem. God bless all of you. Happy, happy Hanukkah.

Watch the greeting here.

2015-12-07

Happy Hanukkah from Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum

2015-12-07

Lithuanian Jewish Community Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky Sends Hanukkah Greetings

I hope the miracle of Hanukkah will guide you and your loved ones always. On this Hanukkah I address the members of the community and invite all, old and young, to come together and for every member, health permitting, to participate in community activities, to make their positive contribution to the life of the community, for the Lithuanian Jewish Community to grow stronger, for the people to stand in solidarity, and for there to be less petty accusations and rumors.

Happy holiday of light, of the victory of the Maccabees! I wish you happiness, peace and good health!

2015-12-06

Congratulations!

Congratulations, Ilja Bereznickas, we’re proud of you!

The Lithuanian Jewish Community congratulates Ilja Bereznickas on receiving the important Golden Gunnar Award at the Fredrikstad Animation Festival 2015 in Norway. Ilja Bereznickas received the award for lifetime achievements and contributions to the Nordic and Baltic animation industry.

Ilja, we’re proud of you! We wish you much inspiration and success! Mazl tov!

2015-11-20

2 special congratulations to JCL

Lithuanian –Jewish Special Interest Group congradulates the Jewish Community of Lithuania on all of its activities and for continued cooperation.

Carol Hoffman

President

www.litvakSIG.com

The Association of Lithuanian Jews in Israel extends its best wishes to the Jewish Community of Lithuania

Arie Grodzensky

Chairman

2015-10-01