The Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club president Semionas Finkelšteinas a very happy birthday. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Happy Birthday
A very happy 95th birthday to Samuilas Reckinas, a member of our Abi Men Zet Zich seniors’ club. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Happy Birthday to Samuel Bak
The Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes Samuel Bak a very happy milestone birthday. We think you are one of the most remarkable painters of the 20th century. You cut right to the heart of human nature in your work, infusing even the most tragic historical events with meaning and recalling for the world the lost world of Jewish Vilna. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Happy Birthday to Polina Sukolskaja
We wish a very happy milestone birthday to long-time member and Saul Kagan Social Center client Polina Sukolskaja. May you continue to enjoy good health and may many happy moments with loved ones fill your days. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Panevėžys Esperanto Club Celebrates 100 Years
Photo: Panevėžys Esperanto club members with their club flag in 1930.
The Revo Esperanto Club in Panevėžys recently celebrated its 100th birthday and Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman delivered a greeting there from Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, wishing members success in their meeting. Kofman also delivered an address, quoting from a book that the first Esperanto enthusiasts in Panevėžys were Jewish and talking about Jewish contributions to the Esperanto movement.
Revo Esperanto Club director Vida Kulikauskienė presented a short history of the club and said Esperanto might have begun there with Lithuanian Esperanto pioneer Aleksandras Dambrauskas, also known as Adomas Jakštas. Of course the artificial language was invented by Lazer Zamenhoff writing under the pseudonym Dr. Esperanto. Zamenhoff lived at various times in Lithuania and Poland but published the initial book in Poland. It quickly became popular in Lithuania and especially among Lithuanian Jews. At a certain point Soviet authorities banned the Esperanto clubs in the Soviet Union as possible avenues for foreign espionage, but eventually lifted the ban.
Happy Birthday
Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and the whole Lithuanian Jewish Community wish Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman a very happy 71st birthday. We wish you continued good health, happy moments, interesting people and many years to come. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Happy Birthday to Irina Bielienė
The Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes Irina Bielienė a very happy birthday. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Congratulations to Lara Lempertienė
Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda presented the Lithuanian medal “For Merit” to Lara Lempertienė, director of the Judaica Research Center of the Lithuanian National Library, on July 6, Lithuania’s State Day, Coronation of Mindaugas Day. She received the award in recognition of her work at the Center going beyond textual research and including exhibits, publications, presentations at international conferences and presenting the Litvak cultural legacy in Lithuania and abroad. The Lithuanian Jewish Community congratulates Lara on yet another Lithuanian state award and wish her continued success.
Happy Birthday
The Lithuanian Jewish Community and chairwoman Faina Kukliansky wish a very happy birthday to Algirdas Malcas, chairman of the Vilnius Jerusalem of Lithuania Jewish Community. May you always remain so energetic and full of ideas for fostering and commemorating our rich Jewish cultural legacy. May you remain in good health and be filled with the joy of life. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Greetings on Coronation of Mindaugas Day
Greetings on Lithuania’s Coronation of Mindaugas Day, or State Day, July 6.
For centuries Jews and Lithuanians with others have created and built Lithuania, and have worked hard for the country’s welfare and success.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community and chairwoman Faina Kukliansky send our greetings to everyone on this holiday and wish you peace, happiness and concord.
Congratulations to Joana Viga Čiplytė
Joana Viga Čiplytė, an historian who has written extensively about the history of the Panevėžys Jewish community, has been awarded the Gabrielė Petkevičaitės-Bitė medal “Tarnaukite Lietuvai” [To Serve Lithuania] in recognition of her work. Her first book was called “Mažosios Jeruzalės – Panevėžio žydų istorija. Holokaustas” [The History of Little Jerusalem, the Panevėžys Jewish Community: The Holocaust].
At the award ceremony Čiplytė said she was grateful to her family and to Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman for their support.
Happy Birthday to Fruma Kučinekienė
A very happy birthday to Fruma Kučinekienė in Kaunas, beloved by the entire Lithuanian Jewish Community. She lost her entire family to the Holocaust and yet has endured and lived a meaningful and even happy life. We wish you the very best health, many happy moments with friends and many more milestone birthdays to come. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
First Religious Ceremony at Žiežmariai Synagogue since World War II
For the first time since World War II the wooden synagogue in Žiežmariai has hosted a bat mitzvah ceremony. Aleksandra and Viljamas Žitkauskas’s daughter Ariana read from the Torah in the ceremony conducted by Rabbi Nathan Alfred and cantor Alan Brava accompanied by Brian Drutman.
The wooden synagogue fell into disuse after the Holocaust and was used as a warehouse. In 2016 the Lithuanian Jewish Community began renovation work there in cooperation with local municipalities and Lithuania’s Cultural Heritage Department. In September of 2021 it ceremoniously reopened for European Days of Jewish Culture events. The wooden synagogues in Žiežmariai and Pakruojis have been fully renovated and restored by the LJC, local governments and the Lithuanian government agencies and are scheduled for use as venues for cultural events and exhibitions by their respective local populations.
Seventh Graders Flood Community in Preparation for Bar and Bat Mitzvah Ceremonies
While the Lithuanian Jewish Community is never empty and devoid of activity, over the last few days the halls, corridors and every nook and corner have seen a flood of seventh graders from the Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium preparing for their bat mitzvah and bar mitzvah ceremonies. Besides reading portions from the Torah, their classmates have been planning a program of events for several months now, and are preparing for the ceremonies down to the last detail. Bar and bat mitzvahs are coming-of-age rituals ushering Jewish young people into adulthood. In this case Rabbi Nathan Alfred from the United States is presiding over the ceremony. The young people have to demonstrate in public their ability to read from the Torah in the original language to show they are ready to engage in religious and public life. The tradition has grown up of turning the ceremony into a kind of party with gifts, the utterance of good wishes and applause. The Lithuanian Jewish Community is proud to welcome the next generation into the community and adulthood.
Community Celebrates Shavuot
The Lithuanian Jewish Community held three different events to celebrate Shavuot or Shavuos, the Feast of Weeks, last Sunday. At the riverside north of Vilnius parents and children played games and the children learned how to barbecue and roast marshmallows, and sampled some more traditional dishes. At the same time Julija Potašnik taught Israeli dance at Cvirka Park across the street from the Community. Later more than a 100 people attended a concert performed by Jewish song and dance ensemble Fayerlakh featuring the Community’s younger singers and dances. The concert was followed by holiday food and drink.
Happy Birthday to Fania Brancovskaja
Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky visited Jewish partisan Fania Brancovskaja at home to personally give the Community’s greetings on two special occasions: Fania’s birthday on May 22 and Victory Day, marking the end of the Holocaust in Europe. Fania Brancovskaja was a Jewish partisan who fought the Nazis in Lithuania. Since the end of the Holocaust Fania has devoted her life to keeping the memory of the victims alive and teaching the new generations about what happened. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
LJC Chairwoman Greets Veterans
Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman made home visits to greet WWII veterans on the occasion of Victory Day this year. Usually the LJC holds an event on May 8 and/or May 9, VE Day and Victory Day, respectively, at the LJC in Vilnius under the aegis of the Seniors Club, but our aging soldiers are finding it more and more difficult to make that trip, so chairwoman Kukliansky went to them instead. She visited 99-year-old Community member Eliziejus Rimanas and Aleksandras Asovskis who will celebrate his 102nd birthday in the next few days.
Fayerlakh Celebrates Israel’s 75th
The Fayerlakh Jewish song and dance ensemble gave a special presentation dedicated to celebrating Israel’s 75th birthday called Promised Land. Friends from the Israeli embassy were there and took some nice photographs of the event.
Makabi Table Tennis Team Takes 2nd Place in Lithuanian Competition
The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club’s women’s table tennis team took second place in Lithuanian play-offs held last weekend in VIlnius, meaning they’re now in the upper league in Lithuania and will play next year against the top dozen teams. Neta Alon made a strong showing and won 3:0 against the favorite. Makabi team players won against the teams from Šiauliai and Utena and only lost to Jonava.
This is the first time Makabi ping-pong players have risen to the upper leagues in Lithuania.
Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium students Uosis Račinskas and Jokūbas Kačerginskis won in team-play championship in the under-12 category. They began playing two years ago under the tutelage of Neta Alon, and are now training under Khen Alon. In singles-play Uosis Račinskas placed 5th in Lithuania and Jokūbas Kačerginskis 6th.
Happy Birthday
We wish a very happy birthday to Sergejus Kanovičius. Mazl tov. Bis 120!