Yitzhak Segal passed away April 21 at the age of 84 following a long battle with chronic illness. He as an inmate of the Kaunas ghetto. We mourn the loss of our friend and a sincere, just and principled man. Our condolences to his wife Tereza and son Markas as well as all the other friends and family who have been left behind.
A Physicist of Whom Lithuania Can Be Proud
Original article: obzor.lt, 2022-03-22
Translated from Russian to Lithuanian by Irena Miškinienė, and from Lithuanian to English by Geoff Vasil
My Teacher Joshua Levinson Would Have Turned 90 Today
by professor Pinchos Fridberg,
Vilnius
Joshua Levinson
In the place of an introduction
When you have reached the 80-year mark and have become an old and tired horse who can barely lift his hooves, and they take you funem yarid (Yiddish, “from the fair,” a formulation by the Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem), the faces of your dearest and most beloved people appear before you ever more often, those who have left this world before you. My parents who gave me life. My Teachers who were sent by destiny.
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What Lithuanian Ethnic Communities Think about the Russian Invasion with Arkadijus Vinokuras
Arkadijus Vinokuras will lead a discussion on what Lithuania’s ethnic minority communities think about the Russian invasion of the Ukraine at 5:00 P.M. on Wednesday, April 13, at the Bagel Shop Café.
LJC Condemns Vandalism at Ponar, Demands Quick Response by Authorities
The Lithuanian Jewish Community condemns the recent cynical vandalism at the Ponar Memorial Complex mass murder site. Institutional and public apathy regarding such attacks is unacceptable.
We demand the responsible institutions this disgusting vandalism as quickly as possible. We are convinced that this practice of never finding anyone responsible for anti-Semitic crimes in Lithuania cannot go on. This is on the same scale as the recently reported bombing of the Babi Yar Holocaust memorial in the Ukraine.
Happy Birthday to Polina Zingerienė
Dearest Polina,
The Union of Former Ghetto and Concentration Camp Prisoners and the entire Lithuanian Jewish Community wish you a happy birthday this milestone year.
We don’t count the years in life, they fall to the ground like white petals. They fly on the wind and never stop. But sometimes we are allowed to look back. Forget the difficult days. Only remember the joyous ones and may this milestone birthday be woven of dreams.
We wish you happiness and good health. Many more, and may that refrain echo many more years. Mazl tov! Bis 120!
Grant Gochin Takes Case against Jonas Noreika to Parliament
Grant Gochin has taken his case against two findings of history concerning WWII-era Lithuanian Holocaust perpetrator Jonas Noreika to the Human Rights Committee of the Lithuanian parliament. The two findings of history released by the Center for the Study of the Genocide and Resistance of Residents of Lithuania in 2015 and 2019 claim among other things Noreika was in charge of a resistance movement which actually rescued rather than exterminated Lithuanian Jews in Šiauliai and Telšiai. Gochin has been disputing the two findings since they were published in the Lithuanian courts and elsewhere without result.
Letter to the parliament’s Human Rights Committee:
Some Snapshots from the Commemoration Marking 100 Years since Judith Kaplan’s First Bat Mitzvah
Rabbi Nathan Alfred from Israel led the shaharit prayer service at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius on Saturday, March 19. Female members of the congregation read passages from the Torah in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Judith Kaplan’s bat mitzvah.
LJC Holds Purim Celebration for Ukrainian Refugees
The Lithuanian Jewish Community held an event to introduce refugees from Ukraine about the Jewish holiday Purim.
Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky met with families who arrived a week ago from Ukraine and taught them the traditions of Purim, including Hamantashen, the pastry usually shared during this holiday.
“The story of Hamantashen pastry brings hope. And if you can kindle hope in people, you enrich yourself as well, and you can look at life in a different way. Jews know what it means to be a refugee. No one wanted to take us in, and we lived through horrific times. We cannot allow the children of today to have such sad eyes. We must extend a helping hand and inspire hope in them and their parents,” Faina Kukliansky said.
Sweet Purim Greetings from Lithuanian Jewish Community Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky
Happy Purim! Hag Purim sameakh!
Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community
Faina Kukliansky’s hamantashen recipe:
For the dough you’ll need:
125 ml milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
500 ml flour
100 g butter
1 egg yolk
On War, Women and Sunflowers
The Pakruojis synagogue will host this event at 3:00 P.M. on Friday, March 18. Neringa Latvytė will give a presentation called “We Were All Heroines: Experiences of Jewish Women in World War II.” An exhibit of photographs by Sošana Zaksaitė (1906-1959) featuring snapshots from the lost Jewish world will open at the synagogue and be presented by Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community chairman Sania Karbelis. Later in the afternoon Alina Shakhova from Kharkov in the Ukraine will perform a song. Everyone is invited to attend. The street address and telephone number for the Pakruojis synagogue is located to the right of this page.
Condolences
Long-time Lithuanian Jewish Community member, doctor, pediatrist and cardiologist Šulamis Borveinienė passed away March 1 at the age of 88. Our deepest condolences to her husband Gercas and her many family members and relatives.
Condolences
Lithuanian Jewish Community member Raja Kerbelienė, wife of Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community chairman Sania Kerbelis, has died. She was born in 1935. Our deepest condolences to her widowed husband, grandchildren Dovydas and Simonas and all her many relatives and friends.
Historical Prayer Service
Rabbi Nathan Alfred will deliver lectures via internet before an historic and historical Saturday prayer service and Torah reading at 10:00 A.M. on March 19 to mark the 100th anniversary of the bat mitzvah when Judith Kaplan read the Torah portion on March 18, 1922. To register contact Viljamas at viljamas@lzb.lt or call+37067250699.
Classes for Making Challa and Other Jewish Foods
The Lithuanian Jewish Community’s Bagel Shop Café is offering students and teachers the opportunity to learn Jewish cooking secrets in classes held every Thursday. The classes are intended for students in grades 5 to 10 and the cost is 12 euros per 60-minute class. For more information see the details in Lithuanian here.
Happy Birthday to Dita Zupavičiene-Šperlingienė
Kaunas ghetto survivor and Holocaust researcher Dita Zupavičiene-Šperlingienė celebrates her 100th birthday March 10. We all wish her a very happy birthday and many more. Mazl tov! Bis 220!
What Lithuanian Ethnic Minority Communities Think about the War in Ukraine: Our Position and Israel’s
Note: Postponed due to illness. A later date for the discussion will be announced.
With the majority of people in Lithuania appearing to support the Ukraine in the current conflict with Russia, Israel’s position doesn’t seem to make sense. At the same time, the majority population of Lithuania is questioning the Lithuania Jewish Community’s position regarding the war.
To address these questions and to discuss the atrocious current events coming out of the war, the #ŽydiškiPašnekesiai discussion club is holding its fifth round entitled “What do the Lithuanian ethnic minority communities think about Russia’s aggression against the Ukraine? The position of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and of Israel.”
The panel discussion will take place at the Bagel Shop Café located at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius on Wednesday, March 16. You are invited to attend in person or watch on facebook. Speakers will include conservative Lithuanian MP Emanuelis Zingeris, cultural historian Violeta Davoliūtė, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and a surprise guest. Arkadijus Vinokuras will serve as moderator on the panel. The discussion will take place in the Lithuanian language.
For more information and to view live, see the announcement on facebook here.
Note: Postponed due to illness. A later date for the discussion will be announced.
Grant Gochin Brings New Suit against Genocide Center
South African born Los Angeles-based Litvak Grant Gochin is bringing another lawsuit against Lithuania’s Center for the Study of the Genocide and Resistance of Residents of Lithuania, or Genocide Center, over the latter’s mendacious claims Lithuania Nazi collaborator Jonas Noreika actually let an underground anti-Nazi network to rescue Jews. Gochin says Noreika was directly responsible for the murder of his relatives in Šiauliai and calls Genocide Center apologies and equivocations Holocaust denial.
Snapshots of Last Friday’s Kabbalat Shabat
Progressive Rabbi Nathan Alfred from Israel led a Kabbalat Shabat ceremony with about 50 members of the Lithuanian Jewish Community including our seniors and families with children. In the afternoon prior he attended the LJC Seniors Club Abi Men Zet Zich and sang the hymns to usher in the Sabbath. One of our oldest members, Libė Britaniskina, lit the Sabbath candles and the meeting concluded with songs in Hebrew and Yiddish. He led the prayer service and delivered the weekly Torah portion.
February 16 Greetings
The Lithuanian Council signed a proclamation declaring the reconstitution of the Lithuanian state on February 16, 1918, and disavowing all former dependences on foreign states. To insure the future course and constitution of the state they called for the formation of the constituent Seimas, or parliament, which enshrined the principles of Western parliamentary democracy and freedom of belief, conscience and speech, ethnic equality under law and individual privacy and freedom from the wanton exercise of power. The Lithuanian State Council and the constituent Seimas ushered in the period of national rebirth. This Seimas adopted the national constitution and land reform legislation, and considered and adopted various laws regulating different areas of national life.
Let’s appreciate and take pride in our country.