Nina Baitlerytė passed away December 10. She was born in 1937. She was a member of the Šiauliai Jewish Community for many years and was beloved by all. The entire Lithuanian Jewish Community mourns her loss and extends our deepest condolences to her sister Frida and her many loved ones.
Hanukkah Doughnut-Making Workshop for Children
The Lithuanian Jewish Community has a special Hanukkah events planned for the Dubi Club and Ilan Club. Dubi is for children aged 4 to 6 and Ilan for those 7 to 11.
At 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, December 14, we’ll make and eat delicious sufganiyot doughnuts.
Please note the clubs on these dates will not be meeting at the LJC but at the HEY HEY Kaip Skaniai space located at Odminių street no. 3 in Vilnius.
Space is limited, so make a reservation by sending an email to levickajasimona@gmail.com. Please call +370 678 81514 for more information.
The first evening of Hanukkah falls on December 25 this year.
IHRA Member-State Reps Meet in London
Delegations and representatives of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance met in congress in London from December 2 to 5 to discuss current events in Holocaust and Roma genocide commemoration, education and combating anti-Semitism. Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky was part of Lithuania’s legation.
The plenary session discussed rising anti-Semitism in Europe and conflicts in the Middle East.
Eric Pickles who serves as chairman of IHRA said Jews are more afraid now than ever before, making fighting hatred and preserving memory more important than ever as well.
Lithuanian ambassador for special assignments Arvydas Daunoravičius led the Lithuanian legation. Other members of Lithuania’s team were chosen by the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, Education Ministry, Ethnic Minorities Department, the International Commission for the Assessment of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupational Regimes in Lithuania and the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum. Kukliansky represented the Lithuanian Jewish Community among the Lithuanian delegates.
EJC and UNESCO Reps Meet in Paris to Discuss Combating Anti-Semitism
Representatives from the EJC and UNESCO have been meeting for several days in Paris to discuss better ways of fighting anti-Semitism through public education. Faina Kukliansky represented the Lithuanian Jewish Community at those talks.
Natalja Cheifec’s Discussion Club Continues
Natalja Cheifec’s #ŠALOM discussion club will meet via zoom at 5:30 P.M. on Thursday, December 12. Register here. Don’t forget to mention topics of interest to you on the registration form!
Ping-Pong at Sholem
The Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium and the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club invite everyone to take part in a table tennis tourney called Hanukkah Special with five separate groups competing.
To register, click here.
Time: 12:30 P.M., Wednesday, December 11
Place: Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium, Kraševskio street no. 5, Vilnius
Gita-Enta Broydy Performs Yiddish Song in Šiauliai
The Šiauliai Jewish Community invites you to a concert by internationally-acclaimed songstress Gita-Enta Broydy, former resident of Šiauliai, performing Yiddish favorites at the Šiauliai Jewish Community this Friday, December 13, starting at 5:30 P.M. Everyone is welcome.
Awaiting Hanukkah
In the run-up to Hanukkah, the Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to an evening of music called Awaiting Hanukkah with performances by the jazz group Stardust Trio and violin duo Double Cores with Boris Kirzner and Michail Bolshun.
The cost is 20 euros and prior registration is required via email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt, For more information call (+370) 678 81514.
Time: 7:00 P.M., Friday, December 20
Place: Bagel Shop Café, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius
News from Šiauliai
Ričardas Pikelis launched his first book “Čia mano žemė” [My Land Is Here] at the Šiauliai Jewish Community Friday. The publication of his book was the idea of the late Sania Kerbelis, the long-standing chairman of the Community who passed away this year.
It contains poetry and prose with an emphasis on the author’s appreciation of the beauty and pathos of the natural world. Monika Šaltytė and Vladas Baranauskas recited his poetry. Jūratė Adomavičiūtė played the kanklės, a Lithuanian folk instrument, and Morta Meiliulytė played violin. Albertas Martinaitis gave guests gifts hand-carved from stone.
Events for Children in Run-Up to Hanukkah
The Lithuanian Jewish Community has several special Hanukkah events planned for the Dubi Club and Ilan Club. Dubi is for children aged 4 to 6 and Ilan for those 7 to 11.
At 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, December 7, we’ll make menorahs together out of clay.
At 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, December 14, we’ll make and eat delicious sufganiyot doughnuts.
Please note the clubs on these dates will not be meeting at the LJC but at the HEY HEY Kaip Skaniai space located at Odminių street no. 3 in Vilnius.
Space is limited, so make a reservation by sending an email to levickajasimona@gmail.com. Please call +370 678 81514 for more information.
The first day of Hanukkah falls on December 25 this year.
Šakiai Commemorates Lost Jewish Community
The town of Šakiai in the Marijampolė district in extreme western Lithuania paid homage to its once vibrant Jewish community with a series of presentations followed by the unveiling of a metal sculpture of a boy on November 28.
The Zanavykai Museum began events with a series of lectures about Jews from Šakiai, the history of Jews in the town and their historical legacy. Lost Shtetl Museum senior academic correspondent Jolanta Mickutė and director of the Vincas Kudirka Museum at the Lithuanian National Museum Vida Palionienė spoke on the town’s former Jewish community and regional historian Gražina Žemaitienė spoke about Jewish life in nearby Kudirkos Naumiestis.
The speakers and audience moved to the town square following these presentations where a metal statue by Kęstutis Dovydaitis portraying a school boy was unveiled by Kęstutis Dovydaitis, MP Darius Jakavičius and mayor of the Šakiai regional administration Raimondas Januševičius. Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas, and other guests attended the events along with local residents and students.
Shalom Cheverim!
The Bnei Maskilim iProgressive Judaism community invites you to the Shaharit morning prayer with Rabbi Grisha Abromavich from Israel. Registration is required by sending an email to viljamas@lzb.lt.
Time: 11:00 A.M., Saturday, November 30
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
Israeli Dance Classes Changing Schedule
The Rikudei Am Israeli Dance Club offers lessons to beginners, advanced and highly advanced students. The schedule has changed. Every Sunday, the classes are now:
11:30 A.M. Beginners group
12:00 noon Advanced
12:30 P.M. Highly advanced group
Classes are held at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. The cost is 20 euros for 4 classes for the general public, and 10 euros for 4 classes for Community members. Registration is required. To register and find out how to pay, send an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt.
Chocolate Saturday at the Ilan Club
Do you know any young person who doesn’t like chocolate? If so, he’s the exception. Most young people gladly “destroy” anything made from chocolate. And if you can add the ingredients you like, then that’s a chocolate holiday. That’s what the Ilan Club will get up to this Saturday with a chocolate workshop and the story of Elit, the candy so popular in Israel which began here, along with other sweet stories.
Time: 1:00 P.M., Saturday, November 30
Place: Second floor, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
Tour of Herring Exhibit Followed by Tasting at Jonas Šliūpas Museum in Palanga
The Jonas Šliūpas Museum in Palanga invites the public to a second guided tour of the herring exhibit “From the North Sea to the Christmas Table” at 5:00 P.M. on November 29. This time co-creator of the exhibit Akvilė Poškienė of Klaipėda University will guide the tour. Afterwards the Palanga Jewish Community will host a presentation of Jewish culinary heritage accompanied by sampling of Jewish snacks with herring presented by Lithuanian Jewish Community educator Dovilė Rūkaitė.
The cost is 4 euros. Registration is required by sending an email to j.sliupo.muziejus@lnm.lt.
Time: 5:00 P.M., November 29
Place: Jonas Šliūpas Museum, Vytauto street no. 23A, Palanga
Recipe for Murder
by Liova Kaplanas
Many Jews visit Lithuania to tour the paths of the slaughter of our families, also known as death tourism. Lithuania has much to offer tourists: forests, lakes, an extraordinary number of death-pits containing our murdered Jewish families, cool summers, lovely open parks, destroyed Jewish heritage and foods we Jews remember from our childhood, including potato latkes with sour cream, smoked salmon, pickled herring, kishke, kugel and potato kneidels. These food recipes are originally Jewish recipes, appropriated by Lithuania, and now claimed as theirs. Visiting Lithuania is almost akin to taking a step back in time, just, without living Jews. The sights, smells, recipes and foods are reminiscent of our grandparents before they were slaughtered. Some Jewish heritage remains, and plenty of Lithuanian heritage is intact.
Those visiting Lithuania will be only slightly surprised to discover another unpleasant heritage recipe–a recipe for murder!. And not just a plain recipe, but a recipe officially, legally and governmentally registered in the official Lithuanian “Register of Folk Heritage!” It should be absurd and unbelievable, but, unfortunately, it’s true.
Lithuanian parliament member Remigijus Žemaitaitis re-popularized this Lithuanian National Folk Heritage “recipe” in his election campaign, exploiting it to win in excess of 15% of the national vote in Lithuania’s most recent election. The wording of this heritage “recipe” is:
Labyrinths of the Old Town: A Tour for Community Members
Lithuanian Jewish Community members are invited to a special tour next Saturday in Vilnius called Labyrinths of the Old Town led by accomplished guide Markas Psonikas. The tour will invoke the mediaeval aura of the courtyards of the Old Town and continue on to the secrets and discoveries of the present day.
The cost is 7 euros per person. Registration is required by sending an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt before 12:00 noon on November 28.
Time: 11:00 A.M., Saturday, November 30
Place: starting point to be announced following registration
Duration: ~2 hours
Kaunas Jewish Community Unveils Plaque to Righteous Gentile
The Kaunas Jewish Community invites you to a ceremony to unveil a plaque commemorating Righteous Gentile Ona Jablonskytė-Landsbergienė on the 130th anniversary of her birth. Yad Vashem recognized her as a Righteous Gentile in 1995.
The plaque was commissioned by the Kaunas Jewish Community and an association of Lithuanians deported by the Soviet Union to the Laptev Sea in the Arctic, and was made by sculptor Gediminas Pašvenskas. It is to be unveiled on the clinic at A. Mickevičiaus street no. 4 in Kaunas where Jablonskytė-Landsbergienė worked as an ophthalmologist. The ceremony will take place there at 3:00 P.M. on Friday, November 29.
For more information, click here: https://fb.me/e/9E4lBBdWK
ICC Issues Arrest Warrants for Israeli PM, Ex-Min and Dead Hamas Terrorist
The International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, issued arrest warrants Thursday afternoon for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defense minister Yoav Galant and an Hamas commander believed to be dead.
Republicans in the United States House of Representatives and Senate as well as members of the incoming Trump administration had promised in recent days to take swift action to sanction and isolate the ICC if they issued arrest warrants for Israeli officials. The United States does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.
Lithuanian Makabiada
The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club held their annual Makabiada November 10 where former president and current executive board member Semionas Finkelšteinas delivered a welcome speech and current president Olga Bliumenzon thanked all the athletes for their participation.
In 3-on-3 basketball the joint Vilnius-Kaunas team placed first. In volleyball the Makabi team also took first place. In the ping-pong youth group Naomi Tarakhovskaya won. In the adult ping-pong group Viktor Petrovsky came in first. In women’s badminton Marija Jurkevičiutė and in men’s Igor Movšovič triumphed.
This Makabiada included some new prize categories and Naomi Tarakhovskaya was recognized as the youngest athlete, Aleksandr Bliumenzon the eldest, best volleyball player was Danielius Racinas and best player in basketball was Elvinas Ušpicas. The Burštein family was recognized as the most athletic family with new athletes Aaron, Anelė and Ana. Everyone shared dinner together after the tournament.