There are many holidays throughout the year we celebrate at home with close family members, but Purim isn’t one of them. The point is to go out, celebrate, enjoy life and have fun. On Sunday the Lithuanian Jewish Community and Bnei Maskilim held a public Purim celebration in Vilnius with costume play, a reading from the Book of Esther, holiday treats and much sincere conversation.
An audience of more than 400 from the Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium celebrated Purim at the Legendos music club in Vilnius Friday. The selection of costumes was fantastic and there was a program entertaining to young and old alike with song and dance by the students, a drumming concert which involved all assembled, imaginative tricks by master-of-ceremonies Michailas Frišmanas and delicious food.
Thank you to the entire student body and staff of Sholem, LJC executive director Michailas Segalas and everyone who sang, danced, beat drums, laughed and took part in this unforgettable evening of celebration.
The entire Lithuanian Jewish Community congratulates Aleksandras Segalas on his successful defense of his dissertation “Emotions and Confirmation Bias in Simulated Child Sexual Abuse Investigative Interviews” last Friday at the Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius. We are all very proud of his achievements and wish him the greatest future success.
Faina Kukliansky and the entire Lithuanian Jewish Community wish Josif Burshtein a very happy birthday. Formerly chairman of the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community, Josif remains an extremely active and important member of the Community and a member of the LJC executive board. We wish you great health, strength, happiness and the joy of life. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to come and celebrate Purim this Sunday with event programs for young and old.
The Dubi Club for children aged 3 to 7 will stage a great program with skits, games, songs and other fun activities.
At the same time Bnei Maskilim invites you to a reading of the Book of Esther, tzedakah and mishloach manot, and the traditional potluck feast.
Everyone is welcome.
Time: 12:00 noon, Sunday, March 24
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
Don’t forget your masks and costumes!
Please note: registration is required for the Bnei Maskilim event. Please send an email to viljamas@lzb.lt.
March 13, 2024
As part of his visit to Paris Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda attended Tuesday in Boulogne-Billancourt the unveiling ceremony of the renewed plaque to Jacques Lipchitz, a Litvak and one of the most prominent cubist sculptors.
At the ceremony Nausėda said despite the fact he lived and worked in Paris, Lipchitz never forgot Vilnius, Lithuania or Lithuanian artists, to whom he referred to his letters as his “dear fellow countrymen,” and whom he mentored and supported when they fled to the West.
“Today we remember Lipchitz with gratitude as ‘the sculptor from Lithuania,’ a great artist who drew on his roots, his love for Lithuania and Lithuanian folk-art to create timeless masterpieces for the whole of humanity,” Nausėda said.
Full press release here.
The Kupiškis regional government staged an event to remember local Righteous Gentiles on March 14, the day before the official Lithuanian day of remembrance, called “Remembering the Rescuers of Jews from the Kupiškis Region.” Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman and Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein attended.
Also attending were Virginija Bunevičiūtė, assistant for cultural projects at the Israeli embassy, and the Lithuanian prime minister’s advisor on cultural affairs Gabrielė Žaidytė, grandson of Righteous Gentiles Vidmantas Markevičius and others.
Participants visited the graves of Markevičius’s grandparents Elena and Juozapas and he spoke about their lives there. On October 10, 1991, they met Sholom Sherenzon, whom they had rescued from the Holocaust, in Israel.
Lithuania marked the Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews on March 15, added to the list of Lithuanian commemorative dates in late 2022. The Nalšia Museum held an event to celebrate this day.
Museum director Nadežda Spiridonovienė led the event and in her opening speech spoke about the facts of the Holocaust in the Švenčionys region and the title of Righteous Gentile awarded by the Yad Vashem Institute to non-Israelis who rescued people from the Holocaust.
Lithuania’s parliament chose March 15 as the day of remembrance in honor of Ona Šimaitė, the first Lithuanian to be awarded the title of Righteous Gentile on March 15, 1966.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the #ŽydiškiPašnekesiai discussion club will hold a discussion on the unusual topic “Why are Lithuanians ashamed of their Righteous Gentiles?” at 5:00 P.M. on Thursday, March 21.
This is a question which Lithuanian politicians, public figures, media and the Church have been avoiding for 33 years now. While the LJC has been calling for years for monuments to commemorate rescuers of Jews at appropriate locations in Vilnius, there has been little or no support for this from outside the Community. Will this ever change?
The discussion will touch upon another topic as well: what went into forming the morality of those who chose to rescue Jews from the Holocaust? After all, most Lithuanians remained passive observers.
Participants include historian Egidijus Aleksandravičius, historian and former minister of culture Darius Kuolys and LJC chairwman Faina Kukliansky. Arkadijus Vinokuras will moderate.
Time: 5:00 P.M., Thursday, March 21
Place: Bagel Shop Café, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius
The discussion will be streamed live via facebook: https://shorturl.at/cnzS3
Dear members of the Panevėžys Jewish Community,
Greetings on the up-coming holiday of Purim. We kindly invite you to come celebrate it together with us at the Panevėžys Jewish Community starting at 2:00 P.M. on March 24. Please indicate your intention to attend (because we need to know how much of what kinds of food to purchase) by sending an email or by calling.
Chairman: +370 61120882, genakofman@yahoo.com
Administrator: +370 61017608
Dmitrijus Zaičikas passed away March 16. He was born in 1928. He was a member of the Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. We extend our deepest condolences to his widow and children.
The Šiauliai Jewish Community together with teachers and students from the Gegužių school in Šiauliai commemorated the Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews at Righteous Gentile Square in the northern Lithuanian city March 15.
Our announcements about Hebrew language lessons always attract a lot of attention. The study groups formed in early December have acquired basic knowledge and resulted in many friendships as well. There are those, however, who already have the basics of Hebrew and want to advance more quickly. With that in mind, we’re organizing a Hebrew discussion club which will allow more advanced students to learn much more and which should be a lot of fun as well.
Time: 8:45 A.M., Sundays
Place: Kraševskio street no. 5, Vilnius
Registration is required: ruthreches@gmail.com
P.S. Remember, language learning not only enriches and expands your horizons, it also prevents Alzheimer’s.
March 15 is the Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews, commemorating the historic deeds of noble Righteous Gentiles who saved a remnant of Lithuania’s Jewish population from the Holocaust. If not for them, there would be no Litvaks left in Lithuania.
“Time is ruthless. Every year there are fewer and fewer rescuers and Holocaust survivors left, but the memory of what they experienced and survived can never be forgotten. Let’s celebrate that our children, for now, are able to learn about history from the lips of eye-witnesses, and not just from textbooks. Let’s do everything we can to insure these stories are passed on to our children, grandchildren and the generations to come,” Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, whose family was also rescued by good people, said.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to come remember the rescuers and to thank them for their courage and humanity.
Time: 12:00 noon, Friday March 15
Place: Choral Synagogue, Pylimo street no. 39, Vilnius
Dear women of the Lithuanian Jewish Community,
We are meeting at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius this Friday. You can expect real Women’s Club fun, including interesting conversation, an introduction to Purim, making hamantashen pastries and more. If you’ve been to one of the meetings before, you know this will be an unforgettable evening. Those who haven’t should come and find out for themselves.
Time: 6:30 P.M., Friday, March
Place: Third floor, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius
Registration is required by writing zanas@sc.lzb.lt or calling (+370) 678 81514.
The Sabbath begins at 5:52 P.M. on Friday, March 8, and concludes at 7:05 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sunday the 11th of March is Restoration of Lithuanian Independence Day with government and municipal offices and many businesses closed as well. On March 11, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic voted to declare Lithuania independent of the Soviet Union, annulling Lithuania’s annexation by the USSR during World War II. March 8 is also International Women’s Day.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community, the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium and the Vilnius Religious Jewish Community invite you to a celebration of Purim, the happiest holiday on the Jewish calendar.
The program includes the traditional Purimshpil, an appearance by the Shmeikhl choir, the debut of a musical group made up of students, African drumming, a quiz, the costume carnival contest, DJs and other fun stuff, with the indefatigable Michaelas Frišmanas as master-of-ceremonies.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Friday, March 22
Place: Legendos Klubas, Kalvarijų street no. 85, Vilnius
The costume theme is legends of film. Cost for adults is 30 euros. Cost for children aged 7-18 is 20 euros.
Tickets available here: https://topticket.lt/lt/event/PURIM-2024
The Vilnius Jerusalem of Lithuania Jewish Community and the Vilnius Jewish Public Library will hold a discussion on those who rescued Jews from the Holocaust, and what would happen if the Holocaust were repeated. The discussion happens at 6:00 P.M. on Tuesday, March 19, at the Vilnius Jewish Public Library at Gedimino prospect no. 24 in Vilnius. The discussion is intended to mark March 15, the Day of Rescuers of Lithuanian Jews, included on the official state calendar of commemorative days in 2022.
The Knafaim Club meets Friday, March 8, at 6:00 P.M. On Sunday at 12 noon the Ilan Club for younger children meet for a special program of activities and loads of fun. On Thursday, March 14, another in the Women’s Club series of meetings will happen at 6:30 P.M. If you’ve been to one of these before, you know what a good time to expect, and if you haven’t, come and find out! It all happens at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. Stay tuned for more information.
We are deeply saddened to report the death of Rimas Timunas. He was born in 1952. A renowned theater director, he staged Grigoriy Kanovitch’s “Nusišypsok mums, Viešpatie” and popularized Litvak culture on the Lithuanian and world stage. He passed away in Italy from lung cancer.