For those who haven’t seen the exhibition at the Lithuanian National Martynas Mažvydas Library, People and Books of the Strashun Library will close July 28. Judaica Center director Dr. Lara Lempertienė is planning to lead a tour July 28 for those interesting in learning why the Strashun Library looms so large on the Litvak cultural horizon, to be followed by a discussion. She is inviting interested parties to gather in the exhibition hall on the third floor at the library at 3:00 P.M., July 28.
This last week the Lithuanian Jewish Community’s Social Services Department asked our readers and Community members to help a family who needed a computer and a television set. Almost as soon as the post went up in Lithuanian, calls and emails began to come flooding in from people wanting to help. Within one day a flat-screen television had been donated by a staff member at the LJC, and now a Community member who wishes to remain anonymous has donated a 200-euro gift certificate for the family to acquire a computer, which the children need for school.
Our sincerest thanks to everyone who responded.
Sincerely yours,
LJC Social Programs Department
by Donatas Puslys
bernardinai.lt
A unique project should open its doors in 2019: the Lost Shtetl Šeduva Litvak history, culture and commemoration museum. We spoke with the project director and founder of the Šeduva Jewish Memorial Fund Sergejus Kanovičius about his work, commemorating the memory of Litvaks and the challenges he faces.
Let’s begin our conversation with the context surrounding the entire Šeduva project. How are doing here in Lithuania in integrating Lithuanian Jewish history into the general historical narrative? Is it an integral part of the story now, or still just an interesting footnote adding color to the main story?
It’s hard to assess this because you can never have all the information. You can only try to take it all in. What’s important is that all of these kinds of projects, including Šeduva, serve a very noble goal, to preserve or create cultural treasures. I think all the efforts connect up and achieve their goal sooner or later, each project is doing something worthwhile, contributing to educating the public. It might be somewhat boring to keep repeating it, but I will say it again, that everything will change, and I believe it will change for the better, when the educational system gets serious about these matters and the content of textbooks will be much different so that the story of the Jews–of Vilnius, Šeduva, Jonava and Lithuania–doesn’t begin and end in the Holocaust mass graves. There is a normal cycle to life. A person’s life begins with being born, and the history of the Jews of Lithuania begins here with the movement and settlement of people. The history of this settlement is extremely varied and rich and needs to be told. I think this is a question of educational reform.
Full interview in Lithuanian here.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu attending a closed-door meeting of the leaders of the Visegrad group was overheard by Israeli reporters telling the leaders the European Union would “shrivel and die” unless it changes its open-door immigration policies allowing in a flood of refugees from North Africa and the Middle East, and again called upon the EU to change its policies towards the state of Israel which he described as a European Western country.
“I think Europe has to decide if it wants to live and thrive or if it wants to shrivel and disappear,” he said. “I am not very politically correct. I know that’s a shock to some of you. It’s a joke. But the truth is the truth – both about Europe’s security and Europe’s economic future. Both of these concerns mandate a different policy toward Israel,” Netanyahu reportedly said in front of a microphone accidentally left on.
“The European Union is the only association of countries in the world that conditions the relations with Israel, which produces technology in every area, on political conditions. The only ones! Nobody does it,” Netanyahu said before the feed was cut by embarrassed hosts in Budapest.
Dear Gennady,
The Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes you a happy 65th birthday!
A person is only happy when he does his daily work well and solves problems to achieve the goals he sets for himself. In your case, Gennady, those goals involve the lives, needs and joys of the Panevėžys Jewish Community. May every day bring you joy and meaning in your work on behalf of the Community, researching Jewish history and caring for your family.
Our respect and good wishes to the chairman of the Panevėžys Jewish Community. May you remain always in good health. Mazl tov!
The summer program of the Vilnius Yiddish Institute at Vilnius University opened with the usual ceremony at a restaurant in Vilnius July 17. This year over 30 students from the USA, Israel, France, Sweden, Poland and Lithuania are attending the intensive language and literature course. The teachers this year include professor Anna Vershik, Abraham Lichtenbaum, Dov Ber Kehler and Vera Shabo.
Vilnius Yiddish Institute director professor Šarūnas Liekis said the summer program is unique for its professionalism, high academic level and because it offers its students the opportunity to communicate with fellow students in Yiddish. It also has an interesting cultural program for students, he noted.
The intensive course with four levels of proficiency will continue until August 11.
Vilnius Jewish Religious Community chairman Shmuel (Simas) Levinas visited the site of the Great Synagogue July 18 where an international team of archaeologists are now working for their second summer. Dr. Jon Seligman acquainted the chairman with current work, including the discovery of two well-preserved ritual baths with original tiles and a well-developed water system. The pieces discovered are washed by volunteers and excavated earth is sent through sieves to find smaller items. Some of the volunteers, mainly from the USA and Israel, and Dr. Seligman have Litvak roots.
On July 19 Dr. Seligman and fellow archaeological dig director professor Freund visited the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius and had a chance to see for themselves the revival of Jewish religious life taking place there.
The visitors saw the synagogue’s Torah scrolls and were especially interested in the scroll donated by Judah Passow which originates in the time of the Vilna Gaon. They were impressed by a matzo-making machine contrived after World War II at the synagogue and were most interested in fragments of the former Great Synagogue preserved at the Choral Synagogue, including plaques with prayers. The two visitors donated Vladimir Levin’s book History of the Synagogues of Vilnius to the library at the Choral Synagogue.
by Gintarė Kubiliūtė
bernardinai.lt
The existence of the Central European University in the Hungarian capital Budapest is now under threat after Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban’s government announced amendments to the education law.
The CEU was established by Hungarian Jewish businessman in 1991. It is accredited in the United States and Hungary, but only operates in Hungary. The right-wing government led by Orban wants the CEU to open a branch in New York state, and if they don’t, the university in Hungary will be shut down. Furthermore, under the new legislation the university would be forced to issue diplomas valid in the US and Hungary.
The possible new requirements by Orban’s government could be fatal to the Central European University because there is not enough funding to open a branch campus in New York state and coordination the issuing of diplomas between governments would be slow, complicated and, one can say, the university wouldn’t have very much influence on the process. Therefore the legislative amendments would make the CEU completely dependant on the Hungarian ruling party.
Full story in Lithuanian here.
Members of the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club delegation to the 20th Maccabiah Games in Israel returned home on the evening of July 18 and Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Amir Maimon met them at Vilnius International. The athletes come home with six medals, including two gold. Congratulations to the entire team!
The Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum screened the NOVA documentary about Jewish Vilna which aired earlier in the spring on the PBS network in the United States on July 18. The event space was filled with audience members and staff had to find additional chairs for the large crowd. Many sat in the upstairs balcony overlooking the space. Also in attendance were current and former staff from the Vilna Gaon museum and MP Emanuelis Zingeris. The audience was mainly interested members of the Lithuanian public including a large number of young Lithuanians.
Speaking before the film, museum director Markas Zingeris praised the documentary about archaeological digs at the site of the former Great Synagogue in Vilnius and at the Holocaust mass murder site Ponar just outside the Lithuanian capital.
Deputy chief of mission at the United States embassy to Lithuania Howard Solomon also called the film important and reiterated long-standing US support for the Lithuanian Jewish community.
Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Amir Maimon noted Israelis remember the heroes as well as the victims during Holocaust commemorations, and said his personal hero was Fania Brancovskaja, the FPO partisan present in the audience. He also expressed the hope the documentary would be shown throughout Lithuania.
A delegation of 28 athletes from the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club participated at the 20th quadrennial Maccabiah Games in Israel from July 4 to July 18. The Lithuanian team took part in 7 different sports and won six medals, two gold in the youth singles competitions and with Israeli table tennis athlete Janin Karmazin in doubles, won by Lithuanian table tennis player Neta Alon. She won another bronze medal in women’s doubles matches with teammate Vanesa Ražanskytė.
In badminton Mark Šames took silver in singles matches and Daniel Tarachovskij with Ukraine’s Natalija Ruzgaizer won bronze in mixed doubles matches.
Chess master Eduardas Rozentalis won another bronze for Lithuanian Makabi.
Our mini-soccer team (top rated among European teams) took a very respectable fifth place, defeating Mexico 6:6 due to a penalty on July 16. During matches the Lithuanian Makabi mini-soccer team beat Cuba, Gibraltar and Sweden, lost to Australia and tied with Brasil but failed to secure the right to compete for bronze because of an overall worse proportion of goals.
During the Maccabiah Games members of the delegation, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and leaders of Litvak organizations in Israel participated in a meeting with Lithuanian embassy consular officer Aleksandras Kubada.
The official closing ceremony for the 20th Maccabiah Games takes place July 17.
Semionas Finkelšteinas, president
Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club
It seems the French social welfare system has no equal. We visited one of the oldest Jewish social support organizations, the OSE (Œuvre de Secours aux Enfants), whose origins extend back to St. Petersburg, Russia in 1912, when the Interior Ministry of the Russian Empire granted permission for the establishment of the OZE (Obshchestvo Zdravookhraneniya Evreev), the Jewish health-protection association. Russia was enveloped in heavy anti-Semitism at the time and pogroms were frequent. The granting of permission for the organization coincided in time with the beginning of the movement for Jewish cultural autonomy. The main goal of OZE was to establish a modern social welfare and health-care system for Jews for whom medical care was inaccessible in the Russian Empire. The organization established a branch in France in 1933.
During the Nazi occupation Jewish children were ruthlessly murdered. Various ways to save them were found, either sending them out of the country, or hiding them. One of the more active players in rescuing Jewish children was the Œuvre de Secours aux Enfants organization, or OSE, who saved hundreds of children.
The Lietuvos Rytas television program Travel with a Reporter features Ukmergė (Vilkomir) Jewish Community chairman Artūras Taicas and discusses the former Jewish community in the Lithuanian town.
Watch the program in Lithuanian here.
Dear Community member,
One family with children who are clients of the LJC Social Department need your help.
Recently the family lost their computer and television. Thanks to members who have already responded, the family now has a television, but the children still need a computer for school and are unable to afford one.
If you can help or know someone who can, please contact the LJC Social Programs Department Family Program coordinator by telephone at 865213146 or by email at rasheles@sc.lzb.lt
Thank you for caring!
In the battle for fifth place, the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club mini-soccer team won against Mexico in penalty kicks July 16, repeating their achievement back in 1989. Falling behind 1:4, the boys rallied and Mexico was tied with Lithuania 6:6. Markas Plineris made the winning goal in penalty kicks.
Dear Community member,
If you have a yearning to paint, like art, enjoy nature and good company, you won’t want to miss this year’s educational plein air outdoor painting workshop, our third in as many years.
The plein air painting workshop will last 5 days and 4 nights at an inspiring rural location under the direction of the famous painters Raimondas Savickas from Lithuania and Alexander Ganelin and Anna Khodorkovski, both from Israel.
The workshop will be held at the Įlanka farm on Bebrusas Lake in the Molėtai region where participants will spend four nights. Three meals per day will be provided (with vegetarian options). Daily work includes practical activities and one-on-one consultation with teachers, painting and other media, and an education/free-time program including a ride on the Švyturys recreational ferry across the lake, a sauna, cultural events and a Sabbath ceremony.
The cost for Community members is 150 euros. Please register by noon, July 18, because space is limited.
After sending the sum by bank transfer please send a copy of the payment form to zanas@sc.lzb.l
For more information and registration, contact:
Žana Skudovičienė by email at zanas@sc.lzb.lt or by telephone at + 370 67881514.
Details for payment:
to: Lietuvos žydų (litvakų) bendruomenė [Lithuanian Jewish Community]
company code 190722117
tax code: LT100010504214
bank account number: LT09 7044 0600 0090 7953
bank: AB SEB bankas
Please indicate the payment is for “Edukacinis pleneras 2017” [Educational Plein Air 2017] (and indicate the name of the person for whom payment is made).
The Educational Plein Air Outdoor Painting Worskhop 2017 is made possible by the Lithuanian Jewish Community, the Goodwill Foundation and the Joint Distribution Committee
from Jewish Heritage Europe
The second season of archaeological excavations is under way at the site of the destroyed Great Synagogue in Vilnius and the surrounding Shulhoyf complex of Jewish buildings. A team of Israeli, Lithuanian and American volunteers began work on July 10 and will continue until July 21.
The objective is to continue last year’s work researching the water system of the complex developed in the 18th century and two mikvaot, ritual baths. Plans are to open “an area … probably near the entrance staircase descending into the synagogue and around the area of the bimah.”
Dear all,
The Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum and the embassy of the United States of America in Vilnius kindly invite you to a screening of the documentary film “Holocaust Escape Tunnel” at the museum’s Tolerance Center (Naugarduko St. 10/2, Vilnius) on Tuesday, July 18, at 5:30 P.M. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the archaeologists featured in the film.
The Lithuanian Makabi mini-soccer team’s match with Brasil at the “Jewish Olympics,” ended in a tie, 3:3.
Neta Alon won a gold medal in singles youth table tennis competition and another gold medal in mixed doubles youth play with Israeli Janin Karmazin. Congratulations!
