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Lithuanian Makabiada

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.

Makabi Sporting Extravaganza

Makabi Sporting Extravaganza

On September 29 the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club held their annual sports celebration for young and old alike to try their hand at a number of different kinds of sport, from chess and frisbee to volleyball and basketball. This year’s celebration included a workshop on krav maga, the Israeli martial art. The competition and workshop concluded with lunch and a discussion of the Makabi club’s future.

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Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club Annual Sporting Spectacular

Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club Annual Sporting Spectacular

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club is holding its annual sporting spectacular for athletes, family and friends. This year’s program includes a number of branches of sports and new challenges.

The event is free to all who register and to approved contestants. The program includes volleyball, 3-on-3 basketball, soccer, chess, orienteering and a krav maga class with a professional trainer. Snacks and drinks will be served as well.

The celebration begins at 12:00 noon and carries on till 5:00 P.M. on Sunday, September 29.

To register, click here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdlBOoVrQUbr4RtJF2g-dLs93YtS87uBREjgIYnDA6xyMYlyA/viewform.

Two Events Held in Honor of Chaim Frenkel

Two Events Held in Honor of Chaim Frenkel

Last Sunday two events were held in honor of Chaim Frenkel in Šiauliai: a stele marking the first soccer stadium in Šiauliai was unveiled in the central part of the city and the fourth Chaim Frenkel soccer tournament was attended by 10 soccer teams including Šiauliai Makabi. Frenkel helped build the soccer stadium in the period between the two world wars..

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European Day of Jewish Culture 2024

European Day of Jewish Culture 2024

This year’s topic is family.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community is celebrating the European Day of Jewish Culture this Sunday, September 1, with a full day’s program of events, lessons, workshops, discussions and exhibits. All events are free and open to the public, but registration is required for most of the events below.

Here’s the program:

11:00 A.M.-12:30 P.M. First Hebrew lesson for the whole family with Ruth Reches at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius. Ruth will soon be forming new classes for studying Hebrew. Register here: https://bit.ly/4g5jZbW

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Chaim Frenkel Soccer Cup Coming

Chaim Frenkel Soccer Cup Coming

The annual Chaim Frenkel Soccer Cup tournament is coming up at the city stadium in Šiauliai on September 8. As usual the cup is being held by the Šiauliai District Soccer Federation, the Šiauliai city municipality, the Šiauliai Football Academy and the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club. Stay tuned for more information.

European Day of Jewish Culture Coming September 1

European Day of Jewish Culture Coming September 1

The European Day of Jewish Culture celebrated on the first Sunday in September falls on September 1 this year. This year’s celebration will feature Yiddish and Hebrew lessons at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius and a walking tour of Jewish Vilna with guide Viljamas Žitkauskas. The students from Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium are planning performances and the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club is also sponsoring activities.

Jewish song and dance ensemble Fayerlakh will hold a concert and Raimondas Savickas is planning an open-air art workshop. Julija Patashnik will conduct an Israeli dance class, celebrated author and animator Ilja Bereznickas’s books and animated films will be featured and the Bagel Shop Café will provide the culinary education component.

An exhibit by Litvak artist Theo Tobiasse will open at the LJC in Vilnius, cantor Shmuel Yatom will perform a blessing of families and stand-up comedian Žilvinas Kerbelis is to perform. The Cvi Park Israeli street food kiosk space will host a concert including violinist Dalia Dėdinskaitė, Glebas Pyšniakas on cello, tenor Rafailas Karpis, Tadas Motiečius on accordion and others.

Stay tuned for more details and registration information.

Fun Run Again

Fun Run Again

Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club’s Fun Run is back, this year starting at 11:00 A.M. on September 15 from the stage at Vingis Park in Vilnius. Runners and joggers will have to choose between a 1.5 kilometer and 3 kilometer course.

Prior registration is required. Register here: https://forms.gle/nXE2KMDX9FR5d2k79

There is a fee for contestants, but every participant will receive a special Fun Run t-shirt.

For more information and payment schedules, contact coordinator Daniel Dubrovinas by telephone at +370 68783005 or by email at info.maccabilt@gmail.com. For additional information, you can also click here.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday

A very happy birthday to Semionas Filnkelšteinas, the soul, founder and former chairman of the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club as well as member of the executive board of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. We wish you excellent health, time for yourself, the love of those around you and many more years to come. Mazl tov. Bis 120!

Makabi Tennis Tourney

Makabi Tennis Tourney

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club invites you to our annual tennis tournament, to be held from 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. on Sunday, November 24, at the SEB Arena located at Ąžuolyno street no. 3 in Vilnius.

The format depends on the number and skill of those registered.

The tournament will be followed by prizes and a buffet where participants can share their impressions among friends.

Registration is required by November 10 by sending an email to manovilnius99@gmail.com or calling+370 612 81088.

See you there!

Call for World Maccabiah Athletes

Call for World Maccabiah Athletes

A year from now the World Maccabiah Games will be held again in Israel. Organizers have asked for lists of contestants, so the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club is asking potential athletes to make themselves known. If you think you might want to be a part of the Lithuanian delegation to the games, register here: https://maccabi.lt/naujienos/pirmieji-pasiruosimo-darbai-2025-makabiadai-izraelyje/

To contact Lithuanian Makabi, click here: www.maccabi.lt.

More information about the World Games is available here: www.maccabi.org.

Sports Encyclopaedia Presented in Šiauliai

Sports Encyclopaedia Presented in Šiauliai

The summer Olympic Games opened in Paris Friday, and the Šiauliai Photography Museum hosted a presentation of an illustrated sports encyclopaedia called “Sportas Šiauliuose ir Lietuvoje (iki XX a. vidurio)” [Sport in Šiauliai and Lithuania (until the mid-20th century)] last Wednesday.

Author Jonas Nekrašius told the large audience the story of the birth of the genesis of the publication and thanked the collectors, museum specialists and other people who helped make the launch a success, giving copies of his book to them.

There was keen interest in the section of the book the on the history of the Šiauliai section of the Makabi Lithuanian Jewish sports and gymnastics society which operated between 1921 and 1940. The late chairman of the Šiauliai District Jewish Community Sania Kerbelis contributed heavily to that chapter of the book.

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Congratulations to Our Young Chess Master Candidate

Congratulations to Our Young Chess Master Candidate

Heartfelt congratulations go to our young chess champion Daniel Ser from Šiauliai competing as part of the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club. He took silver in the European Union chess championship and met the rating requirements for FIDE to bestow the title of candidate chess master upon him and is now the youngest candidate for master in the three Baltic states. We are very proud of Daniel and his parents and wish him every continued success.

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Lithuanian Makabi Triumphs in Table Tennis Tournament

Lithuanian Makabi Triumphs in Table Tennis Tournament

Last weekend the 50th annual Lithuanian ping-pong championship was held in Kelmė. Congratulations to Rafaelis Gimelsteinas representing the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club who took away one gold and two bronze medals.

Playing singles and doubles in the 45-49 age group with partner Jurgita Grucytė from the Sostinė club, Rafaelis competed against the strong team of Aidas Čeponka and Anželika Petrauskienė who have won before. After pitched battle, in the fourth set Rafaelis and Jurgita only needed one more point to win, and concentrated sufficiently to get that point, winning 3:2 and taking gold.

“I dedicate this victory to the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club and trainer Alirgdas Majorovas,” Rafaelis Gimelsteinas said, adding there would be chess and table tennis tournaments next Sunday at the Cvi Park space in Vilnius where he will be taking on contenders.

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Lithuanian Makabi Sporting Extravaganza in June

Lithuanian Makabi Sporting Extravaganza in June

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club invites families with children to their summer sporting holiday at the Pailgio Perlas recreational site June 8 and 9. The two days of sport include the traditional competitions and fun, but this year there will also be a Makabi Challenge including orienteering, puzzles and tug-of-war.

Lithuania’s top players Ignas and Gerda Šišanovas and Rafaelis Gimelšteinas will be there to teach ping-pong. Registration is required before June 4 by sending an email to info.maccabilt@gmail.com.

Cost:

• Children under 7 free;
• aged 7-12 with overnight stay 25 euros;
• 13 and older with overnight accomodation 40 euros;
• 7-12 without overnight 15 euros;
• 13 and older without overnight stay 25 euros.

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Lithuanian Makabi Announcement

Lithuanian Makabi Announcement

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club reports on recent changes to its executive board. We welcome Olga Bliumenzion as the new president of Lithuanian Makabi. A long-time member of the club, she took over the post at the last general meeting at the end of February, when founder and long-time president Semionas Finkelsteinas announced his intention to vacate. The club’s executive board unanimously voted in favor of Bliumenzion’s presidency.

Makabi Shooting Comp

Makabi Shooting Comp

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club will hold a pistol shooting competition at the GSKA shooting range in Vilnius this Sunday.

Each competitor gets fifteen rounds with the first five shots as trial shots. The shooter’s score will consist of two scores: trial shots and those which are supposed to count. Although there isn’t any strict allotment of time for each participant, in order to use our time at the shooting range wisely we’ll ask each shooter to spend not more than 3 and a half minutes on the trial shoots and 10 minutes on official shots.

Registration is required by April 12 by sending an email to info.maccabilt@gmail.com. The cost per participant is 23 euros, of which the participant pays 11 euros with Makabi subsidizing the remaining 12 euros.

Time: 10:00 A.M. to 1:30 P.M., Sunday, April 14
Place: GSKA shooting range, Mindaugo street no. 43, Vilnius. Entrance from Punsko street.

Lithuanian Makabi Rep at Future Leaders Conference

Lithuanian Makabi Rep at Future Leaders Conference

Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club member Alanas Rynkevičius participated at the Future Leaders forum in Paris from March 28 to 31, a gathering of youth leaders from the various Maccabi organizations throughout Europe.

The forum addressed the topic of anti-Semitism. Other topics, strategies and projects were discussed including the upcoming European Maccabi youth games in London.