President of Israel Isaac Herzog made a video address appealing to Jewish communities around the world for support in Israel’s conflict with Hamas and touching on growing anti-Semitism worldwide.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 3:56 P.M. on Friday, November 17, and concludes at 5:13 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
DJ A at Darna Festival
DJ A, also known as Anuška, will display her skills at the Darna Festival to celebrate the International Day of Tolerance at the Lithuanian Jewish Community on Thursday, November 16. The festival is free and open to the public and begins at 6:30 P.M.
Algirdas Davidavičius to Speak at Darna Festival
Philosopher and ethics teacher Algirdas Davidavičius will share his ideas about harmony and tolerance at the Darna Festival to celebrate International Day of Tolerance at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius on Thursday, November 16.
“At the current time it isn’t sufficient for being a good person to speak abstractedly of good behavior, to criticize or comment on military actions from a safe distance. We are all moral if not actual soldiers for a better common culture. Each one of us must choose which values we defend, because if we don’t defend them we will become hostages and participants of regimes of superstitious fear and violence,” Davidavičius said.
The Darna Festival opens at 6:30 P.M. and is free and open to the public.
Duettissimo Concert at Darna Festival
One Dutch newspaper called them the Dream Duo. Violinist Dalia Dėdinskaitė and cellist Gleb Pyšniak’s Duettissimo have been performing since 2009 and have earned a name for themselves as one of the most remarkable groups of young people performing classical music in Lithuania.
They’re performing as part of the Darna Festival to celebrate the International Day of Tolerance at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius Thursday, November 16. The festival starts at 6:30 P.M. and is free and open to the general public.
Happy Birthday
We wish Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community member Ieva Rafael a very happy birthday. Since the Šiauliai Jewish Community was formed in Šiauliai in December of 1988, Ieva has been an active participant in community life and a member of the board of executives. Along with everything else she’s done for the Šiauliai Jewish Community, she’s also been responsible for the organization’s bookkeeping over its entire existence.
We wish Ieva endless health, happiness, joy, unceasing energy and that all her dreams come true. Mazl tov. Bis 120!
Condolences
We are sad to report the death of Boris Pojurovskis in September. He was born in 1936. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife, daughter Eleonora and grandson Artūras as well as to his many other relatives and friends.
Remembering Hamas Kidnap Victims in Šiauliai
The Šiauliai Jewish Community will exhibit photographs of more than 200 hostages taken and held by Hamas in southern Israel on the city streets in Šiauliai on Thursday.
The posters will go on display outside the building at Višinskio street no. 24, Šiauliai Jewish Community headquarters between 11:00 A.M. and 2:00 P.M. on November 16.
The Šiauliai Jewish Community asks you to express support for the families of the kidnapping victims and seeks to bring attention to the fate of these people who have been trapped in a living in hell for more than a month now.
Israel reports Hamas is currently imprisoning 239 people abducted from southern Israel.
Jewish and Other Composers Rarely Heard in Lithuania at This Year’s Darna Festival
The Lithuanian Jewish Community and Cvi Parkas are holding the third annual Darna Festival to celebrate the International Day of Tolerance tomorrow, November 16, with a series of readings and musical performances.
The classical music group Duo Andersson, Julija Andersson on violin and brother Paulius on piano, will present a series of rarely-heard classical and contemporary works by Lera Auerbach, Jewish Lithuanian composer Anatolijus Šenderovas and Philip Glass in the Jascha Heifetz Hall on the third floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. The Darna Festival is free and open to the public.
Australian Musician Skye Magnus to Perform at Darna Festival
Australian composer and musician Skye Magnus will perform her musical works at the Darna Festival on Thursday, November 16, at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. Her music touches on themes of love, misfortune, the spirit and God. The festival starts at 6:30 P.M.
Indrė Valantinaitė’s World of Poetry at Darna Festival
Lithuanian poetess Indrės Valantinaitė will read selections from her poetry at the Darna Festival to mark the International Day of Tolerance scheduled to start at 6:30 P.M. on Thursday, November 16, at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius.
Ukrainian Folklore Ensemble to Perform at Darna Festival to Mark International Day of Tolerance
The Ukrainian folklore ensemble Namysto will perform first in a series of concerts at the Lithuanian Jewish Community and Cvi Parkas’s third annual Darna Festival to celebrate the International Day of Tolerance.
Namysto was formed in Vilnius in 2019 by a group who performed Ukrainian folk songs in their free time. They’ve since expanded their repertoire with folk music expeditions to Polesia, the Steppe and the central Dnieper River region.
The festival starts at 6:30 P.M. on Thursday, November 16, at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius.
Pianist Darius Mažintas to Perform at Darna Festival
Musician and piano master Darius Mažintas will perform at the Darna Festival to celebrate the International Day of Tolerance on November 16. The program includes a musical composition by Ryuichi Sakamoto from his album BTTB and “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.”
The Darna Festival starts at 6:30 P.M. Thursday at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. For more information, click here.
#Atmintis #Memory #AEPJ
Darna Festival: Three Extraordinary Photography Exhibits
The Darna Festival happening this Thursday, November 16, to celebrate the International Day of Tolerance will feature three exceptional photography exhibits featuring work by Antanas Sutkus, Andrey Kezzyn and Bartosz Frątczak. All festival events and performances are free and open to the public.
Time: 6:30 P.M., Thursday, November 16
Place: Third floor, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius
Antanas Sutkus is considered one of the top Lithuanian photographers of the 20th century. Andrey Kezzyn over the past decade has been staging theatrical photographs with actors in costume, and is a stage director himself. Bartosz Frątczak lives in Vilnius and is a teacher, philosopher and journalist as well as photographer. From 2014 to 2018 Frątczak photographed Holocaust survivors and family members, and rescuers. From 2017 to 2019 he documented living Polish World War II veterans.
#Atmintis #Memory #AEPJ
Happy Birthday to Adomas and Adelina Kofman
On November 12 our tireless scout leader Adomas and his sister Adelina, also a scout, turned 20. Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and the entire Lithuanian Jewish Community wish them a wonderful birthday, that all their dreams would come true, endless new adventures and the love of all around them. Mazl tov!
Anti-Semitic Terrorism Continues in Montreal
Montreal Jewish school target of another shooting in city’s week-long string of hate crimes
by Alessia Simona Maratta, Global News, November 12, 2023
A Jewish school in Montreal was once again the target of gunfire early morning Sunday in what authorities say is the latest in a string of hateful acts targeting the community this week.
Police say 911 calls were made around 5 a.m. for gunshots heard near Yeshiva Gedola school in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood. Officers say they found bullet holes and casings at the building on Deacon Road near the Van Horne Avenue intersection.
Witnesses told officers a vehicle was seen leaving the scene after shots were heard.
Montreal police spokesperson Caroline Chèvrefils told Global News no one was inside the building at the time of the incident and no injuries were reported.
The investigation has been transferred to the SPVM’s hate crimes unit.
This is the second time Yeshiva Gedola has been the target of gunfire in just a few days. On Thursday police reported overnight gunshots fired at that same school and at United Talmud Torah school, also in the city’s Côte-des-Neiges area.
Full story here.
Netanyahu: We’ll Defy the World If Needed to Defeat Hamas, PA Can’t Run Gaza after War
Photo: Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks about the Israel-Hamas war during a press conference on November 11, 2023. (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL)
Defiant PM rejects international criticism, blasts Macron for accusing Jerusalem of bombing civilians; says PA can’t rule Gaza after war; Gallant rejects world’s “moral preaching”
The leaders in charge of directing Israel’s war in Gaza vowed Saturday to soldier on with the grinding military offensive aimed at vanquishing the Hamas terror group, pushing back at international pressure to slow down or halt it, and pledging to “stand firm against the world if necessary.”
In a joint press conference prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defense minister Yoav Gallant and minister Benny Gantz rejected mounting international criticism over the civilian costs of the war, urging Western leaders to throw their support behind the Jewish state since its victory would mean victory for the entire free world as well.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 4:08 P.M. on Friday, November 10, and concludes at 5:22 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Challa Workshop
You’re invited to come to another challa-making workshop. This time we’ll make buns in the form of the star of David, and the workshop is dedicated to paying honor to the courageous soldiers defending our historical homeland, Israel, and to all the people of Israel caught up in the storm of war.
Time: 6:30 P.M., Friday, November 17
Place: Bagel Shop Café, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius
Registration is required by writing zanas@sc.lzb.lt or calling +370 678 81514.
Am Yisrael khai.
Ilan Club for Children 7-12
They’re not yet teenagers but they have their own firm opinion on almost everything, and freely interject them when others speak, although they often go unheard, even by their older brothers and sisters. They tend to loose their heads for reasons wholly misunderstood by many. No less important than air and mobile telephones, they need to spend time with people their own age. So the Ilan Club is there for that, and offers young people from the age of 7 to 12 the opportunity to spend time together and do fun and meaningful activities. Ilan meets every Sunday at noon on the second floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius.