Religion

Amehaye Winter Day Camps 2023

Amehaye Winter Day Camps 2023

The Lithuanian Jewish Community is pleased to announce Amehaye weekend day camps on December 8 through 10 and December 15 through 17 for children 17 and under. The camp is free for children of members.

Seven to 17-year olds will be provided day camps on December 8-10 and December 15-17, and should register with Viljamas Žitkauskas at viljamas@lzb.lt or by telephone at (+370) 67816741, and parents can contact him for more information.

Four to 6-year-olds will have weekend day camps on December 9-10 and December 16-17, and those interested should contact Margarita Koževatova at margarita.kozevatova@gmail.com or by telephone at (+370) 61800577. Registration closes at midnight December 6.

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Light the First Hanukkah Light with Us

Light the First Hanukkah Light with Us

Hanukkah begins this Thursday, an eight-day winter holiday symbolizing the victory of light over darkness. The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to attend the lighting of the first Hanukkah light with Rabbi Aharon Baskin at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius at 5:00 P.M. this Thursday, December 7. There will be wine, the traditional doughnuts and many new friends.

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 3:40 P.M. on Friday, December 1, and concludes at 5:00 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

Invitation

Invitation

Dear reader,

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky sends heartfelt greetings on the occasion of the upcoming Hanukkah holiday and wishes you light and strength in your heart during this complex time.

You are cordially invited to attend the lighting of the first Hanukkah light at 5:00 P.M. on December 7 at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius.

Chag Hanukkah sameach!

Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community

Outrage Sparks Riot in Dublin

Outrage Sparks Riot in Dublin

The capital of the Irish Republic saw on-going rioting overnight as public outrage over the stabbing of three kindergarten students and two adults grew into violence.

According to initial reports, a man began stabbing children outside their daycare facility early Thursday afternoon local time. Passers-by intervened, disarmed the man and held him for police. He had to be protected from an angry mob which formed at the scene. Sources close to the scene said the man was around 50 years old and was an Algerian immigrant. Police have refused to confirm that and Irish newspapers are now saying he is a naturalized Irish citizen who has lived in Dublin for 20 years, without reference to his country of origin. A male immigrant from Brazil working as a delivery person apprehended the attacker along with an Irish woman and both were wounded by the man wielding the knife. The children victims were two girls and a boy all under the age of six. One girl is in critical condition at hospital.

Rioters chanted slogans for the removal of all immigrants from Ireland and one held a sign reading “Irish Lives Matter.” The preschool the children attended is located next to a school where Gaelic is the language of instruction.

Kabalat Shabat

Kabalat Shabat

Maria Dubrovsky, founder of Moishe House WithOut Walls (MH-WOW) in Israel, invites you to a Kabalat Shabat celebration at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius this Friday.

“During these difficult times it is more important than ever to come together, to feel the sense of home, the warmth of tradition and our common history,” Maria said, inviting everyone to come light a candle, perform kaddish, sing the Sabbath hymns and share bread.

Registration is required due to increased security concerns. Please register at https://forms.gle/YyUyu3zSUNtG3A7S7.

Time: 4:30 P.M., Friday, November 24
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius

More information available via facebook here.

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: International Conference “Ideologies of Hate and Hope in Modern Jewish History”

Eightieth Anniversary of Liquidation and Uprising of Vilnius Ghetto: International Conference “Ideologies of Hate and Hope in Modern Jewish History”

You’re invited to the final event in our commemoration of the 80th anniversary of liquidation of the Vilnius ghetto this year, the international conference “Ideologies of Hate and Hope in Modern Jewish History” in Constitution Hall in Building 1 at the Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday, November 28, 2023.

Participants must register by internet before 3:00 P.M. on Monday, November 27, here: https://bit.ly/40NAUZ3

The conference will be conducted in Lithuanian and English with translations. It is being held through the efforts of the Polish Jewish History Institute, YIVO and the Lithuanian Jewish Community. It will be streamed on the LJC’s facebook page.

Program:

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Standing with Israel in Pakruojis

Standing with Israel in Pakruojis

The Pakruojis wooden synagogue hosted an event yesterday to support Israel, organized by the Šiauliai Jewish Religious Community.

Before the Holocaust the wooden synagogue–one of only a handful still standing in Europe–was the center of Jewish life and religion.

The one-day photography exhibit there was actually two related exhibits: 22 photographs out of the 724 victims to mark the 80th anniversary of the Kinder Aktion or children’s mass murder operation in the Šiauliai ghetto collected and arranged by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Authority in Israel and the Šiauliai Jewish Religious Community, and pictures of the 242 hostages taken by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, including babies, children, adolescents, adults and the elderly.

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Solidarity Bracelets

Solidarity Bracelets

The World Zionist Organization has embarked on a project to distribute commemorative prayer and spirit-strengthening bracelets, which combine the feelings of cohesion, unity, and victory.

The bracelets consist of three values:

In their memory – Dedicated to the memory of the civilians and martyrs who were murdered and fell since the beginning of the war. “And I have cleansed their blood I have not cleansed, and the Lord dwells in Zion” (Joel 4:21)

For their safe return – represents the hope and prayer for the return home of the abductees; those who were cruelly separated from their families, who are experiencing hell, and were taken captive by bloodthirsty enemies. “And I took you from the nations and gathered you from all the countries and brought you to your own land” (Ezekiel 36:24)

For victory – represents the aspiration and confidence in the eternity of the people of Israel, in the victory of its soldiers, in the victory of light over darkness and good over evil. “Blessed are you, Israel, who is like you, a people saved by God, He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword, your enemies will cower before you, and you will tread on their heights” (Deuteronomy, 33: 29)

We invite you to take part in the project, receive the bracelets free of charge, wear them, and spread this message widely, as an expression of support and partnership in the fate of the people of Israel.

To receive a bracelet, please click here: https://www.wzo.org.il/department/haravotbarzel/spirit-strengthening-bracelets/en

Sincerely,
Or Cohen

Hanukkah

Hanukkah

The first light of Hanukkah will be lit at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius with Rabbi Aharon Shmuel Baskin, singing, dancing, Hanukkah treats and smiles. Stay tuned for more details.

Everyone is invited. The event starts at 6:00 P.M. on December 7 at the Choral Synagogue, Pylimo street no. 39, Vilnius.

Pakruojis Wooden Synagogue Hosts Photo Exhibit on Kinder Aktion and Hamas Hostages

Pakruojis Wooden Synagogue Hosts Photo Exhibit on Kinder Aktion and Hamas Hostages

The Šiauliai Jewish Community is holding a half-day photography exhibit at the wooden synagogue in Pakruojis on November 20 detailing the painful past of the Jewish people and current events.

The first part of the exhibit is a joint project between the Šiauliai Religious Jewish Community and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem to mark the 80th anniversary of the Kinder Aktion or children’s mass murder operation at the Šiauliai ghetto. It only contains a small number of photographs of victims conserved by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.

The second section features the 240 people taken hostage by Hamas and held in the Gaza Strip, including fathers, mothers, children, teenagers, the elderly and the disabled.

Time: 11:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., Monday, November 20
Place: Pakruojis synagogue, Kranto street no. 8, Pakruojis, Lithuania

Algirdas Davidavičius to Speak at Darna Festival

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.

Anti-Semitic Terrorism Continues in Montreal

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.

Challa Workshop

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.

German Chancellor, President Mark Kristallnacht at Berlin Synagogue Firebombed Last Month

German Chancellor, President Mark Kristallnacht at Berlin Synagogue Firebombed Last Month

Photo: German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier and chancellor Olaf Sholz attended a ceremony to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogroms at the synagogue of the Kahal Adass Jisroel Jewish complex attacked by Molotov cocktails last month.

BERLIN (AP)–Across Germany, in schools, city halls, synagogues, churches and parliament, people came together Thursday to commemorate the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass in 1938 in which the Nazis terrorized Jews throughout Germany and Austria.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Germany’s main Jewish leader Josef Schuster spoke at an anniversary ceremony at a Berlin synagogue that was attacked with firebombs last month.

“Jews have been particularly affected by exclusion for centuries,” Scholz said in his speech.

“Still and again here in our democratic Germany, and that after the breach of civilization committed by Germans in the Shoah,” they are being discriminated against, the chancellor added.

“That is a disgrace. It outrages and shames me deeply,” Scholz said. “Any form of anti-Semitism poisons our society. We do not tolerate it.”

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Darna Festival to Celebrate International Day of Tolerance

Darna Festival to Celebrate International Day of Tolerance

The Lithuanian Jewish Community in concert with the Cvi Park enterprise again invite you to the Darna Festival of live music, poetry and photographic exhibits to celebrate UNESCO’s International Day of Tolerance.

The program includes an exhibit of photographs by Antanas Sutkus, Bartosz Frątczak and Andrey Kezzyn, snacks and drinks with live music at the Cvi Parkas kiosk in Petras Cvirka Square across the street from the LJC, a performance by students from the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium, a performance by Australian vocalist and musician Skye Magnus, Algis Davidavičius speaking on the topic of tolerance, poetry by Indrė Valantinaitė, piano music by Darius Mažintas and Duettissimo with Glebas Pyšniakas playing cello and Dalia Dedinskaitė on violin.

Cvi Parkas will serve vegetable dishes and desserts, natural wine and craft beer for customers. The event itself is free and open to the public. It starts around 6:00 P.M. on Thursday, November 16, on the third floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius.