Religion

Tisha B’Av

Tisha B’Av

Thursday, July 27 is the ninth day of the month of Av, Tisha b’Av, on the Jewish calendar.

Tisha b’Av commemorates the destruction of the First Temple of Solomon ca. 587 BCE and the Second Temple in 70 CE in Jerusalem and is traditionally a day of fasting and mourning. Observance includes five prohibitions, the main one being a 25-hour fast. The Book of Lamentations is read in the synagogue followed by the recitation of kinos, liturgical dirges for the Temple and Jerusalem. Since the day has become associated with other major Jewish tragedies, some kinos recall other events, including the murder of the Ten Martyrs in ancient Rome, pogroms against medieval Jewish communities and the Holocaust.

According to tradition, the sin of the Ten Spies is the real origin of Tisha b’Av. In the Book of Numbers, 13:1-33 when the Israelites accepted their false report of the Promised Land, they wept, thinking God could not help them. The night the people wept and wailed was the ninth day of Av, which then became a day of weeping and misfortune for all time, according to tradition, following which the Jews were made to wander the desert for 40 years.

New Installations in Anykščiai Mark Jewish Heritage Sites

New Installations in Anykščiai Mark Jewish Heritage Sites

BNS, July 23, 2023

Two new artistic installations now grace the Old Town in Anykščiai, Lithuania, north of Vilnius intended to commemorate the former Jewish population.

The Anykščiai municipality reports a sculptural relief by professor Romualdas Inčirauskas and Zita Inčirauskienė called “Memorial Marker for the Former Synagogues” was installed at the site of the former synagogue at Šaltupio street. It reportedly includes portion of a map of the town from 1925 with the sites of six former synagogues marked.

The same artists installed a bench in front of the building located at Baranauskas Square no. 7. There are seven human figure sculptures on top of the bench back to symbolize the days of the week with the Sabbath represented as a rabbi.

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:21 P.M. on Friday, July 21, and concludes at 10:54 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

Jewish Dance Quiz

Jewish Dance Quiz

You’ve watched the discussion, perhaps even attended the live dance lesson component, so now it’s time to test your knowledge of Jewish dance with a quiz.

Participants are to meet at 5:00 P.M. on Friday, July 21, at the Israeli street food kiosk in Petras Cvirka Square across the street from the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius.

Julija Patašnik will lead an Israeli dance presentation after the quiz with quiz participants invited to join.

Sweden Allows Public Torah Burning

Sweden Allows Public Torah Burning

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman and attorney Faina Kukliansky highly condemns a decision by the Swedish courts to allow the burning of the Torah in front of the Israeli embassy in Stockholm. Police stood by earlier as the Bible was burned publicly, and before that the Koran wrapped in pork in front of a mosque.

“The burning of any book, but especially sacred texts, is an act of barbarity which cannot be excused as freedom of speech. Democracy also has certain red lines and in this case they were transgressed. History shows book-burning result in pogroms and mass murder. Unfortunately not everyone remembers these painful lessons, so it is our duty to remind them,” chairwoman Kukliansky said.

The European Jewish Congress also condemned the Swedish legal system’s decision to allow extremists to burn holy books. EJC president Ariel Muzicant said in an official statement: “These kinds of provocative, racist, anti-Semitic and sick actions have no placed in civilized society. Insulting people’s deep religious and cultural feelings is the clearest indicator which could be sent that minorities are not wanted and not respected. These actions are Sweden’s shame and any democratic country should put a stop to this.”

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:30 P.M. on Friday, July 14, and concludes at 11:09 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:37 P.M. on Friday, July 7, and concludes at 11:21 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

Israeli Ambassador to Lithuania Commemorates Holocaust Victims in Jurbarkas

Israeli Ambassador to Lithuania Commemorates Holocaust Victims in Jurbarkas

Israel’s ambassador to Lithuania Hadas Wittenberg-Silverstein visited the western Lithuanian town of Jurbarkas, or Yurburg in Yiddish, on July 3, according to the Jurbarkas Regional Administration webpage jurbarkas.lt.

The ambassador began her visit at the V. Grybas Museum where Jurbarkas regional mayor Skirmantas Mockevičius and museum director Rasa Grybaitė received her.

At the Jurbarkas Regional Library the ambassador met with regional administration director Rūta Vančienė, culture and sports department director Aušra Baliukynaitė, senior department specialist Akvilė Sadauskienė and library director Rasida Kalinauskienė. They discussed opportunities for cooperative work.

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Russia Declares Former Chief Rabbi of Moscow Foreign Agent

Russia Declares Former Chief Rabbi of Moscow Foreign Agent

Photo: Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt (photo credit: Eli Itkin/CER)

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt left Russia at the beginning of the Ukraine war and called for Jews to leave Russia.

Former chief rabbi of Moscow Pinchas Goldschmidt is a “foreign agent,” Russia’s Justice Ministry said, according to a report Friday from Interfax.

“Goldschmidt disseminated false information about the decisions made by public authorities of the Russian Federation and their policies,” the report from the official Russian news outlet said, quoting the Justice Ministry. “He opposed the special military operation in the Ukraine.”

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Holocaust Victims Commemorated in Palanga

Holocaust Victims Commemorated in Palanga

A ceremony to commemorate the Jews murdered in the Holocaust was held in Palanga on June 27 at the monument in Birutė Park. Jews settled in Palanga in the latter half of the 15th century. A Hebra Kadish or Jewish funeral society was established there in 1487. In the 17th century Jews comprised a significant section of society there and contributed heavily to the development of the city. In 1540 King Sigismund I the Elder granted a charter to the Jews to build the first synagogue and other religious structures there. The Jewish cemetery appeared that same year. In 1662 around 40 Jews called Palanga home. In 1693 Palanga’s Jews received the right to purchase and own land, build houses and engage in trade. Jews pioneered the tourist industry there with property and room rentals, hospitals and boarding houses. These economic activities led to the city becoming a summer resort destination. Palanga had a Jewish Bank, Hebrew language schools or heder and the synagogue. When Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, Jews were rounded up and killed en masse in Palanga. Hundreds were murdered with more than 300 individuals murdered on June 27 and around that number again on October 12.

Lithuanian Archivist Seeks Lost Documents among Cape Town Litvaks

Lithuanian Archivist Seeks Lost Documents among Cape Town Litvaks

Lithuanian state radio and television reports on efforts by Juozapas Blažiūnas, the director of the Lithuanian Literature and Art Archive, for making a working trip to South Africa following expeditions to Australia and New Zealand as well as Argentina and Uruguay to seek a legacy of lost documents, netting the archive over 800 kilograms of paper.

In an article entitled “Kraštas, kuriame ‘pinigai semiami saujomis,’ arba, ką PAR [sic] veikė 2015 žemaičių” [The Country Where ‘Money Is Taken by the Fist-Fulls,’ or, What Were 2,015 Žemaitijans Doing in the Republic [sic] of South Africa?], chief archivist Juozapas Blažiūnas writes:

“Why did we travel there? About 90% of the 80,000 Jews living in South Africa are of Lithuanian origin (the so-called Litvaks), and this is the largest Litvak community in the world. And it wasn’t just Jews, Lithuanians also travelled to the distant country seeking success, for example, according to the newspaper Lietuva, from 1892 to 1895 some 2,015 Žemaitijans [an ethnic subgroup in Lithuania] travelled to South Africa just through the port of Bremen [Germany] alone.”

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:42 P.M. on Friday, June 23, and concludes at 11:32 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. The summer solstice, the longest day of the year, is on Thursday, June 22. Saturday, June 24, is an official state holiday, St. John’s Day or Midsummer’s Day.

Renovated Wooden Synagogue in Kurkliai Opens Doors

Renovated Wooden Synagogue in Kurkliai Opens Doors

Last weekend one of the few extant wooden synagogues in Europe opened its doors to visitors following renovation work. Last December Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky signed an agreement with the Anykščiai Cultural Center: in exchange for renovation, the center will enjoy the use of the building for its activities.

Chairwoman Kukliansky commented: “There was a significant Jewish community in Kurkliai before World War II which was lost following the tragic events of the Holocaust. The reconstructed building will soon fall into ruin again if it isn’t used. We are therefore very glad the Anykščiai Cultural Center and the whole regional community stood shoulder to shoulder to outfit the building for a new life. This is yet another wonderful example of cooperation between the Lithuanian Jewish Community and municipal and regional governments as well as cultural centers.”

The synagogue building will include an exhibit about the Kurkliai Jewish community and Jewish life in the village located about midway between Anykščiai and Ukmergė just north of Vilnius.

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New Commemorative Plaque Marks Old Synagogue in Panevėžys

New Commemorative Plaque Marks Old Synagogue in Panevėžys

Following vandalism in January of 2022 to the commemorative plaque marking a former synagogue in Panevėžys, a new plaque has been placed on the building located at Valančiaus street no. 4.

That certainly wasn’t the only recent act of vandalism against Jewish sites in the area, including at Jewish cemeteries, at Memory Square and the “Sad Jewish Mother” monument to Holocaust victims where vandals poured paint. That’s been cleaned up as well and there are now video cameras monitoring the square.

The stone stele commemorating 100 years of activity by the Joint or Jewish Distribution Committee in Panevėžys and Lithuania was also vandalized.

Over the last decade anti-Semitic vandalism also occurred at the mass murder site in the Žalioji Forest and at the monument in the Kurganava Forest. Around 5500 Jews were murdered at the former and around 8000 Jews at the latter site.

Congratulations to Joana Viga Čiplytė

Congratulations to Joana Viga Čiplytė

Joana Viga Čiplytė, an historian who has written extensively about the history of the Panevėžys Jewish community, has been awarded the Gabrielė Petkevičaitės-Bitė medal “Tarnaukite Lietuvai” [To Serve Lithuania] in recognition of her work. Her first book was called “Mažosios Jeruzalės – Panevėžio žydų istorija. Holokaustas” [The History of Little Jerusalem, the Panevėžys Jewish Community: The Holocaust].

At the award ceremony Čiplytė said she was grateful to her family and to Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman for their support.

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Jewish Food Quiz

Jewish Food Quiz

The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the outdoor Cvi Parkas vegetarian Israeli street food kiosk invite everyone to a quiz on Jewish cooking and food traditions. The winner gets an Israeli dish from the kiosk and the two runners-up get a free drink. The quiz will be conducted by Arkadijus Vinokuras most likely in the Lithuanian language. It starts at 5:00 P.M. on Sunday, June 18, at food kiosk located in the park across the street from the Lithuanian Jewish Community at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius. The quiz will be streamed live on facebook here.

Lithuanian City Vows to Preserve Ancient Jewish Cemetery

Lithuanian City Vows to Preserve Ancient Jewish Cemetery

by Canaan Lidor, Times of Israel, June 6, 2023

The decade-long controversy surrounding the Snipiškės (Shnipishok) Jewish cemetery in Lithuania’s capital appears to have reached a resolution: instead of building a convention center atop the burial ground, the Vilnius municipality will turn it into a monument for Lithuanian Jews.

The decision announced Thursday by Lithuanian National Art Museum director and former Lithuanian minister of culture Arūnas Gelūnas puts to rest concerns about disturbing the remains of Jews believed by some to be buried under a Soviet-era building authorities wanted to tear down and replace. The plan set off a highly publicized legal fight between some Jewish community members and authorities and Jewish groups.

“It’s a hugely welcome outcome to a dispute that has been going on for too many years,” Michael Mail, chief executive of the Foundation for Jewish Heritage non-profit working to preserve such sites in Europe and the Middle East, told Times of Israel Monday.

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