Matzo has arrived and will be distributed to Saul Kagan Social Welfare Center clients at room 220 from 11:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. on March 15, 16, 17, 22, 23 and 24.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 5:54 P.M. on Friday, March 10, and concludes at 7:07 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Purim for Seniors at the Community
One of the distinguishing features of the Lithuanian Jewish Community is how we care about our oldest and wisest members, both in daily life and during the holidays. So we celebrated Purim together with our venerable senior citizens in the Jascha Heifetz Hall at the Community building in Vilnius, decorated for the occasion. A pleasant evening was had by all with dinner and a concert performance by members of the Fayerlakh Jewish song and dance ensemble, now celebrating their 50th birthday.
Natalja Cheifec’s Lecture on Purim
Natalja Cheifec will deliver a lesson via zoom about the meaning and traditions of Purim from 5:30 P.M. till 7:00 P.M. on Wednesday, March 8. To receive zoom log-in credentials, register here: https://bit.ly/3K73kEE. The lecture will be conducted in Lithuanian.
LJC Chairwoman Delivers Purim Treats to Ukrainian Child Refugees
For the second year now the Lithuanian Jewish Community has reached out to child war refugees from the Ukraine on Purim, in additional to aiding Jewish families who have fled the war zone there. This year LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky visited a Ukrainian school in Vilnius with several trays of hamentashen pastry. The school has about 800 students currently. Kukliansky shared the story of Purim with children and young people there, spoke about the traditions associated with Purim and spent time with the unusually welcoming staff who transformed a ruined building into an educational institution by hand over the course of a few months.
“We understand well that material aid is needed during time of war… Even so, we can’t just cry about everything, so we are trying to spread some joy as well. Purim is, after all, the happiest Jewish holiday of the year. I am glad we have shared at least a little bit of that with the children from the Ukraine,” Kukliansky said.
Purim Celebration at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius
Tuesday evening, March 7, Community members and friends gathered at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius to celebrate Purim. The Book of Esther was read, the congregation was in high spirits, everyone got the traditional hamentashen pastries and some not so traditional variations, and the children dazzled everyone with their amazing costumes.
Hag Purim Sameach!
Dear readers,
I would like to greet you in the name of the entire Lithuanian Jewish Community on the occasion of the happy holiday of Purim.
May this Purim be filled with happiness, fun, good moods and the warmth of family and friends.
Hag Purim sameach!
Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community
Purim Wouldn’t Be the Same without Hamentashen
Purim starts tonight at sundown when the 14th day of the month of Adar begins on the Jewish calendar. One of the constituent features of Purim is the traditional pastry known as hamentashen. Although everyone has their own special recipe, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky makes her family’s version with poppy-seed filling, the traditional Litvak treat. The recipe dates beck to the period between the two world wars.
“This recipe was probably used earlier and recalls the time when the aroma of the pastry filled the Vilnius Old Town and many other cities and towns where Jews lived in Lithuania. Although you can purchase this version now, it’s always more fun to make it yourself,” she commented.
Happy Purim! Hag Purim sameakh!
§§§
Faina Kukliansky’s hamantashen recipe:
State Protection Proposed for Great Synagogue Ruins
The ruins of the Great Synagogue and attached ritual Jewish bath in Vilnius has been proposed as a site for protection by the state.
The State Cultural Heritage Commission approved that recommendation but the actual listing of the site is up to the Lithuanian minister of culture. The site has architectural, archaeological, historical, commemorative and sacred features.
The State Cultural Heritage Commission said in a press release: “The archaeological, architectural, historical, commemorative and sacred significance of this complex in the Vilnius Old Town is undisputed.”
Full story in Lithuanian here.
Overnight Scouting Camp for Lithuanian Independence Day
March 11 is one of Lithuania’s two independence days, marking the day in 1990 when the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet declared Lithuania’s independence from the Soviet Union. In line with pre-WWII Jewish scouting traditions, the Lithuanian Jewish Community invites young people and their friends and classmates to an overnight Jewish scouting camp to celebrate Lithuanian independence. The camp will include entertaining games, a scouting program, a flag-raising ceremony and a Sabbath ceremony as well as the chance to meet new friends.
Parents should deliver their children to the Sholem Aleichem ORT school in Vilnius from 3:00 to 3:30 P.M. on March 10 and the camp ends at 7:00 P.M. on March 11. Children and young people need to bring along written consent from their parents, a sleeping bag, dishes and utensils for food, toothbrushes and other personal hygiene items. The cost is 25 euros per person and includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.
Registration is open till 11:00 P.M. on April 7. Written consent needs to be delivered by parents to the scout leader at the collection point at Sholem Aleichem school.
To register, fill out the form here:
https://forms.gle/XYhx29EpZwLZiFrN7
For more information, write skautai@lzb.lt.
Choral Synagogue Seeking New Minyan Members
The Choral Synagogue in Vilnius needs new minyan members and substitute members according to a flexible schedule of participation. Financial support is available for permanent minyan members. Jewish men of majority are invited to contact Shmuel Yatom by telephone at +370 614 21 513 or send an email to info@sinagoga.lt.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 5:40 P.M. on Friday, March 3, and concludes at 6:53 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Dubi Club Purim
The Dubi Club continues to meet at noon on Sundays. This Sunday the children will receive a Purim surprise. All children aged 4 to 6 are invited to attend. For more information, contact Margarita Koževatova by telephone at +37061800577.
Celebrate Purim at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius
Everyone is invited to come celebrate Purim starting at 5:00 P.M. on Tuesday, March 7, at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius.
Preparations for Marking Yom haShoah in Alytus
A delegation from the Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Association of Lithuanian Jews in Israel headed by director Arie Ben-Ari Grodzensky visited Alytus, Lithuania, yesterday and met with mayor Nerijus Cesiulis and staff to discuss commemorating Yom haShoah, Israel’s Holocaust remembrance day on the 25th of Adar, in the town southwest of Vilnius. The delegation visited the synagogue recently restored there and the mass murder site in Vidzgiris forest to pay their respects to the victims of the Holocaust there. The plan is to mark Yom haShoah in Alytus on April 17.
Purim Celebration at Former Great Synagogue in Vilnius
A Progressive Judaism celebration of Purim including all mitzvot, reading of the Esther scroll, tzadka collections and mishloah manot will be held at the site of the former Great Synagogue in Vilnius (the school building at Vokiečių street no. 13A, formerly Žydų street no. 6) starting at 6:30 P.M. on March 6. Congregants are urged to bring fruit to share. To register, send an email to viljamas@lzb.lt or call 8672 50 699.
Discussion Club Topic: The Three Abrahamic Religions
The next meeting of the discussion club #ŽydiškiPašnekesiai will be held at 5:00 P.M. on March 8 at the Bagel Shop Café at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius. The topic will be “The Three Major Religions’ Attitude towards One Another, towards Responsibility, Love, Morality, Punishment and Politics.”
Moderator Arkadijus Vinokuras says there is a lack of interfaith dialogue in Lithuania. The benefits of interfaith discussion on society is obvious because of existing superstitions people hold regarding other religions and a general lack of knowledge.
Discussion panel participants are to include Simas Levinas, Lithuanian Mufti Aleksandras Beganskas, author and Catholic priest Mozė Mitkevičius and Arkadijus Vinokuras.
Purim Celebration with the Fayerlakh Ensemble at the Bagel Shop
The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Fayerlakh ensemble invite you to a Purim celebration.
The celebration will include the traditional Purimshpil carnaval, costume contest, live music and other diversions.
Attendees are expected to dress up for the occasion. Tickets are €30 for adults and €20 for children 13 and under.
Tickets and more information available by calling +370 687 79309.
When: 4:00 P.M., Sunday, March 5
Where: Bagel Shop Café, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 5:26 P.M. on Friday, February 24, and concludes at 6:40 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.