A ceremony to mark the first Sabbath following Passover took place at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius last Friday evening. It was attended by several Jewish journalists from South Africa as well as Community members.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 8:02 P.M. on Friday, April 14, and concludes at 9:20 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Mimouna Shabbat
You’re invited to the first Sabbath celebration following Passover at 6:30 P.M. on Friday, April 14, with the ceremony upstairs at the Lithuanian Jewish Community and kiddush at the Bagel Shop Café at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius. The cost is 12 euros per adult and free to those aged 16 and under. Register with Viljamas by sending a message to viljamas@lzb.lt.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 7:48 P.M. on Friday, April 7, and concludes at 9:05 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
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Lithuanian PM Sends Passover Greetings
Lithuanian prime minister Ingrida Šimonytė has issued greetings on the Jewish holiday of Passover:
“The Passover holiday has been associated with essential values for millennia and testifies to the spiritual rebirth and aspiration to freedom of the Jewish people. This is an important reminder especially today to all of us that only free people are capable of overcoming the most horrific losses, only they can be happy and only they are able to create a life for themselves and the state courageously. The special spirit of this holiday teaches us that, led by faith, we can cross the driest dessert, cross the most powerful seas, and reach the Promised Land. I sincerely greet the Jews of Lithuania and the world on the occasion of Passover and wish the joy of sharing accompanies your seder, and that faith, love and hope never abandon your heart nor your home. Hag Pesakh sameakh!”
Passover Greetings from Lithuanian Jewish Community Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky
Dear readers,
I greet you all with our very important holiday Passover. This holy day celebrates the liberation of the Hebrews from the yoke of the Egyptian pharaoh. Let’s always remain free and happy.
I wish you a wonderful holiday. Hag Sameakh!
Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community
History in Photographs: Passover
Above: Two girls eating matzo at Rothschild Center in Vienna, post-WWII. Yad Vashem archives.
Passover in Utena, Lithuania, before WWII. Yad Vashem.
UN Ambassadors Attend Israeli UN Seder
Photo: US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan at a mock Passover Seder hosted by Erdan at UN headquarters on March 28, 2023.
The UN’s mock Seder tradition was started in 2016 by Gilad Erdan’s predecessor Danny Danon.
NEW YORK–Diplomats from all over the world joined Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan for a mock Passover Seder at the organization’s headquarters in Manhattan on Tuesday, just one week before the Jewish holiday.
Some 70 ambassadors took part in the festivities, including US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Ukrainian ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya.
The mock Seder included traditional holiday foods and a reading from the Hagaddah, a text narrating the Seder.
Attendees talked about Passover traditions and customs in a discussion led by the Aish Global Jewish outreach organization.
Full article here.
Passover Drawings Sought
Every Jewish family celebrates the ancient holiday of Passover, commemorating the exodus from slavery in Egypt, and every family has their own holiday traditions. With that in mind, the Lithuanian Jewish Community is inviting the youngest members of the community to draw pictures about Passover and send them in by e-mail to katrina@lzb.lt before April 13. Every young artist can expect to receive a package of chocolate-coated matzo.
New Bagel Shop Newsletter
A new Bagel Shop Newsletter has been published for the first part of 2023. A PDF file of the newsletter is provided below.
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If your browser doesn’t display the file, you can download it by clicking here.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 6:35 P.M. on Friday, March 31, and concludes at 8:50 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Great Synagogue Listed as Protected Heritage Site
The site of the former Great Synagogue in Vilnius with associated mikvot has been listed as a state-protected cultural heritage site, according to Baltic News Service.
The Lithuanian Culture Ministry issued a press release Thursday naming this site and the site of the first Lithuanian gymnasium in Vilnius was established on Basanavičiaus street. The YIVO occupied part of the latter space at its inception in 1925 before moving headquarters to Vivulskio street in Vilnius. The ministry reports state protection means more opportunities for funding protection and restoration of these sites.
The exact date the synagogue was built isn’t known. The Great Synagogue with adjacent ritual purification baths was part of a larger complex of synagogues, libraries and schools located around the Great Synagogue and the home of the Vilna Gaon.
Ownership of the ruins of the Great Synagogue and mikvot were passed to the Goodwill Foundation in 2020. Various plans for commemorating the site have been proposed, but so far the most likely is a humble protected excavation exhibit showcasing the subterranean main hall with bimah and floor.
Photo: Tunnel dug by archaeologists leading to central bimah, by Valdas Kopūstas, courtesy BNS.
Nancy Sasson Travels to Panevėžys Seeking Family Roots
Last week Nancy Sasson from the United States arrived in Panevėžys seeking genealogical information about her family. She believes her grandfather and perhaps great-grandfather lived in Panevėžys. She was accompanied by her old friend from Lithuania Vaida Zlatkutė and a guide who travelled from Israel to help.
Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman received them warmly and he and the Israeli guide gave the two women a tour of the city, pointing out significant Jewish locations and telling the Litvak story, the many important cultural contributions Litvaks made and the horrific end they suffered.
Nancy Sasson was visibly moved during the tour down the streets and sidewalks once traversed by her forebears.
Opening Ceremony for Restored Kupiškis Public Library and Former Great Synagogue
The Panevėžys Jewish Community reports on the ceremonial re-opening of the restored Great Synagogue in Kupiškis which has housed the Kupiškis Public Library since 1950:
“Following reconstruction for six years on March 24 the Kupiškis Regional Public Library housed in the former Great Synagogue of Kupiškis was ceremoniously reopened.
“To the musical accompaniment of the Rakja Klezmar Orkestar Lithuanian culture minister Simonas Kairys, Kupiškis regional administration mayor Dainius Bardauskas, Kupiškis Regional Public Library director Algirdas Venckus and Infes corporation director Arvydas Markevičius together cut the ribbon re-opening the building.”
Full story in Lithuanian with more photographs from the opening ceremony available on the Panevėžys Jewish Community webpage here.
Shalom Discussion Club to Meet
Natalja Cheifec’s Shalom discussion club is planning to meet for an open-ended discussion at 5:30 P.M. on Wednesday, March 29, on the zoom internet platform. To receive login credentials register at https://bit.ly/3q0j7hg and when you’re filling out the questionnaire don’t forget to mention the topics you’d like to see discussed by the club. Wednesday evening’s meeting will include a link to a film which will be a topic for discussion as well.
Matzo on Sale
Matzo has arrived for Passover and is available in 450 gram for 5 euros and 1 kilogram boxes for 10 euros at the Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius, on workdays except Tuesday, from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
Sunday Quiz: Why Is This Night Like No Other?
Next Sunday’s quiz at the Bagel Shop Café is called “What Is Passover?” As usual, accomplished circus clown and investigative journalist Arkadijus Vinokuras will lead the fun, and shut-ins will be able to at least watch on the Lithuanian Jewish Community’s facebook page. It all happens at 2:00 P.M. on Sunday, April 2. Be there or be late to the table.
Synagogue Restored in Kupiškis
One of the synagogues in Kupiškis, Lithuania, which houses the town’s public library has been undergoing restoration for the last six years. On Friday, March 24, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, Israel ambassador to Lithuania Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein and US ambassador Robert Gilchrist visited the synagogue and saw the results of the reconstruction work.
“A large Jewish community lived in Kupiškis before the war,” chairwoman Kukliansky said. “They were almost all exterminated by the Nazis and local collaborators. It is right that their story is remembered, if only eighty years later, and that the residents of Kupiškis who come here or pass by outside will see this building and be reminded of the great contribution Jews made to the community’s success.”
Jews settled in Kupiškis sometime in the 17th century. In 1682 bishop Mikołaj Pac (Mikolajus Pacas in Lithuanian) issued a permit for the construction of a synagogue. Around 2,661 Jews accounting for 71% of the population lived in Kupiškis in 1897. During the period between the two world wars there were three working synagogues in the town, adjacent and forming a courtyard, with the Great Synagogue on the northern side, the Small Synagogue on the south and the Hassidic synagogue on the western side. The Great and Hassidic synagogues survive. In 1950 the Great synagogue building was used as the town’s public library. The entrance way into the library has a commemorative plaque with a citation from the Book of Isaiah, 56:5: “I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off,” in Hebrew, English and Lithuanian. The first floor of the building is now being used as a library with the second storey as space dedicated to the Jewish community.