Religion – Page 46 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Large Jewish Community Lived in Švenčionys Region Before Holocaust

The Švenčionys region of Lithuania is a multicultural place where Lithuanians live alongside Poles, Russians, Belarussians, Jews and people of other ethnicities.

The Švenčionys Jewish Community was reconstituted in 2013. It is now headed by the energetic Švenčionys native Moshe Shapiro (aka Moisiejus Šapiro).

There was a large Jewish community living in the Švenčionys region in the period between the two world wars. In fact there were five synagogues operating there.

Jews there set up an herbal pharmaceuticals factory and different workshops in the center of the town of Švenčionys. Jewish effort, initiative and expertise were involved in all fields of production and business.

2020-07-102020-08-03

Litvak Heritage in Lithuania: Where to Find the Most Interesting Stories and Sites

by Raimonda Mikalčiūtė-Urbonė, 15min.lt

The year 2020 has been named the Year of the Vilna Gaon and Litvak History, so this year is a good opportunity to discover the interesting and unique Jewish heritage sites we have right here in our own country.

So far this is niche tourism. Although there is an abundance of Jewish heritage sites in Vilnius, Kaunas and the regions, many tourists still don’t know, for example, when they’re vacationing in Palanga or Druskininkai, the Jewish histories of these resort towns. How can we get ethnic Lithuanians interested in the long and interesting history of the Litvaks and the sites which stand witness to this history? We discussed this with interlocutors in this article.

Faina Kukliansky: There Needs to Be a Common Litvak Heritage Policy

2020-07-07

Lietūkis Garage Massacre Commemorated June 26

The Kaunas Jewish Community and members of the public gathered in Kaunas June 26 at the site of the infamous Lietūkis garage massacre of Jews by Lithuanians in the early days of the Holocaust in the last days of June of 1941. Relatives of victims attended as well. The ceremony was followed by kaddish for the Jews buried at the Slobodka (Vilijampolė) and Žaliakalnis Jewish cemeteries in Kaunas.

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Message of Support from ORT to Vilnius

Letter to Faina Kukliansky 30.06

2020-06-302020-06-30

Vilna Gaon Monument Vandalized June 26

That statue commemorating the notional residence of the Vilna Gaon and the shulhoyf where the Great Synagogue and a number of other shuls once stood, built around the Gaon’s residence, was vandalized on June 26 using acid.

2020-06-29

This Country Would Never Have Become the Jerusalem of Lithuania Had It Not Been a Safe and Tolerant Place

Just before quarantine was announced the Bagel Shop received an important visitor. The interview done several months ago remains just as important and perhaps even more so now. We spoke about the importance of ethnic food to Jews living in Lithuania and about a people’s right to have ethnic foods. We await the re-opening of the Bagel Shop Café with bated breath and hope to continue this conversation in front of an audience.

Bagel Shop Interview with Meghan Luckett, Cultural Attaché at the US embassy in Vilnius

Interview by Dovile Rūkaitė, LJC project manager.

Do you like bagels? What’s your favorite kind?

Yes, of course we love bagels. My favorite are everything bagels, we buy them at your bagel shop and in the market and eat them almost every week. We make bagel sandwiches with baked egg, spices and all kinds of stuff. One of our colleagues is a great cook, she makes us homemade bagels. Once we brought her some from Trader Joe’s and she made us excellent everything bagels. My wife is a great cook, she bakes sometimes, but we usually buy them because they are very good.

2020-06-172020-06-17

Jewish Culture Week in Krakės: Let’s Learn about the Krakės Jewish Community

Photo: Krakės Jewish cemetery

The Jewish Culture Week in Krakės: Let’s Learn about the Krakės Jewish Community project will take place from June 16 to 18 in Krakės in the Kėdainiai district of Lithuania. More information is available here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2751960485049357

Robertas Dubinka, director
Krakės Cultural Center

Laisvės alley no. 1, LT – 58242, Krakės, Kėdainiai region
tel. 8 347 38274, mob. 8 615 85084
email: krakiukc@gmail.com

2020-06-15

On the Article “Did Kazys Škirpa Rescue a Jewish Rabbi?”

by professor Pinchos Fridberg

Vilnius, obzor.lt

Information for my webpage readers

For your consideration, the article “On the Article ‘Did Kazys Škirpa Rescue a Jewish Rabbi?'”

This article of mine was created simultaneously with the Russian version “По поводу публикации «Kazys Škirpa išgelbėjo žydų rabiną?» Казис Шкирпа спас раввина?” of June 1, 2020, at obzor.lt

You might well ask, “Why did you post a Lithuanian text on a Russian instead of a Lithuanian newspaper internet site?” I will tell you frankly:
Lithuanian sites won’t publish me.

It is a strange thing that the New York Times and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty quote me, and yet I am an undesirable author on Lithuanian sites.

Would you believe that in 2013 Artūras Račas, who was then the director of the Baltic News Service news agency, wrote an article about me called “Dear Jewish ‘professor,’ your anti-Semitism is wearisome: dedicated to Pinchos Fridberg” in which he passed on to me some great advice:

“Dear Pinchos, you who call yourself ‘professor,’ …

“stick a gag in your mouth, crawl under the table and be quiet.”

2020-06-112020-06-30

Lithuanian Post Office to Issue Stamp Commemorating 300th Birthday of Gaon Friday

The Lithuanian Post Office will issue a special stamp commemorating the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Vilna Gaon on Friday, June 5. The nominal value of the stamp is 81 euro cents, meaning it will be valid for sending letters abroad.

The stamps have a print-run of 20,000. The issue will also feature a first-day release envelope for sale. Post-marking stamps on the first day of issuance will take place at the Central Post Office in Vilnius, located at Gedimino prospect no. 7, on Friday.

The JUDVI & AŠ design group (Victoria Sideraitė-Alon, Jūratė Juozėnienė and Albinas Šimanauskas) designed the postal stamp celebrating the Vilna Gaon.

The letter shin (ש) appears near the top of the postage stamp with a stylized crown atop the final branch symbolizing the spiritual authority of the Vilna Gaon. According the gematria the value of this letter is 300, as Lithuania celebrates the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Gaon this year. Underneath is a stylized Torah scroll along with an open book, an allusion to the Decalogue, the two slabs of stone Moses received on Sinai inscribed by God with His Commandments, and at the same time representing the tradition of a pair of windows on the façade of the synagogue. The coloring of the symbols and characters and the graphic design was based on the stylization of the decor of ancient Jewish writings.

2020-06-042020-06-10

New Virus, Old Disease, but There Is a Treatment

by Robert Singer, chairman and CEO, Spero group, senior advisor to the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement

An old virus has appeared alongside the novel COVID-19 pandemic. There’s nothing novel about this old disease. It’s instantly recognizable without a microscope. It’s the virus of anti-Semitism, the ancient hatred of the Jewish people.

Like the corona virus, anti-Semitism can mutate over time. Like the corona virus, it ignores borders, it infects both young and old and it can strike in Islamic, Christian and other societies alike.

In Shiite Iran and Sunni Pakistan, where anti-Semitism is rampant, Muslim preachers, bloggers and ordinary citizens rushed to blame the Jews for the outbreak of COVID-19 infections. Similar accusations have also been heard in the United States. Since the Orthodox Jewish community in New Rochelle, New York was among the first to be infected, many people, both online and offline, blamed Jews for the outbreak.

Full editorial here.

2020-06-02

Chag Shavuot Sameach from the ECJC Board and Team

2020-05-28

Shavuot Begins May 28

Shavuot is the holiday which celebrates the receiving of the Torah. This marks the day the Jewish people received the Law. It is celebrated on the 6th day of Sivan on the Jewish calendar. This is a state holiday in Israel.

Shavuot means “weeks” in Hebrew. It is the seventh week from the second day of Passover. It marks the day when Moses received the Ten Commandments of G_d on Mount Sinai. They were written on two stone slabs. These are known in Hebrew as “Aseret haDvarim” and in Greek as the Decalogue.

2020-05-282020-06-02

Choral Synagogue Reopens

The Choral Synagogue in Vilnius reopened for morning prayers on Monday, May 25, following the quarantine. Special measures in place include mandatory wearing of face masks and gloves, taking the temperature of those attending and disinfectant for hands.

The faithful had to rediscover their seats, now marked, at a safe 2 meters distance from one another.

Agreement was reached with the congregation on how to behave during Torah reading. We agreed to abbreviate the number of prayers temporarily, they will now take place during the day during Torah readings on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. This will be changed according to traditional holidays.

2020-05-272020-06-03

Jerusalem Day

The 28th day of the month of Iyar, May 22 this year, is commemorated as the day the state of Israel took the eastern section of the holy city in the Six Day War in 1967. Initially proclaimed an international city by the United Nations, Jerusalem was partitioned between Israeli and Jordanian forces following the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab wars from 1947 to 1949. Israel occupied the entire city in the Six Day War, despite having proclaimed its capital at Jerusalem earlier and setting up government buildings in West Jerusalem.

Because of the original plan by the United Nations for the city sacred to three religions to be administered as an international, shared city, for decades countries around the world have refused to recognize it as the capital of Israel, maintaining diplomatic representations in Tel Aviv instead. The United Nations plan of 1947 called for a corpus separatum along the lines of the Papal States/Vatican City inside Rome, or the former “free cities” before World War II such as Danzig and Trieste. The city’s status is a bone of contention in hopes for peace between Israelis and Palestinians; Palestinians claim the city as their capital.

2020-05-222020-05-22

Lithuanian Web Site: Let’s Learn about Lite, the Great Synagogue and the Vilna Gaon

by Karolina Aleknavičė, 15min.lt

This year, 2020, has been declared the Year of the Vilna Gaon and Lithuanian Jewish History, and it’s a good opportunity to learn about the authentic culture which thrived for whole centuries in our neighborhood.

We spoke with Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum Jewish culture and identity exhibit coordinator Saulė Valiūnaitė, Vilnius University historian Dr. Akvilė Naudžiūnienė and Kėdainiai Multicultural Center director Audronė Pečiulytė about Lite, the Litvaks who lived here, Vilnius as the Jerusalem of the North and the Gaon, Eliyahu, who lived there.

Lithuanian Jewish History an Integral Part of Lithuanian History

Valiūnaitė told 15min.lt Lithuanians’ attitude towards Jewish history has changed over the last 15 years. “It’s inspiring that in Vilnius and other Lithuanian cities there are ever more initiatives appearing, and most importantly, a desire to commemorate the history and heritage of the Jews who lived there. Some do this by setting up commemorative markers, others by organizing events or writing books about the Jewish history of their cities and towns,” she said.

2020-05-21

In the Spotlight: William Stern

Mr. William Stern was born in Budapest in 1935; after the Nazi occupation of Hungary in March 1944, he and his family were taken to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. They survived the War and emigrated to New York in 1952 where Mr Stern pursued studies first at Yeshiva University and subsequently at Harvard Law School.

It was during his stint at Harvard Law School that Mr Stern discovered the many risks and temptations which face a student when he leaves his home environment and suddenly becomes enmeshed in a totally new and different culture. He was shocked at seeing some of his friends shed their tradition and previous way of life in just a matter of months. Having married a young lady resident in London, Mr Stern moved to England in 1960. Early in his career, he established in London in 1971 a kosher canteen which welcomed students of Imperial College, located opposite his offices at Albert Court. This canteen has been going strong for the past 45 years and is presently catering to 30-35 Imperial College students every day of the academic year.

When he expanded his business to Lithuania, Mr Stern discovered the presence in Kaunas of approximately 100 Israeli medical students. He felt that during the 6-year period which medical studies require, many of these students might lose not only their Israeli but also their Jewish identity. In 2010, he established the Jewish Club which grew and developed over the years into the Jewish Centre Kaunas. Its aim is to provide the Jewish students in Kaunas a home away from home and prevent the loss of Jewish identity which otherwise might occur.

2020-05-19

NCSEJ Webinar with Lithuanian, Latvian Jewish Community Leaders May 14

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Please join us for a webinar Thursday, May 14, 2020, at 11:00 A.M. ET with Dmitry Krupnikov, deputy chairman of the Latvian Council of Jewish Communities and Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community

They will discuss the impact of the corona virus on the Jewish communities in Latvia and Lithuania and other issues affecting the Baltic region.

About the Speakers:

Dmitry Krupnikov is deputy chairman of the Latvian Council of Jewish Communities and Chairman of the Latvian Jewish Community Restitution Fund (LEKOREF), which was set up by the Council after restitution to the Community by Latvia of five religious and communal properties in 2016. All restituted properties were transferred to LEKOREF, which is now in charge of maintaining and managing the properties.

Faina Kukliansky is chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. She has also served as chairwoman of the Vilnius Jewish Community. In May, 2017 she was re-elected chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. She is the co-chair of the Foundation for the Disposal of Good Will Compensation for the Immovable Property of Jewish Religious Communities (Goodwill Foundation).

Note: ZOOM has numerous significant security flaws. Use it at your own risk.

2020-05-14

Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community: Life under Quarantine

It’s no secret the quarantine has altered the rhythms and habits of our lives. It had been customary in the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community to celebrate all sorts of holidays and birthdays and to attend different events, educational activities and tours we organized, and simply to gather and talk at the Community building… Today that building stands quiet and empty…

Jews around the world were celebrating Passover when the quarantine began here in Lithuania. The Jews of Šiauliai were not able as we were in past years to come together and celebrate happily to the sound of Jewish melodies this beautiful spring holiday. This year each of celebrated separately at home. The Lithuanian Jewish Community provided home deliveries of matzo to all the regional Communities, so as the quarantine got under way the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community had to insure every member had the requisite matzo for the Passover seder table. Every member of the Community did receive safe delivery of boxes of matzo before the holiday began.

Despite disruption to the rhythm and conventions of daily life, we continue to provide crucial care to our seniors who were victims of the Nazis. Home-care workers continue to visit them and help them with their daily needs, insuring the safety of our elderly during these days so difficult for all of us.

2020-05-132020-05-13

Big Thank You to Svetlana Who Found a Jewish Headstone in Her Garden

Vilnius resident Svetlana Šitelienė contacted the Lithuanian Jewish Community to report her discovery of what appears to be a Jewish headstone, or matzeva, on her farm.

Thank you, Svetlana.

We’ve reached Svetlana and thanked her, and sent her a box of matzo and the Vilnius ghetto diary of Yitzhak Rudasheviski translated into Lithuanian.

Studying the photographs she provided, it appears this might be an unfinished headstone made for someone named Esther, with the surname partially completed. Mrs. Šitelienė said the grave stone might have ended up in her yard 47 or more years ago, and according to relatives it came from the Jewish cemetery near the Palace of Marriage in Vilnius.

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