Religion – Page 5 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Pathetic State of Jewish Cemetery in Panevėžys

The state of the old Jewish cemetery in the New Town section of Panevėžys requires emergency action, according to Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman.

The cemetery is thought to have been established for the burial of the first Jewish and Karaïte settlers in the northern Lithuanian city and surrounding areas.

The Panevėžys regional administration adopted a resolution for maintaining the old Jewish graveyard back in 2019 but hasn’t followed through on the ground. Time, disregard and the weather have since taken a greater toll, which prompted Kofman to seek additional redress from the Panevėžys regional administration.

“The main section of the old Jewish cemetery in the New Town neighborhood has been abandoned and allowed to fall into ruin, with fallen trees knocking over headstones, overgrown grass and shrubbery, felled trees and branches left unremoved. We would be grateful if administration staff could come, formulate a maintenance plan and finally care for this unique historic city location,” Kofman said.

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Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 7:22 P.M. on Friday, September 13, and concludes at 8:31 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

2024-09-12

Twelve Thousand Pivonija Holocaust Victims Remembered

People gathered at noon on the first Sunday in September for the annual commemoration of the approximately 12,000 Jews murdered in the Pivonija Forest outside Ukmergė (Vilkomir) this year as in years past. Ukmergė Jewish Community chairman Artūras Taicas began the ceremony with an address and Kaunas Jewish Community member Iseris Šreibergas said kaddish. Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kuklianksy, members and heads of regional LJC affiliates, local politicians, local school children and ambassadors to Lithuania including Israel’s Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein attended the ceremony.

2024-09-10

Dance Symphony from the Jeursalem of the North

A music and dance play based on Jievaras Jasinskis’s “Symphony from the Jerusalem of the North” is returning to the stage for two performances.

Time: 6:00 P.M., September 19
Place: Alytus Town Theater, Alytus, Lithuania

Time: 6:00 P.M., September 24
Place: Saulė Concert Hall, Šiauliai, Lithuania

2024-09-10

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 7:39 P.M. on Friday, September 6, and concludes at 8:50 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Monday, September 9, is also the Day of the Victims of the Holocaust and of Racial Violence in Slovakia, commemorating the day in 1941 when the puppet government of the Nazi protectorate of Slovakia issued a decree on the legal status of Jews in the country. This decree, known as the Jewish Codex, led to the deportation of Jews from the country, ultimately resulting in the murder of approximately 70,000 Slovak Jews.

2024-09-062024-09-06

Gunman Killed in Munich near Israeli Consulate on Anniversary of Black September Massacre

BERLIN–Police in Munich say they thwarted a potential attack on Jewish targets Thursday after they shot and killed a man who was firing a rifle near the Israeli Consulate and a museum documenting Nazi Germany.

Police have not offered details on the suspect. Some German media outlets reported he was a juvenile from Austria police had previously investigated for alleged ties to Islamic extremism.

Germany’s public broadcaster Deutsche Welle verified the authenticity of cell-phone videos shared online which show a younger male carrying a rifle fitted with a bayonet before and during the shootout.

2024-09-062024-09-06

Efraim Zuroff Leaves Simon Wiesenthal Center

Last Nazi Hunter Efraim Zuroff Resigns from Simon Wiesenthal Center, Vows to Fight Anti-Semitism

by Eyal Green, Jerusalem Post, September 4, 2024

Efraim Zuroff, the last Nazi hunter, steps down after 38 years at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, pledging to continue fighting anti-Semitism.

Unofficially known as the last Nazi hunter, Efraim Zuroff has stepped down as director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office after 38 years, Zuroff announced September 3.

Efraim Zuroff was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1948 and dedicated his life to identifying and bringing to justice Nazi war criminals who had evaded justice for decades. His interest in Holocaust studies began early, and after earning a degree in history from Yeshiva University, he moved to Israel in 1970 to work at Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust memorial, the Jerusalem Post reports.

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Visitors in Švenčionys

Mother and son Eudenta and Samull Virine from Canada visited the Nalšia Museum in Švenčionys on August 21 where Švenčionys Jewish Community chairman Moshe Shapiro gave them a guided tour including viewing implements and artifacts from Jewish homes, the history of the region and a new exhibit on the fate of the Jews of Švenčionys. Eudenta’s mother was born in Švenčionys.

They sought archival information about the families of Leiba and Abraham Alperovitch and Mengel Bushkanietz with the help of historian and museum specialist Nadežda Spiridonovienė. The museum has very little information regarding these surnames but they are recorded as living in Švenčionys in a Russian Empire census conducted before World War I.

The two visitors also viewed the Menorah statue in the town’s central park. They went on to visit a Jewish mass murder site in nearby Švenčionėliai.

2024-09-05

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 7:57 P.M. on Friday, August 30, and concludes at 9:09 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Monday is also Labor Day, an official US holiday with businesses and government offices closed. Monday is also an official Lithuanian holiday marking the start of the school year.

2024-08-292024-08-30

European Day of Jewish Culture 2024

This year’s topic is family.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community is celebrating the European Day of Jewish Culture this Sunday, September 1, with a full day’s program of events, lessons, workshops, discussions and exhibits. All events are free and open to the public, but registration is required for most of the events below.

Here’s the program:

11:00 A.M.-12:30 P.M. First Hebrew lesson for the whole family with Ruth Reches at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius. Ruth will soon be forming new classes for studying Hebrew. Register here: https://bit.ly/4g5jZbW

2024-08-29

European Day of Jewish Culture Coming September 1

The European Day of Jewish Culture celebrated on the first Sunday in September falls on September 1 this year. This year’s celebration will feature Yiddish and Hebrew lessons at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius and a walking tour of Jewish Vilna with guide Viljamas Žitkauskas. The students from Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium are planning performances and the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club is also sponsoring activities.

Jewish song and dance ensemble Fayerlakh will hold a concert and Raimondas Savickas is planning an open-air art workshop. Julija Patashnik will conduct an Israeli dance class, celebrated author and animator Ilja Bereznickas’s books and animated films will be featured and the Bagel Shop Café will provide the culinary education component.

An exhibit by Litvak artist Theo Tobiasse will open at the LJC in Vilnius, cantor Shmuel Yatom will perform a blessing of families and stand-up comedian Žilvinas Kerbelis is to perform. The Cvi Park Israeli street food kiosk space will host a concert including violinist Dalia Dėdinskaitė, Glebas Pyšniakas on cello, tenor Rafailas Karpis, Tadas Motiečius on accordion and others.

Stay tuned for more details and registration information.

2024-08-27

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 8:14 P.M. on Friday, August 23, and concludes at 9:28 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

2024-08-22

Geršonas Taicas: Researching My Family’s Genealogy Grew into a Passionate Hobby

interviewed by Katrina Zeiter

On the topic of Litvak history and personalities, one of the Community’s most active members, Geršonas Taicas, always provides interesting facts and facts unknown even to seasoned researchers. Celebrating his 75th birthday this year, his greatest passion is genealogy. Like a fish in its natural element, he dives into the archives, discovering incredible connections which force us to consider history from another perspective, and also helping Litvak descendants scattered around the world find their family roots. A Litvak himself, he can speak for hours on the notable chef and cooking author Fania Lewando, the crooner Daniel Dolskis and former British prime minister Boris Johnson, but in this interview we spoke about the genealogist’s own story which serves as a mirror of a period in Lithuanian Jewish life which fewer and fewer now remember.

What are your first childhood memories?

I was born in Ukmergė [Vilkomir] in 1949 to a family who had been incarcerated as “enemies of the people” at a gulag in Krasnoyarsk in Siberia. My father Alter was an accountant and my mother Masha was a teacher.

2024-08-222024-08-22

Arie Ben-Ari Grodzensky Visits Panevėžys Jewish Community

Association of Lithuanian Jews in Israel chairman Arie Ben-Ari Grodzensky visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community last week where he learned about Community activities, met members and viewed archival documents. He noted progress in conserving and commemorating the Litvak heritage in Panevėžys.

Grodzensky was born and raised in Lithuania and also serves on the executive boards of the Goodwill Foundation and the Lithuanian Jewish Community.

2024-08-19

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 8:30 P.M. on Friday, August 16, and concludes at 9:47 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

2024-08-16

Anti-Semitism in France: Can Lithuanian Jews Expect the Same?

by Arkadijus Vinokuras, LRT.lt

The goal of the Islamists and their supporters in Europe is to turn Jewish life in Europe into hell. Does this goal have something to do with Israel? It would be as if Lithuanians living abroad were persecuted for decisions made by Lithuanian politicians.

Meanwhile, an anti-Semitic party has been resurrected in Lithuania led by the anti-Semite Remigijus Žemaitaitis. We must note all of that party’s members who have donned the brown shirt have automatically become anti-Semites because they now the stances of their leader.

Reactions? Yes, we’ve seen them. Whether he was invited or not, he participated at the inauguration of re-elected president Gitanas Nausėda. It seems the president’s advisor, the former right-hand-man of the anti-Semitic and homophobic owner of the Respublika newspaper, performed his dirty work, but more about that later. So while there are no questions about the aims of the Islamists, there are many questions about the goals of the democratic West.

Full text in Lithuanian here.

2024-08-132024-08-13

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 8:45 P.M. on Friday, August 9, and concludes at 10:06 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

2024-08-08

Commemoration of Sania Kerbelis

Members and friends of the Šiauliai Jewish Community gathered at the Community building Monday to commemorate the late Sania Kerbelis who served as chairman for many years.

Special guest Rabbi Kalev Krelin provided a simple and enlightened exegesis of Torah as the basis for his eulogy of Sania and reminded those assembled that the best commemoration and compensation of loss is prayer and good works.

Community member Ričardas Pikelis recited his poem in memory of Kerbelis.

2024-08-06

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 8:59 P.M. on Friday, August 2, and concludes at 10:24 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

2024-08-01

A Tribute to Žilvinas Beliauskas

by Rabbi Moshe Martin Levin

Žilvinas Beliauskas WAS ALWAYS:

Tall and handsome;
Brilliant and articulate;
Talking in long sentences without taking a breath;
He always listened with both ears.

Always was an encyclopedia of so many subjects.

A true patriot who knew the shortcomings as well as the achievements of his homeland.

A husband in love with his wife Ieva.

2024-08-012024-08-01