Lithuanian Jewish Community

Q&A on Ceremony for Writing of New Torah

What you should know about the ceremony at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius for writing a new Torah to be held Tuesday, September 4, at 6:30 P.M.

1. What are we celebrating?

The unique beginning of writing a new Torah for the first time since World War II. A sofer with special calligraphy skills will write the new Torah on parchment with a special quill and special ink. It will take about a year.

2. Who may participate in the ceremony?

All Jews, men, women and children.

3. How do I participate?

Come to the synagogue at 6:30 P.M. Tuesday.

4. How much does it cost to participate?

It’s free.

5. How does the ceremony work?

Each person individually or with their family may join the sofer and write a letter on the new Torah scroll. The sofer will also write your name on a piece of parchment which you may take home as a keepsake.

6. Where will the new Torah go when it’s written?

It will be used at the Choral Synagogue.

2018-09-042018-09-04

Pope Francis to Honor Holocaust Victims in Vilnius

According to the Lithuanian Government’s planning committee for the visit of Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church will honor Holocaust victims in the Vilnius ghetto after returning from Kaunas on September 23.

On September 23, 1943, the final destruction of the ghetto took place. In Lithuania September 23 is marked as the Day of Genocide of the Jews of Lithuania.

2018-09-032018-09-07

Congratulations to Members and Children on First Day of School

Dear parents, teachers and children,

You have grown strong, relaxed and have begun to miss your friends over the sunny summer vacation, and now with renewed energy you embark with your teachers on a trip to the mysterious land of learning. We wish you the joy of learning new things, much friendship with your classmates and success in your studies. Mazl tov!

2018-09-03

Sugihara Week in Kaunas to Include Japanese Culture Component

Sugihara Week celebrations and events will take place in Kaunas from September 3 to 9 this year and will include concerts, a symposium, film screenings, lectures, creative workshops and other events. Visitors will learn more about Japanese culture and friendship between Lithuania and Japan.

The program begins Monday, September 3, with a concert called “Improvisational Music” performed by Japanese and Lithuanian musicians at the Kaunas State Philharmonic.

On September 5 an international symposium called “Diplomats Who Saved Jewish Lives” will be held in the Small Hall at Vytautas Magnus University with speakers from Israel, the USA, Japan, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany and France.

More information in Lithuanian here.

2018-09-03

First New Litvak Scouting Camp, Sabbath in the Forest

The first new Litvak scouting camping trip with children from Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Panevėžys and Molėtai took place over the weekend. Litvak scouting has a long tradition in Lithuania until the Holocaust and there were thousands of scouts. Jewish scouting stopped after the Holocaust, making the revival, Sabbath in the Forest, an important milestone. The goal of the renewed organization is to include religious Jewish children, secular Jewish children and non-Jewish children in Jewish scouting activities. The main concern is to make sure minimal standards are adhered to to allow religious Jewish children to attend the camping trips. The camping trips place special emphasis on Jewish religious traditions and prayer, serve kosher food and observe all the requirements of the Sabbath.

Many of the children experienced the great outdoors for the very first time, setting up tents and sleeping in them, setting up wooden picnic tables, cooking bread on the fire and challa in an outdoor oven and going on an evening hike.

Fania Brancovskaja, a member of the Bin scouting organization in Vilnius, ushered out the Sabbath last Saturday. The scouts called her “Sister Fania” as she shared her experience in scouting and stories about the scouts in pre-World War II Lithuania. Fania was presented a Lithuanian scouting necktie.

2018-08-292018-09-13

World Jewish Congress Mourns Death of US Senator John McCain

NEW YORK–The World Jewish Congress mourns the death of Senator John McCain, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 81. WJC president Ronald S. Lauder said:

“I want to pay tribute to my friend Senator John McCain, a towering figure of American and international politics, who dedicated his life to serving his country, both as a heroic soldier and, of course, as a prolific senator.

“Throughout his career, John McCain worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people, sticking by his principles for a better country and a better world. He was also a reliable friend of the State of Israel and a great supporter of the Jewish people.

“John McCain was a unique and inspirational leader, the likes of whom we are unlikely to see again. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

www.worldjewishcongress.org

2018-08-27

Lithuanian PM: I Believe We Have Learned Lessons of History

Lithuanian prime minister Saulius Skvernelis and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu took part in a commemoration of Holocaust victims and an awards ceremony for Righteous Gentiles at the Ponar Memorial Complex.

“This is the place where pain, endless sorrow and helplessness permeate our thoughts and feelings. This is the place of perpetual silence and a lost future. Looking in each others’ eyes, we witness the tragedy and bow our heads before the people of Lithuania who became victims of the Holocaust, victims of occupying totalitarian regimes and an aggression against humanity of unprecedented scope,” the Lithuanian prime minister said.

The Lithuanian PM said the Holocaust is among the most painful and horrible tragedies in the history of Lithuania. Here a large part of Lithuania, including its citizens, was destroyed; people were deprived of the opportunity to say their last good-bye to their close relatives. Thus, with the victims of Ponar in our minds, we commit ourselves to those who died and were martyred here. We pledge to do everything that needs to be done to avoid this ever being repeated in the future and to prevent any threat to humanity and the right to life.

2018-08-27

Binyamin Netanyahu Visits Lithuanian Jewish Community at Choral Synagogue

A long queue of Lithuanian Jews and friends of Israel eager to hear Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu crowded the sidewalk outside the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius Sunday. Scheduled to start at 11:00 A.M., Netanyahu arrived about an hour and a half late, which only seemed to increase the audience’s anticipation, with applause when he and his wife entered. The main hall and the balcony were full to capacity as Israeli and Lithuanian security scanned the crowd during the first visit ever by an Israeli prime minister to Lithuania.

Netanyahu appeared very natural at the podium, thanked everyone for coming and singled out Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevičius, MP Emanuelis Zingeris, Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Amir Maimon and his wife and Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky for special recognition.

In his brief address Netanyahu said he was a Litvak on both sides of his family, that he was returning to Lithuania as the prime minister of a powerful and innovative state and that he took two lessons from the Holocaust: that brutality and extremism need to be stopped as soon as they appear, and that Jews need to be able to defend themselves. He said the state of Israel was that defense. He also said Israel has many friends in the world, none greater than the United States, but that Israel has many more friends than people know, including in the Arab world. He mourned the passing of US Republican senator John McCain of Arizona. Lithuanian Jewish Community executive director Renaldas Vaisbrodas introduced the prime minister and provided an accurate synchronous translation of his words in Lithuanian.

Rafaelas Karpis performed the Partisan Hymn in Yiddish and several other songs, after which Choral Synagogue cantor Shmuel Yaatov sang a biblical passage about the loss of Israel. Rabbi Ber Krinsky thanked the prime minister for coming and expressed special support for Israel, for the prime minister and for his family. The event ended with the Israeli national anthem.

2018-08-262018-08-27

Israeli PM at Ponar

VILNIUS, August 24, BNS–Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Ponar Friday, part of Vilnius where over 100,000 people, mostly Jews, were killed during World War II.

After laying a wreath at the Ponar memorial, Netanyahu said that his grandfather had been severely beaten near what he called “a forest of death.”

The Israeli prime minister said that he had learned two lessons from the Holocaust.

“First, we must fight barbarism or it will burn all of us. The second for us, Jews, is that we must never be defenseless again,” Netanyahu said.

“I want to say to my grandfather today: saba, I am back here today and this is a forest of death. As the prime minister of Israel. We will never be defenseless again,” he said.

“We have a state, we have an army and we are capable of defending ourselves by ourselves”.

Netanyahu’s grandmother Sarah Mileikowsky, née Lurie, was born in Šeduva, a town in Lithuania, and his grandfather Nathan Mileikowsky was born in Kreva in what is now Belarus.

2018-08-242018-08-27

Lithuania Supports International Effort to Secure Peace in Middle East

Friday, August 24, Vilnius–President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is on a visit to Lithuania. Relations between Israel and the European Union, Middle East peace process, global enhancement of peace and stability and the situation in Syria and Iran were discussed at the meeting.

The president underscored that Lithuania was interested in strengthening close political and economic relations with Israel, one of the most innovative and progressive state in the world. Lithuania is a firm supporter of dialogue between Israel and the European Union and welcomes the decision to reconvene the EU-Israel Association Council.

Unfortunately, the international community regards certain issues pertaining to relations with Israel controversial. Lithuania consistently upholds the position of the UN and the EU that peace in the Middle East can be assured only by way of negotiations when a decision based on coexistence of the two states is reached. The status of Jerusalem is an integral part of such two-state solution package.

Full story here.

2018-08-242018-08-27

Israeli PM Asks for Baltic Support to Step Up EU Pressure on Iran

Photo: Julius Kalinskas/15min.lt

VILNIUS, August 24, BNS – Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday asked for the Baltic countries’ support in increasing EU pressure on Iran.

Speaking after a meeting with the three Baltic prime ministers in Vilnius, Netanyahu strongly criticized the European Commission’s decision announced Thursday to provide 18 million euros to Iran.

“I think that the decision yesterday by the EU to give 18 million euros to Iran is a big mistake. It’s like a poison pill,” he said.

2018-08-242018-08-27

Netanyahu: I Would Like to Balance EU’s Unfriendly Stance on Israel

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and wife Sarah depart Ben-Gurion Airport for Lithuania, August 23, 2018. (photo credit: AMOS BEN GERSHOM, GPO)

During his stay, Netanyahu will participate in a memorial ceremony for Jewish Holocaust victims, an award ceremony for the Righteous Among the Nations, among others.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is flying Thursday to Lithuania for a three-day trip to hold bilateral diplomatic meetings with the heads of the Baltic states, who will also be arriving in the European country.

“I would also like to balance the EU’s unfriendly stance towards the State of Israel in order to achieve a more fair and genuine relationship with the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said before he boarded the plane. “I have achieved this through cooperating with groups of countries within the EU, Eastern Europe and now with the Baltic countries and of course, with other countries,” he added.

During his stay Netanyahu will participate in a memorial ceremony for Jewish Holocaust victims, an award ceremony for the Righteous among the Nations and additional events.

He will return to Israel on Sunday.

2018-08-232018-08-27

Israeli PM Netanyahu to Arrive in Lithuania

VILNIUS, August 23, BNS–Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is arriving in Lithuania for an historic visit Thursday.

Netanyahu’s four-day visit is aimed at securing greater support from the Baltic countries for pressure on Iran and paying tribute to the Jewish heritage in Lithuania.

Lithuania would like Israel to take a tougher stance toward Russia.

“We need to better understand each other’s security policy challenges, because security is indivisible, and problems in one region can move to other regions, too,” Government vice-chancellor Deividas Matulionis told BNS.

Lithuanian prime minister Saulius Skvernelis and Netanyahu are scheduled to meet for talks Thursday evening before being joined by Latvian and Estonian counterparts Friday. Netanyahu is also to meet Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite Friday.

2018-08-232018-08-27

Endowment Fund of the Good Will Foundation

By a decision of the Board of Directors of the Good Will Foundation, funds that have been set aside from the annual payments by the Government to the GWF will now be invested as allowed under the law and according to the recommendations of the Good Will Investment Committee. The Investment Committee (Daiva Gerulytė, Harold Paisner, Krzysztof A. Rozen and Rokas Grajauskas) has proposed equally dividing these funds (now approximately 9 million Euro) between passive, long-term investments and an active investment portfolio managed by a reputable financial advisor. The goal of this Endowment Fund is to provide for the continued support of Lithuanian Jewish communal life once the annual payments have ceased. The Investment Committee will continue to monitor the progress of this investment strategy and recommend changes when and if necessary.

2018-08-22

Israeli PM Netanyahu to Make Historic Visit to Lithuania This Week

VILNIUS, Aug 20, BNS–Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to pay a visit to Lithuania this week, Lithuanian Government officials confirmed to BNS on Monday.

Netanyahu, who is to arrive in Lithuania for the first visit by an Israeli prime minister on Thursday, is scheduled to meet with his Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian counterparts, as well as with Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė and the local Jewish community.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said on the eve of the visit that Israel is a strategic Middle East partner of Lithuania.

2018-08-202018-08-26

Events to Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Destruction of the Vilnius Ghetto

Programme

September 18

2:00 P.M. Reading of the names of prisoners of the Šiauliai ghetto, library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, Žygimantų street no. 1 (time subject to change)

September 21

3.00 P.M. Ceremony to unveil memory stones commemorating Lithuania’s Righteous Gentiles, Garden of the Missionaries, Mairono street.

September 22

6:00 P.M. Premiere of the play Ghetto, Kaunas National Drama Theater, Laisvės prospect no. 71

September 23

10:00 A.M. Reading of the names of Vilnius ghetto prisoners, Choral Synagogue, Pylimo street no. 39
12 noon Readings from the diary of Yitzhak Rudashevski in the former ghetto (location to be announced)
2:00 P.M. Commemoration ceremony at the Ponar mass murder site, Ponar Memorial Complex, Agrastų street
* Pope Francis to honor Holocaust victims in ghetto territory in Vilnius Old Town
6.00 P.M. World Premiere by Giedrius Kuprevičius “Under David’s Star”, Vaidila Theatre, A. Jakšto street no. 9

September 26

6:00 P.M. Tenor Rafailas Karpis, pianist Darius Mažintas and poet Sergejus Kanovičius present “Embrace the Past Tense.” Can Yiddish and Lithuanian meet under one roof? Is it possible to recognize a lullaby if it is sung in unknown words? Is dialogue possible between those singing in Yiddish and those reading their work in Lithuanian? Can love, longing and shared grief meet in memory? The Old Arsenal, Arsenalo street no. 3

September 27

6:00 P.M. Evening of Vilna Ghetto songs by Marija Krupoves, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4

September 28

Commemorative Sabbath, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4

October 4

6:30 P.M. “Heroism against Destruction,” an evening of creativity by Nechama Lifshitz Ensemble (Israel) dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Theater Hall, Vilnius University, Universiteto street no. 3

For more information write info@lzb.lt or call +370 672 40942

2018-08-202018-09-17

Poet and Bard Aleksandr Ravve’s Birthday Celebrated in Kaunas

On July 27, 2018, the Youth, Art and Music Department of the Vincas Kudirka Public Library in Kaunas hosted a midday birthday party for chairman Galim Sitdykov of the G. Derzhavim Russian Literature Club and for poet and bard Aleksandr Ravve. Club deputy chairwoman and soloist Rima Kazėnienė presented aspects of their biography, career and success to the audience. Friends from the club, members of public organizations and just friends congratulated the birthday boys.

Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas spoke with warmth and humor giving birthday congratulations, as did Union of Kaunas Military Veterans Valeri Leshchenko, Kaunas Russian Community chairman Vyacheslav Afonin, Dr. Jonas Radzvinavičius of the Tartar newspaper Lietuvos totoriai, Petras Grinius, Vladas Vaitkevičius, Margarita Milierienė, Loreta Vaitkuvienė and Galina Kuchtova.

Ilver Vazirov and other musicians performed original works and popular songs in four languages: Russian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian and Georgian. The evening culminated in the reading of a letter by the literary club deputy chairman Yuri Malkov sending birthday greetings on the occasion of their 70th.

2018-08-10

Court Order to Hand Documents Over to Vilnius Jewish Community Invalidated

The Vilnius Jewish Community has been involved for some time now in trying to demand through the courts certain documents–namely the membership rolls of the Vilnius Jewish Community and a collection of financial accounting documents–from Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, who served as chairwoman of the Vilnius Jewish Community as well until May of 2017.

The annual reporting and election conference of the VJC on May 25, 2017, resolved not to consider the agenda item of confirming the VJC financial and activities report for 2016, and the new VJC leadership was elected without giving account to VJC members of the use of funds in 2016. The new leadership of the VJC was obligated, of course, to take on all functions in connection with managing VJC financial and membership issues.

It remains unclear on what basis and for what motivations the new VJC leadership attempted to demand from LJC chairwoman Kukliansky a signed draft of the VJC’s financial accountability if it wasn’t considered and confirmed at the May 24, 2017, conference by those who drafted it, now the leadership of the VJC executive board. Currently a portion of the membership of the VJC are also challenging in court the legitimacy of that conference’s decisions.

On June 6, 2018, the Vilnius City District Court issued a decision ordering Kukliansky to turn over to the plaintiff the list of members of the VJC and the draft financial accounting statement for 2016. On July 31, 2018, the Vilnius City Regional Court annulled this decision, stating the lower court had misapplied procedural legal norms and had failed to take into account all the circumstances of the case. It was noted the alleged lack of the outdated list of VJC members and financial accounting draft documents didn’t present any objective barriers to the current VJC leadership in carrying out institutional activity.

2018-08-102018-08-22

Tunklgold Concert a Rousing Success

Jascha Heifetz Hall on the third floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius was filled Thursday for a concert concluding the summer course of the Vilnius Yiddish Institute at Vilnius University.

Vocalist Regina Hopfgartner with Gregor Unterkofler on piano and backup vocals performed a program of old Yiddish favorites to the audience of staff and students from the summer course and staff and members of the LJC as well as interested members of the public.

The duo performed in Yiddish but the introduction to each song was given in English. Both the Yiddish and the English had a hint of German, and in “Bei Mir Bisttu Shane,” the culmination of the concert, there was no separating the accents. The audience gave a long standing ovation and came out to give their personal congratulations to the performers in the foyer.

2018-08-082018-08-22