Wooden Synagogue in Alanta Renovated
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LJC, International Comminission and Olga Lengyel Institute Holding Holocaust Seminars for Teachers
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LJC Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky Speaks at Commemoration of Grosse
Aktion in Kaunas
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Šiauliai Opens Righteous Gentile Square at the Intersection of Vilniaus and Ežero Streets at Former Ghetto Gates
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"Symphony from Jerusalem of the North” Mark Day of Lithuanian Jewish Victims of Genocide in Presidential Courtyard
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The renovated synagogue in Žiežmariai will become a new cultural center. The first synagogue in appeared sometime between 1690 and 1696. In the 19th century there three synagogues. Not surprising, since the majority of the population were Jewish. This synagogue which has survived and has now been renovated stands in the southern part of town between Vilniaus and Žalgirio streets, with the Strėva river flowing from southeastward from there.
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The Lithuanian Post Office has issued a stamp commemorating 300 years since the birth of the Vilna Gaon
The Lithuanian Post Office has issued a stamp commemorating 300 years since the birth of the Vilna Gaon
with a face value of 0.81 euros, enough to mail letters abroad.
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Lithuania Marks 300th Anniversary of Birth of Vilna Gaon, 2020 Named Year of the Gaon and Litvak History.
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Most important events at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in 2018
Most important events at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in 2018
Revival of Jewish Scouting in Lithuania: The first new Litvak scouting camping trip with children from Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Panevėžys and Molėtai took place August 24 to 26.
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Jewish newspapers and advertisements from Vilnius in the period between the two world wars. Jews and other minorities were given equal rights in the reconstituted Lithuanian state. Yiddish thrived with many newspapers and books published in the language.
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WJC Hanukkah Greetings

WJC Hanukkah Greetings

Dear Friends,

The Festival of Lights will soon be upon us, but it is a dark time for the Jewish people. We recently witnessed the horrific scenes of the slaughter perpetrated by Hamas in Israel and the abduction of children, women and men. This vile hatred has spread like a malignant cancer and has led to an exponential rise in anti-Semitism around the world.

When the Maccabees stood up to those who sought to suppress Jewish life and traditions and found the Temple in ruins, they persevered. With only enough oil to light the Menorah for one night, they didn’t lose faith. Tragically, the story of Hanukkah takes on greater relevance and urgency this year.

We are all encouraged some points of light have been able to penetrate the darkness with the release of dozens of individuals who had been held captive, and we pray for the speedy release of all the remaining hostages.

It is my fervent hope that you are fortunate enough to be able to celebrate Hanukkah with your loved ones, and that the light of the Menorah will illuminate a path toward better days ahead for us all.

With warmest wishes to you this Hanukkah,

Ronald S. Lauder, president
World Jewish Congress

Hanukkah Celebration for Seniors

Hanukkah Celebration for Seniors

The Saul Kagan Welfare Center of the Lithuanian Jewish Community greets you all on Hanukkah and invites our clients to come celebrate Hanukkah at 1:00 P.M. on December 13 on the third floor of the LJC in Vilnius. Registration is required by calling (+370) 678 81514. Please register before 3:00 P.M. on Monday, December 11.

Hag sameakh!

Let’s Make a Hanukkah Miracle Happen

Let’s Make a Hanukkah Miracle Happen

Hanukkah begins today at sundown. The eight-day holiday symbolizes the miracle of the victory of light over darkness. Today Sandra Cohen from Lithuania and her two sons Liam and Dylan need that kind of miracle.

Sandra, a Lithuanian citizen, lived peacefully with her three children in the Be’eri kibbutz until October 7, when Hamas attacked.

The terrorists entered Sandra’s home. Her husband Oher was brutally murdered and her son Liam was wounded by ricochet fragments. Her 10-month-old daughter Mila was shot in her mother’s arms. The bullet passed through the baby and wounded Mila. Her three-year-old son Dylan survived but experienced extreme trauma. Everything took place in front of the family.

Sandra has been recovering at Ikhilov Hospital in Tel Aviv for two months now. She still needs surgery to remove the bullet from her body. Liam is also recovering from his wounds, and all three surviving family members still need a good deal of time to return to some semblance of normal life.

They have no home to which to return. The terrorists burnt their home and those of others on the kibbutz to the ground. Everything they had and treasures was lost–photographs, children’s drawings, toys… Only one photo survived, that of Mila, on her Lithuanian passport, which Sandra still hadn’t received on October 7.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites everyone to help make a Hanukkah miracle happen by helping Sandra’s family. Even the smallest donation is very welcome for helping Sandra and her children.

In Lithuania donations can be made by addressing a bank transfer to “Lietuvos žydų (litvakų) bendruomenė” at the bank account LT167044060000907924 for Sandra Cohen.

In other countries address your donation to Sandra Cohen at Bank Hapoalim B.M., IBAN number IL84-0126-3400-0000-0168-502, SWIFT code POALILIT.

Thank you.

Maria Krupoves Lecture and Concert

Maria Krupoves Lecture and Concert

Eastern European folklore and folk-song expert and performer Maria Krupoves-Berg will present a lecture and concert at the Lithuanian National Library’s Hall of Statehood at 6:00 P.M. on December 14. The event is free and open to the public.

The event called “The Sounds of Eastern European Jewish History and Music” sponsored by the National Library’s Judaica Studies Center will talk about and demonstrate genres of Yiddish song and how some songs became a kind of national anthem, accompanying Ashkenazi and especially Litvaks at crucial points in history, reflecting yidishe neshama, Jewish identity. Krupoves will perform with Boris Kizner on violin. The scheduled duration is one and a half hours.

Big Hanukkah Finale

Big Hanukkah Finale

The Lithuanian Jewish Community, the Vilnius Religious Jewish Community and the Shalom Aleichem ORT Gymnasium invite you to a big event to mark the eighth and final day of Hanukkah on Friday, December 15. It all happens at the Litexpo exhibit and concert center in Vilnius starting at 7:00 P.M. Students will perform a play called “Hanukkah: The Festival of Light,” the musical group Yes Duet will perform, the dance troupe Simcha will appear and Arkadijus Vinokuras will be there with another quiz/game show, along with more singing, dancing and dinner. Michailas Frišmanas will serve as master of ceremonies and madrichs will be on hand to provide child-care and children’s holiday activities.

The cost is €20 for adults and €10 for children under 13. Payment can be made by bank transfer to the LJC’s account LT067044060005757425 with purpose of payment indicated as Hanukkah and the names of the people for whom payment is being made. Registration must be made before December 13 by filling out the internet form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfR6VpFNmGPs9k_1z42Jwt20x563ULujZoIFInjcJuLi1VuDQ/viewform

For more information, call (+370) 659 52604.

Hope to see you there!

Annual Makabi Doubles Tennis Championship

Annual Makabi Doubles Tennis Championship

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club held their annual doubles tennis championship at Vilnius’s SEB Arena November 19, where new players as well as veterans made a very good showing.

Players competed in Light and Hard categories for newcomers and old hands.

Among the promising newer players were the brothers Danielis and Emilis Čeliadinas. Accomplished player Alisa Gaivaronskytė didn’t disappoint, and neither did the brothers Kęstutis and Norbertas Faktarovičius. Alisa with teammate Danielius Merkinas took first place, followed by the Faktarovičius duo, with Marius Zimanas and Donaldas Andziulis placing third. Danielis and Emilis took a very respectable fourth place.

In the veterans’ group Makabi’s Valentina Finkelštein with Aniceta Zamalaitienė came in first, followed by Ingrida and Raimondas Sklenys in second, Eduardas Gurvičius with Makabi’s Diana Zimanienė placed third and Ilja Bereznickas and Tatjana Podkolzina taking fourth place.

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Amehaye Winter Day Camps 2023

Amehaye Winter Day Camps 2023

The Lithuanian Jewish Community is pleased to announce Amehaye weekend day camps on December 8 through 10 and December 15 through 17 for children 17 and under. The camp is free for children of members.

Seven to 17-year olds will be provided day camps on December 8-10 and December 15-17, and should register with Viljamas Žitkauskas at viljamas@lzb.lt or by telephone at (+370) 67816741, and parents can contact him for more information.

Four to 6-year-olds will have weekend day camps on December 9-10 and December 16-17, and those interested should contact Margarita Koževatova at margarita.kozevatova@gmail.com or by telephone at (+370) 61800577. Registration closes at midnight December 6.

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Light the First Hanukkah Light with Us

Light the First Hanukkah Light with Us

Hanukkah begins this Thursday, an eight-day winter holiday symbolizing the victory of light over darkness. The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to attend the lighting of the first Hanukkah light with Rabbi Aharon Baskin at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius at 5:00 P.M. this Thursday, December 7. There will be wine, the traditional doughnuts and many new friends.

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 3:40 P.M. on Friday, December 1, and concludes at 5:00 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

Concert in Remembrance of Grigoriy Kanovitch

Concert in Remembrance of Grigoriy Kanovitch

The Šalom, Akmenė! project with the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum are holding a concert to remember the late novelist Grigoriy Kanovitch. It is to include students from art schools in the Akmenė and Joniškis regions and students from the Song Cathedral of the Music Academy of Vytautas Magnus University. The program includes songs in Yiddish.

Time: 3:00 P.M., Sunday, December 3
Place: Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon Museum, Naugarduko street no. 10, Vilnius

The concert is free and open to the public.

Condolences

With deep sadness we report the death of Henry Kissinger. He was born May 27, 1933, to a German Jewish family and went on to serve as secretary of state and national security advisor under US presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and remained the main voice of American foreign policy under president Jimmy Carter. He was the architect of US foreign policy who engineered the withdrawal of US troops from South Viet Nam “with dignity” (for which he was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973), Nixon’s overture to Red China, NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Yugoslavia–calling for the “Finlandization” of the constituent break-away republics–and of policy surrounding the dismantling of the Soviet Union and the emergent Russian Federation. An outstanding proponent of the State of Israel, although he refused to take up the cause of Soviet refuseniks as antithetical to US interests–and he seemed to have a personal antipathy towards Soviet Jews–, in more recent times he was an outspoken proponent for peace in the Ukraine, calling upon NATO to take Russia’s security concerns seriously and for the parties involved to develop a real post-Cold War security architecture for Europe which would take Russia’s legitimate security interests into account. He died aged 100. Our deepest condolences to his many friends and family members.

Special Guest from Israel to Perform Concert for Vilnius Audience

Special Guest from Israel to Perform Concert for Vilnius Audience

Professor David Shemer is a professor at the at the Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, the founder, director, art director and conductor of the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra and a world-renowned harpsichord player as well as the organizer of different musical projects and festivals in Israel.

On November 30 David presents an extraordinary musical program for chamber orchestra and harpsichord to the Vilnius audience. Many of the works will be played for the first time ever in Lithuania. The program includes classical music performed by the professor and the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra from Vilnius. This is the cultural event of the month in Vilnius.

Time: 7:00 P.M., Thursday, November 30
Place: St. Kotryna Church, Vilniaus street no. 30, Vilnius

Condolences

We are sad to report the death of Markas Javičius. He was born in 1938 and was a member of the Kaunas Jewish Community, and a client of the LJC Saul Kagan Social Welfare Center. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife, son and many friends and family members.

Invitation

Invitation

Dear reader,

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky sends heartfelt greetings on the occasion of the upcoming Hanukkah holiday and wishes you light and strength in your heart during this complex time.

You are cordially invited to attend the lighting of the first Hanukkah light at 5:00 P.M. on December 7 at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius.

Chag Hanukkah sameach!

Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community

Hamas Agrees to Release 50 Hostages

Hamas Agrees to Release 50 Hostages

Hamas has agreed to release 50 women and children it took as hostages on October 7 in exchange for a 4-day surcease in hostilities and the release of 150 women in jail in Israel. The Israeli cabinet of ministers approved the deal early today. The Israeli Government also said it was open to a halt in fighting for the release of 10 hostages per day. The deal came into effect at 7:00 A.M. on Friday. A Qatari mediator said the hostage release will begin at 4:00 P.M. Friday.