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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Court Declines New Hearing on Lithuanian Jewish Community Regulations Case

The Lithuanian Jewish Community reminds readers the Vilnius District Court decision of November 22, 2017, found LJC regulation 7.1 on proportional regional representation at LJC elections null and void.

The Vilnius, Klaipėda, Ukmergė and Šiauliai Jewish Communities sought to renew hearings in this case, but because they sought to revisit the legal question rather than present any new facts, the court issued a decision it would not reopen the case. This decision was issued and came into effect April 18, 2018.

Section 4 of article 8 of the Lithuanian law on associations provides each member of an association without regard to the number of people making up a corporate entity has exacltly one vote at a general meeting of members (election conferences), and this insures the equality of all members and equality in decision making.

Having found a contradiction between the law and the regulations, the LJC board of directors sought to insure the legitimacy and transparency of upcoming elections and by April 19, 2017, voted in the majority to allow one LJC member one vote at the then-upcoming LJC election conference.

The LJC will continue to take all measures necessary to insure the transparency of its activities and adherence to the requirements of the laws of the Republic of Lithuania.

WJC Declaration for Israel’s 70th Birthday

The World Jewish Congress in Jerusalm Tuesday presented Israel’s president Reuven Rivlin their official “Declaration of the Jewish Diaspora’s Commitment to the State of Israel on the Occasion of the 70th Anniversary of the Establishment of the State of Israel.”

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky is a signatory to the declaration signed by 83 Jewish community leaders around the world.

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Notice Concerning Mini-Maccabiah Games

The Makabi Lithuanian Athletics Club is an associate member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community.

Following the statement by four regional Jewish communities (Klaipėda, Vilnius, Šiauliai and Ukmergė) expressing lack of confidence in the leadership of the LJC, which may be understood additionally as a lack of confidence in the leaders of the athletics club, we are compelled to state that the position of the aforementioned four LJC members does not reflect the opinion of the majority of LJC association members, of which there are 28.

In light of the situation which has arisen, it would not be appropriate to hold the Mini-Maccabiah Games in Klaipėda, because this could give the wrong impression to Lithuanian Jews and could be misinterpreted as some sort of support of the position adopted by the Klaipėda Jewish Community.

We will announce a new date and venue for the Mini-Maccabiah Games in the near future.

Semionas Finkelšteinas, president
Makabi Lithuanian Athletics Club

Healthy Living according to the Torah

Natalja Cheifec presents a new lecture in Lithuanian on the Torah’s attitude towards medicine and human health.

You will hear about:

–Maimonides’s 33 suggestions for remaining healthy into old age;
–the connection between physical and spiritual health;
–does the Jewish worldview have a place for vegetarianism?

and much, much more about how to avoid illness and preserve common sense.

The lecture is to take place at 6:00 P.M. on April 18 on the second floor of the LJC. Admission is free but registration is requested via internet at goo.gl/JbypwU

Piano Concert by Dmitri Levkovich

Time: 7:00 P.M., April 18
Place: Vaidila Theater, Jakšto street no. 9, Vilnius
Ticket price: 13 to 39 euros

Frédéric Chopin · 12 Études Op. 25
Frédéric Chopin · 12 Études Op. 10

DMITRI LEVKOVICH

Ukrainian-Canadian pianist Dmitri Levkovich (b. 1979) has been praised for “artistic sophistication far above the ordinary” by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and “understanding of the music far beyond most young pianists” by the American Record Guide. As a composer, he is known for “heartfelt melodies and big emotional surges,” according to the Broad Street Review.

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Concert Series Continues

The Returns concert series continues today with a performance by Atis Hiacetonas Bankas (Lithuania. Canada) on violin and Victoria Korchinskaya-Kogan (Canada) on piano at the Lithuanian Jewish Community at 6:00 P.M. today, Tuesday, April 17. Admission is free. For more information call 8655 25898 or (85) 2613171.

Condolences

Libė Pesė Lempert, born May 23, 1930, passed away April 16. Our deepest condolences to son Ilya Lempert, daughter-in-law Lara Lempert and all the grandchildren.

Užupis Jewish Cemetery Commemorative Monument Proposal Approved by LJC Advisory Group


The heritage issues advisory group of the Lithuanian Jewish Community has learned of plans for renovating the Užupis Jewish cemetery tendered by the Vilnius municipality and a composition called Arch made of desecrated headstone fragments used as stairs during the Soviet era.

The international creative team behind the Arch are architect Viktorija Sideraitė Alon, creator/designer Albinas Šimanauskas and Israeli architect consultant Anna Perelmuter. The composition uses a symbol created by the Litvak American painter Samuel Bak.

The heritage issues advisory group of the Lithuanian Jewish Community helps solve outstanding Lithuanian Jewish heritage issues professionally and effectively. The group includes Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, POLIN Polish Jewish museum advisor to the director and senior curator of exhibits; Assumpció Hosta, general secretary of the AEPJ; writer Sergejus Kanovičius, founder of Maceva and the Šeduva Jewish Memorial Fund; professor James E. Young of University of Massachusetts, Near Eastern Studies, English, Judaism; Samuel Kassow, doctor of philosophy, POLIN senior researcher specializing in 19th century history and the history between the world wars; Lyudmila Sholokhova, PhD, YIVO director of archives and library; and Sergey Kravtsov, senior researcher, Jewish Art Center, Hebrew University.

Experts unanimously supported the artists’ idea for commemorating the Jewish cemetery and offered a number of useful suggestions and observations which will be taken into consideration.

This week members of the advisory group plan to discuss the project proposals with the mayor and city administration specialists.

Later the project ideas and visualizations will be presented to the public.

Israel At 70

by AJC CEO David Harris

Israel celebrates its 70th anniversary this month. Let me put my cards on the table — I’m not dispassionate when it comes to Israel.

For centuries, Jews around the world prayed for a return to Zion. We are the lucky ones who have seen those prayers answered.

The establishment of the state in 1948; the fulfillment of its envisioned role as home and haven for Jews from anywhere and everywhere; its wholehearted embrace of democracy and the rule of law; and its impressive scientific, cultural, and economic achievements are extraordinary accomplishments.

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Israel Celebrates 70th Birthday

The Lithuanian Jewish Community will celebrate Israel’s 70th birthday with a concert on Israeli Independence Day, Iyar 5, which is April 19 this year. The day marks Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948, 70 years ago.

You are invited to a performance by the students from the Saulėtekis school in Vilnius at the Lithuanian Jewish Community.

The birthday bash will be held on the third floor of the LJC at Pylimo street no. 4 at 2:00 P.M. on Thursday, April 19. Admission is free.

Third International Baltic Way Children’s and Youth Chess Tournament

The third Vilnius international children’s and youth chess tournament Baltic Way, organized and attended by Gary Kasparov, chess world champion from 1985 to 1993, was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva in Vilnius on April 13. Children up to ten years of age competed. Parents weren’t allowed in the conference hall as the competition was held. FIDE master Boris Rositsan turned out to greet Gary Kasparov and the players. His student 9-year-old Augustinas Bazilius played in the tournament.

Study Shows Americans Forgetting Holocaust


Sonia Klein, now 92, survived Auschwitz and Majdanek concentration camps. “We are not here forever,” she said of the dwindling number of fellow survivors. Photo: Debbie Egan-Chin/NY Daily News via Getty Images file

A fifth of millennials aren’t sure they’ve ever heard of the Holocaust.

In 1945, Sonia Klein walked out of Auschwitz. Every day of the 73 years since she has been haunted by the memory of what happened there, and the fate of the millions who never made it out of the Nazi death camps.

But Klein wonders, once she and the few survivors still alive are gone, who will be left to remember?

“We are not here forever,” said Klein, now 92. “Most of us are up in years, and if we’re not going to tell what happened, who will?”

Klein’s worries are borne out by a comprehensive study of Holocaust awareness released Thursday, Holocaust Remembrance Day, which suggests that Americans are doing just the opposite.

Full story here.

Film “My Vilnius” at the LJC

The Lithuanian Jewish Community began marking Yom haShoa with a screening of the documentary film “My Vilnius” about centuries-old Jewish Vilna life snuffed out in the Holocaust.

Directors Saulius Beržinis and Vytautas Gradeckas and photographer Rimantas Dichavičius attended the screening on April 10. The soundtrack featured works by composer Anatolijus Šenderovas. At the same event an exhibit of works by graphic designer Ovidijus Talijūnas was also launched. Called “Manologas,” each picture features a letter of the Yiddish alphabet and an interpretation of the letter’s meaning.

The images of a lost world on screen with all the people, buildings, cemeteries and synagogues reminded the audience Vilnius was the Jerusalem of Lithuania before the Holocaust, sometimes called the spiritual center of Jewry. With that in mind, we listened intently on the eve of Holocaust Day, Yom haShoa, to photographer Rimantas Dichavičius who managed to capture something of what left after the Holocaust in Vilnius, namely, the Jewish cemetery on Olandų street destroyed in 1965.

Headstones were used as construction material and over the decades the approximately 10-hectare territory was overgrown with bushes and trees. The territory is currently being put in order and should feature a monument soon.

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LJC Holds Passover Camp

The Lithuanian Jewish Community offered children on school vacation the chance to attend a Passover camp. For three days boys and girls participated in events, under the supervision of camp counselors and teachers, including chemistry experiments, making Jewish souvenirs, dance classes, learning “Lego engineering” and a tour of Jewish sites in Vilnius.

Television personality Karina German and Nikita Jusupovas participated at the closing ceremony April 5.

Some of the thoughts among parents, children and camp counselors:

Viljamas: “It’s very good the community holds these kinds of camps during vacation. My children–I have two–enthusiastically participate in these programs. It’s important children get more information about their culture and traditions. I myself grew up in the community, and I think we see a continuity of events and activities, when children attend Jewish community camps. It’s very important for us to preserve our traditions and culture. I am a professional guide. My mission is to teach my children about history, heritage the culture of Lithuanian Jews. Today I told my children the story of ORT and we walked around Jewish Vilnius. The children liked it. I’m hoping they’ll want to learn more about the history of our city in the future as well.”

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Yom haShoa Commemoration at the LJC

Yom Ha Shoa aukų pagerbimas Lietuvos žydų (litvakų) bendruomenėje

Holocaust Day or Yom haShoa was marked at the Lithuanian Jewish Community Thursday with the sound of a siren blaring and standing in silence in memory the victims.

LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky recalled the family members she lost to the Holocaust buried in Kaktiškės, Lithuania. She lit a candle and recited their names. Survivors Mina Frishman, Shapsai Kholem and Fania Brancovskaja also lit candles, as did Ruta Kaplinsky, the daughter of Shmuel Kaplinski who guided a group escaping the Vilnius ghetto through the sewer.

Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Amir Maimon lit a candle in honor of those who heroically opposed the Holocaust, those who rescued Jewish children and the brave fighters and partisans. The ambassador spoke of the Warsaw Uprising; Israeli president Reuven Rivlin was in Warsaw today to mark the 75th anniversary of the uprising.

About 240,000 Jews lived in Lithuania before the Holocaust. Almost every town and village had a Jewish community. There are about 250 Jewish mass murder and mass grave sites known in Lithuania.

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Passover Greetings from Former Prime Minister

Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania

Honored chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community Faina Kukliansky,

I sincerely greet you personally and the Lithuanian Jewish Community on the occasion of the holiday of Passover.

The recollection of the remarkable pages of Jewish history allow us to take joy in the achievements which have been achieved over its long journey.

The liberation from the yoke of slavery in Egypt occupies a special place.

The holiday of Passover allows us to understand the value of the price of freedom and that the unity of the nation, of the community, is an essential precondition for not losing that freedom.

I greet the members of the Lithuanian Jewish Community a great holiday, in the spirit of joint effort and forgiveness towards one another.

With great honor and good wishes,

[signed]

Gediminas Kirkilas, chairman of the European Affairs Committee, deputy speaker of parliament

Documentary Film on Righteous Gentile

As part of commemorating Holocaust Day, the Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum invites the public to attend a screening of a documentary film about Irena Sendlerowa, a Righteous Gentile. The Polish Institute in Vilnius and the embassy of the Republic of Poland are helping organize the event to be held at 5:30 P.M. Wednesday, April 11, at the Tolerance Center, Naugarduko street no. 10/2, Vilnius. The film is in Polish with Lithuanian subtitles.