The Lithuanian Jewish Community express our deepest condolences to the people of Turkey following the March 13 attack on central Ankara. Terrorism is a threat the Lithuanian Jewish Community understands well and remains a great challenge to 21st century society. We condemn the perpetrators of this vicious kind of crime who hold hostage the lives and safety of many civilians.
Israel’s ambassador to Lithuania Amir Maimon met with Kaunas mayor Visvaldas Matijošaitis and other city council members last week. Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas attended the meeting as well. The ambassador praised cooperation with the city of Kaunas in culture and business. Kaunas businesspeople involved in the food sector were invited to meet investors from Israel in Vilnius at the beginning of April, and the mayor was invited to attend a meeting of European city mayors in Jerusalem.
Representatives of the Vilnius Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium visited the Vilnius Developmentally Disabled Infant Center March 8 and were warmly received by director Viktorija Grežėnienė. The students delivered donations and visited some of the small wards of the center. The donations included a sofa-bed, musical mobiles and educational games which the students purchased with funds raised by a food and crafts fair held on the Tu b’Shvat holiday. Students made their own dishes and snacks as well as art works and sold them to other students during the fair.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community took part in a holiday parade in Vilnius together with other celebrants. Snapshots from that event available here.
BNS–March 11 Lithuania celebrated 26 years of independence. Conferences, ceremonies and exhibits were held in different cities. A special session of parliament was held to mark the historical separation from the Soviet Union, after which a ceremony to raise the flags of the three Baltic states was held outside on Independence Square, followed by a procession to Cathedral Square.
The parade of nationalists and neo-Nazis which has marred Lithuanian independence day celebrations for 7 years in a row went forward this March 11 as well.
Despite attempts by organizers to make the event acceptable and mainstream by calling it “traditional” and “patriotic” and to play down the swastikas and calls for the death of ethnic minorities prominent in earlier years, this year’s march was smaller than last year’s.
From 200 to 300 people, according to estimates by outsiders, gathered at the statue on Cathedral Square at around 4:00 P.M. on March 11, the more important of Lithuania’s two independence days which marks the date in 1990 when the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet parliament declared independence from the Soviet Union. The square was the final point by another march earlier in the day dedicated to celebrating Lithuanian independence and tolerance, which travelled the same route but in the opposite direction, from Independence Square outside the Lithuanian parliament to Cathedral Square. A large trailer painted military colors behind the gathering at the statue for the 4 o’clock march was outfitted with an oven and volunteers dressed as Lithuanian soldiers were still passing out free hot food to children as a variety of Lithuanian ultranationalists, neo-Nazis, biker gang members and various followers milled about waiting for the march.
Donald Trump’s Quick-to-Offend Style Wins Israeli Admirers–Despite Questions
by Naomi Zeveloff
As Donald Trump’s campaign surges to front-runner status on shock value in America, his bombast is familiar to a certain type of Israeli.
“He’s a no-bullshitter,” said Doron Mizrachi, owner of a South Tel Aviv restaurant that sells bourekas, or Middle Eastern puff pastries. Mizrachi concedes that customers in this left-wing neighborhood sometimes bristle at his unabashedly right-wing politics: “I’m like Donald Trump,” he explained. “I say the facts.”
Trump’s bluster may, in fact, often obscure his shifting and hard-to-pin-down stances on many issues, like whether he welcomed or disavowed the support of Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. But this dedication to perceived “straight talk” is embedded in mainstream Israeli Jewish culture.
There is even a name for it. Israelis pride themselves on speaking dugri. Adopted into Hebrew from Arabic, the term means to speak bluntly, even if it comes at the expense of the listener’s feelings. (In Arabic the word connotes truthfulness.)
An Amazing Turn for a Major Leader of the American Jewish Mainstream: David Gordis Rethinking Israel
David Gordis has served as vice president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles (now American Jewish University). He also served as executive vice president of the American Jewish Committee and was the founding director of the Foundation for Masorti Judaism in Israel. He founded and directed the Wilstein Institute for Jewish Policy Studies which became the National Center for Jewish Policy Studies.
David Gordis is president emeritus of Hebrew College where he served as president and professor of Rabbinics for fifteen years. He is currently visiting senior scholar at the University at Albany of the State University of New York. Here is the article he submitted to Tikkun. We publish it with the same sadness that Gordis expresses at the end of this article, because many of us at Tikkun magazine shared the same hopes he expresses below for an Israel that would make Jews proud by becoming an embodiment of what is best in Jewish tradition, history, and ethics, rather than a manifestation of all the psychological and spiritual damage that has been done to our people, which now acts as an oppressor to the Palestinian people. For those of us who continue to love Judaism and the wisdom of our Jewish culture and traditions, pointing out Israel’s current distortions gives us no pleasure, but only saddens us deeply.
–Rabbi Michael Lerner
Reflections on Israel 2016
David M. Gordis
While reading Ethan Bronner’s review of a new biography of Abba Eban, I was reminded of a time when in a rare moment I had the better of a verbal encounter with Eban. It happened about thirty years ago at a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which brought together leaders of American Jewish organizations, sometimes to hear from a visiting dignitary, in this case Eban, Israel’s eloquent voice for many years. I was attending as Executive Vice President of the American Jewish Committee. Eban had a sharp wit as well as a sharp tongue. He began his remarks with a mildly cynical remark: “I’m pleased, as always, to meet with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, though I wonder where the presidents of minor American Jewish organizations might be.” I piped up from the audience: “They are busy meeting with minor Israeli government officials.” A mild amused reaction followed and Eban proceeded with his remarks.
Palestinian women passing an Israeli police checkpoint in Jerusalem, October 8, 2015.
photo: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
TEL AVIV (JTA)–Nearly half of Jewish Israelis want to expel Arabs from the country.
That’s one of several findings from a new survey of Israeli attitudes on religion, politics and Jewish identity conducted by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center.
Coming just three years after Pew’s much-discussed study of Jewish-Americans, the Israel study depicts a country divided by religion and ethnicity, where Jews of opposing religious outlooks rarely associate and marriages that cross the Jewish-Arab divide almost never happen.
Israel is 81% Jewish and 19% non-Jewish, according to the survey. Among the Jews, half are secular. The other half is divided among traditional (29%), religious Zionists (13%) and haredi Orthodox (9%).
The study, released Tuesday morning, is based on 5,600 interviews with Israelis conducted between October, 2014 and May, 2015. It has a margin of error of 2.9% on questions asked of Jews and 5.6% for those asked of Muslims. Many of the findings confirm commonly held views about Israel, but here are six that might surprise you.
1. Nearly half of Jewish Israelis want Israel to be Arab-free.
by Orit Arfa/JNS.org
Andreas Boldt can’t help but effuse praise and love for Israel almost any chance he gets–even with his kids. In some of his Facebook posts, the 37-year-old has his blonde-haired children (ages 5-13) passionately singing “Adon Olam” and “Hatikvah.” Documenting a recent trip to Israel, he took particular pride in his meeting with IDF major general Doron Almog (retired), the first commando to land on the Entebbe runway in the famous 1976 hostage-rescue mission. With his bright blue eyes, carefully trimmed beard, and fit build, he sometimes models on facebook with the Israeli and German flags.
A casual observer might think he has some sort of irrational or religious obsession with Israel, but sitting down with Boldt over coffee at Kaffehaus Einstein in Berlin, ahead of his February trip–his sixth to the Jewish state–Boldt said his support for Israel is dictated entirely by reason and ethics.
“People ask me: Why do I support Israel this way? Why do I put in so much effort, time, and money into Israel? There is no people, no state on the planet that has so many enemies, that’s fighting so much in this life, like the Jewish people and the state of Israel,” he told JNS.org.
For Boldt, supporting Israel is the only rational, humanitarian choice for a thinking, freedom-loving person. Germany’s “historical responsibility” to address its Holocaust past has nothing to do with Boldt’s support, nor should it, he said.
“I refuse to think about historical responsibility as a German,” said Boldt. “I know the history, and I think that every human being is responsible to help their fellow human beings.”
Full story here.
by Shiryn Ghermezian
German car manufacturer Bavarian Motor Works (BMW) expressed regret on Monday for using forced labor to help supply weapons components to the Nazis during WWII, the UK’s Daily Mail reported.
Under the National Socialist regime in the 1930s and ’40s, BMW operated exclusively as a supplier to the German arms industry, the company said in a statement. As demand for its aero engines increased, BMW recruited forced laborers, convicts and prisoners from concentration camps to assist in manufacturing them.
Dear Friends,
Please find below EJC’s statement following Slovakia’s elections where the neo-Nazi party Our Slovakia gained 14 parliamentary seats, entering the National Council for the first time.
Thank you and kind regards,
The EJC team
*********
EJC Expresses Deep Concern about Growth of Neo-Nazi Parties in Europe after Our Slovakia Makes Gains in Parliamentary Elections
(Brussels, Monday, March 7, 2016)–European Jewish Congress president Dr. Moshe Kantor has expressed alarm and concern after the latest neo-Nazi party made gains in a European national parliamentary election. A neo-Nazi party named Our Slovakia has gained 14 parliamentary seats in Slovakia’s elections, entering the National Council for the first time. The far-right extremists scored 8 percent in an election that failed to produce a majority result.
World Jewish Congress to meet in Buenos Aires March 15-17; Argentine president Macri to address delegates
International Jewish leaders to convene in Argentina to discuss unresolved terror attacks
Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky to attend plenary session
NEW YORK/BUENOS AIRES–More than 400 Jewish community leaders from around the world are expected to gather in Buenos Aires next week, as the World Jewish Congress (WJC) holds a special session of its Plenary Assembly, the organization’s highest decision-making body. Argentina’s [resident Mauricio Macri will deliver a keynote speech at the opening event of the assembly, and Paraguay’s president Horacio Cartés will be awarded the Latin American Jewish Congress’ Shalom Prize for his support for Israel.
WJC President Ronald S. Lauder said ahead of the Plenary Assembly meeting: “This will perhaps be the largest gathering of international Jewish leaders in Latin America in recent decades. We look forward to fruitful discussions and to a show of solidarity with the Jewish community of Argentina, the largest and most vibrant in Latin America.
Publisher, translator and editor Rina Zak [Zhak, Žak, Рина Жак], one of the iconic figures in Russian-speaking Israel, is also well known outside of the biggest linguistic community in the country. Rina also engages in educational activities, in the everyday activities of the Geographical Society of Israel and in the periodical press, writing in Isrageo magazine, as well as on facebook, where she posts little-known passages from Jewish and Israeli history. Rina Zak was born in Kaunas and was graduated from the Journalism Faculty of Vilnius University.
We are pleased to offer for your consideration a passage by Rina Zak:
Markas Petuchauskas: Theater in the Shadow of Death
In 2015 he published a book of memoirs of his time as a young prisoner of the Vilnius ghetto called “Price of Concord.”
Strange as it might seem to some, the ghetto was a venue for musical performances and festivals, literary competitions and art exhibitions. There clinics and hospitals, schools and kindergartens, a youth club and a café. There were plans for a museum, a publishing operation… but these ideas were not destined to happen. The Vilnius ghetto lasted only two years, and its population of about 40 thousand people was almost completely exterminated.
Lithuania is celebrating 26 years of the restoration of independence this year. We’re inviting members and friends of the Lithuanian Jewish Community to assemble at Independence Square in front of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library at 11:45 A.M. on March 11 to watch the ceremonial raising of the flags of the three Baltic states and to join the holiday procession from there to Cathedral Square. Together, let’s create a tolerant Lithuania free from stereotypes and hate!
The boys’ swim team of the Vilnius Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium took first place in intermural competition in Vilnius. This is a first in the history of the school! Now we’ll go on to the Lithuanian intermural competitions in Kėdainiai.
Congratulations to the boys and to their trainer, Ela Pavinskienė!
A working group for refurbishing the old Jewish cemetery in Žaliakalnis neighborhood of Kaunas met March 3. Under an agreement with the municipal administration, experts from the public agency Registrų centras [Registry Center] performed a survey and inventory of the Žaliakalnis Jewish cemetery. All gravestones were counted (5,808) and every grave was assigned a number and its exact location determined. This work took about 2 months and cost 8,000 euros. It was financed by the city of Kaunas. The work performed so far will allow the next steps to be taken: to photograph each grave, to read and translate headstone inscriptions, to identify the graves (to determine the identity of the people buried) and to create a virtual database. After that’s done, drafting and implementing a technical plan for refurbishing the cemetery will be possible. So far there is no funding for these tasks, so the plan is to approach different foundations, and the idea of recruiting volunteers for grave identification is also being considered.
The municipality is preparing a territorial planning document (designating the plot of land) for the cemetery and is planning to set up surveillance cameras at cemeteries this spring. The cemetery is always mowed and maintained.
A large group of Kaunas Jewish Community members are spending their weekends attending swimming exercises held by the Makabi Athletics Club at the newly renovated Girstutis pool complex. The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Goodwill Fund have extended financial support to the Kaunas Makabi Athletics Club so that members can make use of the sports and recreation center.
The Catholic newspaper and website bernardai.lt now has a video outlet as well and has presented a feature on the new Bagel Shop Café located at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. The video presentation in Lithuanian, Hebrew and English features short conversations with Lithuania’s two new rabbis on the meaning of kosher food and cooking, as well as a brief interview with Smhuel Levin, the chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish Religious Community, among others.
To view the interview, please direct your browser here.
Photo courtesy JDC
by Cnaan Liphshiz
SZARVAS, Hungary (JTA)–Escaping a sudden downpour in the summer of 2012, Andras Paszternak and Barbi Szendy ran to find cover inside an empty cabin at their Jewish summer camp, Szarvas, 100 miles east of Budapest.
The two senior counselors, then 31 and 36 respectively, chatted as rain drenched the sprawling compound where they had passed every summer since their early teens.
“I suddenly noticed I was holding Barbi’s hand,” Paszternak, a Hungarian Jew from Slovakia, said in recalling the day when he began his romantic relationship with his Hungarian Jewish wife.
March 4, 2016, No. 197
To:
the honorable Algirdas Butkevičius
Government of the Republic of Lithuania
Gedimino prospect 11
Vilnius 01103
the honorable Remigijus Šimašius
Konstitucijos prospect 3
LT-09601 Vilnius
the honorable Visvaldas Matijošaitis
Laisves alley 96
LT-44251 Kaunas
cc:
Chancellory of the President of the Republic of Lithuania
S. Daukanto square 3
LT-01122 Vilnius
Statement
March 4, 2016
Vilnius
The Lithuanian Jewish Community proposes the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and the municipal governments of the cities of Vilnius and Kaunas take all possible measures to ensure the holiday to mark the 26th anniversary of the restoration of the Lithuanian state does not include neo-Nazi chants, marches and symbols and events of a similar nature.
We would like to underline the importance of this holiday for all of Lithuania’s citizens, including the Litvak community in Lithuania with its unique and long-standing traditions, and the importance of fostering in the international arena an image of Lithuania as a modern state based on democratic principles and celebrating a tradition of multiculturalism over many centuries.
We would like to remind you of the march held by the Union of Patriotic Youth and the Lithuanian National center on March 11, 2015 with permission from the Vilnius municipality. This march featured fascist and racist symbols and chants and slogans promoting ideas of segregation.
The Government and the municipal institutions should continue to make efforts so that neo-Nazi ideas do not become acceptable in Lithuanian society and especially that they shouldn’t be propagated under cover of state holidays and through manipulation of the concept of patriotism.
Sincerely,
Faina Kukliansky
chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community
