Lithuanian Jewish Community

Zurich Choir Performs at Choral Synagogue in Vilnius

Vilnius’s only working synagogue, the Choral Synagogue on Pylimo street, hosted a concert on the evening of Thursday, May 14, by the choir of the synagogue on Lowenstrasse in Zurich, Switzerland, conducted by Robert Braunschweig. The guests told the audience that while their Jewish community isn’t all that large, it is the largest in Europe at the current time, comprised of 400 families. The choir itself began over 90 years ago.

The audience was mainly members of the Vilnius Jewish community, with a few non-Jewish locals present as well. Haim Burstein, Lithuania’s chief rabbi, was in attendance, and the new Israeli ambassador to Lithuania, Amir Maimon, also attended. Bruno Kaspar, the Swiss consul in Lithuania, was also on hand.

2015-05-16

Reps of Jewish Orgs Invited to Take Part in World Lithuanian Economic Forum in Israel

Deputy Lithuanian foreign minister Mantvydas Bekešius on a working visit to Israel May 12 met in Tel Aviv with Lithuanian exile organizations Beit Vilna, Igud yotzel Lita and Israelita as well as honorary Lithuanian consuls.

Bekešius told organization representatives and consuls about an idea and program for a World Lithuanian Economic Forum to take place October 19 to 21 in Israel, and asked them to participate actively.

The deputy minister told of efforts to conserve Jewish cultural heritage in Lithuania and to conserve Holocaust education and commemoration projects, and delivered a letter from the Lithuanian prime minister Algirdas Butkevičius thanking World War II vets living in Israel on the 70th anniversary of the end of the war.

2015-05-14

Israel gears up for International Hummus Day

With endless varieties available for purchase at every grocery store, it is hard to imagine that there are still new combinations, and styles of hummus being conceived of and produced.

May 13th has been a day dedicated entirely to an international celebration of a staple of the Israeli diet: hummus.

With endless varieties available for purchase at every grocery store, it is hard to imagine that there are still new combinations, flavors and styles of hummus being conceived of and produced for the masses.

International Hummus Day is easily celebrated by doing the obvious: eating hummus.

For most Israelis this does not come as a challenge. Hummus is consumed by the ton across Israel on a daily basis. Hummus style restaurants, known as hummusiot, can be found all across the country, serving the creamy spread in different styles and flavors, with warm bread or the traditional pita.

2015-05-13

PM decries ‘resurgent’ anti-Semitism, from Toulouse to Tehran

Netanyahu pans Iran for criticizing Israel’s aid team to Nepal, not sending its own; says anti-Jewish hatred won’t be defeated, must be fought.

“Today there is no doubt that we are living in an age of resurgent anti-Semitism,” Netanyahu said at the opening of the fifth Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism.

“Jews everywhere are once again being slandered and vilified,” he said.“This is taking place in the intolerant parts of the Middle East but it’s also taking place in what otherwise would be expected to be the tolerant parts of the West.

2015-05-13

European Antisemitism Driving Jews Away From Jewish Life, Says Leading Rabbi (INTERVIEW)

The recent string of attacks against Jews in Europe has driven many Jews away from an active Jewish life, said the president of one of Europe’s leading Orthodox Jewish networks on Tuesday.

“We’re dealing with a large number of Jews who because of the risk involved, and terrorist attacks, have stopped coming to Jewish events,” Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt told the Algemeiner. “It’s more important [for these Jews] to stay alive than to stay Jewish.”

2015-05-13

Netanyahu, Bennett top list of dignitaries attending anti-Semitism global forum

Jewish communal and organization leaders are set to gather together with Israeli and foreign politicians in Jerusalem on Tuesday evening for the opening of the Foreign Ministry’s biennial Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism.

This year’s event, organized in conjunction with the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, will mark the fifth time that Jerusalem has convened anti-Semitism experts from around the globe to discuss best practices and share information over a threeday period.

2015-05-12

Race to balance freedom and security for future of European Jewry

Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman says Europeans “have to change the way they are managing and monitoring everyday society,” like Americans did after 9/11.

The future of Jewish life in Europe will be in large part dependent on the way in which national leaders there respond to attacks on their freedom and liberty, Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.

According to Foxman, who is in Jerusalem for the biennial Global Forum on anti-Semitism, Europeans need to begin examining the balance between freedom and security as Americans did following the September 11 attacks fourteen years ago.

After 9/11 Americans “were willing to make sacrifices in some of our basic freedoms,” ushering in the use of mass surveillance, profiling and other controversial measures whose propriety and legitimacy are still being debated today. While the exact balance between security and freedom is an open question, he said, in America “we are willing to pay a price to protect our traditions” and the question is if Europe is willing to do the same.

2015-05-12

From Holocaust envy to Holocaust theft

VILNIUS — This month, on the seventieth anniversary of the defeat of Hitler’s Nazi regime and the end of World War II — ipso facto the end of the Holocaust — Western leaders have been faced with a symbological conundrum. How might they square honest commemoration of this major anniversary with Russian president Vladimir Putin’s record of progressively more arrogant dictatorship at home and cynical mischief in his near abroad?

Once Moscow made clear that the May 9th parade in the Russian capital would feature his latest tanks and planes, it became certain that most Western leaders would not feel comfortable being there. They do not want to become props for Putin’s attempts to use (as it happens, accurate) World War II history as cover for his indefensible policies and ethos. But in statecraft as in life, there is always an alternative danger that lurks: Do they want to become props for Nazi-apologists’ far-right elements in today’s anti-Russia East European states’ attempts to use (as it happens, inaccurate) World War II history as cover for denial of massive, lethal wartime collaboration, denial of the Soviet peoples’ role in defeating Hitler, and, along the same road, extreme nationalism, racism and a frenzy against Russian-speakers everywhere. Then, add into the unstable mix the American neocon obsession with stoking trouble far and wide to project American power and weapon systems, even where that means violating core American and Western values.

2015-05-12

Vilnius Resident Discovers Electric Substation Built of Jewish Tombstones

Rūta Pukenė, DELFI EN

Giedrius Sakalauskas, a resident of Vilnius, was taking a walk with his son on Sunday when he made a disturbing discovery: an electric substation on Olandų Street that seemed to be built from Jewish tombstones.

2015-05-112016-07-26

Survivor of Nazi and Soviet repressions: I fear again when I see fascination with cruelty

BNS

Juliana Zarchi, the daughter of a German mother and a Jewish father, who survived Nazi and Soviet repressions in Lithuania, says her fears are rekindled again as she sees re-emerging fascination with cruelty, despite horrible lessons of the twentieth century.

“Some two or three years ago, it seemed that they all were horrible things of the twentieth century and were gone now. That they were in the past. But the Islamic State and its respect for cruelty, and those young people are fascinated with it. Cruelty is respected once again and is re-emerging. In Europe as well, where far-right movements are growing, expressing hatred for others. Or in the case of the Maidan. When it started, it seemed that nothing will be the way it turned out to be. And once again I get that unpleasant feeling of fear. I start thinking if that big country started making demands, how I would have to flee to Germany as soon as possible,” Zarchi told BNS.

2015-05-09

Lord Weidenfeld honored by World Jewish Congress for efforts on behalf of Israel and Jewish people

Lord George Weidenfeld was honored with the World Jewish Congress (WJC) Theodor Herzl Award at a gala dinner at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum on Tuesday. The award recognizes outstanding individuals who work to carry forward Herzl’s ideals for a safer, more tolerant world for the Jewish people.

The 95-year old statesman, scholar and publisher was presented with the award by WJC President Ronald S. Lauder, who said in his address: “There are some people in our world – just a few – who have the courage and the temerity to speak out when they see injustice. George Weidenfeld is one of these rare men.”

Introducing the Herzl Award laureate, Lauder recalled his own work with Weidenfeld to expose to the world former UN secretary general and later Austrian President Kurt Waldheim’s Nazi past, as well as Weidenfeld’s “constant efforts on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people.”

2015-05-09

In Honor of the Victims of WWII

Lithuanian Jewish community invites you: Come Honor the Victims of WWII at Cathedral Square Tonight at 9:00 P.M.

2015-05-08

APPLICATION FOR MJC2015 NOW OPEN

Posted on 21 Apr 2015 by Dorian Strbac

The MJC 2015 will take place in Berlin, Germany, from August 16 to August 23. The application process requires each participant to fill out the online form found via the link below.

Acceptances will take place on a rolling basis: the final date for submission is May 31, 2015. As an official policy, the MJC does not require payment of any participation fee and will provide accommodation for the duration of the conference. However, the MJC does not provide any financial support for travel to/from the conference or visa applications.

Please find all further information inside the application form

More information

2015-05-08

Government and Jewish Reps Agree How to Safeguard Cemeteries

BNS and Lietuvos rytras

Lithuanian Government representatives agreed with Lithuanian and international Jewish organizations Thursday to work to conserve Jewish architectural heritage and Jewish cemeteries in Lithuania, and to provide more information to the public on Jewish history.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community reports the meeting focused on plans to restore synagogues and other Jewish heritage sites.

The first meeting of a commission set up to address Jewish culture and history issues agreed to draft an action plan on registering and conserving Jewish cemeteries and maintaining Jewish cultural heritage sites and adapting them for use by the public, Lina Saulėnaitė, an advisor from the Government Chancellery’s Department of Foreign and European Union Affairs, told BNS.

2015-05-07

Coalition deal signed, swearing in expected Wednesday

Following a night of last-minute negotiations, Likud and Bayit Yehudi sign a deal, completing the formation of Netanyahu’s coalition government; swearing in expected Wednesday.

Following marathon negotiations all night, the Likud and Bayit Yehudi struck up a deal Wednesday, completing the formation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government a mere hour and a half before deadline.

In a statement released Thursday morning, Bayit Yehudi confirmed that the agreement had been signed.

“Bayit Yehudi received the education and diaspora affairs portfolios for its leader Naftali Bennett, justice minister for MK Ayelet Shaked, agriculture minister for MK Uri Ariel, and the position of deputy defense minister,” the statement read.

2015-05-07

PRESS RELEASE

The first meeting took place today of a special commission appointed by the Lithuanian Government for considering issues connected with the culture and history of the Jews of Lithuania, with participants from state institutions, the Lithuanian Jewish Community and representatives of international Jewish organizations.

The first item was discussion of long-term protection and conservation of Jewish cemeteries and mass graves of Holocaust victims. Some mass murder sites haven’t been located yet and these and others lack appropriate commemoration. Likewise many Jewish cemeteries are left untended and unprotected. State institutions proposed an action plan to provide for the legal registration and necessary documentation of the cemeteries and mass grave sites. It was reiterated that under legal requirements now in force the municipalities must conclude this legal registration by the end of 2016.

Historical buildings, first and foremost synagogues, and books, newspapers, archive documents, TOrah scrolls and other ritual items are Jewish heritage objects in Lithuania. These represent the shared Lithuanian and global Jewish cultural heritage. Today’s discussions focused on restoration of synagogues and other Jewish heritage sites with an emphasis on the need to include information about Jewish life and culture in Lithuania. Ongoing cooperation between the YIVO Jewish research institute, Lithuania’s Martynas Mavydas National Library and Lithuania’s Central State Archive was also underlined at the meeting.

Commission members agreed on the need to make greater efforts to teach Lithuania’s children about the history of Lithuanian Jews, including Jewish contributions made in Lithuania and the world and the Holocaust in Lithuania. This entails a thorough examination of current curricula and textbooks as well as consideration of other sorts of activities including student tours at museums and historical sites.

Jewish representatives pointed out many failures in current Lithuanian legislation on restoration of private property arising because of residence or citizenship requirements which prevent some Holocaust survivors and their heirs from making application for restoration of property or from receiving a succssful outcome in such petitions. The meeting resolved to examine this situation in more detail in order to find the most appropriate solutions to this problem.

Participants included representatives from the American Jewish Committee, the Committee of Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe, the Lithuanian Jewish Community, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and the World Jewish Restitution Organization.

Lithuanian institutions are represented at the commission by the Interior, Justice, Foreign Affairs and Culture and Education Ministries and the Association of Lithuanian Municipalities.

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Contact: Lithuanian Jewish Community

Address: Pylimo g. 4, Vilnius 01117, Lithuania

Tel.: (8 5) 2613 003, email: info@lzb.lt

2015-05-07

Rabbi Haim Greinman dies, aged 89

The respected haredi leader Rabbi Haim Greinman died on Friday aged 89 and was buried in Bnei Brak on Sunday morning with tens of thousands of people present at his funeral procession despite heavy rain.

Greinman was born in Vilna and came with his family to Mandate Palestine in 1935, where he became a student of Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, known as the Hazon Ish, one of the leaders of the haredi community in the early state period.

Large numbers of police and emergency services personnel were present at the mass funeral procession which was coordinated with officers from the Gush Dan region in order to avoid the tragic consequences of the funeral for Rabbi Shmuel Wosner last week in which two people were killed and others badly injured.

jerusalempost.com

2015-05-06

Israel fulfilled its part in UN Resolution 242 when it returned 90% of the territories it gained lawfully in the Six-Day War in 1967

Eli E. Hertz
UN Security Council Resolution 242 adopted on November 22, 1967, is the cornerstone for what it calls “a just and lasting peace” that recognizes Israel’s need for “secure and recognized boundaries.” The resolution became the foundation for future peace negotiations.

No other nation in the world, acting rationally, has relinquished territories acquired from an aggressor in an act of self-defense.

2015-05-05

The Holocaust did not end at liberation

This article was adapted from remarks at the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen.

This coming Friday, May 1, it will be 67 years since I was born at the Glyn Hughes Hospital in the Displaced Persons camp of Bergen-Belsen. It is, therefore, a unique and most profound privilege for me to stand here today at the cemetery inside the former DP camp where approximately 4,500 victims of the Holocaust who died in the weeks and months after their liberation lie buried.

“Hush, hush, let’s be silent, graves are growing here,” the Yiddish poet Shmerke Kaczerginski wrote in the Vilna Ghetto about the killing fields at nearby Ponary where more than 75,000 human beings – mostly Jews but also Soviet prisoners of war and others – were murdered by the SS and their accomplices between 1941 and 1944.

2015-05-04

Litvaks, Lithuanians and Friends Celebrate Israeli Independence Day

On Friday, April 24, 2015 members of the Lithuanian Jewish community and an assortment of Lithuanian and foreign friends of Israel gathered on the first floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius in the newly renovated restaurant section to pay their respects to Israel on Israeli Independence Day.

Independence Day, or Yom haAtzma’ut, falls on or around the 5th day of Iyar on the Hebrew calendar, the day in 1948 when David Ben-Gurion declared the independence of the State of Israel and on the last day the British Mandate for Palestine was legally in force. The declaration of independence and the end of the mandate presaged the opening of hostilities within the disputed territory over the next few days, with the armies of Egypt, Trans-Jordan, Iraq, and Syria firing on Israeli troops.

2015-05-04