Sukkot in Šiauliai

Sukkot in Šiauliai

The Šiauliai Jewish Community gathered Friday to celebrate the Sabbath and Sukkot. Everyone had the opportunity to spend time in the Community’s sukka. On Wednesday the Community plans to mark the final day of Sukkot and on Thursday Simchat Torah, with guests expected from Vilnius.

Hag Sukot sameakh!

Beginner and Advanced Israeli Dance Classes

Beginner and Advanced Israeli Dance Classes

The Rikudei Am Club invites those with no experience and experienced dancers to attend classes on Sunday at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius.

The cost is 20 euros for 4 classes, or 10 euros for 4 classes for LJC members. Registration is required: send an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt.

Time: 12:30 P.M., Sundays
Place: LJC, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius

Mandolin Virtuoso Avi Avital to Perform in Klaipėda

Mandolin Virtuoso Avi Avital to Perform in Klaipėda

Israeli mandolin master Avi Avital will perform with the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra works for mandolin and baroque arrangements at the Klaipėda Music Hall at 6:30 P.M. on October 26. His repertoire includes world beat, jazz and the opera of Vivaldi, Bach and Bartók, among others.

For more information, see here.

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 5:54 P.M. on Friday, October 18, and concludes at 7:09 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Friday and Saturday are also days two and three of Sukkot and special Sabbath rules apply.

EU Foreign Ministers Call for Fighting Anti-Semitism More Actively

EU Foreign Ministers Call for Fighting Anti-Semitism More Actively

Foreign ministers from the EU member-states adopted another declaration October 15 for fostering Jewish life in Europe and combating anti-Semitism, the EU Council of Ministers reported.

The declaration said the current level of anti-Semitism in the EU was alarming.

“The Council demands taking more resolute actions in fighting this,” the declaration announced.

It also addressed Holocaust denial and distortion along well other forms of anti-Semitism.

Sukkot Begins Today

Sukkot Begins Today

Sukkot or Sukkos beings today, Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at sunset, or 5:59 P.M.

The festival of Sukkot–literally meaning booths, tents, tabernacles–is celebrated for seven days in Israel and eight days in the Diaspora, starting on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. It is one of the three festivals during which Jewish men were required to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the times of the Holy Temple.

Simchat Torah Event at the Bagel Shop Café

Simchat Torah Event at the Bagel Shop Café

The weekly portions of Torah readings ends and begins again. To mark the end of the cycle and the beginning of the new, you’re invited to a Simchat Torah celebration with the musical duet of Borisas Kizneris and Michailas Bolshunas, and a performance by Michailas Javichius on saxophone, at the Bagel Shop Café.

The cost is 15 euros. Registration required. Send an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt or call (+370) 678 81514 before noon Thursday.

Time: 7:00 P.M., Friday, October 25
Place: Bagel Shop Café

Women’s Club Meeting Friday

Women’s Club Meeting Friday

Dear reader,

The Women’s Club will be expecting you again this Friday, and this meeting will be especially fun and delicious as we make quiches and pastries.

This time of year is special, the High Holy Days, and we cannot avoid the holiday spirit. THis Friday we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot, when we sit down at the table together with our families and also treat those who come by. So, dear homemakers, we will learn to make the Israeli dish pashtida, sometimes called a kugel, which resembles a quiche, and layered apple pastries.

A good time is guaranteed.

Please register before noon on Thursday by sending an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt or by calling (+370) 678 81514. Space is limited.

Time: 6:30 P.M., Friday, October 18
Place: Bagel Shop Café, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius

Condolences

Maratas Šeimanas passed away October 13. He was born in 1937. He was a Lithuanian Jewish Community member and Saul Kagan Welfare Center client. Our deepest condolences to the wife and son he left behind.

Šiauliai Jewish Community Celebrates Rosh Hashanah

Šiauliai Jewish Community Celebrates Rosh Hashanah

Members of the Šiauliai District Jewish Community gathered to celebrate the Jewish new year on October 4 at the Žemaitis restaurant in Šiauliai. The evening began with a blowing of the shofar horn. Chairman Naumas Gleizeris welcomed everyone and wished them a good, healthy and sweet new year. Community member Vadimas Kamrazeris provided music throughout the evening which included dancing. The youngest members of the Community, Sofija Kamrazerytė and Karina Šer, also sang.

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 6:11 P.M. on Friday, October 11, and concludes at 7:20 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Yom Kippur begins at sundown at 6:11 P.M. on Friday. Fasting begins then and extends until sundown on Saturday at 7:20 P.M. Saturday, October 12, is also Columbus Day in the United States and Monday, October 13, is Thanksgiving Day in Canada.

Greetings from Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky

Greetings from Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky

Dear reader,

This year we mark Yom Kippur in difficult times when many of our brothers and sisters are suffering from the ongoing, awful war and hatred. Today, on the eve of Yom Kippur, when we will all stand and reflect on the past, I wish everyone, first of all, to find peace, tranquility and courage within.

G’mar chatima tova.

May Your Name Be Entered in the Book of Life

May Your Name Be Entered in the Book of Life

Dear friends,

On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and Repentance, we put aside mundane concerns and reflect on what has happened in our lives.

May our thoughts be heard this day, may our thoughts become pure and our hearts kinder. Good health and strength to everyone, may our mistakes be corrected and our weaknesses overcome. May all continue life’s journey with dignity, sincerity and integrity. Peace and love.

G’mar chatima tova.

Rosh Hashanah at the LJC

Rosh Hashanah at the LJC

Members of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Bnei Maskilim progressive Judaism community were pleased to have US Army chaplain Rabbi Hanoch Fields lead celebrations of the High Holy Days Rosh Hashanah and presently Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and remission from sin, the most important holiday on the Jewish calendar, will be observed Saturday. No matter how religious or not, no Jew risks travelling, bathing or eating during Yom Kippur. The holiday must be observed correctly, so the Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Bnei Maskilim progressive Judaism community invite you to observe the holy day together with us and Rabbi Hanoch Fields from the United States.

Program of events at the LJC in Vilnius:

October 11

6:30 P.M. Kol nidrei

October 12

10:00 A.M. Torah reading
5:00 P.M. Yizkor
5:15 P.M. Neila
6:30 P.M. Blowing of the shofar
7:00 P.M. End of fast, shared feast

Registration required. To register, contact viljamas@lzb.lt

October 7 Commemoration Turns Ugly in Australia

October 7 Commemoration Turns Ugly in Australia

Photo: Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon greets Australian foreign minister Penny Wong at a memorial event in Canberra. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)

Monday didn’t start out easy for Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese. He and his entourage were heckled and picketed before they managed to enter the venue in Melbourne where an October 7 anniversary commemoration was being held.

One woman outside called him “fuckwit” and told him to go away. Others held pre-printed signs also instructing him to leave. At the vigil Australian Jews also expressed shock Albanese was attending, along with former Victoria premiers Jacinta Allen and Dan Andrews. The event was organized by Zionism Victoria and president of the organization Yossi Goldfarb delivered a scathing message to Albanese himself, sitting in the front row, saying the Labor government’s foreign policy vis-à-vis Israel and its handling of pro-Hamas protests domestically had led to an unprecedented surge in anti-Semitism in Australia.

Former Israeli ambassador to Lithuania and now to Australia Amir Maimon also spoke at an October 7 event held at dusk at the Israeli embassy in Canberra, saying:

“Remembering the horror, reliving the anguish and imagining the terror is painful, yet today we must confront those memories. This was not just a terrorist attack. It was an attempt to erase us. Over 1,200 innocent souls were ripped from our world that day. We did not start this war, but we are determined to win this war, not just for our own sake, but for the sake of the free world. This isn’t just another conflict. This is a battle between good and evil, between life and the forces of destruction.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton received numerous standing ovations at an October 7 commemoration in Sydney.

Somber Tone as Seniors Citizens Celebrate Rosh Hashanah on Eve of October 7

Somber Tone as Seniors Citizens Celebrate Rosh Hashanah on Eve of October 7

Senior citizens and elderly members of the Lithuanian Jewish Community gathered for a different kind of Rosh Hashanah celebration at the LJC in Vilnius on the weekend.

With the anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 invasion and mass murder of Israelis last year, there was less of the usual music and fun and more prayers in Yiddish and Hebrew performed by Choral Synagogue cantor Shmuel Yaatom. The cantor’s wife Natalja Cheifec spoke about the history and traditions of Rosh Hashanah and the role of the woman in the Jewish family.

Panevėžys Celebrates the New Year

Panevėžys Celebrates the New Year

The Panevėžys Jewish Community celebrated Rosh Hashanah last week with music and food, including apples and honey. The prayer was performed before blowing the shofar. Yekaterna Radionova performed Jewish melodies on violin and members of the Community wished one another well in the coming year.