Children’s and Youth Club Activities in April

The Ilan Club and its young directors continued their work and planned for the end of the season and children’s camps. There was a drop-off in attendance as the weather improved and parents kept their children home Sunday afternoons.

April 10, 2016: Activities at the Children’s Club of the LJC. As usual, children came to have both a fun and informative time. This time the activities centered around Jewish love and weddings. We spoke about customs and traditions.

April 17: These activities at the Children’s Club were regarding the upcoming Eilat Beach Party. We had fun, played games and tried to give a sense of the pleasantness of Eilat.

April 24: The Children’s Club celebrated Passover. Many children for whom Passover is a new thing discovered this tradition in Jewish culture and we tried to give them a sense of the spirit of the holiday and its significance in Jewish life. Counselors held a mini-seder and we ate traditional foods prepared by the counselors. It was a lot of fun, very informative and very filling.

Knaifam Club is directed by experienced coordinators and attracts a large number of adolescents who are interested in Jewish traditions and new information and experiences.

April 15: Activities took place at the Lithuanian Jewish Community. Teens played a quiz game to test their knowledge of Israel and Jewish history. The game was a successful and fun way to impart new information.

April 22: Activities took place at the Lithuanian Jewish Community and included a discussion about Israeli current events and politics as well as progress made by the state of Israel since independence. Guests from Israel were on hand to provide a first-hand account of the real situation and the discussion was both interesting and useful.

April 28: Knaifam Club members and counselors attended a Passover seder and lesson at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius, led by Rabbi Samson Isaacson, who surprised everyone with his enthusiasm. We heard stories about the Passover holiday we’d never heard before and learned much useful information to pass on to Ilan Club participants on Passover next year. We took part in the service after the meal and listened as Rabbi Kalev Krelin also spoke about the Passover holiday.

Regions Program. The goal of this program is get as many youth together as possible and teach them about Jewish culture and traditions which have been somewhat forgotten in locations around the country which had a large Jewish population in the past.

April 10: Activities took place at the Klaipėda Jewish Community. Regions Program coordinator Markas Zaičik and counselors led activities for children on the history of Litvaks. Young children don’t always hear about Jewish traditions in Lithuania and that’s especially true about the situation a century ago. We organized the activities in two parts: an educational portion and games.

April 17: Activities took place at the KaunasJewish Community. Regions Program coordinator Markas Zaičik and counselors led activities for children on the history of Litvaks. Young children don’t always hear about centuries-long Jewish traditions in Lithuania and that’s especially true about the situation a century ago. Activities consisted of an educational portion, games and snacks. Kaunas has a relatively high number of true Litvak children and young people who were keenly interested in the information, so counselors divided them into two groups and the teens treated to a somewhat more serious and comprehensive program.