Announcements – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Black Honey: A Film about Abraham Sutzkever

The Vilnius Jewish Public Library will screen the film Black Honey about Vilnius partisan and Yiddish poet Abraham Sutzkever created by his granddaughter and actress Hadas Kalderon of Israel. She will retell stories she heard directly from him and talk about film and filming. The screening is open to the public and will take place at 7:00 P.M. on August 8. The Vilnius Jewish Public Library (not affiliated with the Lithuanian Jewish Community) is located at Gedimino prospect no. 24 in Vilnius with entry through the alley and to the right.

The film is in English, Hebrew and Yiddish with English subtitles.

2021-07-30

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:05 P.M. on Friday, July 30, and concludes at 10:32 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

2021-07-30

Evening of Poetry and Music

The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to an evening of poetry and music at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius at 6:00 P.M. on Tuesday, August 11. Sergejus Kanovičius will read selections of his prose and poetry accompanied by Boris Kirzner on violin.

2021-07-29

Dancing at Cvi Park

Have you visited what we’re calling Cvi Park, on Petras Cirkva Square in Vilnius? Come enjoy the company and authentic Israeli street food, and watch how they dance to bachata music on hot July evenings.

2021-07-272021-07-27

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:27 P.M. on Friday, July 16, and concludes at 11:04 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

2021-07-16

Forgotten Names: The Symbol of Lithuania in Works by Musicians Scattered around the World

The spiritual formation of an artist is impossible without a creative environment. This is indivisible from the specific people who set a great example, who direct the artist, enrich the artist spiritually, and support and encourage the artist. That sort of environment is exactly what existed in Vilnius in the early 20th century, giving rise to wonderful musicians including Jascha Heifetz, the Schneider brothers, the Reizenberg sisters, the great Hofmekler family and others.

Some left Lithuania and made incredible careers, others remained and became known in their homeland. Their lives were different, but their legacy is very clear. Let’s remember them, let’s enjoy their works. We will discover a world we didn’t know which was hidden from us for almost a century.

During the event we will learn about the lives of these renowned musicians and their works will be presented.

2021-07-16

Tisha b’Av on Sunday

Tisha b’Av, the 9th day of the month of Av on the Hebrew calendar, falls on Sunday, July 18 this year. The holiday actually begins at sundown on July 17 and a 25-hour fast is observed, ending this year in the Vilnius region at 10:34 P.M., July 18.

Tisha b’Av commemorates the destruction of the First Temple of Solomon ca. 587 BCE and the Second Temple in 70 CE in Jerusalem and is traditionally a day of fasting and mourning. Observance includes five prohibitions, the main one being a 25-hour fast. The Book of Lamentations is read in the synagogue followed by the recitation of kinnos, liturgical dirges for the Temple and Jerusalem. Since the day has become associated with other major Jewish tragedies, some kinnos recall other events, including the murder of the Ten Martyrs in ancient Rome, pogroms against medieval Jewish communities and the Holocaust.

According to tradition, the sin of the Ten Spies is the real origin of Tisha B’Av. In the Book of Numbers, 13:1-33 when the Israelites accepted their false report of the Promised Land, they wept, thinking God could no help them. The night the people wept and wailed was the ninth day of Av, which then became a day of weeping and misfortune for all time, according to tradition, following which the Jews were made to wander the desert for 40 years.

2021-07-142021-07-14

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:35 P.M. on Friday, July 9, and concludes at 11:17 P.M. on Saturday.

2021-07-09

Faina Kukliansky Re-Elected Head of Lithuanian Jewish Community

ELTA, July 8, 2021

A general meeting of the members of the Lithuanian Jewish Community held Wednesday voted for a third time to elect Faina Kukliansky the chairwoman of the organization. Twenty-six members of the LJC’s executive board were elected at the same time.

The chairperson of the Community is elected for a four-year term by a majority of the regional Jewish communities and associate members constituting the LJC. Of the 32 organizations under the LJC umbrella, 31 representatives took part in Wednesday’s ballot. Kukliansky received 30 votes out of the possible 31, according to a press release from the LJC.

Kukliansky said her most important task as chairwoman is to inspire unity among the different Jewish communities in Lithuania. She said the LJC’s other priorities haven’t changed, but life is changing: the generation which experienced the horrors of World War II is growing old and dying, and so caring for them is becoming even more crucial.

“We are continuing to strengthen the activity of our social center, taking care of those requiring support, employing people with disabilities and engaging them in Community activities. Another important priority is preservation and putting to use the surviving Jewish cultural heritage: we have wonderful examples of restored synagogues being used as cultural activity centers,” Faina Kukliansky said.

2021-07-082021-07-29

Israeli Street Food Booth Open for Business

An Israeli street food kiosk called “Tzvi in the Park” opened on July 2 in the Petras Cvirka Square park across the street from the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. The food booth is offering humous, carrots with anise, chicken shwarma and other traditional foods with pita bread, with ingredients to order by the customer. The menu is planned to expand over time. While the food kiosk is the initiative of the culinary masterminds at the Bagel Shop Café across Pylimo street, the food booth will offer different dishes and hopes to inspire people to linger and talk.

“When we set up the Bagel Shop, we wanted to offer people delicious food, but also to offer them a way to have a good time, to hang around and talk about different things, even such sensitive and important topics as tolerance, human equality and so on. So this summer we want to create a space for city residents and visitors where they can spend some time in the green space of the park and learn about Israeli culinary culture,” LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky commented.

While the Bagel Shop offers more traditional Litvak fare, the food kiosk will present characteristically Mediterranean food, the new director of the Bagel Shop and of the Israeli food kiosk Aistė Košienė said. She said Israeli street food has distinct characteristics, but the main features are that it’s healthy and of good quality.

2021-07-07

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:39 P.M. on Friday, July 2, and concludes at 11:26 P.M. on Saturday.

2021-07-02

Israeli Street Food Kiosk to Operate All Summer in Vilnius

The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Bagel Shop Café are pleased to announce a kiosk serving authentic Israeli street fare will operate in the center of the park across the street from the LJC and café in central Vilnius, next to the Petras Cvirka statue. The plan is for it to keep serving the public until autumn. Stay tuned for more information.

2021-07-022021-07-02

Jewish Scouting Camp This Summer

The camp is for children and young adults aged 13 and above. In order to participate, applicants need permission from their parent, parents or legal guardian(s) and proof of payment by electronic transfer of funds. Please note that payments for the camp will not be refunded (although for unavoidable reasons beyond the power of the parents or applicant to stop, LJC will consider reasonable requests).

Payment information:

Recipient: Lithuanian Jewish Community
Corporation code: 190722117
Bank: SEB Bank
Account: LT097044060000907953
For: Scouting Camp 2021, child’s name and surname and which specific fee is being paid

For more information contact Viljamas at viljamas@lzb.lt or by telephone at+370 67250699

Registration form: https://forms.gle/66KHQmVpUXJJV9WbA

2021-06-30

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:41 P.M. on Friday, June 25, and concludes at 11:32 P.M. on Saturday.

2021-06-252021-06-25

They Can’t Come Back…

We all need to remember all of our innocent people who were murdered and will never return.

The Panevėžys Jewish Community has asked the Panevėžys regional administration to renew inscriptions on monuments and memorial plaques commemorating Jewish victims murdered in World War II. The inscription on the Ghetto Gates monument has already been renewed.

The Panevėžys Jewish Community is carrying out a project called “Let’s Maintain the Mass Murder Sites” to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust in Lithuania. We plan to visit all the mass murder sites in the Panevėžys district.

Through our work and contribution not only do we seek to remember the tragedy which began 80 years ago, but also to set an example for regional administration employees charged with maintaining Jewish mass murder sites and Jewish cemeteries under Lithuanian law. The area around the Kurganava mass murder site has been put in order this year, but saplings still need to be cut and the fence repaired.

The Panevėžys Jewish Community is grateful to our volunteers and staff, including Albertas and Virginija Savinčiai, Jurijus Grafmanas, Timūras Jerovickis, Borisas Marijampolskis, Ona Juospaitienė and others, for taking part in this project.

We are planning repair and upkeep next month as well, with Panevėžys Jewish Community members travelling to Žalioji forest, Ramygala, Raguva and other mass murder sites.

2021-06-23

An Assessment of the Holocaust and Our Moral State: A Virtual Discussion

One of the most painful periods in Lithuania’s history began 80 years ago in the summer of 1941, the beginning of the Holocaust in this country. We lost hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens constituting a significant portion of the population of Lithuania’s cities and towns. The Lithuanian Jewish Community is holding a virtual discussion in Lithuanian on June 28 to mark this painful anniversary.

Participants:

• LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, attorney;
• Arūnas Bubnys, director of Lithuania’s Genocide Center;
• Saulius Sužiedėlis, professor emeritus, Millersville University;
• Justinas Žilinskas, writer, publicist and professor of the European Union Law Institute at Mykolas Romeris University;
• Vytautas Bruveris, writer and analyst, Lietuvos rytas newspaper;
• Paulius Gritėnas, philosopher, observer and member of the executive board of the Human Rights Monitoring Institute;
• Donatas Puslys, director of the media and democracy program, Vilnius Policy Analysis Institute.

Writer and director of the Šeduva Jewish Memorial Foundation Sergejus Kanovičius will moderate.

The discussion is scheduled for 7:00 P.M. on Monday, June 28. You can watch it live on the LJC facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/777981389558688/

2021-06-232021-07-07

Lietūkis Garage Commemoration

Around 50 Jewish men were tortured and murdered at the Lietūkis autoservice lot in Kaunas on June 27, 1941. Randomly grabbed off the streets, they were beaten with crowbars and water hoses were used to burst their stomachs. The victims included day workers, students, merchants, a musician, former director of the Industry and Trade Department of the Lithuanian Finance Ministry Jurgis Štromas and others. Many of the victims and perpetrators remain nameless to this day.

We will commemorate the victims of the Lietūkis Garage massacre and the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust in Lithuania at 5:00 P.M. on June 28, 2021, at the monument to the victims located at Miško street no. 3 in Kaunas.

At 6:30 P.M. the same day we will unveil a new sign in remembrance of the victims at the Žaliakalnis Jewish cemetery, where it is believed they were buried.

The Kaunas Jewish Community and the city of Kaunas invite you to join us in remembering the innocent Jewish citizens of Lithuania who were murdered.

We would be grateful if you could announce your intention to attend by sending an email to ieva0102@yahoo.com

Gercas Žakas, chairman
Kaunas Jewish Community

2021-06-22

Commemorations of the 80th Anniversary of the Holocaust around Lithuania

Palanga

The Lithuanian Jewish Community, the Palanga municipality and the Klaipėda and Palanga Jewish Communities commemorated the beginning of the Holocaust in Lithuania with a ceremony at the stone commemorating victims in the Palanga Botanical Garden on June 22.

Gargždai

A procession called “Path of Memory 1941-2021” to mark the 80th anniversary of the onset of the Holocaust in Lithuania is to be held starting at noon on June 23. Participants are invited to assemble at the former synagogue located at Kvietinių street no. 3, next to the Minija movie theater, whence the procession will move to the Jewish mass murder site on Klaipėdos street next to the bus station, culminating in a commemorative ceremony there.

2021-06-22

Premiere of Film about Aleksandras Štromas

The Vilnius Jewish Public Library will premiere a film about Aleksandras Štromas called Laisvės Horizontai at 5:30 P.M. on Monday, June 21. The filmmakers Ona Bivenienė, Ilja Bereznickas and Saulius Sondeckis will be present. Seating is limited and prior registration is required. Send an email to info@vilnius-jewish-public-library.com or call (8-5) 219 77 48 before 5:00 P.M. to register. The library is located at Gedinimo prospect no. 24 in Vilnius, through the alley to the parking lot and find the first door on the right.

2021-06-212021-06-21

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