The Sabbath begins at 9:12 P.M. on Friday, July 26, and concludes at 10:41 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Sholem Aleichem Day Camp
The Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium is holding a Young Travellers day camp from August 12 to 16 for children aged 6 to 15. The camp program includes heaps of entertainment, art, games, puzzles and experiments, a change to make new friends and meet old ones, healthy and delicious food and much fun whatever the weather might bring.
To register, click here: https://forms.gle/88qkbq6Rqq15ZyTs9
The price per child is 200 euros including three meals.
Payment:
Recipient: Skaitlis
Account number: LT68 4010 0424 0395 1807
In the reason for payment you must indicate Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium camp and the child’s name and surname. Following the transfer of funds send receipt to vaiva.seliaviene@gmail.com.
The camp is sponsored by the city of Vilnius, the LJC and the Ystreet organization.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 9:23 P.M. on Friday, July 19, and concludes at 10:57 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Saturday is also World Chess Day.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 9:32 P.M. on Friday, July 12, and concludes at 11:11 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Mechanical Puppet Show for the Whole Family
The Cvi Park Israeli street food kiosk and performance space invites you to a mechanical wooden puppet show called Kuthi put on by the family endeavor Wooden Laboratory Tricktrek based in Tallinn. While the puppet show is intended for children, adults will find something to like in it as well.
The play features the marriage of a princess, the most important event in the country during the height of which the kuthi, ancient crow warriors, begin their attack. The puppet show continues with a siege of the palace, catapults, the clever tricks by defenders, moving parts, secret rooms and mysterious characters. The musical accompaniment adds to the suspenseful atmosphere of secrets, magic and the mediaeval Gothic.
Following the culmination of the play, audience members will have the chance to take a closer look at the mechanisms involved and the creators will share a few of their engineering secrets. Parents and children will have the opportunity to touch and try out the mechanical puppets.
Marking the 80th Anniversary of the Liquidation of Shavl Ghetto
July 15 is the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the liquidation of the Šiauliai ghetto in 1944 when the surviving 3,000 Jews were transported to Dachau and Stutthof concentration camps, condemned to die there instead. The Lithuanian Jewish Community and both Šiauliai Jewish Communities invite the public to remember and pay honor to the victims of the Šiauliai ghetto, the men, women, children and elderly who were murdered this July 15.
Program
11:30 A.M. Gathering at Šiauliai ghetto gate monument at the intersection of Trakų and Ežero streets to remember the victims;
12:00 noon procession to Chaim Frenkl villa at Vilnaius street no. 74 with stopover on Righteous Gentiles Square;
12:30 P.M. Commemoration of victims at Frenkl villa.
Transportation: there will be minibus to carry passengers to the event leaving from the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius at 8:15 A.M. on July 15. Passengers must register before the event (see below).
Registration: Those wishing to attend are asked to please register before 4:00 P.M. on July 12 by calling Liuba Šerienė at (+370) 5 261 3003 or by sending an email to office@lzb.lt.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 9:38 P.M. on Friday, July 5, and concludes at 11:22 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Natalja Cheifec Discussion Club Zoom Meeting
Natalja Cheifec’s Shalom discussion club is planning a meeting on the zoom internet platform at 5:30 P.M. on Tuesday, July 2. The discussion will focus on “forbidden topics” such as why Jewish women aren’t allowed to wear the tallis and tefellin, on the less controversial topic of women serving in the Israeli military, but also any topic participants wish to discuss. Participants are urged to send in their topics of interest prior to the internet meeting.
To obtain zoom credentials to participate and to propose topics for discussion, see here: https://mailchi.mp/a60b2d1747ba/alom-12683479
Everyone is welcome.
Concert Dedicated to 80th Anniversary of Liquidation of Kaunas Ghetto
Photo by George Kadish/Zvi Kadushin courtesy of U.S. Holocaust Museum.
The Kaunas Jewish Community invites you to a concert in memory of the victims of the Kaunas ghetto. The concert is free and open to the general public. Following the concert, a procession will make their way to the monument marking the former gates of the Kaunas ghetto at Linkuvos street no. 2.
Time: 3:00 P.M., Wednesday, July 10
Place: Great Hall at Vytautas Magnus University, Gimnazijos street no. 7, Kaunas
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 9:41 P.M. on Friday, June 28, and concludes at 11:30 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
New Jewish Kindergarten Set to Open September 1
A new Jewish kindergarten in Vilnius long in the works is set to open its doors at the beginning of the next school year, September 1.
Located within the territory of the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium but in a newly renovated building separate from the main school, the kindergarten will cater to Jewish children and provide an introduction to Hebrew and Jewish culture and tradition with respect paid to the individual needs of each child in a safe and secure environment
More information for registering children to attend is available in Lithuanian here.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 9:42 P.M. on Friday, June 21, and concludes at 11:32 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Note: St. John’s Eve or Midsummer’s Eve, aka Joninės in Lithuanian and Litha in Celtic lore, is an official holiday in Lithuania observed this year from Saturday through Monday with government offices and some businesses closed.
Velvl Chernin Giving Lecture on Israel and Repatriation
Yiddish poet, literary scholar, author and SF enthusiast Velvl Chernin who is now also an envoy for the Jewish Agency will deliver a lecture next week at the Lithuanian Jewish Community on the current political and economic situation in Israel and opportunities for making aliyah and settling in Israel.
Time: 6:30 P.M., Tuesday, June 25
Place: Third floor, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
Silvia Foti Speaking in Šiauliai
The Šiauliai Jewish Community invites you to a meeting and discussion with Silvia Foti.
Foti is a Lithuanian-American writer who lives in Chicago. She is also the granddaughter of Lithuanian Nazi commander Jonas Noreika. When she began writing her family’s story, she approached it from the viewpoint of modern Lithuanian Holocaust denial, but quickly discovered her grandfather was responsible for the mass murder of Jews, and she began writing about that, alienating the Lithuanian public in North America and Lithuania who were raised to deny Lithuanian complicity in the Holocaust.
Foti’s books have been published in English and Lithuanian and she has appeared on major media telling her story of the journey from Holocaust denial to the truth, including on the BBC’s Hard Talk interview program.
Everyone is welcome to attend and participate.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Friday, June 21
Place: Šiauliai Jewish Community, P. Višinskio street no. 24, Šiauliai
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 9:39 P.M. on Friday, June 14, and concludes at 11:30 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Litvak Literature Conference
The Vilnius Jewish Public Library will host a conference on Litvak literature on Sunday, June 22, at 1:00 P.M. Yuri Greisman, Arkadijus Vinokuras, Elena Suodienė, Samoilas Lormanas, Leonida Kriščiūnienė and others will give presentations in Lithuanian. The Vilnius Jewish Public Library is located at Gedimino prospect no. 24 in Vilnius.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 9:34 P.M. on Friday, June 7, and concludes at 11:22 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Ilan Club Ending Season
After a fun, intriguing and crazily fantastic season for the Ilan Club for children, the closing ceremony should be just as much fun. It happens this Sunday. To find out where and when, register by sending an email to levickajasimona@gmail.com. Please register by June 8.
Let’s Celebrate Shavuot
The Saul Kagan Welfare Center and the Lithuanian Jewish Community’s social services department greet you on the up-coming holiday of Shavuot and invite members and clients to a holiday concert. The Jewish song and dance ensemble Simcha from the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium promise a fun and interesting experience.
Registration required by sending an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt or by calling (+370) 678 81514.
Time: 1:00 P.M., Monday, June 10
Place: Third floor, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
Remembering David Brenner
Viktor David Brenner (1871-1924) is probably best known as the artist responsible for the Lincoln one-cent coin design, the U.S. penny, but was also a versatile artist, sculptor and designer with many works to his credit. Back in 2016 late novelist and long-time director of the Vilna Gaon Museum Markas Zingeris spoke at the unveiling of a plaque commemorating Brenner in the latter’s home town Šiauliai saying the commemoration of the famous Litvak V. D. Brenner gave rise to wider thoughts on historical memory, identity, national traditions and culture.
There will be a commemoration at the commemorative plaque on the Šiauliai Bank building in Šiauliai at 12:00 noon on June 12, with plaque authors and creators Vaidotas Janulis and Jonas Nekrašius, with a musical interlude by violinists from a local music school.
At 5:30 P.M. the same day the Šiauliai Jewish Community at P. Višinskio street no. 24 will open an exhibit of reproductions of works by Brenner including coins, medallions and bas-reliefs from the collection of the M. K. Čiurlionis Museum, with a discussion over tea and coffee moderated by Jonas Nekrašius. Šiauliai Bank is sponsoring these events.