The Lithuania Jewish Community’s Dubi Children’s Club opened a new season of activities on Sunday, February 18. If your child or children aged 4 to 6 want to meet friends, play, have fun and engage in new activities, mark your calendar for Sunday at 12 noon. Dubi Club takes place at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. For more information, contact Žana Skudovičienė by telephone at +370 678 81514 or by email at zanas@sc.lzb.lt.
Circumcision specialist Dr. Martin Harris of Great Britain will visit Vilnius March 3 and 4. He is ready to offer his services to Lithuanian Jewish Community and Jewish religious community members free of charge. Those interested are invited to register by sending an email to sinagoga1903@gmail.com. More information about Dr. Harris is available here.
Abstract expressionist painter Simonas Gelminauskis opened an exhibition of his work at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius last Thursday called “From Paris with Love.”
The 18 works on display are the fruit of a decade of creativity following his 22-year break from painting.
“The fall I spent in my studio in the Marais Jewish neighborhood in Paris in the global center of residences of art helped me recover after my father’s death and helped me think about impermanence. So this exhibition is dedicated to love. To the love of life,” the artist said at the opening ceremony for the exhibit. He didn’t chose the venue lightly, either: his current studio is located at the site of the former Great Synagogue on Jewish Street in Vilnius, from which he says he draws artistic inspiration, as he did in the Marais in Paris.
The exhibit will remain on display a the LJC for several months.
The Sabbath begins at 5:09 P.M. on Friday, February 16, and concludes at 6:24 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Friday is also one of Lithuania’s two independence celebrations, Restoration of the State Day, marking the promulgation of the Act of Independence of Lithuania in Vilnius on February 16, 1918, and is officially observed with government offices and most businesses closed for the day.
CBC news reported February 13 on a pro-Palestinian protest on Monday which resulted in masked perpetrators scaling Mount Sinai Jewish hospital in Toronto to plant a Palestinian flag several stories up. CBC evening news program the National reported the hospital was originally built to treat Jewish patients denied treatment at other hospitals because of anti-Semitism.
In videos posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, apparently from the time of the protest, a person can be seen climbing an awning that’s branded Mount Sinai Hospital while waving a Palestinian flag.
Another video shows scores of people along hospital row also calling for “intifada” while many of them waved Palestinian flags. Intifada is an Arabic word used to describe more than one Palestinian uprising over the decades.
Natalja Cheifec invites you to attend her lecture on relationships between men and women in Judaism.
The Talmud says a God-fearing man vindicates an immoral woman but he himself becomes immoral, whereas an immoral man who weds a God-fearing woman becomes God-fearing himself.
Natalja Cheifec will discuss the secrets of the strength of the Jewish family, quick divorce cases, Jewish wedding ceremonies, the concept of love in Judaism and miraculous cases of fertility among Jewish females.
The lecture will be conducted in Lithuanian starting at 7:00 P.M. on Thursday, February 15 via the zoom internet platform. You must register to obtain credentials for accessing the discussion by clicking here.
#NataljosEdukacija
The #ŽydiškiPašnekesiai Jewish discussion club this week will address the topic of anti-Semitism in Lithuania and Europe. While there aren’t thousands marching in support of the Hamas terrorist group in Vilnius, and anti-Semitic attacks are relatively infrequent compared to some countries, there is a kind of institutionalized anti-Semitism at work in the bureaucracy, despite the periodic condemnation of anti-Semitism by the so-called political elite. Traditional Shrovetide processions continue to include caricatures of Jews, school children are still exposed to anti-Semitism from teachers and “memory wars” continue in the public space with Lithuanian Nazis glorified and Righteous Gentiles ignored. If anti-Semitism in Western Europe is largely fueled by Muslim immigrants, what’s Lithuania’s excuse?
Is there a way out of this existing labyrinth, and if so, what is it?
We’ll look for answers with historians Egidijus Aleksandravičius and Linas Venclauskas in a panel discussion in Lithuanian moderated by Arkadijus Vinokuras..
Time: 5:00 P.M., Wednesday, February 14
Place: Bagel Shop Café, Pylimo street no. 4., Vilnius
The discussion will be streamed live at https://www.facebook.com/zydubendruomene/live_videos/
The Sabbath begins at 4:54 P.M. on Friday, February 9, and concludes at 6:11 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
Beloved Israeli author Eshkol Nevo will speak at the presentation of the translation of his book Shalosh Qomot (Three Floors, aka Three Floors Up) to Lithuanian at the Vilnius Book Fair on February 24. This is his first work translated into Lithuanian. The event is scheduled for 12 noon on Saturday, February 24, at the Litexpo Center in Vilnius. Following his presentation, visitor will have a chance to speak to him personally at the Sofoklis publishing house stand at the book fair.
Eshkol Nevo grew up in Jerusalem, Haifa and Detroit. He is the grandson of Israeli prime minister Levi Eshkol after whom he is named. His Three Floors Up was the basis for an Italian film, Tre piani, released in 2021.
As part of her continuing lecture series on Jewish life, religion and tradition, Natalja Cheifec will talk about laws and traditions regulating Jewish stages of life, this time including brit milah, the circumcision ritual for newborn boys which harkens back to the covenant made with Abraham, and bar and bat mitzvah coming-of-age ceremonies. She will also discuss shidduch, Jewish matchmaking and engagements. Marriage, divorce, unavoidable death and the shiva ritual of mourning will also be touched upon.
Each of these stages of life and celebrations have their own symbolism and significance in the Jewish community. These are the prime moments in the Jewish cycle of life with their own distinct religious, cultural and family aspects.
The lecture will be conducted in Lithuanian from 5:30 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. on Thursday, February 8, on the zoom internet platform. Everyone is welcome. Click here to receive log-on credentials: https://bit.ly/3K73kEE
#NataljosEdukacija
Andrey Makarevich, founder of the Soviet and now Russian rock band Mashina Vremeni [Time Machine], has made a documentary film about travelling through the Israeli regions of Judea and Samaria with his wife, historian and guide Einat Klein. The Russian-language film will be screened at 4:00 P.M. on Sunday, February 11, at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. Elisha Khenkin is a member of the Judean and Samarian Council and the head of the Russian-Speakers Department there, and is arriving to Lithuania especially to present this film at the LJC.
Admission is free but registration is required by sending your details to viljamas@lzb.lt.
The Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden in Vilnius and the Lithuanian Jewish Community invite you to a concert of klezmer music by the Stahlhammer Klezmer ensemble February 21.
The trio will perform enchanting klezmer and tango music. It was founded by violinist Semmy Stahlhammer from the Stockholm Royal Opera and a teacher at the Stockholm Royal Music College who usually performs solo violin concerts. Accordion player Miriam Oldenburg specializes in klezmer and cabaret music and toured Europe with Cirque du Soleil in 2012. Cellist Atida Munthe Stahlhammer teaches cello and also performs with the Yidishe Kapelye group and founder of the Stahlheimer quartet and the Brunneby Music Festival held in the summer in Herrgård.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Wednesday, February 21
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
Please register here: https://forms.gle/ffRY9GSgzgt3ZmNU7
The Lithuanian Jewish Community is pleased to invite you to the return of quiz nights with the “Kas, kur, kada?” [Who, where, when?] quiz in Lithuanian moderated by Irina Sucker.
Registration is required by contacting Žana at zanas@sc.lzb.lt or by telephone at (+370) 678 81514.
Time: 6:30 P.M., Friday, February 9
Place: Third floor, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius
The Sabbath begins at 4:40 P.M. on Friday, February 2, and concludes at 5:57 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.
The annual Liova Taicas memorial tournament organized by the Šiauliai Jewish Community and now the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club will take place for the 14th time on February 4 at the Šiauliai Athletics Gymnasium. Šiauliai Jewish Community chairman Sania Kerbelis said with Makabi’s involvement they expect to receive athletes from Makabi clubs in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda and other cities and towns this year.
Participants will contend in indoor soccer, 3-on-3 basketball and volleyball. Those wanting to participate should call Rašella at 869910621.
Full story in Lithuanian here.
The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club will hold a general meeting and conference of members at 11:00 A.M. on Sunday, February 25, at the Lithuanian Jewish Community at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius.
Agenda:
1. Report by president
2. Report by revision commission
3. Election of members of executive board
4. Topical and operational issues
The Sabbath begins at 4:26 P.M. on Friday, January 26, and concludes at 5:45 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Friday is also Australia Day and Saturday is the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust proclaimed by the United Nations in 2005.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites all members of the public to mark International Holocaust Day on January 27 by taking part in the global We Remember campaign to keep alive the memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
Every year the LJC addresses the Lithuanian municipalities and educational institutions requesting they join the We Remember campaign by visiting mass murder sites, maintaining grave sites, relaying the testimonies of eyewitnesses to the Holocaust and telling the horrific story which had such tragic consequences for Lithuania, Europe and the world.
On Thursday, January 25, everyone is invited to visit the mass murder site in their location to honor the victims. In Vilnius the LJC will ferry those interested by bus to the Ponar Memorial Complex where a commemoration will take place and kaddish will be performed.
The bus will leave from Pylimo street no. 4 at 11:30 A.M. sharp Thursday morning to arrive by 12 noon at Ponar. From the parking lot in Ponar a procession will make its way into the memorial complex. Later we will visit the monument to Righteous Gentiles on Maironio street in Vilnius. Register by sending an email to info@lzb.lt.
If you are unable to attend, you can still participate in the We Remember campaign:
1. Write “We Remember” on a piece of paper, card or cardboard;
2. Take a photograph of yourself or your group holding the inscription;
3. Post on social media with the hash-tag #WeRemember;
4. Send a copy to info@lzb.lt
#WeRemember
Photo: Yekhiel Ilya Sheinboim, right, from Yad Vashem.
The Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum is marking International Holocaust Day Sunday, January 28 in front of the apartment building on the former Strashun street inside the Vilnius ghetto, now Žemaitijos street no. 8, where the only street battle inside the ghetto between ghetto partisans versus Estonian Waffen-SS with German forces broke out during the two-week-long liquidation of the ghetto. This is where the Nazis blew up one building and barricaded streets, and Jewish partisan leader Yekhiel Ilya Sheinboim fired on the enemy from a balcony before being felled by a volley from up the street. Yekhiel was originally from Odessa and formed an underground resistance group in the Vilnius ghetto independent of the FPO, first merging with Borka Friedman’s Struggle Group to form the Yekhiel Struggle Group, and then merging with the FPO in May of 1943.
The ceremony will take place at 3:30 P.M. at Žemaitijos street no. 8, followed by a concert at the Tolerance Center at Naugarduko street no. 10 called “Windows Open to the Sun” at 5:00 P.M.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites all members of the public to mark International Holocaust Day on January 27 by taking part in the global We Remember campaign to keep alive the memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
Every year the LJC addresses the Lithuanian municipalities and educational institutions requesting they join the We Remember campaign by visiting mass murder sites, maintaining grave sites, relaying the testimonies of eyewitnesses to the Holocaust and telling the horrific story which had such tragic consequences for Lithuania, Europe and the world.
On Thursday, January 25, everyone is invited to visit the mass murder site in their location to honor the victims. In Vilnius the LJC will ferry those interested by bus to the Ponar Memorial Complex where a commemoration will take place and kaddish will be performed.
The bus will leave from Pylimo street no. 4 at 11:30 A.M. sharp Thursday morning to arrive by 12 noon at Ponar. From the parking lot in Ponar a procession will make its way into the memorial complex. Later we will visit the monument to Righteous Gentiles on Maironio street in Vilnius. Register by sending an email to info@lzb.lt.
If you are unable to attend, you can still participate in the We Remember campaign:
1. Write “We Remember” on a piece of paper, card or cardboard;
2. Take a photograph of yourself or your group holding the inscription;
3. Post on social media with the hash-tag #WeRemember;
4. Send a copy to info@lzb.lt
#WeRemember