Announcements

Vilnius Jewish Public Library Showing Israeli Film Testament

Vilnius Jewish Public Library Showing Israeli Film Testament

The Vilnius Jewish Public Library will screen the Israeli film Testament (2017) at 6:00 P.M. on Thursday, December 1. The library is located at Gedimino prospect no. 24 in Vilnius. The film is in Hebrew with Lithuanian subtitles.

The film won a special prize in the Horizons program at the Venice film festival in 2017, and was awarded first prize for best film at the Haifa film festival.

The screening is free and open to the public, but prior registration is requested by sending an e-mail to vzvbvjpl@gmail.com or by calling 8 604 15 765.

According to imdb:

“Yoel, a meticulous historian leading a significant debate against Holocaust deniers, discovers that his mother carries a false identity. A mystery about a man who is willing to risk everything to discover the truth.”

The screenplay is loosely based on a true story about the mass murder of Jews at a specific location near the end of World War II. It becomes personal for Holocaust researcher Yoel when he discovers his mother’s testimony among the others. Encompassed by the silence of his mother regarding her life on the one hand and the silence of Holocaust deniers on the other, Yoel decides to press on with his duty to find and reveal the truth, no matter at what cost to his professional and personal life.

Celebrate Hanukkah with Fayerlakh

Celebrate Hanukkah with Fayerlakh

Celebrate Hanukkah with a Fayerlakh concert and a holiday meal at the Natali restaurant at 5:00 P.M. on December 18. The restaurant is located at Žalgirio street no. 92 in Vilnius. Tickets cost 35 euros for adults and 20 euros for children aged 4 to 12. To register contact Ilya by telephone at +37065127777 or write Larisa an email at larisa.vysniauskiene@gmail.com.

Lecture on Jewish Press

Lecture on Jewish Press

Eyal Miller, a specialist in the historical press and digital archives for the National Library of Israel, will deliver a lecture on the Jewish press at the Lithuanian National Library at 6:00 P.M. on Tuesday, November 29. Miller is part of the JPress team at the National Library of Israel which collects, conserves and digitizes archives of Jewish newspapers. More information about this evening’s event is available in Lithuanian here.

New Yiddish Classes

New Yiddish Classes

The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Mameloshn Club invite you to attend Yiddish classes taught by Rosa Beliauskienė from 12 noon to 1:30 P.M. on Sundays at the LJC in Vilnius. For more information and to register, write zanas@sc.lzb.lt or call +370 678 81514.

Yiddish Concert in Kaunas

Yiddish Concert in Kaunas

The Kaunas Jewish Community invites you to their concert “Yiddish Heard Again in Kaunas: Inspired by Grandma’s Songs” at 5:00 P.M. on Sunday, November 27 at the Kaunas Artists’ House located at V. Putvinskio street no. 56 in Kaunas.

Alejandra Czarny of Argentina and more recently the United States with firm family roots in Kaunas will sing accompanied by Michel Gonzales on guitar, including Litvak Yiddish from different periods and Yiddish songs from Argentina and South America. Besides singing Yiddish her entire life, she also has her own radio program and is a cantor for synagogues located in South Florida, where she lives.

The concert is free and open to the public, but prior registration is required by filling out the form here:

https://forms.gle/nkT9Ww3oouyf1RyC8

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 3:54 P.M. on Friday, November 18, and concludes at 5:13 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

LJC Celebrates Tolerance Day with Darna Event

LJC Celebrates Tolerance Day with Darna Event

The first Darna event was held in 2020 during the corona virus panic. Despite many restrictions that time we were able to do more than we had expected, creating an entire virtual festival to mark the International Day of Tolerance. We tried to show during that tough time what diverse and interesting things we have right here in Lithuania, and how these differences are not only interesting, but complement one another perfectly. Today we are very happy to announce we can continue this event for its third year in a row, only this time we can meet face-to-face at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. Everyone of all religious, ethnic and other backgrounds and of all views is invited to come have a cup of tea or coffee, listen to live music and sample Israeli street food from our Cvi Park kiosk starting at 7:00 P.M. on Wednesday, November 16, at the LJC. Note: please disregard earlier announcements which stated the event would be held at the Choral Synagogue. It will be held on the third floor of the LJC at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius.

The event program is available here. Musical performers, cooking workshops and meaningful conversations from the first Darna festival can be found here. More information about this iteration of the celebration can be found here.

#InternationalDayOfTolerance

Evening Hike for Jewish Scouts and Young People in Vilnius

Evening Hike for Jewish Scouts and Young People in Vilnius

A hiking excursion in the Pilaitė neighborhood of Vilnius for Jewish scouts will be held at 5:00 P.M. on November 18. Young people in the 5th to 8th grades are also invited to make the hike and come and experience scouting for themselves. The hike is free but prior registration is required before 9:00 P.M. on November 15. For more information and to register, write skautai@lzb.lt or call scout leaders Audrius at +37061611505 or Adomas at +37060645094.

Lithuanian Attitudes on Ethnicity and Religion

Lithuanian Attitudes on Ethnicity and Religion

The NGO Diversity Development Group, the Ethnic Studies Department of the Lithuanian social sciences center Sociology Institute and Media4Change invite you to a virtual event on International Tolerance Day to present the results of a study and media monitoring on the topic of Lithuanians’ views of ethnic and religious groups.

When: 10:00 A.M. to 11:30 A.M., November 16.
Where: MS Teams via login link https://bit.ly/3EhuyI1

Speakers:

Giedrė Blažytė, migration sociologist, Diversity Development Group, the Ethnic Studies Department of the Lithuanian social sciences center Sociology Institute

Neringa Jurčiukonytė, founder and director, Media4Change

Invitation and program here.

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 4:05 P.M. on Friday, November 11, and concludes at 5:20 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region.

Vilnius Jewish Public Library Showing Films

Vilnius Jewish Public Library Showing Films

The Vilnius Jewish Public Library is screening two films in November and invites the public to attend free of charge.

November 10: Afterthought. Afterthought is a 2015 Israeli philosophical comedy film written and directed by Elad Keidan. It was screened in the Special Screenings section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. It has been nominated for Best Film at the 2015 Ophir Awards. The film has won 3 Ophir prizes: best script, best editing, and best sound design. The film was awarded best film at the Haifa film festival.

November 24: Testament. Testament is a 2017 drama film. Yoel, a meticulous historian leading a significant debate against Holocaust deniers, discovers his mother has a false identity. A mystery about a man who is willing to risk everything to discover the truth. Director: Amichai Greenberg.

The library is located at Gedimino prospect no. 24-9, Vilnius. For more information, call 219 7748.

Global Sabbath and Challa Bake-Off at the Bagel Shop

Global Sabbath and Challa Bake-Off at the Bagel Shop

The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you and your family to come back challa and celebrate the Sabbath in the Shabbos Project’s Global Challa Bake-Off at the Bagel Shop Café in Vilnius from 2:00 to 4:00 P.M. on Friday, November 11.

Every fall millions of Jews around the world come together in an extraordinarily moving activity, baking challa, blessing the wine and bread, singing the Sabbath hymns, celebrating the Sabbath together with friends and family and lighting the havdalah candle.

Senior Bagel Shop Café chef Riva Portnaja and other Community members will share their families’ traditions celebrating the Sabbath. You are invited to come make challa together, to take the loaves home, to invite our more isolated members to come as well and to bless the loaves and the wine together with the entire world Jewish community as we enter into the blessed rest of the Sabbath. The event is free and open to the public.

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Litvaks Who Came Back: An Exhibit

Litvaks Who Came Back: An Exhibit

Kęstutis Grigaliūnas’s personal exhibit “Litvaks Who Came Back from the Nazi Concentration Camps” will open at the Museum of Photography in Šiauliai at 5:00 P.M. on November 10. Grigaliūnas is a recipient of Lithuania’s Culture and Art Prize.

Natalija Arlauskaitė is the curator of the exhibit. She’s a professor at the International Relations and Political Science Institute of Vilnius University.

The exhibit features photographs of 335 Lithuanian Jews who survived and returned from the concentration camps with brief bios. A book of the same name as the exhibit, actually the source of the exhibit, will be launched at the opening. The exhibit runs till December 18.

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Jewish Scout Meeting

Jewish Scout Meeting

The Lithuanian Jewish Community will host a Litvak scouting meet at 3:30 P.M. on Thursday, November 10 at the Ilan Club room at the Community building at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius under the direction of scout leader Adomas Kofman. We will continue to learn about the scouting movement and engage in edifying and fun activities. All young people aged 6 to 18 are invited. For more information, write skautai@lzb.lt.

Romany Language Day

Romany Language Day

November 5 is celebrated as International Romani Language Day by UNESCO, Croatia and by Roma and friends around the world. One’s mother tongue is an important element of identity maintaining community cohesion and the sense of belonging. The Lithuanian Jewish Community and partner organizations including Padėk Pritapti will hold a celebration of the international day at 5:30 P.M. on November 8 this year at the Bagel Shop Café at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius. There will be readings from the Lithuanian Roma oral history archive and traditional song and dance. Participants will also receive postcards created by children containing a short Romany-Lithuanian vocabulary. The event is free and open to the public.

More information available here.

To Fall in Love with the World through Painting

To Fall in Love with the World through Painting

To Fall in Love with the World through Painting: Exhibition of Paintings by Solomon Teitelbaum

The Pylimo Gallery located at Pylimo street no. 30 in Vilnius will host an exhibit of paintings by Solomon Teitelbaum called “To Fall in Love with the World through Painting” beginning November 9. The exhibition will run till November 26.

“To go inside, to reincarnate into the portrayed object, to feel the tragedy and joy of the world portrayed, this is the essence of my work. That’s why I fall in love with the world through painting,” he said of his latest exhibition.

Full description in Lithuanian available at the gallery’s website here.

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