The Rakija Klezmer Orkestar will perform a free concert in the square in front of Government House in Vilnius at 5:00 P.M. on Friday, September 5, as part of the city’s Vilnius Days celebrations and the Cities Embracing Jewish Heritage project. For more information, click here.
The Vilnius Picture Gallery and the Lithuanian National Art Museum invite the public to a lecture by Giedrė Mickūnaitė called “risiminti nežinomą, patirti nesantį–keli žydiškojo Vilniaus maršrutai” [Remembering the Unknown, Experiencing the Non-Existent: Several Tracks in Jewish Vilnius] at the Vilnius Picture Gallery at 5:30 P.M.om September 9. The galLery is located at Didžioji street no. 4 in Vilnius.
According to the hallery’s announcement of the public lecture:
“Historical knowledge and making it topical, urban planning not just as space and architecture, but as a way of life–these are the questions confronting Vilnius. The lecture invites you to an indirect tour of the current city and provides a glimpse of the Jewish past, asking you to experience that loss in the present.”
The lecture is free, open to the public and registration is not required.
The Ieva Simonaitytė Public Library in Klaipėda is pleased to host a presentation by Akvilė Grigoravičiūtė, Yiddish literary researcher and translator, on changes to Litvak identity in the early 20th century as illustrated in Yiddish literary works.
The event is scheduled from 5:30 to 6:30 P.M. on Wednesday, September 10.
Called “Yiddish Literature in Interwar Lithuania,” the author discusses the evacuation of Jews from the borderlands in Tsarist Russia during the First World War and the lasting effects that had on Jewish identity. She characterizes Lithuanian Yiddish literature in the 1920s as showcasing separation, alienation and solitude. In the 1930s, she says, a new Jewish identity began to coalesce, tied organically to the culture and society of the Republic of Lithuania. Her presentation will include passages from Yiddish writers, literary clubs and publications from 1918 to 1940
The library is located at Herkaus Manto street no. 25 in Klaipeda. For those unable to attend, the lecture will be live-streamed via the internet, register here.
For more information in Lithuanian, click here.
The Švėkšna Museum presents “In Search of the Shtetl in Švėkšna” illustrating the town’s multicultural and multiethnic past and legacy starting with an exhibit at the Švėkšna synagogue, now the Švėkšna Museum, at 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, August 6. The address is Liepų alley no. 12, Švėkšna, Lithuania. The exhibit features mosaics by Lina Šlipavičiūtė and Lauryna Kiškytė who both plan to attend the event. This will be followed by a guided tour of the town discussing the settlement by Jews in the 17th century, emigration, the period of thriving trade and a thriving economy, life and education of young Jews and the religious life of the shtetl. The event is part of the European Days of Jewish Culture which falls on the first Sunday in September every year.
For more information, call +370 657 57 152. or for more information in Lithuanian, see here:
The Vilnius Jewish Public Library in concert with the 15min.lt news website will hold a quiz on Jewish Vilna history and culture at the Lithuanian National Library at 3:00 P.M. on Sunday, August 7. The event is intended to commemorate the anniversary of the founding of YIVO in Vilnius and the European Days of Jewish Culture which falls on the first Sunday in September annually..
Master of ceremonies will be Ugnius Antanavičius, an editor at 15min.lt.
Contestants will compete in teams of from 2 to 6 people of their own making. Prizes await the winners. The quiz is expected to last about 2 hours.
The quiz is open to the public and there is no fee for competing. To register send an email to uantanavicius@gmail.com, indicating your team’s name and the expected number of players..
The Grigoriy Kanovitch Public Library in Jonava in central Lithuania will hold their 9th annual awards ceremony to present the Grigoriy Kanovitch literary prize to the most worthy recipient on September 10.
Attendees will have the chance to meet and talk with the winner afterwards, followed by a street theater performance called Quintetto della Morte.
The Grigoriy Kanovitch Public Library is located at Žeimių street no. 9, Jonava, Lithuania.
The town of Žemaičių Naumiestis is inviting the public to attend an event reopening the former synagogue there as a cultural and performance space, reintegrating it into the municipal landscape.
In the past the synagogue was used as a storage space and as a Soviet Palace of Culture, and for a time as a sports gymnasium. It has been empty and abandoned for years now.
The organizers of the upcoming festival called “Bridges of Michael” hope to extend a bridge between the past and present through art.
Ot begins at 5:00 P.M. on September 23 with an exhibit of works by Ilja Bereznickas including screenings of his animated films. At 6:00 P.M. an installation with live music opens featuring pianist Darius Mažintas, with video by Andrius Seliuta von Rath and Dali Rust. Organizers of the event invite visitors to photograph and film as much as they like, and to share their recordings on social media.
The event is free and open to the public but seating is limited, so attendees are asked to register by sending an email to mykolotiltai25@gmail.com or by clicking here.
There will be a party afterwards at the Pas Virgą café and ffor that registration is strictly required by clicking the same link indicated above.
Miglė Anušauskaitė, a noted Lithuanian cartoonist as well as translator and Judaica scholar, will give a presentation in Lithuanian on humor in Jewish poetry at the Lithuanian National Library at 6:00 P.M. on Thursday, August 4. This is the first installment in a series of events and lectures dedicated to an exhibit of works by Tania Mouraud, the French artist. The Mourand exhibition runs till November 9 at the Lithuanian National Art Museum, Gostauto street no. 1, Vilnius, and is titled “In Honor of Revived Pain” [loose translation].
The Chaim Frankl Company Soccer Cup takes place this Saturday, August 6, at the the Šiauliai City Stadium starting at 11:00 A.M.
Natalja Cheifec’s internet discussion club meets Thursday at 6:00 P.M. To join the conversation, click here.
The Sabbath begins at 8:18 P.M. on Friday, August 29, and concludes at 9:13 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 8:00 P.M. and completed before sunset at 8:18 P.M. Monday is Labor Day in the United States and Canada, and the first day of school in Lithuania.
The Sabbath begins at 8:34 P.M. on Friday, August 22, and concludes at 9:32 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 8:16 P.M. and completed before sunset at 8:34 P.M.
Cvi Park was chosen as a pop0-up location for the Augalyn series of vegetarian picnics and food samplings. Rumor has it Cvi will be offering gree pizza at the event. Organizers are also promising musical accompaniment. It all happens this Friday, August 22, at the park across the street from the Lithuanian Jewish Community at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius, starting at 4:00 P.M.
More information available here.
The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club invites you to come participate in light competition at the swimming hole in the Žirmūnai neighborhood in Vilnius August 24. Members, friends and anyone who wants will play volleyball, basketball, chess, disc golf, spike ball and a Makabi Challenge tournament with lots of other diversions. The event will conclude with a picnic. This is an all ages event. Attendance is free and open to everyone but space is limited. Register here.
Time: 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M., Sunday, August 24
Place: https://maps.app.goo.gl/3UeyRQoUpanKpW2U7
Natalja Cheifec continues here discussion of the Holy Land and its people in a third installment as part of her internet discussion club Thursday. To receive zoom credentials, click here.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, August 21
Place: internet
The Sabbath begins at 8:51 P.M. on Friday, August 15, and concludes at 9:81 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 8:33 P.M. and completed before sunset at 8:51 P.M. Friday is VJ Day, this year marking 80 years since the Allies forced the unconditional surrender of the fascist Empire of Japan (August 15 in the eastern USSR, China and Australia, August 14 in the United States. September 2 is also celebrated as VJ Day marking the formal surrender tjrpigh the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender by the Japanese foreign minister representing emperor Hirohito and the “Big Six” powers on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay)..
Natalja Cheifec continues her internet discussion group on the topic of the Holy Land and its people. THis will be the second part of that discussion. To receive zoom credentials, click here.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, August 14
Place: internet
A book of interviews with Lithuanian cellist Davidas Geringas written by musical journalist Jan Brachmann is now abailable in Lithuanian and will be presented Monday, August 11. The book is called “Tik Niekam Nesakyk” [Just Don’t Tell Anyone] and tells the story of Geringas’s persecution by Soviet security structures and his family’s experience as Jews in Soviet Lithuania, along with Geringas’s meetings with remarkable people and his support for Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenytsin. The book was previously translated into German and Italian.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Monday, August 11
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
The Sabbath begins at 9:06 P.M. on Friday, August 8, and concludes at 10:09 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 8:48 P.M. and completed before sunset at 9:06 P.M.
Natalja Cheifec continues her internet discussion club, this time discussing the Promised Land and its people. To receive zoom credentials to listen to and contribute to the discussion, click here.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, August 7
Place: internet