The Šnekutis bar popular with tourists and locals alike is hosting a night of African dance music at their Užupis location Saturday evening, June 11. The address is Polocko street no. 7a, Vilnius, and the first selections of recorded music from around Africa are scheduled to go out around 6:00 P.M. Entrance is free to the public. According to a statement by Šnekutis representatives, the evening is intended to celebrate cultural diversity and the music will include Coupé-Decalé, Ethiopian jazz, Afrobeat, Afrofunk and Highlife, among others. The DJs for the AFRICANISM@Šnekutis event are Dovilė Abro from Lithuania and Rees Archibald from Australia.
Come Take Part in Pride Voices

When we talk about the situation regarding the human rights of LGBT people in the country, we often forget that are lives are not exclusively the challenges we face daily. Our lives are also stories which need to be heard.
The national LGBT rights organization LGL invites you to take part in a Baltic Pride 2016 event, scheduled to run from 7:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. on June 16 at the Russian Drama Theater in Vilnius. Well known LGBT advocates from around the world and human rights activists will share their personal experiences, stories and encounters in the struggle for LGBT equal rights.
The theatrical Pride Voices event will feature personal stories shared by Johanna Sigurdardottir (former Icelandic PM) and her wife, journalist and playwright Jónína Leósdóttir, as well as Ulrike Lunacek (deputy speaker of the European Parliament) Matthew Shepard’s parents Judy Shepard and Dennis Shepard and Ugandan LGBT activist Dennis Wamala.
The Floodgates Within: Video Art from Israel
Where: NGA Auditorium, Konstitucijos prospect no. 22, Vilnius
When: 6:00 P.M., Tuesday, June 7, 2016
On June 7-8 National Gallery of Arts presents the program of contemporary Isreali video art ‘The Floodgates Within: Video Art from Israel’ curated by Chen Tamir, curator at the Center for Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv. Chen Tamir will present two evenings of video from Israel. Designed to complement one another, these two events will situate Israeli contemporary art within historic, social, and political contexts, and offer a wide overview of experimental video-based art from this unique country.
Sharon Ya’ari’s Positive Images for Field and Forest Exhibit

The National Gallery of Art presents an exceptional 2016 summer event, the exhibition Positive Images for Field and Forest by the contemporary Israeli artist Sharon Ya’ari. It is one of his biggest personal exhibitions in Europe and his first in Lithuania.
Come Celebrate Shavuot at the Lithuanian Jewish Community Social Club
The Abi Men Zet Zikh and the Social Club of the LJC invite members to meet on the eve of Shavuot at 1:00 P.M. on Thursday, June 9, on the third floor of the LJC. Rabbi Shimshon Izakson will talk about the rise of King David and there will be traditional Shavuot dishes.
Registration is required. Please contact Žana Skudovičienė by telephone at 867881514 between 10:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. during the work week.
First Auction of Children’s Art in Vilnius!
The Vilnius Art School for Children and Youth, the first independent private art educational institution in Lithuania, was created by Jūratė Stauskaitė in 1991.
Over its 25 years of history, the school has turned become a versatile and innovative artistic education resource where everyone gets a chance to express their individuality through freedom of expression and creativity, which are important in all professions.
Since 1991 several thousand pupils have attended and completed school programs. School staff have published various teaching aids and textbooks for other schools. The school has taken part in numerous artistic educational initiatives and charity events held by the Vilnius municipality and state authorities, and remains true to its main objective: to raise creative members of society.
You’re Invited to a Chess Tournament
The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the elite chess and checkers club Rositsan and Maccabi invite you to a chess tournament at the Lithuanian Jewish Community at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius at 11:00 A.M. on Sunday, June 19.
The event is dedicated to the memory of interwar Lithuania’s third president and Righteous Gentile Kazys Grinius.
Tournament director: FIDE master Boris Rositsan
For more information and to register, contact: info@metbor.lt, telephone +3706 5543556
Kosher Sabbath and a Lesson about Shavuot
The Gesher Club of the Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to come celebrate the Sabbath with Rabbi Kalev Krelin, who will deliver a talk called “Shavuot: A Holiday without an Exact Date or Meaning” at the kosher restaurant Rishon, Tilto street no. 3, Vilnius, on Friday, June 10. To buy tickets or for more information, contact Žana Skudovičienė by telephone at 867881514.
Paid Internships
The Lithuanian Jewish Students Union reports of two new paid internship available at the European Union of Jewish Students and at the Transatlantic Institute of the American Jewish Committee.
1. The EUJS is looking for a new communications officer. The communication officer manages EUJS’s internal and external communication strategies and creates online content for social media with the aim of broadening media coverage and outreach.
2. The American Jewish Committee’s Transatlantic Institute in Brussels http://www.transatlanticinstitute.org offers an exciting opportunity to experience what advocacy with the European Union is like. You can work as a fully contributing member of their experienced international multidisciplinary team, discover firsthand how the EU’s common foreign policy is made and get to know some of the main players.
Concert of Lithuanian Ethnic Minority Music and Lesson with Dr. Marija Kuprove-Berg
Marija Kuprove-Berg will perform at the Tolerance Center, Naugarduko street no. 10/2, at 6:00 P.M. on Thursday, June 2, 2016. Violinist Vytautas Mikeliūnas will also perform. A lecture will be held in English as well. The event is being held by the Lithuanian Literature and Folklore Institute and the Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum. Entrance is free to the public.
Dr. Marija Kuprove-Berg’s repertoire includes songs in all the minority languages of Lithuania, including Yiddish, Ashkenazic Hebrew, Romany, Tartar and others, and embraces Karaïte musical traditions as well.
German Trio to Give Concert at Lithuanian Jewish Community
Three German musicians will give a concert open to the public at the Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius at 5:00 P.M. on Sunday, May 29. Entrance is free but a small donation may be left for the musicians at the door. The trio consists of Katharina Müther of Freiburg on accordeon and lyrics, Daniel Kahn of Detroit and Berlin on clarinet, accordeon and lyrics, and Roswitha Dasch of Wuppertal on violin and lyrics.
Sporting Event
The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Lithuanian Jewish Makabi Athletics Club invite you to
a celebration of the grand opening of the summer season
for the entire family.
Program:
Soccer tournament for children and adults
Registration of teams: Pavel Guliakov, telephone: 370 685 42463, email: p.guliakov@gmail.com
Badminton tournament
Registration: Genadijus Plavinas, telephone: 370 699 40918, email: plavinas@takas.lt
Israeli dance marathon
with Karina Semionova, no registration required, 12:00 noon to 2:00 P.M.
Activities for younger holiday-makers
with Dubi and Dubi Mishpoha Club coordinators
Alina Azukaitis and Margarita Kožetova and the other guides
Event is free and open to the public!
Time: 11:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M., Sunday, June 5, 2016
Location: The Vilnius Soccer Fan Stadium, Linkmenų street no. 8, Vilnius
Summer Camp Schedule and Registration

Dear Parents,
Ensure your children’s place at the Dubingiai recreational site!
Camp sessions and dates:
- First session: July 4-13, ages: 7-12
- Second session: July 18-28, ages 13-18
- Szarvas International Camp: August 4-21, ages: 13-17
Chess Tournament
The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Rositsan and Maccabi Elite Chess and Checkers Club invite you to an amateur chess tournament!
Time: 11:00 A.M., Sunday, May 22, 2016
Location: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius
Director: FIDE master Boris Rositsan
To register and for further information, contact:
email: info@metbor.lt
telephone: 3706 5543556
In Memoriam Saulius Sondeckis

The Destinies series of lectures, seminars and meetings invite you to attend our 26th evening in the series,
In Memoriam Saulius Sondeckis
featuring the premiere of the film “… mūsiškiai žydai muzikai” [“…Our Own Jewish Musicians”]
In the film maestro Saulius Sondeckis shares his memories of his friends and colleagues, Lithuanian Jewish musicians.
Participants to include: the filmmaker and journalist Saulius Sondeckis and professor Silvija Silvija Sondeckienė
Moderator: Dr. Leonidas Melnikas.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, May 19, 2016.
Location: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius
Event initiator and MC: LJC deputy chairwoman Maša Grodnikienė
A Conversation with Basir

The Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum will host a discussion in Lithuanian at 3:00 P.M. on May 18, 2016, called “A Conversation with Basir. Refugees: Avoid, Understand, Accept?”
Participants are to include Afghan translator for Lithuanian soldiers in Afghanistan Abdul Basir Yousof, UN High Commission on Refugees rep in Lithuania Renata Kuleš, military historian Dr. Gintautas Surgailis and Vilnius University Oriental Studies Department Islamic theology and culture historian Maritana Larbi.
Vilna Gaon Museum director Markas Zingeris will moderate.
LJC Lecture Series
The lectures are held Sundays at the Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius
12:00 noon May 15
Marking the 100th anniversary of the death of Sholem Aleichem (March 2, 1859-May 13, 1916)
Fiddler on the Roof, part one
12:00 noon May 22
Fiddler on the Roof, part two
Illustrated Hebrew-Lithuanian Wordbook for Beginners Presented at LJC
The publication of Ruth Reches’s “Iliustruotas hebrajų-lietuvių kalbų žodynėlis pradedantiesiems” [“Illustrated Hebrew-Lithuanian Wordbook for Beginners”] is an important event for Jews and Lithuanians who want to learn Hebrew and who had to rely in the past on textbooks in Russian and English. The arrival of the book was eagerly awaited by the students of the Vilnius Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium and their parents. The announcement of the book’s official launch instantly drew thousands of interested people on facebook from all over Lithuania. The author presented her book at the Community May 9.
Ruth Reches was graduated from Bar Ilan University in Israel in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree sociology, psychology and criminology. In 2001 she completed a master’s degree at Vilnius University in clinical psychology. In 2007 she received a teaching credential from Vilnius Pedagogical University. Currently she is doing doctoral work at Mykolas Romeris University, where she has been teaching psychology to students pursuing a variety of disciplines since 2001. She worked as a psychologist at the medical center of the Lithuanian Interior Ministry from 2006 to 2011. Since 1997 she has also taught Hebrew at the Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium in Vilnius and served as school psychologist. She teaches psychology as an elective to upper-level (sophomore to senior class) students there.
The “Illustrated Hebrew-Lithuanian Wordbook for Beginners” is for teaching Hebrew to children whose native language is Lithuanian. The learning aid will help pupils understand better and acquire new material, while parents can use the book to follow the progress of their children. The book is useful for adults beginning Hebrew as well.
Israeli Embassy Marks Israeli Independence Day with Save the Children Centers
Vilnius (May 11, 2016)–On the 68th anniversary of the Independence of the State of Israel (this year it is on May 12) the Embassy of Israel in Lithuania will mark the day in a different way: together with Save the Children day centers in a number of towns of Lithuania. The funds assigned for the traditional National Day reception will be used to present the children and the centers with a variety of equipment, furniture, games and other supplies that are required for the daily operations of these centers.
“We are honored to join forces with Save the Children organization and to contribute our modest support to improve the children’s surroundings and environment, which we hope they will successfully use not only for doing their homework, but also for having more fun together, which is no less important” Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon said.
On May 12 and 13 Embassy of Israel teams will visit Save the Children day centers in Alytus and the Alytus district and in the Utena, Pasvalis, Druskininkai, Širvintos and Kaišiadorys municipalities, to meet altogether about 300 children. The wish list is quite varied and includes furniture, computers, kitchenware and cutlery, home appliances, stationary supplies, art supplies, television sets and many more. In addition, every child will be presented with a blue and white schoolbag with a light reflector.
Come Celebrate Israeli Independence Day

Dear members,
You are cordially invited to celebrate the 68th anniversary of the independence of the State of Israel. The celebration is to take place at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius at 6:30 P.M. on Monday, May 16, 2016. A small klezmer concert is planned and Israeli snacks will be provided.
For more information call +370 67881514 or send an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt



