Greetings

New US Ambassador Visits LJC

New US Ambassador Visits LJC

Robert Gilchrist, a career diplomat appointed by president Trump to serve as the United States’ ambassador to Lithuania and confirmed by the Senate in late December, made an informal visit to the Lithuanian Jewish Community February 19.

During the visit he met chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, received a tour of the Community building from her, chatted with senior citizens and learned about their club and met Holocaust survivors, including Jewish partisan Fania Brancovskaja.

He also visited the Bagel Shop Café and met children engaged in LJC activities during their winter break from school.

Chairwoman Kukliansky also showed the new ambassador an exhibit on display at the Community on the Righteous Gentiles who rescued Jews from the Holocaust in Lithuania.

Appointed by US president Donald Trump in July, Gilchrist was only confirmed by the Senate in late December after heated questioning about his position on Russia. During his confirmation he called Lithuania one of America’s most loyal allies and said becoming the US ambassador to Lithuania was the honor of his life.

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LJC Members Who Received National Awards Recognized on February 16

LJC Members Who Received National Awards Recognized on February 16

The executive board of the Lithuanian Jewish Community congratulated Community members who had received state awards on the eve of February 16, the pre-war Lithuanian Independence Day.

Vocalist Rafailas Karpis, named soloist of the year by the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theater and Linas Vildžiūnas, editor of the Seven Days of Art weekly newspaper and recipient of the Leonidas Donskis prize, were recognized. Daumantas Levas Todesas, an active cultural figure, supporter of culture and long-time member of the LJC, who was elected chairman of the Ethnic Communities Service for the term between 2020 and 2024, was also recognized.

Journalist and public figure Eugenijus Bunka, named Tolerant Person of the Year, was also recognized and sent a greeting to the audience on the eve of February 16. His brief address follows.

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Greetings on February 16, Lithuanian Independence Day

Greetings on February 16, Lithuanian Independence Day

Students, staff and teachers of the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium in Vilnius marked Lithuanian Independence Day February 16 with a full day of events.

The program included song and dance in the late morning and afternoon Friday to celebrate the day in 1918 102 years ago when the modern state of Lithuania was born. Pupils performed Lithuanian folk dancing and sang the national anthem.

Acting principal Ruth Reches said: “Children of different nationalities attend our gymnasium and one of our aims is to teach them citizenship, and to teach both the children and young people dates and holidays important to both Jewish and Lithuanian families. The day of the restoration of Lithuanian statehood celebrated on February 16 is very important to all of us, to our freedom and self-expression, and we, the entire school community, celebrated this independence day enthusiastically and ethnically.”

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Donskis Prize Winner Linas Vildžiūnas’s Acceptance Speech

Donskis Prize Winner Linas Vildžiūnas’s Acceptance Speech

LRT.lt

The Leonidas Donskis prize was awarded this year to Linas Vildžiūnas, the director of the “7 meno dienos” [Seven Days of Art] weekly newspaper, by the board of directors of the Sugihara Foundation/Diplomats for Life and Jolanta Donskienė.

On February 2 the Sugihara Foundation/Diplomats for Life announced their annual award for Tolerant Person of the Year at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. This year that person was Eugenijus Bunka. They also awarded the Donskis prize to Linas Vildžiūnas. Leonidas Donskis was a philosopher, professor, the author of numerous books, a television personality, an advisor to the Lithuanian president and an important voice in the modern Republic of Lithuania.

Vildžiūnas was awarded the distinction “for his meaningful presence on the cultural scene which was unaffected by regime changes and fashion, and for his continuous reminder culture is a fundamental value whose quality is enriched by supporting dialogue and discussion. [And] for his long-time battle against forgetfulness, reminding us that only the maintenance of memory, however uncomfortable it might be, strengthens dialogue and empathy, that the memories of our grandparents and great-grandparents is of value for the younger generation rather than a fading memory. [And] for his belief and the example he set, showing that a strong civic attitude is able to withstand tendentious attacks, manipulations and efforts to ‘nationalize’ it.”

This is the speech Linas Vildžiūnas gave on acceptance of the Donskis prize:

§§§

Dear Mrs. Jolanta Donskienė, honored members of the board of directors of the Sugihara Foundation/Diplomats for Life, ladies and gentlemen,

In accepting from your hands this honorable award in recognition of my humble efforts, I am deeply moved and at the same time disturbed. The Leonidas Donskis prize set a very high standard, bearing in mind his irreplaceable role in our public life and academic discourse and his novel insights which have added to our lexicon of philosophy and sociology (take just for example his and Zygmunt Bauman’s idea of “liquid evil” in the final book coauthored by both thinkers). We all feel that void which appeared in public life on the loss of Leonidas Donskis, who was the most remarkable and sometimes the only voice of our intellectual elite.

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Lithuanian Jewish Community Wishes Lithuania a Merry Christmas

Lithuanian Jewish Community Wishes Lithuania a Merry Christmas

We wish you a merry Christmas as the Jewish community celebrates the festival of lights, Hanukkah. May the spirit of the holidays carry on and underpin the New Year. Both holidays, Christian and Jewish, are a time for the tranquility of the home hearth and for reflecting on what has passed and what is yet to come.

Merry Christmas! We wish all health, happiness and that we all find a way to respect one another, now and in the future.

Hanukkah Begins

Hanukkah Begins

Lithuanian Jews and Jews around the world began celebrating Hanukkah, the festival of lights, December 22, lighting the first light on the menorah. The Lithuanian Jewish Community has a menorah set up on the balcony of headquarters in Vilnius.

Because the Jewish day begins at sundown, Hanukkah actually began on the evening of December 22. Members of the Community, friends and Israeli ambassador Yossi Avni-Levy attended the lighting ceremony.

LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky said Hanukkah is folklore as well as a religious holiday lasting eight days, symbolizing the miracle of the lamp oil which lasted eight days at the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the Maccabee uprising. She wished everyone a happy Hanukkah, and that the festival of lights would impart happiness, health and joy among all families.

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Soviet Dissident Natan Sharansky Named 2020 Genesis Prize Recipient

Soviet Dissident Natan Sharansky Named 2020 Genesis Prize Recipient

Photo: Natan Sharansky, a Soviet refusenik and Israeli lawmaker, was named the 2020 Genesis Prize laureate. (Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

by Laura E. Adkins

NEW YORK (JTA)–The Genesis Prize Foundation has announced that Natan Sharansky, a Jewish refusenik, prolific leader in the Soviet Jewry emigration movement and former Israeli politician, will be awarded the 2020 Genesis Prize.

The Genesis Prize, dubbed the “Jewish Nobel,” was started in 2013 and is financed through a permanent $100 million endowment. The annual award honors “extraordinary individuals for their outstanding professional achievement, contribution to humanity and commitment to Jewish values.”

Sharansky was selected to honor “his extraordinary lifelong struggle for political and religious freedoms, emphasizing the relevance of his work in today’s world,” the Genesis Prize Foundation said in a news release.

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Honoring Lithuania’s Jewish Soldiers in Kaunas

Honoring Lithuania’s Jewish Soldiers in Kaunas

by Dr. Raimundas Kaminskas

A ceremony to honor Jewish volunteer soldiers was held at the Žaliakalnis Jewish cemetery in the Gričiupis aldermanship in the Kaunas region on November 23. Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas recalled for the audience historic Jewish-Lithuanian relations and the contribution Jewish Lithuanian soldiers made in the battles for Lithuanian independence in 1919 and 1920 and later in the national Lithuanian military.

Director of the Kovo 11-osios Street Community Dr. Raimundas Kaminskas shared his thoughts on the civic-minded and patriotic Jewish soldiers in the period of Lithuanian independence from 1918 to 1940 and presented the chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community a medal commemorating the Union of Jewish Volunteer Soldiers Who Served in the Liberation of Lithuania.

After the commemoration the audience moved to the St. Antthony of Padua Church where the mortal remains of church builder, rescuer of Jews and Lithuanian military volunteer father Juozas Želvys (1899-1985) are interred. The Žaliakalnis Jewish cemetery was established in 1861 and operated until 1952. The Lithuanian Cultural Heritage Department reports among the burials of many noted public, cultural, political and religious figures there, 14 of the graves are those of Lithuanian Jewish soldiers who perished in the battles for Lithuanian independence.

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Lithuanian Jewish Community Hopes for Peace for Jews in Israel on Global Sabbath

Lithuanian Jewish Community Hopes for Peace for Jews in Israel on Global Sabbath

The Israeli military is attempting to stop Hamas from joining in on acts of aggression by Islamic Jihad. The search for peace is on. Jews in southern Israel feel insecure and despite the announcement of a cease-fire the fighting continues with schools closed across the region including in Ashkelon, Sderot and Netivot. Communities near the border with the Gaza Strip fear a new attack out of Gaza.

A spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces said Islamic Jihad is continuing hostilities and that the number of rockets fired today, November 15, had already reached 250.

This Friday evening Jews around the world are joining the Shabat Project’s global sabbath celebration intended to celebrate Jewish unity.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes peace and tranquility for Jews living in Israel and hopes the truce announced before the sabbath will hold.

Lithuanian Jews will mark the sabbath this evening at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius.

Happy birthday to Gita Grinmanienė!

Happy birthday to Gita Grinmanienė!

Congratulations to Gita Grinmanienė Zimanaitė on her 80th birthday. Gita – Member of the Alliance Committee and Council of Former Ghetto and concentration camp prisoners . The Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) community is well acquainted with the Gita as an active member of the community.

Gita survived the Holocaust. She was rescued from the Kaunas (Kovno) ghetto by Lithuanian family.

Dear Gita, when you look back over 80 years, we hope that your memories are warm ones. When you celebrate today, we hope that your heart is filled with love and joy. When you look forward to the future, we wish that all your dreams and wishes come true.

Mazel tov! Live to 120!

Congratulations to Avital Libman, Runner-Up Lithuanian Miss Universe

Avital Libman has become first runner-up in the Miss Universe Lithuania contest. Well done! We’re proud of Avital. She’s beautiful and courageous, and during the contest she said that she’s still at school but during her free time she volunteers for the Jewish community. The Lithuanian Jewish Community congratulates Avital and we wish her all the best, further achievements in school and future contests, and that her dreams come true.

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Story of a Man of God

Story of a Man of God

Arkadijus Gotesmanas working together with director Adolfas Večerskis and artist Linas Liandzbergis created the Story of a Man of God almost a decade ago. Author of the music and text, he was also the performer of this drama. One week ago it was presented to an audience in Uzhgorod, Ukraine. In the one-man play Gotesmanas recalled horrible, funny, sad and happy events from his own life accompanied by creative percussion, the life of one man, one family, one people marked by the tragedies of the 20th century but nonetheless filled with unconditional love for faltering humanity.

The audience in Uzhgorod listened and watched in rapt attention. Arkadijus was born there 60 years ago. The “hometown boy” appears to have impressed the audience with his high degree of creativity, talent and musical ability. Arkadijus said he only really knew about “our Uzhgorod” from his parents before this. In infancy he and his parents left the city. So the next performance of Story of a Man of God might include this trip as well.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

Have a Happy Sukkot with Friends and Family

Have a Happy Sukkot with Friends and Family

Members of the Lithuanian Jewish Community traditionally gather in the Sukkot tent–the sukka–to talk and eat. The happy holiday lasts seven days.

Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles or tents) is one of three pilgrim holidays mentioned in the Bible as shalosh regalim. In earlier times it was an agricultural holiday to give thanks for the harvest. The sukka is a tent, the only home Jews knew for the 40 years they wandered the desert after the exodus from Egypt. As a temporary shelter, the sukka also reminds us existence is fragile, and Sukkot is a time when we should appreciate our home and body.

The sukka is a necessary part of the holiday of Sukkot and needs to be built. Jews are supposed to sit in the booth and eat and celebrate. It is celebrated for seven days in Israel. There, where it’s usually warm, people even sleep in the make-shift dwellings and children especially enjoy the holiday. The dwelling place is decorated on the eve of the holiday and it is forbidden to work on the first day of the holiday.

Four species of plant are required and are placed together on a platter or plate and waved around. This is written in the Bible. The species are the fruit of the citron tree, palm fronds, myrtle fronds and willow branches. On the seventh day of Sukkot Jews circle seven times in synagogue reciting the prayer used on that day.

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Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community Celebrates Rosh Hashanah

Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community Celebrates Rosh Hashanah

Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community celebrated the advent of the new Jewish year 5780 with a dinner and ceremony. Community chairman Naum Gleizer welcomed participants and wished everyone a good, sweet and healthy coming year. Frida Šteinienė began the celebration by lighting candles and saying a prayer. She reminded participants of the significance and traditions of the holiday.

Traditional foods graced the dinner table, including challa, apples with honey, pomegranates, gefilte fish, chicken liver and chopped herring. Community housewives provided traditional Jewish sweets such as teigalakh, imberlakh and apple pie.

Live Jewish song and dance provided by Vadim Kamrazer enlivened the celebration and the children Sofija, Karina and Natanas also sang.

Young and old appeared to have a great time. Animator and children’s event organizer Simona provided a special program for the kids. Every family received the new 5780 Jewish calendar published by the Lithuanian Jewish Community.

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Rosh Hashanah at the Panevėžys Jewish Community

Rosh Hashanah at the Panevėžys Jewish Community

The Panevėžys Jewish Community celebrated Rosh Hashanah September 29 at the Park Café. It began with the lighting of candles, then Community chairman Gennady Kofman read a prayer for the new year, 5780, and Michailas Grafman blew the shofar horn.

Community member ate traditional foods such as apples dipped in honey, pomegranates, gefilte fish and challa bread. Children received presents and learned about Jewish traditions. At the end of the celebration the new Jewish calendar published by the Lithuanian Jewish Community.

Chairman Kofman read out greetings from Israeli president Reuven Rivlin and from Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Yossi Levy. Greetings were also received from LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and the heads of Lithuania’s regional Jewish communities.

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Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius Awards Best Teachers of the Year

Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius Awards Best Teachers of the Year

Photo: Sholem Aleichem teacher Rasa Belgerienė with mayor Remigijus Šimašius at awards ceremony

In anticipation of World Teachers’ Day on October 5, Vilnius mayor Remigijus Šimašius presented awards to Vilnius teachers of the year. The prize commission selected 11 from 42 nominations, with the winners including Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium teacher Rasą Belgerienė.

“Education is undoubtedly one of the most important areas for Vilnius and the country. We want to encourage cooperation between the schools of Vilnius and institutions of higher learning as we create the concept of the modern school. You are crucial as the engines of daily wins, but also of our great shared goals and as forces for reform. I feel pride to see before me so many professionals in their field whose daily work is to raise independent, free and responsible people,” the mayor said.

Full story in Lithuanian here.