Children from the LJC children’s clubs came in costume with their parents to celebrate Purim at the Lithuanian Jewish Community. There was dancing, playing and sampling of the delicious hamantashen baked by the Bagel Shop Café. A great time was had by all.
Purim at the Panevėžys Jewish Community
Purim is the spring holiday when we celebrate the rescue of the Jews from death in Babylon. On March 12 the Panevėžys Jewish Community began the celebration with chairman Gennady Kofman reading the Purim story out loud, the Book of Esther from the Bible which tells of the destruction facing the Jews living in Babylon and the miracle of their rescue due to the efforts of queen Esther, the Jewish wife of the Persian king. Not only were the Jews saved, they defeated the king’s evil vizier Haman who chose the day for the destruction of the Jews by casting lots, but who was himself punished. Many children attended the Panevėžys Jewish Community’s Purim celebration. There was a dining table for children, the children put on plays and watched films and concerts in connection with Jewish history. Purim is the happiest Jewish holiday and there was much song and much laughter. Everyone received a small gift as well.
Lithuanian Jewish Community Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky’s Greetings on March 11, Day of Restoration of Lithuanian Independence.
I wish all members of the community a happy holiday!
For Litvaks Lithuania is the land of our ancestors, and March 11, the day 27 years ago when Lithuanian independence was restored, is an important holiday for us, marking as well the beginning of the rebirth of the surviving Jewish community. March 11 is for each of us an exceptional and dear day, and we cannot allow ourselves to forget how important the state where we live and where our children grow is to us. In 1918 as the first Republic of Lithuania was being born her Jewish citizens volunteered to fight for Lithuanian freedom, and went on to foster the economic and social welfare of this state.
In the run-up to March 11, significant activity by the Lithuanian Jewish initiative group took place in 1988 dedicated to the rebirth of Jewish culture. After the Lithuanian independence movement Sąjūdis was established, Lithuanian Jews were faced with the dilemma of how Jewish relations with the Lithuanian national movement would develop as the wounds of the Holocaust remained painful, recalling the tragedy which took place in this country.
Along side the rebirth of Lithuanian independence, first came the rebirth of Jewish cultural activity, and the Jewish Cultural Association was the first to hold a congress, beginning the conversation about the destruction of the Jewish community during the Holocaust in 1989, for the first time since the decline of the Soviet era in Lithuania. I have to say Jewish-Lithuanian relations in the historical context, their evaluation and research began exactly with the rebirth of independence when there had to be an assessment of the Holocaust and the active role played by Lithuanians in it had to be admitted. There were also efforts made to help Jews restore their Jewish identity.
The Jewish communities in the shtetls were exterminated in the Holocaust, the shtetls are gone and Yiddish is no longer spoken in Lithuania. Currently the Jewish communities in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Panevėžys and Švenčionys have been re-formed. We still dream of a revival of the Yiddish language.
In the recent past we have sensed the emergence of a new generation in Lithuanian society who are interested in Jewish history and the life of the Jews in Lithuania, and slowly but surely stereotypical thinking is fading away.
When we speak of the values of March 11, we underline human rights and freedoms and their necessary consolidation and growth. We hope for the generation who understand their importance and who cherish and protect these rights and freedoms, and who connect love for their native land with self-respect and respect for all of its citizens.
Bagel Shop Café Wishes You a Happy Purim and Offers Traditional Holiday Foods
Hag Purim sameakh!
The Bagel Shop this week offers vegetarian bebelakh. During the Purim holiday period we are also making a variety of delicious treats including hamentashen and serving wine. We are making vegetarian dishes in honor of Queen Esther, who was a vegetarian. The Bagel Shop is located at Pylimo street no. 4 at street level in Vilnius.
Bean bebelakh, a recipe from Riva Portnaja’s mother Sara Berienė
Sara always made this dish for the Purim holiday where all dishes were vegetarian in honor of Queen Esther.
Soak a liter of large beans overnight, boil in salted water for a long time until they go soft. Served cold sprinkled with salt. Simple and delicious!
Free Hamentashen for Kids!
Children who come into the Bagel Shop Café in Purim masks or who say the secret code phrase–Hag Purim sameakh!–will receive a small gift.
This week Jews in Vilnius and around the world are baking the pastry called hamentashen, aka Haman’s ears, engage in an exchange of gift bags or Purim baskets of food and drink called mishloakh manot and put on the best parties of the year. Purim is the one holiday where adult Jews are allowed to get drunk and it considered customary to do so.
Our Litvak hamentashen are made with yeast according to recipes from families of Lithuanian Jewish Community members. Head baker Riva Portnaja tells how in her family they called hamantashen “ormentashen,” and her mother always added yeast to the dough. Classical Litvak hamantashen only used poppy seeds for filling and the triangles forming the base and top of the pastry are almost sealed close.
For more, see this facebook page.
Purim Celebration at Choral Synagogue
The Vilnius Jewish Religious Community invites you to come celebrate Purim at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius at 3:30 P.M. on March 12, 2017. The address is Pylimo street no. 39, Vilnius.
Rabbi Shimshon Isaacson will talk about Purim, there will be traditional treats and the least among us shall receive small gifts.
Please come and bring your family!
Happy International Women’s Day!
When Lithuania broke free of the Soviet Union, many of us began to look askance at International Women’s Day, as if it had been a purely Soviet holiday. But the truth is the origin of the holiday lies much deeper, reaching back even into antiquity.
There is evidence the women of ancient Greece demanded special attention from their husbands on a certain day. Even if they were at war, they had to stop and spend time with their wives.
The modern Women’s Day was the product of politics. In 1899 social democrat Klara Zetkin was one of the first to demand equal rights for men and women. In 1907 the first international women’s conference was held on her initiative in Stuttgart. That conference resolved to establish an international women’s organization to fight for equal rights for women.
A women’s conference was held in Copenhagen on March 8, 1910, with delegates from about 100 countries. Klara Zetkin proposed establishing one day of the year focusing on women’s struggle for freedom and equal rights. On March 8, 1911, International Women’s Day was marked for the first time in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Australia. In some countries women avoided celebrating the day openly for fear of arrest by the police.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes all its female members and women around the world a happy International Women’s Day!
LJC Youth Clubs Celebrate Purim
Dear Community members,
The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Vilnius Religious Jewish Community greet you on the upcoming holiday of Purim and invite you holiday celebrations on March 12.
The LJC youth clubs Ilan, Dubi and Dubi Mishpaha will hold a Purim celebration at 1:00 P.M. on March 12 on the third floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. Entrance is free but only those in costume and/or masks will be allowed in!
For more information contact Jelizaveta Šapiro at +370 65527411 or Pavel Guliakov at +370 68542463.
Shrovetide Pancakes at the Bagel Shop!
Everyone welcome on Shrovetide, Tuesday, February 28.
To celebrate the Lithuanian holiday known as Užgavėnės, also known as Shrovetide and Carnival, stop by the Bagel Shop at Pylimo street no. 4 in Vilnius for some blintzes and a cup of the best coffee in the Lithuanian capital.
Serbian President Awards Efraim Zuroff Gold Medal
Serbia’s president Tomislav Nikolić presented Serbia’s Gold Medal for Merit to Dr. Efraim Zuroff, chief Nazi hunter and director for Eastern European affairs at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, on February 16 as part of celebrations of Sretenje, Serbia’s day of statehood. The award was presented for “exceptional achievements” by Dr. Zuroff and noted his “selfless dedication to defending the truth about the suffering of Jews, and also Serbs, Roma and other nationalities, during World War II.”
Zuroff was the first to be called to receive the award from the president’s hand and was one of only a few foreigners to be honored with the distinction. He is only one of two Israelis ever to have received the medal, along with Serbian-born Israeli justice minister Yosef “Tommy” Lapid. Efraim Zuroff has deep Litvak roots and has worked on Holocaust justice and education in Lithuania for many decades now.
Happy 90th Birthday, Feiga Tregerienė!
Kaunas Jewish Community member Feiga Tregerienė celebrated her 90th birthday on February 17 with cards and birthday wishes from friends and family around the world.
We celebrate her milestone birthday and also wish her good health, good emotions and the love and warmth of family and friends.
May she live to 120!
Japanese Violinist Yurina Arai Wins Heifetz Contest
Yurina Arai has been named the winner of the Fifth Jascha Heifetz International Violin Competition in Vilnius, Lithuania. The 22-year-old Japanese violinist, who triumphed in the final with her performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, receives €10,000 and a number of performance opportunities. The student of Natsumi Tamai at the Tokyo University of the Arts won first prize at the Grumiaux Competition last year. The second prize worth €5,000 went to 17-year-old Dmytro Udovychenko from Ukraine, while third prize worth €2,000 went to 17-year-old R. Fukuda from Japan who won the Junior Division of the Menuhin Competition in 2014. Moscow Conservatory student 24-year-old Stepan Starikov and 17-year-old Japanese violinist Mayu Ozeki were awarded diplomas and €1,000. For the first time this year winners received a small sculpture of Heifetz by Lithuanian sculptor Romualdas Kvintas. The award was established by the Lithuanian Jewish Community. Professor Leonidas Melnikas who presented the prizes said “We want the winners to always remember Heifetz lived in Vilnius.”
More in Lithuanian here.
Holocaust Survivor Rūta Glikman Says Other Children Only Knew She Didn’t Have Parents
manoteises.lt
Rūta Glikman who was smuggled out of the Kaunas ghetto as a child is celebrating her birthday. If not for her rescuers, Righteous Gentiles Jadvyga and Alfonsas Babarskis, the woman would have been murdered during the Holocaust, as was her entire family. Having survived the horrors of the war and Soviet oppression, Glikman resolved to honor both her families. It was due to her efforts that the Babarskis family was recognized by Yad Vashem in Israel. Now, she says, the time has come to commemorate her real parents as well. If all goes as planned, this summer their names will be inscribed on brass “memory stone” plates.
Glikman’s grandfather Chaim and father Leiba Basai had a business which was in operation in Kaunas since the end of the 19th century. They were in the fur, hat and fedora trade and exported goods to Latvia, Germany, France, England and other countries in Europe. Basai was a respected man in Kaunas. It was noted in numerous loan documents these businessmen were honest and ethical partners.
Full story in Lithuanian here.
Happy Birthday to Aleksandras Rutenbergas
The Lithuanian Jewish Community sends heart-felt birthday greetings to its loyal member Aleksandras Rutenbergas on the occasion of his 70th birthday, wishing him much energy and excellent health!
Aleksandras is an interesting and highly-educated person, a great economist who contributed to the restructuring of the Lithuanian economy in the early period of independence. For 10 years now he has served as the director of the Jewish Cultural Support Center Foundation. The foundation, which restored and refurbished what is now the Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum, is supported by Austria. Aleksandras comes from a well-known Litvak family and his parents survived the Holocaust in the ghettos and concentration camps. He is deeply engaged with Jewish heritage and is an active member of the executive board of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, and participates in the activities of the Makabi athletics club.
Aleksandras, we wish you a continued interesting life and that you would achieve all that your heart desires!
Happy birthday!
World Union of Jewish Students Awards Lithuanian Union of Jewish Students for Development
Lithuanian Women’s Magazine Features Amit Belaitė on Cover
A popular magazine for young Lithuanian women has featured Amit Belaitė, the head of the Lithuanian Union of Jewish Students, on its February cover, with a long interview with her and a series of fashion photographs inside.
“Cover girl: Amita honors her people’s past with deeds,” the cover proclaims.
The feature on page 10 is called “Living History”:
“The Jewish girl Amita Belaitė (24) is completing her studies this year at Vilnius University. During her university career this active defender of human rights was able to establish the Lithuanian Union of Jewish Students, to become the vice president and a member of the executive board of the European Union of Jewish Students, to start a Jewish history project called Mayses fun der Lites/Stories from Lithuania, to become a Living Library volunteer and for all of those activities to receive a tolerance award. Amita, who selected social health studies as her major, said her professional career over those years would have been much more difficult if not for her love of her cherished boyfriend, the economist Rokas Grajauskas (31).”
More information in Lithuanian here.
European Youth Music Contest Winners Mark Jascha Heifetz’s 116th Birthday
On the 116th birthday of violinist Jascha Heifetz on February 2 the winners of the European Youth Music Contest kicked off the Hommage à Heifetz project financed by the European Union program Creative Europe with a concert at the Royal Castle in Vilnius. Talented young musicians from Sweden, Japan, China and Lithuania held the first concert playing selections from Jascha Heifetz repertoire with the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra of Vilnius conducted by Modestas Barkauskas.
Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky gave a speech welcoming the audience and thank the organizers, partners, supporters and participants of the contest in the name of the community. On February 19 the winners will be presented a special prize from the Lithuanian Jewish Community.
Lithuanian Jewish Community Birthdays in February
Vilnius Jewish Community:
Jelizaveta Rodionova (February 3)
Aleksandras Rutenbergas (February 7)
Viktor Chramcov (February 8)
Jefim Pesin (February 10)
Isaak Štargot (February 12)
Ravelis Kozlovas (February 14)
Šura Cechanovskaja (February 15)
Valerij Šulman (February 20)
Inesa Fainštein (February 21)
Valentina Ivanuškina (February 23)
Vladimir Savenkov (February 27)
Kaunas Jewish Community:
Feiga Tregerienė (February 17)
Maksimas Rudekas (February 19)
Klaipėda Jewish Community:
Michail Muruzov (February 15)
Igor Zamanskij (February 26)
Šiauliai Jewish Community:
Garold Vaisbrod (February 13)
Chaimas Šeras (February 24)
Raseiniai:
Antanas Kaplanas (February 22)
Nemenčinė:
Grigorijus Kušneris (February 2)
Kaunas Jewish Community Celebrates 120th Birthday of Yudl Mark
The Yiddish Club of the Kaunas Jewish Community is celebrating the 120th birthday of Litvak-American Yiddish philologist, educator and author Yudl Mark (1897-1975). Mark taught at the Vilkomir Jewish Gymnasium and was one of the founders of YIVO. He moved to the United States in 1936, and to Israel in 1970. Among his many great works stands the 12-volume Groyser verterbukh fun der yidisher shprakh (Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language), which caused dispute with YIVO over the use of non-YIVO orthography.
Happy Birthday to Ninela Efros
Warm birthday greetings to Ninela Efros, long-standing volunteer doctor for the Lithuanian Jewish Community, who celebrated her 80th on January 15. May you always enjoy wonderful health and be surrounded by loved ones. Happy birthday! Mazel tov!