Greetings – Page 38 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Israel at 68

by David Harris
May 9, 2016

Israel celebrates its 68th Day of Independence this week. Let me put my cards on the table. I’m not dispassionate when it comes to Israel. Quite the contrary.

The establishment of the state in 1948; the fulfillment of its envisioned role as home and haven for Jews from around the world; its wholehearted embrace of democracy and the rule of law; and its impressive scientific, cultural, and economic achievements are accomplishments beyond my wildest imagination.

For centuries, Jews around the world prayed for a return to Zion. We are the lucky ones who have seen those prayers answered. I am grateful to witness this most extraordinary period in Jewish history and Jewish sovereignty–in the words of Israel’s national anthem, “to be a free
people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.”

2016-05-11

Vilnius Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium Tops Ratings Again

The Lithuanian magazine Reitingai [Ratings] has published data from the 2014-2015 period. Around 410 Lithuanian schools were rated, both those who select their own students and those which don’t. There are just 9 gymnasia in Lithuania who do have an entrance selection process so they were rated separately. Ratings took into account final exam scores, the number of students going on to enter Lithuanian universities and higher education abroad, scores from tests of separate subjects and student grades.

Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium is among those gymnasia which don’t have a selection process and has placed as the number 3 school throughout Lithuania, and number 1 in Vilnius. It is in the top ten list of the schools in Lithuania, only following behind the Lyceum, Kaunas Technological University, Žirmūnai and the Jesuit Gymnasium. Among the gymnasia in Vilnius in all categories, Sholem Aleichem is fifth behind the Lyceum, the Jesuit, the Biržiška and the Žirmūnai Gymnasium.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community congratulates school director Miša Jakobas, the teachers and all the students with their great achievement!

2016-05-11

Kaunas Jewish Community Honors World War II Veterans

The Kaunas Jewish Community includes two World War II veterans among its members, Liubov Jablonovič and Petras Zakroiskis. Age and infirmity doesn’t allow them to leave the house and they were unable to attend the celebration luncheon the Kaunas Jewish Community hosted for its members, including widows, children and grandchildren of veterans. A moment of silence was held to honor the memory of the dead.

Participants shared stories about experiences by their family members during and after the war. The stories included painful as well as funny incidents. Kaunas Jewish Community member Leonidas Levinas warmed the audience’s hearts with songs from the war era by Vladimir Vysotsky. The audience joined in and sang along.

2016-05-10

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

2016-05-08

Kaunas Jewish Community Celebrate Last Day of Passover

Kaunas Jewish Community members gathered at the Punto Jazz café to celebrate the last day of Passover. They were treated to a surprise concert by the family klezmer group Klezmer Klangen, reportedly performing their first concert in Kaunas ever. The crowd seemed to love them and there was much dancing. The band performed tight songs in Yiddish with good choreography down to their smallest member, four-year-old Ramunė. While the klezmer musicians took breaks, celebrants took to the stage to compete in now-traditional Passover skits. The last day of Passover coincided with the birthday celebration of Veronika Pečkienė who wasn’t forgotten amid the general party-going and was plied with flowers and birthday greetings.

2016-05-04

Mimuna in Israel: A Holiday to Unite All

Mimuna, when Passover is over, when all the doors to the house are open.

When Passover ends, Jews from North Africa celebrate Mimuna. This is a holiday when sweets are made of flour, when post-Passover chametz dishes return. In Morocco, on the afternoon of the last day of Passover, Muslim neighbors bring to the homes of their Jewish neighbors gifts of flour, honey, milk, butter and green beans.

The pictures below portray a Mimuna family holiday spread, including pancakes with butter, margarine and honey, a favorite. The green pastries with almonds contain rings. Everyone wishes one another a successful marriage and much happiness on this day.

Shavua tov! שָׁבוּעַ טוֹב

2016-05-03

Passover Greetings from Vatican Ambassador Archbishop Pedro López Quintana

Nuncijaus sveikinimas

2016-04-26

LJC Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky with Passover Greetings and a Message about Anti-Semitism

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Recently US State Department special envoy for Holocaust affairs Nicholas Dean visited the Lithuanian Jewish Community. This was not just a coincidence. The rise of Holocaust denial in Lithuania was the reason for his visit. Jews from Lithuania and their offspring living in Israel and South Africa have been receiving negative answers regarding their applications for Lithuanian citizenship for some time.

As the questions mount over why one set of people have received Lithuanian passports while others haven’t, despite similar circumstances, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, the Interior Affairs Ministry, Migration Department officials and members of parliament have begun to investigate. While the law on citizenship says one thing, officials are saying other things, and one wonders why it is left to each individual bureaucrat to interpret history. Yet another revision of history is being carried out in Lithuania, which is an essential element in denials of the Holocaust. The vitality of anti-Semitism in Lithuania is shown by the way citizenship is restored, attempting to foist upon Jews who fled persecution that they left Lithuania for other reasons, not for political reasons, not for opposing the occupational regime, not because of persecution by that regime. Another example of the upturn in anti-Semitism is provided by Laisvas Laikraštis, a newspaper which prints openly anti-Semitic articles without commentary. The Community has lodged a complaint against the newspaper with the prosecutor, but no action has been taken.

2016-04-22

Deputy Speaker Sends Passover Greetings

Former Lithuanian prime minister and current deputy speaker of parliament Gediminas Kirkilas has sent Passover greetings to chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and the Lithuanian Jewish Community. Kirkilas is also the chairman of the Lithuanian parliament’s European Affairs Committee.

“Please accept my sincere greetings to the Lithuanian Jewish Community and to you personally as the significant holiday of Passover draws near. Recently I visited Israel where I had the opportunity again to remember the miracle of the Jewish People’s liberation from slavery in Egypt,” the former Lithuanian prime minister wrote.

“On this occasion I wish success in your and your honored community’s further work, the wonderful fulfillment of your plans for the future and harmonious living as we face the challenges of the present. Let concord not lack in your families, nor human happiness in your hearts,” Kirkilas concluded in his Passover greetings.

2016-04-22

Kaunas Jewish Community Members Getting Ready for Passover

More photos here.

2016-04-19

Israeli Ambassador Hails Lithuanian Makabi and Maccabiah Games Medal Winners

Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Amir Maimon and the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club held a reception April 14 to celebrate victories by Lithuanian Makabi athletes at the World Maccabiah Games held in Israel and the European Maccabi Games.

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky attended along with Lithuanian Olympic Committee leaders and Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium principal Miša Jakobas, members of the board of the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club, 25 Maccabiah medal winners, reporters and others.

The Israeli ambassador greeted the assembly and a film was shown about the first Maccabiada in Israel in 1932 and the last European Maccabi Games in 2015.

Chairwoman Kukliansky in her speech noted the major role the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club has played in Lithuanian Jewish life and the contributions made by long-time Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club president Semionas Finkelšteinas.

2016-04-19

Lithuanian Jewish Student Union Congratulates Viktorija Pajarskė ir Tautrimas Pajarskas on Their Recent Marriage

The Lithuanian Jewish Student Union would like to congratulate charismatic communications specialist Viktorija Pajarskė on her becoming the wife of Tautrimas Pajarskas. The young couple chose Israel as the location for their marriage. We wish you a beautiful and happy life together, filled with love and mutual respect, and we hope you achieve all your shared dreams. You were a great pair and we hope you will be an exemplary married couple!

2016-04-13

Lithuanian Prime Minister Thanks Fayerlakh Ensemble

To the Vilnius Cultural Center Jewish song and dance ensemble

Fayerlakh

Dear guardians of ethnic tradition,

There is no doubt the identity of a people resides in the depths of their folklore where a unique world of music beckons to us and symbolic meanings cavort. For many a year now the Fayerlakh ensemble in their concerts have brought lovers of folklore together and have popularized Yiddish culture wonderfully.

Inventive musicians, great singers and expressive dancers have come together nicely under the Fayerlakh flag. And so your concerts are dominated by a sense of beauty and cohesion. Your playful appearances are eagerly awaited by many admirers around the world.

You are probably the only ensemble in Europe who so creatively, cleverly and tightly present your own musical sources and roots.

I sincerely congratulate the entire Fayerlakh collective on the beautiful 45th anniversary of your establishment.

Let your music ring out widely across the nations for many centuries. Celebrate and preserve your foundational values. I wish you great success, creative talent and many happy meetings with the real lovers of folklore on all continents.

Algirdas Butkevičius
March 22, 2016
Vilnius

2016-03-29

Purim at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius

There was a celebration of the Purim holiday at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius March 24, which was also proclaimed a day of mourning in Lithuania to pay honors to the dead in the bombings in Brussels. Everyone observed a moment of silence for the victims at the synagogue.

Lithuanian Jewish Religious Community chairman Simas Levinas presented holiday greetings to the assembled and spoke about the meaning of Purim: Haman’s attempt to kill all the Jews. “History has seen more than one Haman, who sought to destroy the Jewish people. Stalin, Hitler and now ISIS, but no one has succeeded,” Levinas said.

Rabbi Samson Daniel Isaacson also gave holiday greetings and said Purim is a unique holiday which is about getting drunk, which seems strange, since this is considered a bad thing among Jews. “Only during Purim is it remembered that salvation comes from affliction. After all, getting drunk was suggested so that no one would be able to tell the difference between Haman and Mordecai. And it so happens that way often in life, when you think one thing, but it happens another way. Purim sameach!”

Fayerlakh ensemble musicians Miša Filipov Jablonskis and Leonardas Zinkevič performed a rousing set of Purim songs for young and old.

LJC deputy chairwoman Maša Grodnik said she was glad that things were finally getting back to normal at the synagogue and that the holiday was being celebrated with a rabbi, which for a long time was missing from the community. “Today the tragic events in Brussels remind us that Israel is setting an example for Europe on how to protect society,” Grodnik commented.

Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon recalled how he looked forward to Purim as a child, and that it always began to rain when Purim came around. “Today in Vilnius on Purim the sun was shining, and we are celebrating the liberation of the Jews. The victory of the Jews of Lithuania that they can celebrate in their own synagogue,” the Israeli ambassador remarked.

More snapshots from the event here.

2016-03-24

Bagel Shop Café Purim Holiday Schedule

The kosher Bagel Shop Café of the Lithuanian Jewish Community is in full gear getting ready for the Purim holiday. There are several new pastry items the chefs there have cooked up, including the “red velvet” pastry taking the Jewish culinary internet by storm. Their special hamantashen recipe passed down through the generations uses yeast as well.

Senior chef Riva Portnaja says her family calls hamantashen “omentashen,” and that her mother always put yeast in the dough. According to her, Litvak hamantashen only contain poppy-seed fillings, and the triangular pastry is made so that is almost closed.

2016-03-23

Hag Purim Sameach!

Purim is a happy time when sorrow, worry and fear take a vacation as the holiday of delicious food and jokes arrives. Purim is one of the most-anticipated and interesting of holidays on the Jewish calendar. It’s a celebration harkening back to the time when the Jews living in Persia were saved from destruction.

Book of Esther

The Purim story is contained in the Book of Esther in the Old Testament of the Bible. The heroine of the story is Ester, a beautiful young woman who lived in Persia, and the hero is her brother Mordecai. Ester was taken into the harem of king Ahasuerus and became queen, but the king didn’t know Ester was a Jew because she hid this from him. The villain of the story is Haman, the arrogant, egotistical vizier to the king. Haman hated Mordecai because he wouldn’t bow down and serve him, so Haman decided to destroy the Jewish people. In his well-known speech to the king, Haman said:

2016-03-22

Come Join the March 11 Holiday Procession

Lithuania is celebrating 26 years of the restoration of independence this year. We’re inviting members and friends of the Lithuanian Jewish Community to assemble at Independence Square in front of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library at 11:45 A.M. on March 11 to watch the ceremonial raising of the flags of the three Baltic states and to join the holiday procession from there to Cathedral Square. Together, let’s create a tolerant Lithuania free from stereotypes and hate!

2016-03-09

Congratulations to the Young Swimmers of the Vilnius Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium!

The boys’ swim team of the Vilnius Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium took first place in intermural competition in Vilnius. This is a first in the history of the school! Now we’ll go on to the Lithuanian intermural competitions in Kėdainiai.

Congratulations to the boys and to their trainer, Ela Pavinskienė!

2016-03-09

Happy February 16!

Dear community members,

Today we celebrate the 98th anniversary of the restoration of the Lithuanian state. Our greetings to you all on this, one of the most important dates in Lithuanian history, February 16. This holiday symbolizes the spiritual power of our country. Then as now, our highest hope is for our family, relatives, friends and countrymen to live in a free country. Freedom has become our everyday reality now and we often take it for granted without considering how much was sacrificed and how much freedom and democracy cost for us to live free and independently. A happy holiday!

2016-02-15