Natalja Cheifec continues her lecture and discussion series Thursday with a lesson on what kosher food requirements means and how they affects Jewish life. To receive zoom credentials and view and participate in the discussion, click here.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, July 10
Place: internet
Shavuot is the holiday which celebrates the receiving of the Torah. This marks the day the Jewish people received the Law. It is celebrated on the 6th day of Sivan on the Jewish calendar. This is a state holiday in Israel.
Shavuot means “weeks” in Hebrew. It is the seventh week from the second day of Passover. It marks the day when Moses received the Ten Commandments of G_d on Mount Sinai. They were written on two stone slabs. These are known in Hebrew as Aseret haDvarim and in Greek as the Decalogue.
Ninth-graders and teacher Jekaterina Ledneva from the Velžys Pro-Gymnasium in the Panevėžys set up a Tolerance Center at their school and visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community as part of that initiative. They wanted to know more about the pre-Holocaust local Jewish population, Jewish customs and traditions, holidays and what happened in the Holocaust. The students visited the ghetto territory in the northern Lithuanian city and laid floral wreaths at the monument marking the former ghetto gate.
Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman spoke to the young people as part of the Community’s ongoing educational outreach program and spoke about how Jews and Lithuanians lived together before the Holocaust, often enough as co-owners of businesses, sharing their expertise. They celebrated holidays together and shared in their joys and misfortunes, sometimes sacrificing their last bit of bread for one another, Kofman said. Russian and Jewish children attended the same high schools both in Tsarist Russia and independent Lithuania, Kofman recalled.
The ninth-graders also learned about Jewish holidays including Passover, Purim, Rosh Hashanna and others, and the stories behind these holidays. Kofman spoke about kosher food and why healthy food and cleanliness is so important in Jewish tradition. The students had the chance to sample matzo bread and heard the story of unleavened bread during the Exodus from Egypt. The students posed many questions and had a chance to tour the Community building as well.
Taking care of our elderly is a Jewish tradition. Our Seniors Club which operates throughout the year with concerts, lectures and lots of fun, attended a special Passover celebration and seder at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius last week.
LJC programs coordinator Žana Skudovičienė came up with a special program for our seniors this year with music and prayer by cantor Shmuel Yaatom and a speaking event by Natalja Cheifec on Jewish history.
Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky was on hand to deliver holiday greetings from the entire Community.
Reportedly every member of the Seniors Club attended.
Passover is one of the most important holy days. The name of the holiday in Hebrew means “to pass over.” This refers to an event recorded in the Torah when the final curse of ten was visited upon the Land of Egypt. When the pharaoh refused to release the Jewish people from slavery, Egypt was visited by ten plagues. In the last plague, the Angel of Death passed over the homes of Jews but took the firstborn of the families of the Egyptians. That’s where the name of the holiday comes from.
On the first night of Passover in 2025 the members of the Panevėžys (Ponevezh) Jewish Community and friends gathered at the holiday table to celebrate together with the traditional seder, the ceremonial holiday meal. The ceremony began with the traditional Hebrew prayer Kadesh intoned by Community board member Katerina Krasnočiarova. There were readings from the Haggadah, the story of the Jewish exodus from Egyptian slavery.
Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman greeted the assembly with the start of the holiday. The traditional four cups of wine were consumed, four being the number of promises God has given to the Jewish nation. The fifth cup remained untouched, intended for the prophet Elijah. Candles were also lit and prayers uttered and sung, the holiday spirit complemented with song and dance.
For the third year now the Lithuanian Jewish Community has hosted a small seder at the Community building in Vilnius with friends from the Israeli embassy in Vilnius and Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium.
Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein, chargé d’affaires Erez Golan, Israeli consul in Vilnius Vladas Bumelis and staff and students from the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium made this seder special and Sholem students provided a highly entertaining musical performance.
Some snapshots follow..
Dear Community members, friends, supporters and dear reader,
Greetings to all Jews on the great holiday Passover. This holiday crows the liberation of the Jews from the oppression of the Egyptian pharaoh and our becoming one people and a free people.
Passover isn’t a time of noisy gatherings. It is a traditional family holiday when the home is cleansed of leavening agents, children seek out the hidden pieces of matzo, when the whole family sits down at the seder table and reads the Haggadah.
We are so very happy that this year the majority of Litvak families are celebrating Passover in line with all traditions and rules, celebrating at home with their families. Our staff and homecare workers are also visiting our members who live alone that they might also feel cared for and share in the holiday spirit of warmth and joy.
I wish everyone a happy family Passover. Let’s always remain free and let’s always be happy.
Happy Passover! Hag Pesach sameach!
Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community
Natalja Cheifec will provide a special lecture on Passover traditions Wednesday via internet. She’ll discuss Egyptian slavery, liberation, Moses, unleavened bread and meaning of being passed over and chosen in the context of the Jewish people.
To receive zoom credentials, click here.
Time: 5:30 P.M., Wednesday, April 9
Place: internet
Dear reader,
The Bnei Maskilim progressive Jewish community invites you to Passover seder. Rabbinical students Emma Aaronson, Dani Pattiz and Viljamas Žitkauskas will lead ceremonies. Join us and celebrate the spirit of freedom and fellowship.
On this evening like no other we will remember the story of Exodus, read the Haggadah, sing the traditional prayers together and sample the holiday foods according to Passover tradition.
Registration is required. Confirm your participation by sending an email to viljamas@lzb.lt.
Time: 7:00 P.M., April 12
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
Matzo is available at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius during working hours in packages of 450 grams and 1 kilogram.
Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman was master of ceremonies at the Panevėžys Jewish Community’s Purim celebration last week.
“The Purim holiday is filled with fun, a sense of community and faith that the Jewish people are strong and able to withstand all misfortunes,” he said.
He also delivered greetings to celebrants from Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky.
Kofman also retold the Purim story to participants at the fully-laden holiday table.
Natalja Cheifec’s #EDUKACIJOS discussion club invites you to a zoom discussion on the place of vegetarianism in Judaism at 5:30 P.M. this Thursday, January 30. She will cite precedents mentioned in the Bible, for example, the hidden meaning of the story of Cain and Abel and their sacrifices, as well as tackling Nazi ideology about subhumans and the more recent controversy surrounding the ad campaign “The Holocaust on your plate.” She will also address a number of points about blessings over food, Judaism’s restrictions on meat consumption, the hierarchy of God’s Creation and others.
To register and receive zoom credentials, click here.
Natalja Cheifec’s discussion club meets via internet at 5:30 this Thursday, January 23, with the topic of health and medicine. She will discuss 33 recommendations by Maimonides on how to stay healthy into old age, including the relationship between physical and spiritual health, the place of vegetarianism within the Jewish worldview, and much more information on avoiding illness and maintaining a healthy mind.
To receive zoom credentials, click here.
A public menorah display in the city of Šiauliai’s central square and walking mall was lit on each consecutive night of Hanukkah to remind passers-by of the victory of the light over darkness. Chabad Lubavitch also provided holiday food at the Šiauliai District Jewish Community.
The Progressive Judaism association Bnei Maskilim invites you to attend the lighting of the third Hanukkah light while greeting the Sabbath with psalms and blessings, followed by holiday foods and kiddush. The ceremony will take place on third floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community followed by kiddush and treats at the Bagel Shop Café at street level.
The cost is 20 euros for adults and 10 euros for children from 3 years of age. Registration is required by sending an email to viljamas@lzb.lt.
Time: 4:00 P.M., Friday, December 27
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Bagel Shop Café, Vilnius
Dear parents and children and young adults in the Dubi, Ilan and Knafaim Clubs,
The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to a holiday celebration called Hannukah Is Here! The event includes:
• Havadala ceremony
• Fire show “Lords of the Flame”
• Performance by magician with bewitching tricks and a good dose of fun
• Traditional Hanukkah foods
• Gifts
Please note: registration is only open till 2:00 P.M., December 20. To register, send an email to levickajasimona@gmail.com with the names of all attendees including parents and children plus their ages. If your plans change and you cannot attend, please send an email indicating that as well. Please be on time, the doors close at 4:15 P.M. For more information, write or call (+370) 678 81514.
Time: 4:00 P.M., Saturday, December 21
Place: Bagel Shop Café, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius
Natalja Cheifec continues her series of discussions with “The Miracle of Hanukkah” which will address:
• The holiday of Hanukkah as a conservator of tradition;
• What the Most High does during Hanukkah;
• Why Jews observe the burning of candles during Hanukkah;
• What the doughnuts are about and what Hanukkah geld means.
It’s happening this Thursday, December 19, at 5:30 P.M. via zoom.
To register and receive zoom credentials, click here. Remember to includes which topics interest you for possible future discussion while registering.
Everyone is invited to come view a 3-D light show, accompanied by traditional Hanukkah treats and warm tea.
Time: 6:30 P.M., Monday, December 30
Place: Outside the Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
The Lithuanian Jewish Community has a special Hanukkah events planned for the Dubi Club and Ilan Club. Dubi is for children aged 4 to 6 and Ilan for those 7 to 11.
At 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, December 14, we’ll make and eat delicious sufganiyot doughnuts.
Please note the clubs on these dates will not be meeting at the LJC but at the HEY HEY Kaip Skaniai space located at Odminių street no. 3 in Vilnius.
Space is limited, so make a reservation by sending an email to levickajasimona@gmail.com. Please call +370 678 81514 for more information.
The first evening of Hanukkah falls on December 25 this year.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community has several special Hanukkah events planned for the Dubi Club and Ilan Club. Dubi is for children aged 4 to 6 and Ilan for those 7 to 11.
At 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, December 7, we’ll make menorahs together out of clay.
At 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, December 14, we’ll make and eat delicious sufganiyot doughnuts.
Please note the clubs on these dates will not be meeting at the LJC but at the HEY HEY Kaip Skaniai space located at Odminių street no. 3 in Vilnius.
Space is limited, so make a reservation by sending an email to levickajasimona@gmail.com. Please call +370 678 81514 for more information.
The first day of Hanukkah falls on December 25 this year.