Jewish Cuisine – Lithuanian Jewish Community

From Sukkot to Artificial Intelligence: A Meeting with Students

Last week Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky visited the Martynas Mažvydas Pre-Gymnasium in Vilnius and held an open-format discussion with students there in a tent erected outside the school. The students and the chairwoman spent several hours in the sukka discussing Jewish life after the Holocaust and today, the importance Judaism places on learning, artificial intelligence and its influence on our opportunities, as well as a number of other topics.

We’d like to thank sincerely the teachers for their invitation to come and speak and for their attention to Jewish history and identity. Likewise we are grateful to the wonderful students for their interest, keen questions and the delicious latkes they served. True friendship begins when we have the courage to question, listen to and recognize one another.

2026-10-122026-10-12

Šiauliai Jewish Community Holds Sabbath/Simchat Torah Dinner

The Šiauliai Jewish Community held a special Sabbath dinner also celebrating Simchat Torah last Friday. The dinner party included guests from Germany.

2026-10-07

Sukkot Celebration in the Courtyard

The Lithuanian Jewish Community celebrated Sukkot Thursday in the courtyard shared with the Litvak Identity Museum of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum in Vilnius. Cantor Shmuel Yaatom from the Choral Synagogue performed the prayers. A great big thank-you to all who came and made the event a success.

2026-10-05

Sukkot Celebration at the LJC

There will be a joyful gathering for Sukkot in the courtyard of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Litvak Identity Museum of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum on Thursday at 5:00 P.M. Cantor Shmuel Yaatom is master of ceremonies. Registration is required by clicking here.

Come enjoy, sing and sample the hot food and drink in the sukka. All are invited. Entrance is free. Organized by the Art of Shabbat, Moishe House Vilnius, Cvi Parku“and the Pylimo 4 Café.

Time: 5:00 P.M., Thursday, October 1
Place: Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius

2026-10-012026-10-01

Sabbath Table to Remember Jewish History Exhibit in Pabradė

The first Sabbath Table to Remember Jewish History exhibit as part of the Children of the Holocaust: Lighting Up the Shadows of Lithuanian History project took place at the Pabradė Culture Center last week. The exhibit will be a changeable one depending on the decisions and sensibilities of the designers and exhibit item creators. This time the Sabbath table was laden with pomegranates, figs, apples and challa.

Residents of Pabradė in eastern Lithuania, visitors and local students and teachers attended the event. Švenčionys Jewish Community chairman Moshe Shapiro welcomes the attendees, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Sholem Alechem ORT Gymnasium students, moderated by Algis Davidavičius, who discussed local history, memory and modern forms of commemoration. Then visitors learned about Sabbath traditions, sampled traditional dishes and attended a Jewish cloth-dying workshop.

The Sabbath Table to Remember Jewish History exhibition is the fruit of a two-year meaningful journey during which brave and knowledge-thirsty students from Vilnius and Palanga and their teachers dove into live research on local Jewish history. The young people conducted tours, creative workshops, celebrated Purim and Sabbath together, marked commemorative dates, visited synagogue and spoke with representatives from the Palanga, Vilnius, Darbėn and Israeli Jewish communities.

2026-09-22

Rosh Hashanah at the Panevėžys Jewish Community

A gathering of members of the Panevėžys Jewish Community and family, friends and guests celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, last week at the Community building in the northern Lithuanian city with traditional dishes prepared by members. This year the start of Rosh Hashanah coincided with the onset of Sabbath and the celebration began with the lighting of candles and intonation of prayers.

Community member Nerijus Jakštonis, an accomplished trumpet musician, blew a small shofar horn, seen in photographs below. Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman spoke about what the holiday means and the ten-day period before Yom Kippur for self-reflection, taking responsibility for one’s past and future actions and reconciliation.

2026-09-16

Natalja Cheifec’s Internet Discussion Club Meets Thursday

Natalja Cheiifec’s internet discussion club continues Thursday. Participants are invited to submit questions beforehand while registering. To register, click here.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, August 6
Place: internet

2026-08-03

Delegation from Haifa Visits Panevėžys Jewish Community

Eighteen visitors from Haifa and guide Idit Perri visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community July 20. They discussed the Holocaust, Jewish life, traditions, surviving material heritage and local cooking with Community members over tea.

2026-07-28

Rabbi Visits Ukmergė

Rabbi Harry Pell whose family roots lie in Ukmergė (Vilkomir) visited the Ukmergė Jewish Community recently. Pell teaches Judaism and Israeli studies in the United States and also works as a chaplain in the armed forces.

Ukmergė Jewish Community chairman Artūras Taicas provided Pell a tour of Jewish sites in the town and they spoke about Jewish history and heritage there. They also sampled imberlakh at a local restaurant.

2026-07-08

Shavuot Celebration for Community Members

Dear members,

The Programs Department of the Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to come celebrate Shavuot together with us. Shavuot, or Shavuos, is one of the three most important occasions in Judaism, celebrating the gift of the Law. On this holiday homes are decorated with flowers, we talk about traditions, we sing Jewish songs and dance Jewish dances. We eat the traditional foods.

The celebration will include a presentation by Natalja Cheifec and a performance by the Jewish song and dance ensemble Fayerlakh. It begins at 6:30 P.M. on the evening of Thursday, May 21. The location will be disclosed following registration. Please register by May 20 by writing zanas@sc.lzb.lt. Note that space is limited.

2026-05-18

Šiauliai Holds Three Seders

The Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community celebrated Passover with three seders this year. On April 1 and 2 the Chabad Lubavitch Center in Šiauliai invited Community members to two seders. On April 5 the Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community held another seder. Community member Vadimas Kamrazeris performed music at the latter.

2026-04-16

Passover in Panevėžys

The Panevėžys Jewish Community held a second seder in April, the most important part of Passover. Adults, children and guests gathered and learned about Passover traditions. The Haggadah was read. The table was set with all the traditional dishes recalling the bitterness of slavery and the difficult wandering in the desert.

2026-04-08

Passover in Kaunas

The Kaunas Jewish Community gathered for their annual Passover seder. There were lots of smiles, fun conversation, intriguing music, delicious food and a Passover quiz which turned heads.

“Greetings to all still celebrating Passover and Easter. May the nice spring breeze take far awa if not all, then as many of our pressing worries as possible, so that together with nature waking up, so too would our flowers of love, fellowship and peace bloom,” Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas wished the gathering.

2026-04-08

Fayerlakh Performs at Public Library

The Jewish song and dance ensemble Fayerlakh performed at the Adomas Mickevičius Public Library in Vilnius on March 30. They were invited to perform there by the library’s Song Club who wanted to learn more about Jewish song and whose members had bilingual lyric sheets in Lithuanian and Yiddish. Borisas Kizneris began on violin, demonstrating popular Yiddish songs, and invited the audience to join in, which they did. After the music, Fayerlakh director Larisa Vyšiauskienė spoke about Passover. Matzo was distributed to all attendees.

Photos by Mindaugas Masaitis

2026-04-01

Passover Drawing Contest

Children are invited to submit their drawings on any subject connected with the Passover story until April 7. Please write your name on your drawing or have your parents do it, and send a digital copy to info@lzb.lt. Participants will receive a box of special chocolate-covered matzo bread.

2026-03-31

Matzo Available

Matzo is available in 5 and 10 euro packages in the lobby of the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius, open from 10:00 A.M. till 6:00 P.M. weekdays, except for April 2 and 3.

2026-03-31

Musical Seder April 4

The Lithuanian Jewish Community is pleased to invite you to come celebrate Passover together with a seder led by ba’al tfillah (prayer leader) Viljamas Žitkauskas. The public seder will retell the Passover story in music performed by Fayerlakh and prayer. Registration is required by sending an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt by noon Wednesday, April 1. The cost is 15 euros for LJC members, 45 euros for non-members and free entry for children 14 and under.

Time: April 4, Saturday
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius

2026-03-262026-03-27

Musical Seder April 4

The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to come celebrate Passover together, with a musical seder scheduled for April 4. Stay tuned for more information.

2026-03-25

Ponevezh Purim Celebration and International Women’s Day

The Panevėžys Jewish Community celebrates International Women’s Day each year. This year was no exception and a large contingent of women gathered March 8 for a celebration of the day and improving spring-like weather. The common table was laden with special treats including Purim pastry from the holiday a few days earlier. Since they coincided so closely this year, the Community celebrated both at once, starting with a reading of the Book of Esther.

2026-03-17

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