Jewish Cuisine – Page 2 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Happy Passover

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

2025-04-15

Natalja Cheifec on Passover

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

2025-04-08

Passover Seder

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

2025-04-07

Matzo Available

Matzo is available at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius during working hours in packages of 450 grams and 1 kilogram.

2025-04-02

Purim in Panevėžys

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.

2025-03-192025-03-19

Natalja Cheifec’s Discussion Club on Judaism and Vegetarianism

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.

2025-01-28

Natalja Cheifec’s Discussion Club: Health and Medicine

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.

2025-01-21

Public Menorah Display in Šiauliai

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.

2025-01-07

Hanukkah Kabalat Shabat

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

2024-12-18

Natalja Cheifec’s Discussion Club: Holiday Edition

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.

2024-12-172024-12-17

Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights

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

2024-12-16

Tour of Herring Exhibit Followed by Tasting at Jonas Šliūpas Museum in Palanga

The Jonas Šliūpas Museum in Palanga invites the public to a second guided tour of the herring exhibit “From the North Sea to the Christmas Table” at 5:00 P.M. on November 29. This time co-creator of the exhibit Akvilė Poškienė of Klaipėda University will guide the tour. Afterwards the Palanga Jewish Community will host a presentation of Jewish culinary heritage accompanied by sampling of Jewish snacks with herring presented by Lithuanian Jewish Community educator Dovilė Rūkaitė.

The cost is 4 euros. Registration is required by sending an email to j.sliupo.muziejus@lnm.lt.

Time: 5:00 P.M., November 29
Place: Jonas Šliūpas Museum, Vytauto street no. 23A, Palanga

2024-11-26

Recipe for Murder

by Liova Kaplanas

Many Jews visit Lithuania to tour the paths of the slaughter of our families, also known as death tourism. Lithuania has much to offer tourists: forests, lakes, an extraordinary number of death-pits containing our murdered Jewish families, cool summers, lovely open parks, destroyed Jewish heritage and foods we Jews remember from our childhood, including potato latkes with sour cream, smoked salmon, pickled herring, kishke, kugel and potato kneidels. These food recipes are originally Jewish recipes, appropriated by Lithuania, and now claimed as theirs. Visiting Lithuania is almost akin to taking a step back in time, just, without living Jews. The sights, smells, recipes and foods are reminiscent of our grandparents before they were slaughtered. Some Jewish heritage remains, and plenty of Lithuanian heritage is intact.

Those visiting Lithuania will be only slightly surprised to discover another unpleasant heritage recipe–a recipe for murder!. And not just a plain recipe, but a recipe officially, legally and governmentally registered in the official Lithuanian “Register of Folk Heritage!” It should be absurd and unbelievable, but, unfortunately, it’s true.

Lithuanian parliament member Remigijus Žemaitaitis re-popularized this Lithuanian National Folk Heritage “recipe” in his election campaign, exploiting it to win in excess of 15% of the national vote in Lithuania’s most recent election. The wording of this heritage “recipe” is:

2024-11-252024-11-25

Sabbath Project/World Challa-Making Day is Here

Today Jews around the world will celebrate the Sabbath together under the auspices of the Global Sabbath Project, which includes World Challa-Making Day. The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites everyone to come and make challa bread together beginning at 3:00 P.M. today, Friday, November 15. Besides making bread, we will also learn about the Sabbath, enjoy some live music and share Jewish cooking traditions. The best loaf will be chosen as the winner.

Time: 3:00 P.M., Friday, November 15
Place: Bagel Shop Café, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius

Rabbi Warren Goldstein sends special Sabbath Project greetings to LJC:

2024-11-152024-11-15

Darna Festival to Celebrate Tolerance Day: Food, Fun and Friends

The annual Darna festival to celebrate the International Day of Tolerance will be held at two adjacent locations this year: the Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Cvi Park Israeli street-food kiosk and performance space across the street. The festival will include live music, poetry and photography exhibits.

Besides the usual food, drink and friends, this year’s festival will also include musical performances by students from the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium, National Opera and Ballet Theater soloist Julija Stupnianek-Kalėdiene and then that soloist’s own program performed together with Giedrė Muralytė and Lina Žutautaitė. Poetry by Indrė Valantinaitė and Tina del Mar on cello will also feature, and Toma Čepaitė will perform on the traditional Lithuanian stringed instrument the kanklės. Violinist Dalia Dėdinskaitė, cellist Gleb Pyšniak and accordionist Tadas Motiečius will perform together as Arts Lituanica. Walter Delahunt and his band of friends from Canada will also perform. Accomplished DJs will round out the night.

2024-11-152024-11-15

Palanga Jewish Community Invites You to Herring Lecture at Jonas Šliūpas Museum

Herring fishing and consumption stretches back millennia and became an integral part of Jewish cuisine centuries ago. The Jonas Šliūpas Museum is hosting a lecture by Jewish cuisine specialist Dovilė Rūkaitė on the Jewish culinary history of herring at 5:00 P.M. on Wednesday, October 23, in Palanga.

The museum recently opened an exhibit called “From the North Sea to the Christmas Table” about herring which included an interesting archaeological find: part of a cover and barrel for a 19th-century herring selection and conservation system.

Rūkaitė plans to speak on the significance of Jewish merchants and populations in popularizing the fish in Europe and will also discuss some of the classic recipes which use herring.

Time: 5:00 P.M., October 23
Place: Jonas Šliūpas Museum, Vytauto street no. 23A, Palanga
Duration: About 1 hour

The lecture is free and open to the public.

2024-10-22