Litvaks

Kaunas Jewish Community Honors Righteous Gentiles

Kaunas Jewish Community Honors Righteous Gentiles

Although sadly their numbers continue to diminish naturally, Righteous Gentiles were again honored by the Kaunas Jewish Community at their annual event.

Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas said: “It is also great to receive these old family friends of ours we know so well, and it is equally great to meet these new descendants of rescuers and to make new friends with them.”

Architect Tauras Budzys attended the event for the first time this year. He’s been marking the graves of Righteous Gentiles with a symbol of his own design, at his own initiative and expense. Conservative MP Paulė Kuzmickienė also attended. She initiated legislation for Lithuania’s Day of Righteous Gentiles, March 15, in parliament back in 2022. The duet Perfect Nemesis provided musical accompaniment for the evening.

Read more
Moshe Shapiro Honored on Lithuanian Ethnic Minorities Day

Moshe Shapiro Honored on Lithuanian Ethnic Minorities Day

Švenčionys Jewish Community chairman Moshe Shapiro received the Silver Honor Award from the Lithuanian Ethnic Minorities Department on Lithuania’s Ethnic Minority Communities Day May 21 at St. Catherine’s Church in Vilnius.

Shapiro was recognized for his contributions to preservation of Jewish historical memory, tireless community work, working for integration, educating the younger generations and contributing to the culture of Lithuanian ethnic minorities.

Pabradė municipal cultural center director Lolita Vilimienė presented the prize to chairman Shapiro.

Read more
Visitors with Roots in Panevėžys

Visitors with Roots in Panevėžys

The Panevėžys Jewish Community received visitors with roots in the northern Lithuanian city last week. Larry Shuman and wife Barbara live in Pittsburgh. Grandfather Jakob Shuman and great grandparents Natan and Yelka Shuman lived in Panevėžys and went to America in 1890. Gary Kaiserl also comes from the USA. His grandfather Israel and great-grandmother Yulia Levit (their surname used to be Cezarski in Panevėžys) left for America between 1880 and 1890.

Local High School Tolerance Center Visits Panevėžys Jewish Community

Local High School Tolerance Center Visits Panevėžys Jewish Community

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.

Jewish Communities across Africa

Jewish Communities across Africa

Photo: Delegates from around the world attended the Jewish Africa Conference

The third Jewish Africa Conference, an event spearheaded by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), Mimouna Association (Morocco) and the American Sephardi Federation (ASF), took place during April in Cape Town.

The conference was supported by the Cape SA Jewish Board of Deputies, with a welcome address by chair of the board Adrienne Jacobson. Predecessor conferences were held in New York in 2019 and in Rabat, Morocco, in 2022. The event took place at the Old Shul, the SA Jewish Museum and the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Cape Town.

According to Wayne Sussman, director of the AJC Africa Institute who oversaw conference proceedings, “We all know that the South African Jewish community has made a rich contribution to Jewish life around the world. This is also true with other African Jewish communities. They have strong traditions and customs. Many made a huge impact on their respective countries. This conference allowed Jews from across Africa and scholars interested in Jewish African life today to come together and make sense of how we carry on building our respective communities and ensure we preserve our past properly.”

While we in South Africa tend to think of Jewish life from an Eastern European bias–because the bulk of our community is of Ashkenazi origin–Jewish life in fact traces a great deal back to Africa. With roots in ancient Egypt, Jewish religious and cultural practice are certainly a significant feature of the African continent.

Read more
Holocaust Historian, Litvak Wife Visit Panevėžys Jewish Community

Holocaust Historian, Litvak Wife Visit Panevėžys Jewish Community

Noah and Frances Schoen (Milinsky) visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community May 12. The family lives in Pittsburgh. Noah is an historian and teacher who reseraches the Holocaust. His lectures discuss forms of anti-Semitism from prejudice to genocide. He was an eye-witness at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2012 when a gunman opened fire on the congregation.

His wife teaches children aged 11 to 14 and leads summer youthg camps. Her father’s family comes from Panevėžys and immigrated to America early on, preserving their Litvak heritage.

Chairman Gennady Kofman spoke to them about the Community’s current activities and showed them around the archive collection, and they talked about anti-Semitism in Europe and America. Kofman gave them a tour of the northern Lithuanian city focusing on Jewish heritage sites.

Read more
Kaunas Jewish Community Celebrates Righteous Gentiles from the Čiurlionis Family

Kaunas Jewish Community Celebrates Righteous Gentiles from the Čiurlionis Family

As part of the Year of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, the Lithuanian artist and composer, the Kaunas Jewish Community presents two events June 2 to celebrate the Righteous Gentiles in his family.

At 4:00 P.M.a plaque will be unveiled commemorating Čiurlionis’s wife Sofija, daughter Danutė and son-in-law Vladimir Zubov, all people who rescued Jews. The plaque will be located on the building which houses the memorial apartment once occupied by Sofija. The address is Žemaičių street no. 10, Kaunas.

At 6:00 P.M. Vyautas Magnus University will host a concert dedicated to Sofija, Danutė and Vladimir at their Great Hall (Gimnazijos street no. 4, Kaunas) featuring music and recollections by pianist Rokas Zubovas and his wife Sonata, pianists and organists who have received the Čiurlionis prize, Kaunas Jewish Community member Robertas Lozinskis and Vytautas Magnus University’s own choir Vivere Cantus.

These events are free and open to the public.

Litvak Identity Museum Hosts YIVO Retrospective

Litvak Identity Museum Hosts YIVO Retrospective

The Chwoles Gallery within the Litvak Identity Museum will host a YIVO exhibit called “Stories of Vilnius” to mark the YIVO’s 100th anniversary. The opening is on May 21 and will run till December 28.

Time: 6:00 P.M., May 21
Place:Litvak Identity Museum, Pylimo street no. 4a, Vilnius

Lecture on Early Jewish Photography in Lithuania

Lecture on Early Jewish Photography in Lithuania

The Vilnius Picture Gallery and the Lithuanian Museum of National Art will host a lecture by Dainius Junevičius called “Early Lithuanian Photography: Jews on Both Sides of the Lens” at the picture gallery at 5:30 P.M., Tuesday, May 20. The event is free and open to the public.

Junevičius is an expert on the history of photography. He will speak on the role Jewish photographers played in early Lithuanian photography from the Jewish owners and photographers of first photo studios in Vilnius to the work of talented photographer Miron Butkovski (1865-1938) who earned the Vatican’s gratitude fir his photos of Vilnius’s churches in the late 19th century, and will also speak about the evolution of photography in Lithuania and in general and the pioneers in other locations in Lithuania.
.
His lecture will include demonstrations of the earliest photographs of Jews starting with those from a Russian ethnographic exhibit in 1867 and extending through the Jewish ethnographic field surveys led by An-sky from 1912 ro 1914.

The lecture and slideshow is part of the exhibit “You Shall Not Make an Images” the Vilnius Picture Gallery and YIVO opened March 5 and which will run till September 14. Registration is not required for the lecture and there is no fee for admission..

Time: 5:30 P.M., Tuesday, May 20
Place: Vilnius Picture Gallery, Didžioji street no. 4, Vilnius

Vilna Gaon Museum Offers Free Entrance on Museum Night in Vilnius

Vilna Gaon Museum Offers Free Entrance on Museum Night in Vilnius

The Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum is staying open late and offering free admission at three of its facilities to celebrate Museum Night on May 17, the night most museums in Vilnius offer free addmission and stay open late. The Litvak Identity Museum, the Holocaust Exhibit at the Green House and the Samuel Bek Museum at the Tolerance Center are offering their own programs including an outdoor café open all evening and new exhibit openings. For more information, send an email to aiste.brusokaite@jmuseum.lt.

Moishele, Mayn Fraynd

Moishele, Mayn Fraynd

An evening of music dedicated to the memory of Mikhail Filyopov-Jablonskis

Fayerlakh invites you to a special event dedicated to remembering and honoring the late Mikhail Filyopov, one of the most outstanding performers of Jewish music in Lithuania, a man who dedicated his life to music, the stage and culture.

Tickets are available starting from €20.00 here.

Time: 5:00 P.M., Sunday, June 8
Place: House of Polish Culture, Naugarduko street no. 76, Vilnius

Yom haShoah in Ponar

Yom haShoah in Ponar

April 24 is Yom haShoah, the day to remember vicitms of the Holocaust.

In 1953 prime minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion and president of Israel Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, signed into law Yom haShoah as an observance day. The original plan was to hold this observance day on the 14th of Nisan, which was the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. This didn’t work, because that day preceded Passover. It was then decided to move the date to the 27th of Nisan, but not strictly. When it would fall on the Sabbath, Yom haShoah is moved a day back or forward.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community and others will mark the day at the Ponar Memorial Complex just outside Vilnius. A coach will leave from central Vilnius to bring people to and back from Ponar, but prior registration is required by sending an email to info@lzb.lt. Contact the LJC for exact departure time and location.

Time: 12:00 noon, Thursday, April 24
Place: Ponar Memorial Complex, Agrastų street no. 15A, Vilnius

Vilnius Jewish Memorial Plans in Limbo: No Funding for Feasibility Study

Vilnius Jewish Memorial Plans in Limbo: No Funding for Feasibility Study

Photo: Palace of Sports in Vilnius, D. Umbrasas/LRT

BNS, April 22, 2025

BNS–Lithuania’s new prime minister Gintautas Paluckas said his Government is considering the previous Government’s proposal to build a Jewish memorial in and around the Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports, a now derelict, Soviet-era indoor arena, but this year’s budget does not include funds for a feasibility study.

“The process is ongoing. We’re evaluating, weighing options and holding discussions. So far nothing has changed, and if any decisions are made, the public will be informed,” Paluckas told Baltic News Service.

The previous government approved the idea of building a memorial on the site of the old Jewish cemetery in the Šnipiškės (Yiddish Shbipishok) neighborhood of Vilnius and inside the arena building based on recommendations from a working group.

Read more

Condolences

Jonas Karbutas has died. He was born in 1940. He was a member of the Kaunas Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. Our deepest condolences to his family and friends.

Passover in Kaunas

Passover in Kaunas

The Kaunas Jewish Community always celebrate the holidays in an exceptional manner, the members are the dictionary definition of holiday spirit and there is never a lack of music and a avariety of delicious foods to sample, for many years now made by the wonderful Višta Puode or Chicken in the Pot restaurant in Kaunas.

This year was not the exception which proves the rule. In high spirits and with the warmest of wishes, the Kaunas Jewish Community celebrated Passover in the manner to which they are accustomed. Some snapshots, pale reflections of course of the real celebration, follow below.

Read more
Seniors Club Passover

Seniors Club Passover

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.

Read more
Happy Passover

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

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to Palanga Jewish Community chairman Vilnius Gutmanas. The entire Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes you good health, happiness and success in all your efforts. May the coming year bring new opportunities and many moments of happiness.

Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community

Lithuanian National Library Presents New Book of Grigoriy Kanovitch’s Interviews and Speeches

Lithuanian National Library Presents New Book of Grigoriy Kanovitch’s Interviews and Speeches

The Martynas Mažvydas Lithuanian National Library in Vilnius will host the launch of a new collection of talks and interviews by the late Litvak novelist Griogiry Kanovitch at 6:00 P.M. on Wednesday, April 16.

The book is called “Tiesa gydo. Vieši žodžiai ir interviu, 1988–1993–2022” [Truth Heals: Public Speeches and Interviews, 1988-1993-2022] and was edited by Virginijus Gasiliūnas.

Virginijus Gasiliūnas, Kanovitch’s son and writer Sergejus,and literature researcher Rima Kasperionytė will engage in a panel discussion moderated by Dainius Vaitiekūnas. Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky is to deliver an introductory speech.

The event is expected to last two hours and is free and open to everyone.