Learning – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Kaunas Jewish Community Dedicates Concert to Righteous Gentile Lithuanian President

The Kaunas Jewish Community and the Kaunas City Museum held a concert last week called “From Čiurlionis to Today” and dedicated it to the memory of Kazys Grinius on the occasion of his 160th birthday. Grinius was president of Lithuania in the period between the two world wars. He rescued Jews from the Holocaust and he and his wife Kristina were recognized as Righteous Gentiles by the Yad Vashem authority in 2016.

Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas said: “The president was truly a very noble person. He and others wrote a memorandum against the massacre of Jews. This memorandum inspired others to rescue Jews during the war years.”

2026-11-10

Panevėžys Newspaper Reports on Dilapidated Holocaust Memorial Monuments

The Panevėžys newspaper Sekundė reported November 7 a direction marker and memorial to a Holocaust mass murder site has fallen into disrepair.

The marker and monument are made of large pieces of oak trees in a Lithuanian folk style and are in various states of decay. The wooden monuments are located along the Old Vilnius Highway and leads to the mass murder site in the Staniūnai Forest where 103 Jews were murdered.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

2026-11-102026-11-10

Natalja Cheifec on Shtetl Life

Natalja Cheifec continues her internet lecture and discussion series with a presentation on shtetls called “On the Shtetl: Seriously and with a Smile” this Thursday. She will talk about the lost world of Eastern European Jewish towns–shtetls–where spiritual tradition, daily worries and Jewish humor were intertwined in daily life. She will speak about the place of the synagogue, mikve and cheder in the community, the traditions which escorted Jews from birth to the grave, how Sabbath was observed and the wisdom hiding in Jewish humor. The presentation and discussion will take place in Lithuanian. To register and participate, click here.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, November 12
Place: internet

2026-11-10

Lithuanian Jewish Community Informational Overview Memorandum

Historical Context

Before the Second World War, Lithuania was for centuries an important center of Jewish life and the cradle of the distinctive Litvak tradition, marked by its own culture of Jewish learning, religious thought and communal life. From June of 1941 the Nazi occupiers and their collaborators murdered some 90% to 95% of Lithuania’s Jews, one of the highest mortality rates among all Jewish communities in Europe. After Lithuania restored its independence in 1990, the surviving Jewish community (today numbering a few thousand members) renewed its public religious and cultural life. Its activities are organized through the Lithuanian Jewish Community (LJC), an umbrella organization that brings together the country’s various Jewish organizations. At present the LJC unites 30 member organizations.

The LJC is a member of the European Jewish Congress and the World Jewish Congress.

Jewish Life

Today the Jewish community is active and through its institutions, programs and services offers activities for people of all generations.

The Choral Synagogue in Vilnius is one of only two synagogues currently functioning in Lithuania and one of the main centers of the country’s Jewish religious life. Morning and evening services are held there every day, throughout the year and on holidays. They are attended by community members as well as guests from Israel and other countries. A permanent cantor leads the daily and festive services. The community is working to strengthen the involvement of rabbis in its activities: rabbis visit regularly, and it is currently looking for a rabbi who would work more closely with younger community members.

2026-11-092026-11-10

Hebrew Lessons

A new series of Hebrew lessons for young and old, beginners and the more advanced, under the tutelage of Ruth Reches, will meet for the first class on Sunday, November 15. The class for more advanced students starts at 9:30 A.M. and runs till 11:00 A.M., followed by the class for beginners at 11:15 A.M., ending around 12:45 P.M. The classes will be held at the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium, Kraševskio street no. 5, Vilnius. Registration is required by sending your full name and desired group to ruthreches@gmail.com.

Note: the language of instruction is Lithuanian.

2026-11-052026-11-05

Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club to Hold Shooting Competition

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club is holding a pistol-shooting competition in Vilnius on Sunday, November 8, from 10:00 A.M. till 1:30 P.M. The cost is €11.00 and registration is required by midnight, November 6.

For more information, call Daniel at +370 687 83 005 or write info@maccabi.lt.

2026-11-05

Lithuanian Ethnic Minority Department Officials Visit Panevėžys Jewish Community

Lithuanian Ethnic Minority Department director Dainius Babilas led a delegation of his colleagues on a visit to the Panevėžys Jewish Community on October 26. They met with chairman Gennady Kofman and member Nerijus Jakštonis and the group discussed a number of issues including regular reporting by Lithuania to implement the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and measures to fight anti-Semitism. They also spoke about the activities of ethnic minority NGOs and the need to publish information about their activities, as well as other issues including Holocaust education.

2026-11-042026-11-04

Ninth Museum Honors Victims of Grosse Aktion

The Ninth Fort in Kaunas held a commemoration of victims of the Grosse Aktion on the 85th anniversary of the massacre at the fort on October 28. The commemoration organized by the Kaunas Jewish Community and the museum featured speeches, music and a dramatized documentary film. Candles were lit and stones placed at the mass murder site.

From October 28 to 29 in 1941 around 10,000 Jews were murdered in one mass murder operation. Most were taken from the Kaunas ghetto.

Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas, Lithuanian Jewish Community executive director Michail Segal, representatives of the Lost Shtetl Museum in Šeduva, Israeli embassy chargé d’affaires Shimon Pesach, French embassy chargé d’affaires Emmanuel Carnesecca, German cultural attaché Valerie Hog, deputy Lithuanian foreign minister Rūta Statulevičiūtė-Kaučikienė, Lithuanian MP Vytautas Juozapaitis, Jurbarkas mayor Skirmantas Mockevičius, Ninth Fort Museum director Marius Pečiulis and others attended the commemoration.

2026-11-042026-11-10

Happy Birthday, Valdas Adamkus

The Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes former president Valdas Adamkus a very happy 100th birthday. One hundred years of meaningful work, wisdom, love for Lithuania and human respect. Your life, civic-mindedness and dedication to Lithuania are an inseparable part of the history of our country. The Lithuanian Jewish Community holds your friendship, attention to Litvak history, culture and commemoration and your respect for the human being in the highest esteem. Thank you for your sincerity, warmth and openness. Mazl tov. Bis 120!

2026-11-042026-11-04

Dedication to Ona Šimaitė: Concert to Celebrate Lithuania’s Righteous Gentiles

A concert tour to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the naming of Vilnius University librarian Ona Šimaitė as a Righteous Gentile is coming to Vilnius November 11.

Performers include Rokas Vaitkevičius on cello, Simona Zajančauskaitė playing piano and Tadas Daujotas blowing the shofar horn.

Tickets cost 10 euros and are available here. More information here.

Time: 5:00 P.M., Wednesday, November 11
Place: Theater Hall, Vilnius University, Vilnius

2026-11-032026-11-03

Jacques Lipchitz Discussion at Vilna Gaon Museum

The Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum will host a discussion on Jacques Lipchitz, the artistic influence Vilnius had on his development, Vilnius cultural life in the early 20th century, Vilnius art guilds, the Vilnius Drawing School and other topics. The discussion will be in Lithuanian and the entrance fee is the cost of a museum ticket, €12,00. Samuel Bak Museum director Ieva Šadzevičienė will moderate the panel which includes art historians Laima Laučkaite-Surgailiene .and Jolanta Širkaite

Time: 6:00 P.M., Wednesday, November 4
Place: Samuel Bak Museum aka the Tolerance Center, Naugarduko street no. 10, Vilnius

2026-11-032026-11-03

Secret Order behind Jewish Holidays

by Rabbi Eric Coopersmith, September 17, 2026

The Jewish calendar follows an arc that consists of a seven-stage journey, starting with a broken relationship and ending with the joy of reconciliation.

The Jewish holidays aren’t isolated celebrations scattered across the calendar. Together, they form a carefully structured system of spiritual growth. Each holiday marks another stage in the development of our relationship with God.

We begin with distance and brokenness, gradually rediscover our longing for closeness, recommit ourselves to serving God, remove the barriers separating us from Him, and ultimately arrive at reconciliation, joy, and intimacy.

This journey has seven stops, beginning with Tisha B’Av and culminating in Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.

1. Tisha B’Av: The Relationship Is Broken

The journey begins on Tisha B’Av, when we confront the painful reality that our relationship with God is in crisis.

2026-11-032026-11-03

New Ninth Fort Book Launched

Mexican advertising expert, filmmaker and author Roberto Valdes presented the English translation of his latest book, The 9th Fort (El Noveno Fuerte), at the Aušra Museum in Šiauliai last week. The book is an historical novel combining real events and fictional dialogue to shed light on one of the most obscure chapters of World War II. In just over 24 hours in 1941 around 10,000 Jews were murdered at the Ninth Fort in Kaunas.

The author told the gathering how the book came about and his views on the Holocaust, Lithuania and World War II.

The Aušra Museum invited attendees to take a tour of the new exhibits at the Frenkl mansion there following the book launch. Snacks were served.

2026-10-292026-11-10

Mini Makabiada

The Lithuanian Makabi Sports and Athletics Club invites sporting enthusiasts and friends of the club to our annual mini-Makabiada on October 25. The event opens at 10:00 A.M. at the Vilnius City Tauras Athletics school at Žygio street no. 46, Vilnius. Participants can play in 3-on-3 basketball, volleyball, table tennis and badminton.

All participants will be invited to lunch after the final matches and awards ceremony. Those wishing to attend should register by October 23 by clicking here. For more information call Daniel at +370 687 83 005.

Time: 10:00 A.M., Sunday, October 25
Place: Vilnius City Tauras Athletics School at Žygio street no. 46, Vilnius

2026-10-212026-10-21

Kaunas Jewish Community and Ninth Fort to Mark 85th Anniversary of Grosse Aktion

Eighty-five years ago the persecution and extermination of Lithuanian Jews began. The Nazis and Lithuanian Nazis called their mass murder operations aktionen. The Grosse Aktion, or Great Operation, was the largest single mass murder of Jews in Lithuania, where around 10,000 inmates from the Kaunas ghetto were murdered at the Ninth Fort in just over 24 hours.

The Kaunas Jewish Community and the Ninth Fort Museum invite you to mark the tragedy this year with a commemoration at the Ninth Fort in Kaunas followed by a concert at the fort called Muzik fun zikoyrn, or Music from Memory, featuring the trio Trise, saxophonist Petras Vyšniauskas, pianist Aleksandra Žvirblytė and percussionist Arkadijus Gotesmanas, performing works by Jospeh Achron, Max Helfman, Anatoly Shenderov and others as well as Jewish melodies.

The Ninth Fort Museum will screen a short documentary (by Karolina Vilkelienė, 2026) about the Grosse Aktion during the commemoration there. The commemoration at the Ninth Fort will conclude with a candle-lighting and stone-laying ceremony on the actual killing field.

The event is free and open to the public.

Time: 6:30 P.M., Wednesday, October 28
Place: Ninth Fort Museum, Žemaičių highway no. 73, Kaunas

2026-10-21

Šiauliai Jewish Community Visits Kupiškis

Members of the Šiauliai Jewish Community and guests from Germany took a trip to Kupiškis, a town with a deep and rich Jewish legacy. There they visited the Kupiškis museum and learned about the town’s cultural and historical heritage. Then they took a guided tour of Kupiškis’s central square where once three synagogues operated. Two of the synagogue buildings remain standing. They learned about Kupiškis before the Holocaust, Jewish life, traditions and history there, and that Lithuanians and Jews lived next to one another in peace before the Holocaust.

2026-10-212026-10-21

Anti-Semitism in England’s Schools

by Ben Bloch, October 20, 2026

Report set to reveal vast scale of anti-Semitism in English schools

A landmark report is set to detail the vast scale of anti-Semitism in English schools and colleges, Sky News can reveal.

The review, conducted by former schools inspector Sir David Bell, will on Wednesday set out 27 recommendations to create change, which the government is poised to accept in full.

It will call for teacher training and resources to tackle anti-Semitism in schools, strengthened guidance on political impartiality, and giving students the tools to recognize and confront online anti-Jewish hatred and conspiracy theories.

Speaking exclusively to Sky News, Sir David said he was “very struck” by the evidence of rising anti-Semitism in schools, but also the extent to which it actually goes underreported.

2026-10-21

Australia Delays Release of Report by Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism

Photo: Richard Dobson/News Corp Australia

Commissioner Virginia Bell has defended her push to delay the release of her final report of the anti-Semitism inquiry, saying she did not want to cause a “distraction” for the Jewish community on a “solemn” day of remembrance.

On Wednesday [August 26], the final day of the Antisemitism and Social Cohesion Royal Commission’s public hearings, Bell said the findings would be released on December 18. Commissioner Bell said she is required to present her final report to the Governor General and the governors of all states no later than December 14, but will request a “short extension.”

“December 14 is the anniversary of the massacre. It will be a solemn occasion marked by memorials,” she said. “I’m aware of concern within the Jewish community that delivery of the report on the anniversary would be a distraction. I fully understand that concern and to avoid that distraction, I have asked for a short extension of the term with a view to the submission of my final report on Friday, December 18.”

2026-10-202026-10-20

Natalja Cheifec’s Internet Discussion Club to Meet Thursday

Natalja Cheifec’s internet discussion club continues Thursday evening at 6:00 P.M. To receive zoom credentials and participate, click here.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, October 22
Place: internet

2026-10-202026-10-20

« Previous