Learning – Page 4 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Litvaks in the Cape Town Archives

Lithuanian diplomat Dainius Junevičius will present his research on Litvaks in the Cape Town, South Africa, archives he and others conducted in 2024 at the Vilnius Jewish Public Library at 5:30 P.M. Tuesday, October 30.

The research project by the Lithuanian Literature and Art Institute sent the team to the Kaplan Jewish Research Centre at University of Cape Town and the Western Cape Archive where they discovered thousands of documents regarding Litvak immigration to South Africa and Litvak life and achievements in South Africa.

Junevičius was Lithuanian ambassador to the Republic of South Africa from 2021 to 2023. The presentation will be in Lithuanian.

Time: 5:30 P.M. Tuesday, October 30
Place: Vilnius Jewish Public Library, courtyard, Gedimino prospect no. 24, Vilnius

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Documentary on Jakov Gens

The Vilnius Gewish Public Library will screen the documentary “The Commandant’s Daughter” featuring the recollections of Ada Gens, daughter of Vilnius ghetto Jewish Police chief Jakov Gens (aka Yakov, Jacob, Jokūnas Gens) at 6:00 P.M. Wednesday, October 22. Jakov Gens’s great-grandson Alexander Phibbs is to speak at the event.

Gens as de facto ruler of the Vilnius ghetto made controversial and lasting decisions for the survival of a remnant of Vilna Jewry. His post-Holocaust legacy was as nemesis to the FPO underground partisan organization, although Gens died in Gestapo custody. Gens displayed a clear preference for Hebrew over Yiddish as the language of the Jews in the future state of Israel.

Great-grandson Alexander Phibbs says heard his grandmother’s stories as a child but didn’t attach greater historical significance to them then. Phibbs began doing his own Holocaust research in 2008 and came across his grandmother Ada’s testimony to the US Holocaust Museum, and realized how little he really knew about Jakov Gens and the role he played in the Vilnius ghetto.

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YIVO and the Making of Modern Jewish Culture

The Science and Encyclopedia Publishing Center of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library and the Judaica Research Center there are pleased to announce the publication of a Lithuanian translation of Cecile Esther Kuznitz’s acclaimed monograph “YIVO and the Making of Modern Jewish Culture: Scholarship for the Yiddish Nation.”.

The book presentation will take place at 6:00 P.M on October 21 in the Conference Hall (5th floor) of the National Library. The event will feature the author Cecile Esther Kuznitz, professor of history and director of Jewish Studies at Bard College; Laimonas Briedis, cultural geographer and Vilnius researcher; and Jolanta Mickutė, scholar of Eastern European Jewish history. The discussion will be moderated by Lara Lempertienė, director of the Judaica Research Center.

Originally published in English in 2014, “YIVO and the Making of Modern Jewish Culture” is the first comprehensive history of the YIVO founded in Vilnius in 1925. As the only in-depth study of the institute’s activities in Vilnius before World War II, the publication of a Lithuanian translation is a long-awaited and significant cultural event.

2025-10-21

Righteous Gentiles Mažylis Family Remembered in Kaunas

Liudas Mažylis and the Kaunas Jewish Community will unveil a plaque commemorating Righteous Gentiles Antanina and Pranas Mažylis on the façade of the Pranas Mažylis Birth Center in Kaunas next week. The couple hid Jews during the Holocaust at the birth center including Lilijana Levintoffskytė, Isakas Judelevičius, Grigorijus Teperis and Bela Gurvičiūtė.

“Back then in our family even thought about whether to hekp these poor people. WE just had to, that’s all,” the couple’s daughter Liūda Mažylytė-Rasteikienė recalled later.

Time: 2:00 P.M., Friday, October 24
Place: Putvinskio street no. 3, Kaunas

2025-10-20

Celebration of Dolskis and Gorbulskis

The Kaunas Jewish invites you to a celebration of the 135th anniversary of the birth of the crooner Daniel Dolskis and the 100th anniversary of the composer Benjaminas Gorbulskos with a concert by the Lithuanian Symphonic Horn Orchestra and others. Besides old favorites and lesser known works by both men, there will also be a presentation of the biographies of both men. The concert is free.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Monday, October 27
Place: Kaunas State Philharmonic, Ožeškienės street no. 12, Kaunas

2025-10-20

Sukkot in Panevėžys

In spite of poor weather, members of the Panevėžys Jewish Community celebrated Sukkot in the traditional way with a booth set up in the Community’s courtyard.

The holiday brought together members new and old who discussed current events and shared family stories.

2025-10-17

Simchat Torah Today

Today is Simchat Torah.

2025-10-15

Jäger Report Documentary in Palanga

The Palanga Jewish Community and Lithuania’s Onternational Commission for Assessing the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Ocuppational Regimes will screen a documentary film called “Following the Jäger Repor” at 2:00 P.M. on Tuesday, October 28 at the Kurhaus Theater, Grafų Tiškevičių alley no. 1, Palanga. The documentary will be followed by a discussion with historian Stanislovas Stasiulis. TYhe film was directed by Boris Maftsir, and Rony Katzenelson ftom Israel.

The Jäger Report is a report Wehrmacht officer Karl Jäger made for his superiors in Berlin detailing the number, location and gender of Jewish mass murder victims in the early months of the Holocaust in Lithuania, the fall of 1941 when almost all Lithuanian Jews were murdered by Lithuanians and Germans. In some cases affitional information was provided, e.g., the entry for July 4, 1941, for Kaunas noted the murder of two American citizens.

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Natalja Cheifec on Golda Meir

The internet discussion club continues with a look at the biographical drama Golda about late Israeli prime minister Golda Meir and what she did during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. To insure a more fruitful discussion, try to watch the film before the meeting. To get zoom credentials. click here.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, October 16
Place: internet

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Sukkot in Šiauliai

Last Thursday members of the Šiauliai District Jewish Community celebrated Sykkot with a sukka in the courtyard where members dwelt, handled the four species, prayed, shared blessings and ate. The sukka is open for the entirety of Sukkot which ends on Tuesday (or Wednesday, depending on your tradition and inclination). Members and friends are invited to come and dwell.

2025-10-13

Daniel Fradkin and Nijolė Beniušytė to Perform

The international duet of Nijolė Dorotėja Beniušytė on harpsichord and violinist from Israel Daniel Fradkin will perform with a chance for the audience to hear a rare instrument, the mysterious viola d‘amore. The program includes works by Handel, J.S. Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Jiří Antonín Benda/

For tickets and more information in Lithuanian, click here.

Time:6:00 P.M., October 23
Place: Samuel Bak Museum, Naugarduko street no. 10, Vilnius

2025-10-13

Nechama Lifshitz Song Contest Concert

Contestants will perform in the fifth International Nechama Lifshitz Song Contest at the Lithuanian Jewish Community at 6:00 P.M. on October 28. There will be snacks, coffee and an opportunity to meet the contestants following the concert.

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Memorial to Righteous Gentiles Unveiled in Kaunas

A plaque commemorating Righteous Gentiles Sofija Kymantaitė-Čiurlionienė, her daughter Danutė Čiurlionytė-Zubovienė and her daughter’s husband Vladimir Zubov was unveiled at Žemaičių street no. 10 in Kaunas last month. The Lithuanian state radio and television Jewish affairs program Menora documented the event.

Television program in Lithuanian here.

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Remembering the Mass Murder of Palanga Jews

Eighty-four years ago Jews from Palanga were murdered en masse in the Kunigiškiai Forest. Palanga Jewish Community chairman Vilius Gutmanas visited the mass murder site with Palanga city Culture Department staff Robertas Trautmanas and Janina Balužė Octpber 10.

One of the first casualties of the Nazi invasion of Palanga on June 22, 1941, was a summer camp there of Jewish children from all over Lithuania. Many of the children escaped, some were killed and others taken prisoner. On June 26 women, chilren and the elderly were imprisoned in one of the synagogues in Palanga. The latter were taken to a makeshift ghetto in Valteriškė village a few days later. The Jews there were murdered October 11 and 12, 1941. It is believed around 200 Jews from Palanga were murdered there and then.

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Natalja Cheifec on Sukkot

Natalja Cheifec continues her internet lecture and discussion club with a lesson on Sukkot this Thursday.

Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles is one of the happier holidays on the Jewish calendar amd a great opportunity to spend time with family, visit others, share food and enjoy life. Natalja will talk about the origin and traditions of Sukkot. She’ll discuss the meaning of “dwelling” in the sukka or makeshift booth during the week of Sukkot and the four species.

To receive zoom credentials and participate, click here.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, October 9
Place: internet

2025-10-07

Sukkot

Sujjot (Ashkenazic Sukkos) begins at 5:13 P.M. at sunset today, Monday, October 6, and ends at sunset 7, 8 or 9 days later, depending on your location and disposition.

The festival of Sukkot–literally meaning booths, tents, tabernacles–is celebrated for seven days in Israel and eight days in the Diaspora, starting on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. It is one of the three festivals during which Jewish men were required to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem in Temple times.

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Lithuanian Makabi’s Maccabiada October 19

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletic Club is holding their annual Maccabiada this October 19 and you’re invited.

Competitions include 3-on-3 basketball with 5 teams competing, volleyball with 6 teams, table tennis in men’s and women’s matches and men’s and women’s badminton. Participation is free. Makabi requests you register before October 15. To gesiter and for more information, call +370 687 83005.

Program:

11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. Badminton and basketball
11:00 A.M. to 2:30 P.M. Table tennis
1:00 P.M. to 2:30 P.M. Volleyball
3:30 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. Lunch at the Crowne Plaza Hotel restaurant

Time: 11:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., Sunday, Ovtober 19
Place: Taurus Sports School, Žygio street no. 46, Vilnius

2025-10-06

Join the Lithuanian Jewish Community and Bnei Maskilim for Yom Kippur

The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Bnei Maskilim progressive Judaism association invite you to come mark Yom Kippur together at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. Cantor Daniel Zekhry from the rabbinical studies program of the Abraham Geiger College will lead the services. Everyone is welcome but registration is required by sending an email to viljamas@lzb.lt.

Schedule:

October 1
6:30 P.M. Kol Nidre

October 2
10:00 A.M. Torah reading
5:00 P.M. Yizkor
5:15 P.M. Neila
6:30 P.M. Shofar

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Yom Kippur at the Choral Synagogue

This Wednesday the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius begins observing Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Prayer services:

October 1

6:30 P.M. Kol Nidre
7:00 P.M. Maariv

October 2

10:00 A.M. Shacharit
12:00 noon Yizkor
12:30 P.M. Musaf
5:45 P.M. Mincha
6:30 P.M. Neila
7:45 P.M. Maariv

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