Natalja Cheifec’s internet discussion club will meet via the zoom platform this Thursday, June 12, at 5:30 P.M. To receive zoom credentials, click here.
Yiddish Veršes Album Launch/Concert
Belarussian musicians will present their new album Yiddish Veršes with a performance of tracks at Petras Cvirka Park in Vilnius on June 13, which Vilnius Culture Night.
Tok Rukoo, Sveta Ben and Syndrom Samazvanca have created a musical interpretation of early 20th century Yiddish poetry from Belarus.
The performance of selections will be followed by a discussion at the bar of the outdoor performance space Cvi Park.
The organizers are the Blearussian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center, Radio Plato, the Goethe Institute in Vilnius and the Cvi Park outdoor Israeli street food kiosk.
Tracks can be heard here: https://bnd.lc/ydver
Time: 8:00 P,M., Friday, June 13
Place: Petras Cvirka Park, Pylimo street no. 4 across from the LJC, Vilnius
Art of the Jewish Renaissance Exhibit
The Jewish Culture and Information Center is pleased to announce an exhibit called Art of the Jewish Renaissance from the collection of Tanya Rubinstein-Horowitz. She comes from a family of collectors and inherited much of the family collection from granfather Jakov Rubinstein, born in Warsaw in 1901, deceased in Moscow 1983. Jakov managed over a quarter of a century to amass a collection of early 20th century Jewish art from the Russian Empire and tje Soviet Union rivalling any other such collection in the world.
This period of creativity has been called the Jewish Renaissance, tragically cut short by Soviet ethnic and religious policy.
The exhibit includes a portion of wokrs by Tsfania-Gedalia Kipnis in her series Shtetl: Arayn un Aroys.
The exhibit is free and open to the public.
Time: June 5 to August 8
Place: Jewish Culture and Information Center, Mėsinių street no. 3a/5, Vilnius
New Holocaust Remembrance Project Echoes
A new Holocaust remembrance project called Echoes kicked off in May of 2025, subtitled “Conversations with Holocaust Survivors using Artificial Intelligence.” The project was first demonstrated in Thessaloniki, Greece recently with staff from the Lithuanian Jewish Community participating. Thessaloniki has had a Jewish community for over 2,000 years.
Project partners include the Saloniki Jewish Museum, the European Commussion, CERV, the Lithuanian Jewish Community and others.
Shavuot
Shavuot is the holiday which celebrates the receiving of the Torah. This marks the day the Jewish people received the Law. It is celebrated on the 6th day of Sivan on the Jewish calendar. This is a state holiday in Israel.
Shavuot means “weeks” in Hebrew. It is the seventh week from the second day of Passover. It marks the day when Moses received the Ten Commandments of G_d on Mount Sinai. They were written on two stone slabs. These are known in Hebrew as Aseret haDvarim and in Greek as the Decalogue.
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.
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.
Natalja Cheifec on Shavuot
Natalja Cheifec will deliver a lecture and host questions and discussion on the Jewish holiday Shavuot on the internet at 5:30 P.M. on Thursday, May 29.
To register and receive zoom credentials, click here.
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.
Trump Expresses Condolences over Shooting of Israeli Diplomats in US Capital
President Donald Trump called Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday to express condolences and his personal shock for the murder of two Israeli embassy personnel in Washington, D.C., Yaron Liszczynski and Sarah Milgrim.
Netanyahu thanked Trump for the efforts he and his administration have made to fight anti-Semitism in the United States.
The shooter Elias Rodriguez targeted an AJC event for young diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum near the Israeli embassy. This was the first successful assassination of a foreign diplomat in Washington, D.C., since the car-bomb killing of former Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier in 1976.
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.
Lecture on Hebrew Evolution, Revival
The Fascinating and Multifaceted 3,300-year Evolution and Regenesis of Hebrew
The Vilnius Jewish Public Library invites you to a lecture by professor Ghilad Zuckerman called “The Fascinating and Multifaceted 3,300-year Evolution and Regenesis of Hebrew” in English with simultaneous Lithuanian translation.
After centuries as a liturgical and literary medium, Hebrew underwent a dramatic transformation in the modern era. The lecture will shed light on its unprecedented revival in the early 20th century driven by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and others who saw language as central to cultural and national identity.
Professor Zuckermann will lead us on a journey through the history of Hebrew from its emergence after the conquest of Canaan, through its prominence during the Iron Age kingdoms of Israel and Judah, to its decline and [alleged] eventual disappearance as a spoken language by AD 100 (2nd century CE).
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.
No More Student Visas for Harvard
Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem announced Thursday the cancellation of visas for foreign students at Harvard College.
The Trump administration had been demanding information from Harvard about misconduct by foreign exchange students there. Harvard refused to furnish that information.
Noem told Fox News current foreign student visa holders at Harvard would have to seek enrollment at other universities and Harvard’s participation in the foreign student visa program had been suspended, meaning no new visas would be issued for foreign nationals seeking to matriculate or continue studies there.
The Trump administration’s conflict with Harvard College stems from attempts to insure the civil rights of Jewish students and teachers be respected at American universities.
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.
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
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
Sholem Aleichem School Offers Day Camps
The Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium is offering day camps for first to fourth grade students from June 9 to 13 and again from June 16 to 20 with nature outings, educational games and many other activities. The first session is called “Around the World with a Backpack” and the second is “Finding Adventure in the City and the Woods.”
Registration is open till noon on June 1 by filling out the form here. For more information, call Vaiva Seliavienė at 370 613 37709 or write: vaiva.seliaviene@gmail.com.
Kuršiai Social Center Clients Meet Panevėžys Jewish Community
Members of Panevėžys chapter of the Kuršiai Social Center visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community and met with chairman Gennady Kofman.
Kuršiai members had the opportunity to learn about Jewish history and culture and the Holocaust. Kofman spoke in detail about the Jewish community who lived in Panevėžys before the Holocaust, their contribution to the development of the horthern Lithuanian city and their mass murder.
He emphasized Jewish education, religious and cultural traditions and efforts to preserve historical memory. The audience learned about the current activities of the Panevėžys Jewish Community including educational projects and memorial initiatives.
Attendees thanked the chairman and the Community for the warm reception and discussed their understanding of cultural diversity and values
Judaism and Paganism: Not Totally Polar Opposites
Michael Strmiska, Phd., will deliver a talk about the points of contact between Temple and Rabbinical Judaism and Classical Paganism at the Vilnius Jewish Public Library next Wednesday.
He plans to present striking parallels shared by the two religious traditions which haven’t been considered related since Justin the Apologist, later Justin the Martyr’s times, commonly called pre-Christian Paganism and simply Judaism. He will present common aspects of both which overcome the popular perception Paganism is polytheism and Judaism is mono, and never the trwain shall meet.
His talk will include discussion on the marginalization and also the survival of both traditions through the course of history, the view both traditions take regarding Nature, conceptions of the feminine divine and the traditions both schools share at their mystical extremities.
This perhaps provocative lecture could serve to foster greater understanding of how these two religions are able to intercommunicate in surprising ways. Both Paganism and Temple Judaism together form the context in which the fathers of the Early Church operated.