Learning – Page 9 – Lithuanian Jewish Community

New Film Looks at Anti-Semitism on American College Campuses

A new film called October 8: The Fight for the Soul of America was just released. Directed by Wendy Sachs with appearances by Debra Messinger and others, the documentary examnines the rise of support for Hamas on US college campuses since the October 7, 2023, massacre of Jews in Israel, and the concomitant rise in anti-Semitism in American academia and around the world.

An alternative title, October H6TE, is also circulating, and the subtitle is variously The Fight for the Soul of America and Globalize the Intifada (the latter appearing on official movie posters).

According to wikipedia:

The film covers the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses after the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel. It describes how “anti-Israel sentiment came to a fever pitch in the immediate aftermath of the massacre” and argues such sentiment “morphed into anti-Semitism”. The film includes interviews with Michael Rapaport, Noa Tishby, US representative Ritchie Torres, US senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Sheryl Sandberg, Dan Senor, Scott Galloway and Mosab Yousef. It explores the organization Students for Justice in Palestine and argues that SJP promoted anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism on campus. The film also covers the role of social media in allegedly stoking anti-Semitism among young people.

2025-05-15

Hazamir Choir from Helsinki to Perform

The Lithuanian Jewish Community is pleased to host a concert by the exceptional Jewish choir Hazamir from Finland. The choir has existed for more than 100 years (founded in 1917) and has performed Jewish music or audiences in Europe and America, and has even appeared on MTV. Their repertoire includes traditional songs in Hebrew and Yiddish, but also Swedish, Finnish and more recently Russian as well. This will be their only appearance in Vilnius during this tour.

Registration is required by sending an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt.

Time: 2:00 P.M., Sunday, June 8
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius

2025-05-15

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.
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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

2025-05-152025-05-15

Vilnius Cinema Denounces Own Israeli Film Week, Deletes Denunciation Post

by Geoff Vasil

The Skalvija movie theater in Vilnius hosted Israeli Film Week in early May as announced earlier.

Pro-Hamas protestors associated with the website palestina.lt decided to disrupt Israeli Film Week. According to one eye-witness a group of about 6 Hamas supporters entered one of the viewing halls and disrupted the film Seven Blessings (2023, Israel) being screened May 6. Movie theater staff asked them to leave and they reportedly did.

Skalvija then apologized to Hamas supporters on their facebook page, saying members of their “collective” were also anti-Israeli. They explained they had no choice but to host Israeli Film Week because they were not a commercial theater but an arm of city government, and that they had been ordered to show Jewish films. They said they hadn’t advertised the Israeli films in any way on their own website or through any other channels, and that the event was entirely funded by the Israeli embassy in Vilnius.

That post created public controversy and Skalvija “collective” leaders quickly deleted it. The municipality of Vilnius responded to the deleted post saying affiliates and agencies of the municipality were always welcome to discuss issues with the city, and that neither the municipality nor its agencies and departments were responsible for setting foreign policy.

{alestina.lt claimed they would protest Israeli Film Week from May 6 to 9 with daily pickets by 15 people or less outside. There were no further reports by eye-witnesses of protests inside or outside of the theater. Palestina.lt claimed on their facebook page the city of Vilnius had issued them a permit for a protest by up to 15 people outside the theater on May 6, the day 6 people reportedly entered a viewing hall and disrupted the movie..

2025-05-122025-05-19

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.

2025-05-082025-05-08

University of Washington Breaks Up Hamas Sit-In

The University of Washington in Seattle was the site of an attempted occupation by pro-Palestine protestors late Monday night. Members of the Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return (SUPER) group affiliated with the UW attempted to occupy and barricade the engineering library on campus, which was reportedly still open with student visitors. SUPER UW protestors outside addressed their own members with bullhorns, pushed obstables in front of the main doors and lit a dumpster on fire,

UW Police requested help from the Seattle Police Department and police in riot gear arrested around 30 protestors inside the building for criminal trespass after they failed to heed police instructions to leave the building in the early hours of Tuesday. The trespassers were booked into King County Jail.

The University of Washington released a statement the next day expressing zero tolerance for the property damage and alleged anti-Semitic statements promulgated by the Hamas supporters. They estimated the property damage came to around $1 million.

Protestors had brought bedding subsequently abandoned during the arrests and appeared to have planned an extended occupation of the building.

2025-05-082025-05-08

Natalja Cheifec on Lag b’Omer

Lag b’Omer falls on May 16th this year. The holiday lies midway between Passover and Shavuot on the 33rd day of the Counting of Omer. It is mainly celebrated with bonfires lit in the morning but has a number of deeper traditions and practices.

Natalja Cheifec invites the general public to a discussion of the holiday on the zoom platform at 5:30 P.M. on Thursday, May 8.

To receive zoom credentials, click here.

2025-05-07

New Holocaust Education Initiative in Poland and Lithuania

A new project called “Education against Anti-Semitism. Learn from the Past to Understand Today’s Challenges. A Selection of Multimedia Teaching Aids” began in April. Over 2 years project participants will create and publicize a varied selection of multimedia aids based on individual historical sources for use by Lithuanian and Polish teachers, history teachers, human rights educators and young people from 14 to 19.

The aim is to foster understanding of the current state of anti-Semitism and the danger of stigmatization and isolation through teaching about the Holocaust.

The coordinator is the Polish organization Ośrodka Karta. Partners include Fundacja Centrum Edukacji Obywatelskiej, Ośrodek Brama Grodzka — Teatr NN, Fundacja Pogranicze, Fundacja Otwarta Edukacja and the Lithuanian Jewish Community. The project is dunded by the EU but is editorially independent.

2025-05-05

Congratulations to Rafael Gimelštein

Photo: Rafael Gimelštein, right

Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club member Rafael Gimelštein and his Kilvatai team from Vilnius have won in the second league of the Lithuanian table tennis championship, beating Vilnius Tech, Tamsta from Vilnius and Kaunas’s Red and Black teams.

The final match against a team from Šiauliai will determine the distribution of medals. If Klivatai loses that match, they take 5th place, and if they win, 1st. \\

Rafael Gimelštein coaches the after-school tennis club for young people at the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium in Vilnius.

Congratulations, Rafael!

2025-05-05

Israeli Film Week, Everything Free

The Israeli embassy presents the fifth annual Israeli film retrospective from May 6 to 9 at the Skalvija cinema in Vilnius. All films are free and open to the public. All films are in Hebrew with Lithuanian subtitles.

Seven Blessings, 2023: 6:00 P.M., May 6

Here We Are, 2020: 6:00 P.M., May 7

Art of Waiting, 2019: 6:00 P.M., May 8

Shorts Average Story, 2016; Boy, 2023; Black Slide, 2021: 6:00 P.M., May 9

2025-04-30

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

2025-04-30

Integration and Inclusion Forum

The Ethnic Minorities Department and the British Council are holding a two-day conference and discussion on integration and inclusion on May 22 and 23 at Novotel Hotel in Vilnius. Those wishing to attend should register by May 15 at www.inforum.lt.

The conference will host experts on minority integration and human rights, media representatives, politicians, members of Lithuania’s ethnic minority communities, foreign speakers and more.

The Integration and Inclusion Forum is part of events to celebrate Lithuania’s Ethnic Minorities Day May 21, which kicks off with an awards event at St. Catherine’s Church in Vilnius at 3:00 P.M. The awards will be given to those who have distinguished themselves through their work with Lithuania’s ethnic minorities.

2025-04-30

Šiauliai Jewish Community at Auschwitz for March of the Living

For the fourth time now the Šiauliai District Jewish Community participated in the annual March of the Living at Auschwitz in Poland.

Members followed the path of Jewish prisoners marched to their deaths.

The event was attended by Jews and others from around the world.

2025-04-28

Natalja Cheifec’s Discussion Club Meets Wednesday

Natalja Cheifec’s discussion club will meet at 5:30 P.M. on Wednesday, April 30, on the zoom platform. To gain zoom credentials to participate, register here.

2025-04-28

Remembering the Victims at Ponar

Members of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, Lithuanian foreign diplomats, politicians and members of the community at large marked Yom haShoah at Ponar Thursday with a solemn ceremony, an air-raid siren, a moment of silence and speeches. Yom haShoah is one of several days on the calendar dedicated to remembering the six million victims of the Holocaust in Europe. In Israel air-raid sirens sound and all activities cease in memory of the dead on this day.

“I call myself a Lithuanian woman of Jewish ethnicity and I would like to live in my own country not in fear, and it’s not Jews who must combat anti-Semitism, it’s the state which must provide for the safety of all its citizens,” Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky said at the event. She also noted there is still no monument to the Righteous Gentiles who saved Jews from the Holocaust in Lithuania, despite seven years of discussion.

“History isn;t just lines in a textbook and facts. History includes feelings which we must pass on to our children, that they might understand what children who witnessed the murder of their parents felt. What anguish mothers experienced seeing their children murdered. These are what should be the lessons of history,” she continued. She is one of the few left in Lithuania who heard stories of the Holocaust directly from her parents and grandparents who were victims of it.

2025-04-28

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

2025-04-232025-04-23

Under Babylonian and Persian Rule

by Yosef Eisen

Benefits of Babylonian Exile

This exile, although very traumatic, nevertheless had a great benefit to the Jewish people. There were no more corrupt kings or nobility–in Babylon the Torah scholars had complete authority. Moreover, the Babylonians were not anti-Semites per se; while they only wanted to destroy Judah as an independent political power, they harbored no ill feelings toward the Jewish religion. As such, Jews were given their own cities, where earlier exiled Jews welcomed them warmly. The Talmud tells us that G_d chose Babylon as the place of exile for several reasons: Aramaic, the language of Babylon, was very similar to Hebrew. Abraham was born in Babylon, so the Jews were not regarded as foreigners. And it was easy to make a living from the abundant date trees. All told, then, life was pleasant for the Jews once they reached Babylon.

The Jews in Babylon

Despite the relative ease of their exile, the Jews reacted in vastly different ways. Some of them, traumatized by the shock of heathens conquering Jerusalem, an occurrence they had previously deemed impossible, despaired of a future redemption, saying that G_d had severed His relationship with the Jewish people. Others settled down comfortably and planned to assimilate. Accordingly, the prophet Ezekiel addressed both of these concerns. To the first group, he shared his prophetic visions of the Heavenly Chariot and the Third Eternal Temple, telling them that G_d did not forsake them. He also revived the dry bones in the Valley of Dura, symbolizing the rejuvenation of the Jewish people. To the second group, he burst out with fiery denunciations, saying that G_d will never allow the Jewish people to assimilate. Nevertheless, many Jews did assimilate. Some Jews even rose to prominence at Nebuchadnezzar’s court. Daniel was appointed governor over the realm, while Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah also attained high positions in the government.

The Fiery Furnace

2025-04-222025-04-22

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.

2025-04-22

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.

2025-04-22