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Mini-Makabiada Held in Vilnius

Mini-Makabiada Held in Vilnius

Vilnius athletics school Sostinės Tauras hosted the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club’s annual mini-Maccabee Games tournament October 15. Participants included Makabi Club members and students from the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium. Sports included volley ball, indoor soccer, basketball, table tennis and badminton. The games began with a minute of silence in honor of the victims of Hamas terror in Israel.

The Makabi Club team won in volley ball against the Sholem team as well as the third team, Kantora. Sholem placed second.

Makabi also took first place in indoor soccer against Sholem.

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Lithuanian Schools Closed Due to Bomb Threats

Lithuanian Schools Closed Due to Bomb Threats

Schools, kindergartens and universities across Lithuania were closed in the early afternoon Friday as numerous emails in Russian and Lithuanian were received claiming bombs had been placed at these locations. This followed the same threats made to schools in Klaipėda Thursday as Lithuanian military and security forces were scheduled to carry out drills on the marine liquified natural gas terminal located there. Police spokesmen said the same threats were made in Latvia and Estonia over previous days. They said the threatening emails in Lithuania were in Russian with some in Lithuanian and contained two separate demands: ransom for “de-mining” the schools, and political demands Lithuania stop supporting the Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

The Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium in Vilnius decided several days ago to cancel in-school classes Friday and to conduct lessons via internet instead because Hamas had called upon supporters to attack Jewish institutions around the world on October 13. Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman told Lithuanian media the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius was closed and almost all staff at the LJC were working from home. All events and programs scheduled at the LJC have been cancelled for now, according to LJC executive director Michailas Segal. Chairwoman Kukliansky said the regional Jewish communities had all been apprised of growing security concerns.

Lithuanian police had started making regular patrols outside the Sholem Aleichem school and the Choral Synagogue since the Hamas attack on southern Israel last Saturday.

Update: Around 1,500 schools and educational institutions received bomb threats again on Monday, October 16.

Sixth Annual Fun-Run Oversubscribed

Sixth Annual Fun-Run Oversubscribed

Photo: Semionas Finkelšteinas and Olga Bliumenzon greet the winners.

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club’s 6th annual fun-run was held on September 24 and there were so many wanting to participate organizers had to shut down registration.

Makabi president Semionas Finkelšteinas and vice president Olga Bliumenzon greeted participants wishing them success on the track.

Over 120 runners ran 1.5 and 3 km courses in three age groups. All participants received Makabi t-shirts and participation medals, with special medals for first-, second- and third-place winners and a special gift to first-place champions.

The annual fun-run has become popular with students and their parents from the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium, accounting for 58 participants this year. Physical education teacher Vilija Taralienė and school principal Ruth Reches were there to cheer on their team.

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European Day of Jewish Culture Events in Vilnius

European Day of Jewish Culture Events in Vilnius

September 3rd is coming. The first Sunday in autumn, the day the Lithuanian Jewish Community will again celebrate the European Day of Jewish Culture, a day the Community has celebrated for a decade now. As in previous years, all events across Europe to celebrate the day are modeled on a general theme. This year it’s memory. This topic is like a bridge leading to the Jewish cultural legacy which remains to a great extent unknown by the wider population. #Atmintis or Memory doesn’t end on the first Sunday in September, of course, and in September and October the Lithuanian Jewish Community will hold and coordinate events throughout Lithuania.

Below you’ll find the events program for September 3, all of which are free and open to everyone.

Register here: https://bit.ly/459c4nZ

#EŽKD2023 #EDJC2023 #Atmintis #AEPJ #LietuvosŽydų(litvakų)Bendruomenė #CviParkas #BeigeliųKrautuvėlė Kultūros Paveldo Departamentas Tautinių mažumų departamentas prie Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės #mūsųbendruomenės #OurCommunities

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Makabi Meet

Makabi Meet

Over the weekend members and friends of the Lithuanian Jewish Community attended a Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club event at the Pailgio Perlas recreational park near Vilnius.

Proponents of the active life tried their hand at different kinds of sport, played, competed, danced to music from the DJ, gathered around the camp fire, fished, swam and relaxed in the beautiful natural setting.

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News from the Panevėžys Jewish Community

News from the Panevėžys Jewish Community

Last week Baruh Yorex from the city of Kiryat Ono in Israel visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community. He is a high-ranking officer in the reserves of the Israeli army. He has Litvak roots and grandmother and grandfather named Jurotewski came from Poland.

A big fan of Tel Aviv’s Maccabi, Yorex used to play for the basketball team. Now he’s cheering on his three sons on the team, and was in Kaunas for the Euroleague championship last week.

He met with Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman and showed great interest in the Litvak legacy. While looking at period photographs in the Community’s archives, he was thrilled to learn almost every Lithuanian city and town had its own Makabi association before the Holocaust, with local tennis, soccer, gymnastics and basketball teams, as well as other kinds of athletics teams. Yorex was also delighted to see how active the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club is today, with members participating at international sporting events.

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Makabi Table Tennis Team Takes 2nd Place in Lithuanian Competition

Makabi Table Tennis Team Takes 2nd Place in Lithuanian Competition

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club’s women’s table tennis team took second place in Lithuanian play-offs held last weekend in VIlnius, meaning they’re now in the upper league in Lithuania and will play next year against the top dozen teams. Neta Alon made a strong showing and won 3:0 against the favorite. Makabi team players won against the teams from Šiauliai and Utena and only lost to Jonava.

This is the first time Makabi ping-pong players have risen to the upper leagues in Lithuania.

Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium students Uosis Račinskas and Jokūbas Kačerginskis won in team-play championship in the under-12 category. They began playing two years ago under the tutelage of Neta Alon, and are now training under Khen Alon. In singles-play Uosis Račinskas placed 5th in Lithuania and Jokūbas Kačerginskis 6th.

Makabi Three-Day Sporting Camp in Mid-May

Makabi Three-Day Sporting Camp in Mid-May

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club invites athletes and the athletically-inclined at any and all levels of proficiency to a three-day sporting festival at the Pailgo perlas recreational area on a scenic lake 30 kilometers outside Vilnius. The celebration will include more than just sports in a beautiful natural setting, with a Sabbath celebration, singing, dancing, concerts, bonfire parties, fishing and swimming, among other activities. Sports include badminton, kayaking, ping-pong, volleyball, soccer and perhaps others, depending on the weather. The camp will run from April 19 to 21, but attendees aren’t required to spend all three days there. For more information and to register, send an email to info.maccabilt@gmail.com.

LJC Members and Friends Recognized on International Human Rights Day

LJC Members and Friends Recognized on International Human Rights Day

To mark international Human Rights Day on December 10, Lithuania’s Department of Ethnic Minorities held an awards ceremony at the M. K. Čiurlionis School of the Arts in Vilnius and recognized the work of a number of members and friends of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, including architect and designer Victoria Sideraitė-Alon, LJC executive board member and president of the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club Semionas Finkelšteinas, chairman of the Klaipėda Jewish Community Feliksas Puzemskis, Vilnius Jewish Public Library director Žilvanas Bielauskas, violinist and member of the Fayerlakh Jewish song and dance ensemble Boris Kirzner, Fayerlakh chairwoman Larisa Vyšniauskienė and documentary filmmaker and television producer Lilija Kopač.

The Ethnic Minorities Department awards are distributed to members of ethnic communities, the media and NGOs for their work increasing ethnic harmony, encouraging cultural diversity and unifying multicultural Lithuania.

We sincerely congratulate all prize recipients on the recognition of their work forging a better future for the Lithuanian Jewish Community and Lithuania.

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Lithuanian Makabi Ping-Pong Wins

Lithuanian Makabi Ping-Pong Wins

Last weekend Lithuanian men’s and women’s table tennis league held matches at the Daukantas pre-gymnasium in Vilnius. Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club women’s team members Neta Alon, Maja Bliumin and Orinta Ramonaitė, adult male team members Mathias Maindron, Ignotas Blaževičius and Justas Rutkauskas and second team members Uosis Račinskas, Arnas Federas, Ąžuolas Račinskas represented the Lithuanian Jewish Community at the competition. Arnas Juodelis from the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium formed the youngest team in league competition and while they didn’t win demonstrated a fighting spirit and resolution to play on at future matches.

Arnas Federas celebrated a 3:2 point victory over his counterpart from the Vilnius Capital Team and significantly raised his point rating. First Makabi adult team members won 3:0 over the second Makabi team but then lost 2:3 against the Tauras men’s team. The Makabi women’s team won 3:1 against the Grigiškės women’s team and 3:0 against the Tauras women’s team, but lost against the Jonava team 2:3. The female Makabi team looks poised nonetheless to enter the women’s upper league this season.

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Lithuanian Makabi Club Invites Competitors to Lithuanian Makabiada

Lithuanian Makabi Club Invites Competitors to Lithuanian Makabiada

The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club invites competitors who play badminton, indoor soccer, volleyball, basketball and/or ping-pong to apply to play in the continuing tradition of the Lithuanian mini-Makiabada. Send an email to info.maccabilt(at)gmail.com before October 23 if you’d like to participate and for more information.

Lithuanian Ministry of Education, Science and Sports Honors Lithuanian Makabi

Lithuanian Ministry of Education, Science and Sports Honors Lithuanian Makabi

Deputy Lithuanian minister for education, science and sports Linas Obcaraskas received athletes from the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club and presented his congratulations on their recent wins at the 21st Maccabiah Games held this last July in Israel, which hosted more than 10,000 Jewish athletes from over 60 countries. This was Lithuanian Makabi’s ninth year at the games. They won 13 medals this time around.

Ping-Pong Camp Successful

Ping-Pong Camp Successful

The ping-pong camp supported by the Goodwill Foundation and the Lithuanian Jewish Community from August 1 to August 25 at the Simonas Daukantas pre-gymnasium in Vilnius has ended. Some 27 young athletes, most of them from the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium, attended. The three-week intensive workshop was taught by Khen and Neta Alon and Šimonas Lukša.

A new season of training begins September first, twice weekly at Sholem Aleichem and at the Simonas Daukantas pre-gymnasium. For more information contact Neta at 862957005 or Khen at 861375124, write an email to stalotenisoklubas@yahoo.com.

Happy Birthday to Semionas Finkelšteinas

Happy Birthday to Semionas Finkelšteinas

We wish a very happy milestone birthday to Semionas Finkelšteinas, modern founder and president of the Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club and head of Lithuanian Makabi delegations abroad. We wish you great health, happiness and a continued sharp wit. Mazl tov. Bis 120!

Father and Trainer Eduardas Šeras Talks of Son Who Won Silver at Maccabiah

Father and Trainer Eduardas Šeras Talks of Son Who Won Silver at Maccabiah

I’d like to present a person who, as Lithuanian Makabi president Semionas Finkelšteinas says, performed a small miracle at the recently finished World Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Daniel Šer is the silver medal winner in the junior chess competition. Daniel is 13, but he was playing against 16, 17 and 18-year-olds. A silver medal which just missed becoming gold by a hair, since Daniel collected the same number of points with the gold medal winner from the USA, and according to the rules, a tie like that means other indicators are taken into account, something is always kind of a lottery, and this time it wasn’t in our favor.

It was a great competition, very good results and a very high assessment not just for the medal won, but also because news reached us that the organizers of the competition and the chief referee sent the final results to the International Chess Federation along with the request to present Daniel the title of candidate master for his excellent playing in the competition.

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Arkadijus Vinokuras’s Discussion Club on Wins at World Maccabiah Games

Arkadijus Vinokuras’s Discussion Club on Wins at World Maccabiah Games

The #ŽydiškiPašnekesiai discussion club moderated by Arkadijus Vinokuras will meet on August 10 to discuss the recent victories by Lithuanian Makabi Athletic Club athletes at the World Maccabiah Games in Israel.

The Lithuanian team made one of its best showings ever, winning 6 medals last month.

The club was active in interwar Lithuania from 1920 to 1940. It was originally founded in 1916. In 1926 the club had 83 branches throughout Lithuania, encompassing 4,000 members. It published a newspaper twice per month and had its own sports stadium. The club was reconstituted on January 8, 1989, at a general meeting at the calculator and business machine factory in Vilnius.

Speakers will include Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club president Semionas Finkelšteinas, table-tennis medal winner many times over Rafael Gimelštein and others.

The panel discussion will be held in Lithuanian at the Bagel Shop Café at 5:00 P.M. on August 10.