The Sabbath begins at 5:51 P.M. on Friday, February 27, and concludes at 6:46 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 5:33 P.M. and completed before sunset at 5:51 P.M. Purim begins at sundown on Monday, March 1 and continues through Tuesday, March 2, extending into Wednesday in Jerusalem and other cities in Israel which were walled during the time of Joshua.
Publisher Alma Littera will present “Dainos iš mėlynos užrašinės” [Songs from a Blue Notebook] at the Vilnius Book Fair Friday.
The book tells the story of the family of the author, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky.
Covering three generations of Litvaks, the recorded memories move from her grandparents who miraculously survived the Holocaust, her parents in the concentration camps to the youngest generation, Faina and her sister Sulamita, the generation of Jews who came out of survivors of the Holocaust.
Readers say the book reads like a film with one frame following another painting a moving picture of the Jewish spirit: culture, heritage, traditions, holidays, cooking, children’s games and communal life. It’s also about a people who were condemned to death who, despite the great love of their families, carry grief from generation to generation, but also boundless courage, resolution, energy and an unstoppable ability to take joy in those things which make up daily life.
“Sometimes people ask me why I spend so much energy on the status of Jews in the world and history, especially since the majority of my people are gone. My only answer is, to safeguard their memory. We no longer have our parents’ candelabra which held the Sabbath candles in every Jewish home. All we have left is memory and respect,” Faina Kukliansky said.
The public is invited to the presentation with Faina Kukliansky who will sign books from 1:30 to 3:30 P.M. on Friday and from 6:30 to 8:30 P.M. on Saturday in Hall 5 at the Alma Littera Stand at the Litexpo pavilion in Vilnius. The Vilnius Book Fair starts Thursday.
Members of the Dubi and Ilan Clubs and their parents are invited to take part in a Purim workshop in preparation for the upcoming holiday. We’ll make masks and hamantashen along with many other fun and interesting activities. Registration required by 12 noon on Friday by sending an email to levickajasimona@gmail.com.
Time: 1:00 P.M., Saturday, February 28
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
German television channel NDR wants to film a Lithuanian Jewish family as part of a documentary on contemporary Lithuania in April or May. If you’re interested in volunteering, contact Rita Knobel-Ulrich by email at KNOBEL-ULRICH@t-online.de.
The Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community is staging the musical a Modern Story of Esther to celebrate Purim and invites you to attend. It happens at 6:00 P.M. on March 3 at the Laiptai Gallery in Šiauliai. Students under professors Sabina Martinaitytė and Audronė Eitmanavičiūtė from Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas will perform. The event is free and open to the public. Purim is March 3.
Natalja Cheifec’s internet discussion club continues Thursday. To register and participate, click here.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, February 26
Place: internet
Author Małgorzata Quinkenstein will speak at a presentation of her book “Stronger than Fear” at the Lithuanian Jewish Community. The book features 36 portraits of Righteous Gentiles from France, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and other countries and testimonies from rescued Jews. The interview with Quinkenstein is to take place in Polish with simultaneous translation to Lithuanian. Registration is required, click here.
Time: 1:00 P.M., Friday, March 6
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
The Sabbath begins at 5:36 P.M. on Friday, February 20, and concludes at 6:33 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 5:18 P.M. and completed before sunset at 5:36 P.M.
The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club will hold their annual congress at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius on March 8. The agenda includes an annual report from the president, the annual report from the revision commission, election of executive board members, changes to rules and regulations and other topical issues.
You’re invited to an evening of music by Markas Volynskis and friends. Vocalists Marija Duškina and Rima Šechter, pianist and composer Vitalijus Neugasimovas and Choral Synagogue cantor Shmuel Yaatom will perform in homage to Volyniskis. The concert is being organized by writer and director Žaneta Berlin. Snacks and surprises to be provided. To register call Liza at +370 684 73592.
Time: 5:00 P.M., Sunday, February 22
Place: Vilnius Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius
Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman and Kupiškis social care home director Rolandas Paltinas signed a cooperation agreement in Panevėžys February 10. The point of the agreement is to increase cooperation and mutual help in integrating people with disabilities into the community and encouraging care home residents and staff to learn about Lithuanian Jewish history and culture. Both parties agree to share information and experience, to take part in events sponsored by the other party, to carry out joint projects and to promote one another’s events and projects.
Lithuanian Jewish Community members are invited to a special Sabbath celebration with a performance by the Israeli actress Tatyana Khazanovskaya of “Wandering Stars,” a play by Nina Michoels based on the novel by Sholem Aleichem. The play will be in Russian. The cost is 10 euros and registration is required by sending an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt. The event will last about 75 minutes.
Time: 7:00 P.M., Friday, February 20
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
The Sabbath begins at 5:32 P.M. on Friday, February 13, and concludes at 6:19 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 5:14 P.M. and completed before sunset at 5:32 P.M. Friday is World Radio Day and Saturday is International Book Giving Day and Valentine’s Day. Monday, February 16, is a state holiday in Lithuania, Restoration of the State Day, originally celebrated in the interwar Republic of Lithuania marking the declaration of Lithuanian independence on February 16, 1918. Monday is also Washington’s Birthday in the United States, commonly known as Presidents’ Day and originally intended to combine the celebration of the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Tuesday is the Lithuanian holiday Uzgavenės and the Chinese New Year, the year of the Red/Fire Horse.
Natalja Cheifec continues her lecture series with the fifth instalment on raising children according to the principles of the Torah.
To receive zoom credentials and participate, click here.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, February 12
Place: internet
Harold Closter who lives in Washington, D.C., and his son Yulik Gurvich visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community looking or information on Closter’s great-grandfather Zvi Hirsh Avraham and Closter’s mother Milke Ginzberg, both of whom lived in Panevėžys before the First World War. The Panevėžys Jewish Community’s archive had matches for both surnames but further information such as street addresses couldn’t be determined, because Kloster didn’t have their dates of birth, marriages or death.
Kloster is a folklorist and historian. He said it was important to him and his son to see where their ancestors lived.
Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman recommended they apply to the Lithuanian State Archive which conserves material documenting Jews living in Lithuania since the 17th century. Kofman and Kloster made plans to stay in contact.
The 16th Liova Taicas sports tournament was held in Šiauliai Sunday. Participating were four soccer teams, two basketball teams, 5 volleyball, 6 chess and 6 ping-pong teams. Israeli embassy staff formed one of the basketball teams competing. As in earlier iterations of the games, the Ukmergė Jewish Community participated, having become an integral part of the annual tournament.
The Sabbath begins at 5:07 P.M. on Friday, February 6, and concludes at 6:06 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 4:49 P.M. and completed before sunset at 5:07 P.M.
by Geoff Vasil
Not all Litvaks belong to the positive side of the ledger. Some start out shady and make good. Some fall into semi-disgrace, such as Boris Johnson. Others calmly observe their fellow Litvaks and rarely make judgments one way or the other.
Jeffrey Epstein claimed Litvak roots saying his grandparents came from Lithuania. That can mean a lot of things, from Russian to Belarussian to Ukrainian to Polish antecedents. The recently released tranche of Epstein files also show he had some connections with the modern Republic of Lithuania. One couple he supported received significant funds from him, and even more in his last will and testament. There is also documentation he recruited girls from Lithuania for his criminal activities.
The problem with the Epstein scandal is that there are so many aspects and players, one can see whatever one wants in the evidence. The human trafficking is just the tip of the iceberg. What lies below that is the real reason for the cover-up.
The Dubi Club for children aged 4 to 6 will meet at 1:00 P.M. Saturday. Guide Milana Rozovskaja has prepared a set of educational and creative activities.
The Ilan Club for children aged 7 to 13 will also meet at 1:00 P.M. Saturday.
Time: 1:00 P.M., Saturday, February 7
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius
The Ukmergė (Vilkomir) regional administration hosted the awards ceremony for winners of the chemistry contest which takes place at local high schools annually. This year the awards ceremony at the Antanas Smetona Gymnasium was renamed the Aaron Klug awards.
Aaron Klug was born in Želva, Lithuania, in 1926. Klug was taken by his parents from Lithuania to South Africa when he was three years old. He entered the University of the Witwatersrand at Johannesburg intending to study medicine, but he was graduated with a science degree. He then began a doctoral program in crystallography at the University of Cape Town but left with a master’s degree upon receiving a fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he completed his doctorate in 1953. He won the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1982 for his investigation of the three-dimensional structure of viruses and other particles which are combinations of nucleic acids and proteins, and for the development of crystallographic electron microscopy.. This year marks 100 since he was born. He died in 2018.