The Sabbath begins at 3:36 P.M. on Friday, December 6, and concludes at 4:59 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Monday is also World Genocide Commemoration Day.
Events for Children in Run-Up to Hanukkah
The Lithuanian Jewish Community has several special Hanukkah events planned for the Dubi Club and Ilan Club. Dubi is for children aged 4 to 6 and Ilan for those 7 to 11.
At 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, December 7, we’ll make menorahs together out of clay.
At 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, December 14, we’ll make and eat delicious sufganiyot doughnuts.
Please note the clubs on these dates will not be meeting at the LJC but at the HEY HEY Kaip Skaniai space located at Odminių street no. 3 in Vilnius.
Space is limited, so make a reservation by sending an email to levickajasimona@gmail.com. Please call +370 678 81514 for more information.
The first day of Hanukkah falls on December 25 this year.
Šakiai Commemorates Lost Jewish Community
The town of Šakiai in the Marijampolė district in extreme western Lithuania paid homage to its once vibrant Jewish community with a series of presentations followed by the unveiling of a metal sculpture of a boy on November 28.
The Zanavykai Museum began events with a series of lectures about Jews from Šakiai, the history of Jews in the town and their historical legacy. Lost Shtetl Museum senior academic correspondent Jolanta Mickutė and director of the Vincas Kudirka Museum at the Lithuanian National Museum Vida Palionienė spoke on the town’s former Jewish community and regional historian Gražina Žemaitienė spoke about Jewish life in nearby Kudirkos Naumiestis.
The speakers and audience moved to the town square following these presentations where a metal statue by Kęstutis Dovydaitis portraying a school boy was unveiled by Kęstutis Dovydaitis, MP Darius Jakavičius and mayor of the Šakiai regional administration Raimondas Januševičius. Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas, and other guests attended the events along with local residents and students.
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 3:41 P.M. on Friday, November 29 and concludes at 5:03 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sunday is also the beginning of Advent, marking the beginning of the Christian liturgical year in many Western churches.
Shalom Cheverim!
The Bnei Maskilim iProgressive Judaism community invites you to the Shaharit morning prayer with Rabbi Grisha Abromavich from Israel. Registration is required by sending an email to viljamas@lzb.lt.
Time: 11:00 A.M., Saturday, November 30
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
Israeli Dance Classes Changing Schedule
The Rikudei Am Israeli Dance Club offers lessons to beginners, advanced and highly advanced students. The schedule has changed. Every Sunday, the classes are now:
11:30 A.M. Beginners group
12:00 noon Advanced
12:30 P.M. Highly advanced group
Classes are held at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius. The cost is 20 euros for 4 classes for the general public, and 10 euros for 4 classes for Community members. Registration is required. To register and find out how to pay, send an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt.
Chocolate Saturday at the Ilan Club
Do you know any young person who doesn’t like chocolate? If so, he’s the exception. Most young people gladly “destroy” anything made from chocolate. And if you can add the ingredients you like, then that’s a chocolate holiday. That’s what the Ilan Club will get up to this Saturday with a chocolate workshop and the story of Elit, the candy so popular in Israel which began here, along with other sweet stories.
Time: 1:00 P.M., Saturday, November 30
Place: Second floor, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
Hard-Left Australian Government Takes Hard Line against Israel
by Geoff Vasil
Last week the Australian Government under Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese barred Israel’s former justice minister Ayelet Shaked.who was scheduled to speak at a conference hosted by the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, claiming she would incite unrest in the island country.
Asked a day later to comment on the ICC’s announcement of an international arrest warrant for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Galant, ALbaense’s foreign minister Penny Wong said Australia would honor the arrest warrant. Penny Wong has been publicly flirting with the idea of Australian recognition of a Palestinian state for over a year now.
Meanwhile Australian authorities made their first arrest, if you exclude Jewish detainees harassed by police for being Jewish or carrying Israeli flags in public, since October 7, 2023, of anyone involved in the brewing conflict between Hamas supporters and Australian Jews yesterday, handcuffing Mohommad Farhat, 20, as he waited to board a flight to Bali. Farhat is accused of a spree of vandalism in a Jewish area of Sydney during which he set at least one automobile on fire and spraypainted businesses and cars with the phrase “Fuk Israel” as well as “The PKK is coming,” a kind of mixed message. PKK is best known as the acronym for a Kurdish Communist party recognized as a terrorist organization in the EU and elsewhere.
Tour of Herring Exhibit Followed by Tasting at Jonas Šliūpas Museum in Palanga
The Jonas Šliūpas Museum in Palanga invites the public to a second guided tour of the herring exhibit “From the North Sea to the Christmas Table” at 5:00 P.M. on November 29. This time co-creator of the exhibit Akvilė Poškienė of Klaipėda University will guide the tour. Afterwards the Palanga Jewish Community will host a presentation of Jewish culinary heritage accompanied by sampling of Jewish snacks with herring presented by Lithuanian Jewish Community educator Dovilė Rūkaitė.
The cost is 4 euros. Registration is required by sending an email to j.sliupo.muziejus@lnm.lt.
Time: 5:00 P.M., November 29
Place: Jonas Šliūpas Museum, Vytauto street no. 23A, Palanga
Recipe for Murder
by Liova Kaplanas
Many Jews visit Lithuania to tour the paths of the slaughter of our families, also known as death tourism. Lithuania has much to offer tourists: forests, lakes, an extraordinary number of death-pits containing our murdered Jewish families, cool summers, lovely open parks, destroyed Jewish heritage and foods we Jews remember from our childhood, including potato latkes with sour cream, smoked salmon, pickled herring, kishke, kugel and potato kneidels. These food recipes are originally Jewish recipes, appropriated by Lithuania, and now claimed as theirs. Visiting Lithuania is almost akin to taking a step back in time, just, without living Jews. The sights, smells, recipes and foods are reminiscent of our grandparents before they were slaughtered. Some Jewish heritage remains, and plenty of Lithuanian heritage is intact.
Those visiting Lithuania will be only slightly surprised to discover another unpleasant heritage recipe–a recipe for murder!. And not just a plain recipe, but a recipe officially, legally and governmentally registered in the official Lithuanian “Register of Folk Heritage!” It should be absurd and unbelievable, but, unfortunately, it’s true.
Lithuanian parliament member Remigijus Žemaitaitis re-popularized this Lithuanian National Folk Heritage “recipe” in his election campaign, exploiting it to win in excess of 15% of the national vote in Lithuania’s most recent election. The wording of this heritage “recipe” is:
Labyrinths of the Old Town: A Tour for Community Members
Lithuanian Jewish Community members are invited to a special tour next Saturday in Vilnius called Labyrinths of the Old Town led by accomplished guide Markas Psonikas. The tour will invoke the mediaeval aura of the courtyards of the Old Town and continue on to the secrets and discoveries of the present day.
The cost is 7 euros per person. Registration is required by sending an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt before 12:00 noon on November 28.
Time: 11:00 A.M., Saturday, November 30
Place: starting point to be announced following registration
Duration: ~2 hours
Kaunas Jewish Community Unveils Plaque to Righteous Gentile
The Kaunas Jewish Community invites you to a ceremony to unveil a plaque commemorating Righteous Gentile Ona Jablonskytė-Landsbergienė on the 130th anniversary of her birth. Yad Vashem recognized her as a Righteous Gentile in 1995.
The plaque was commissioned by the Kaunas Jewish Community and an association of Lithuanians deported by the Soviet Union to the Laptev Sea in the Arctic, and was made by sculptor Gediminas Pašvenskas. It is to be unveiled on the clinic at A. Mickevičiaus street no. 4 in Kaunas where Jablonskytė-Landsbergienė worked as an ophthalmologist. The ceremony will take place there at 3:00 P.M. on Friday, November 29.
For more information, click here: https://fb.me/e/9E4lBBdWK
Sabbath Times
The Sabbath begins at 3:48 P.M. on Friday, November 22, and concludes at 5:10 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Saturday, November 23, is also Fibonacci Day.
ICC Issues Arrest Warrants for Israeli PM, Ex-Min and Dead Hamas Terrorist
The International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, issued arrest warrants Thursday afternoon for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defense minister Yoav Galant and an Hamas commander believed to be dead.
Republicans in the United States House of Representatives and Senate as well as members of the incoming Trump administration had promised in recent days to take swift action to sanction and isolate the ICC if they issued arrest warrants for Israeli officials. The United States does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.
Lithuanian Makabiada
The Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club held their annual Makabiada November 10 where former president and current executive board member Semionas Finkelšteinas delivered a welcome speech and current president Olga Bliumenzon thanked all the athletes for their participation.
In 3-on-3 basketball the joint Vilnius-Kaunas team placed first. In volleyball the Makabi team also took first place. In the ping-pong youth group Naomi Tarakhovskaya won. In the adult ping-pong group Viktor Petrovsky came in first. In women’s badminton Marija Jurkevičiutė and in men’s Igor Movšovič triumphed.
This Makabiada included some new prize categories and Naomi Tarakhovskaya was recognized as the youngest athlete, Aleksandr Bliumenzon the eldest, best volleyball player was Danielius Racinas and best player in basketball was Elvinas Ušpicas. The Burštein family was recognized as the most athletic family with new athletes Aaron, Anelė and Ana. Everyone shared dinner together after the tournament.
Statement by Gercas Žakas, Chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community
I, Gercas Žakas, have been the chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community for almost three decades now. I know, not from second-hand sources, what irreparable damage anti-Semitism causes, because I grew up in the family of a former ghetto and concentration camp prisoner. My parents survived the Holocaust but lost their families and almost all of their relatives.
Sadly, we hear many anti-Semitic statements being made in Lithuania at this time, and I have never heard in my lifetime the avalanche of cynicism and lies being poured out by Remigijus Žemaitaitis. Among other things, he has told multiple media outlets he has met with the chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community.
I say with full responsibility that I have never met with this figure who was recognized as an anti-Semite by the Constitutional Court. This claim alone is in opposition to my values and does harm to my reputation in the eyes of the Jewish communities and society. I therefore demand Remigijus Žemaitaitis retract his words to the effect has met with the chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community. Otherwise I reserve the right to defend my honor and dignity through legal remedy.
Gercas Žakas, chairman
Kaunas Jewish Community
Photo: Erikas Ovčarenko/15min.lt
Animated Shorts about Jewish Life
The EJC using financial aid from the European Union is creating a series of short animated films to teach young people about the diversity of Jewish life, culture and traditions and to educate the public about the danger of anti-Semitism, andon other topics.
EJC executive vice-president Raya Kalenova said it’s important to reach people whose main source of information is not traditional news media.
The ten-part series is called Glad You Asked. Themes explored include Jewish identity, the Sabbath, Jewish holidays, anti-Semitism, the Holocaust and Jewish history.
The first part discusses the diversity of the Jewish people, cultures and traditions in Europe and the world. Each episode is 90 seconds long.
Part 1:
Ceremony Thursday to Unveil Bas-Relief of Alexander Livont
The Vilnius Jerusalem of Lithuania Jewish Community will unveil a bas-relief they commissioned honoring violinist Alexander Livont at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic in Vilnius Thursday.
This will be the fifth bas-relief by Mindaugas Šnipas honoring Litvaks and Jews with Lithuanian connections famous in the world of music. The ceremony will include musical performances by violinist Julija Andersson and the Duettissimo ensemble. The event is free and open to the public.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, November 21
Place: Lithuanian National Philharmonic, Aušros vartų street no. 5, Vilnius
German Chancellor Hails LJC’s Efforts to Insure Safety and Security
German chancellor Olaf Scholz has sent a letter to Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky in which he expresses sorrow over recent events in Lithuania and the growing tide of anti-Semitism and reiterating the German government’s condemnation of all forms of hatred and intolerance towards ethnic minority communities.
He said Germany has a special responsibility because of the past. Germany has learned from the past to insure those crimes are never repeated, he said. He went on to state combating anti-Semitism is an on-going process requiring taking responsibility and cooperation to minimalize prejudicial views and encourage diversity.
He added the chancellor’s team supports the LJC’s efforts to create a safe and secure environment for everyone regardless of ethnic origin or religious beliefs.
Condolences
Markas Petuchauskas passed away Sunday. He was born in 1931. He was a prisoner in the Vilnius ghetto. After the Holocaust he went on to study the theater and to produce works for the stage. He achieved academic heights and was the author of many articles and books on the theater in Lithuanian and English. He was a founding member and a chairman of the Jewish cultural club which became the Lithuanian Jewish Community as Lithuania regained national independence.
His loss is the loss of all of us and of the nation.
Our deepest condolences to his wife Sofija and his entire family and many friends.