News

Alanta Wooden Synagogue Saved from Collapse

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Building technical supervisor and engineer Giedris Butanavičius of the SDG company reported in July this year the synagogue in Alanta was in a state of imminent collapse. A main support beam had rotten through allowing the ceiling beams to sag, deforming the roof. The possible continued deterioration of ceiling beams threatened to bring the whole building down. The Lithuanian Jewish Community took immediate action, calling on experts to draw up a list of tasks and a work-plan for dealing quickly with the collapsing synagogue. Under the plan drafted by the company Senamiesčio Projektai led by Jakobas Mendelevičius, the construction and restoration firm Ateities Projektai of Molėtai, Lithuania, began to implement the urgent plan in November under the direction of Bronius Gaižutis. They propped up sagging support beams, internal walls and the entire skeleton of the building, and sealed up broken windows. The Goodwill Fund financed the drafting and implementation of the plan to save the synagogue. The Community would like to thank all the planners, restorers and everyone who contributed to a rapid solution to the problem.

The Alanta synagogue is one of perhaps only 20 wooden synagogues still standing in Europe. Judging from its architecture it was built in the latter part of the 19th century. It was used as grain storage after World War II. It was returned in a very poor state to the Lithuanian Jewish Community following Lithuanian independence. In September the synagogue in Alanta was declared under state protection.

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New Bagel Shop Magazine On-Line

The Bagel Shop newsletter is now a magazine and is available on-line in three languages, Lithuanian, English and Russian.

In this issue we present an interview with Laurina Todesaitė about Jewish cuisine, an excursion through the world of Jewish botanists in the inter-war period, a tour of Jewish Vilna, a new questions section and a new Mystery Photograph contest as well as all the usual columns.

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Thank You!

The Lithuanian Jewish Community would like to thank chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community Gercas Žakas and director Ieva Černevičiūtė for their great organizational work in putting on the seminar “I and Others” held in Druskininkai for representatives and staff of the Lithuanian Jewish Community.

Niv Shimoni Asks LJC for Help Finding Jewish Roots in Aukštadvaris

The Lithuanian Jewish Community has received a letter from Niv Shimoni of Israel. He is interested in his Lithuanian roots which he discovered only recently. His grandfather lived in Aukštadvaris. If anyone is able to help, please contact us via the Communicate section located on the right-hand side of the webpage.

Aukštadvaris

My grandfather, Sneur Razin, was born in Aukštadvaris in 1910, a small village 50 kilometers from Vilnius. During World War II most of his family was murdered in the Holocaust. Before the war he began studies in Kaunas in order to become a pharmacist yet decided to drop everything and make aliyah to Israel. He was active in the Zionist movement which greatly influenced him and of course helped him in his decision to come and be a part of Israel. Now, more than a hundred years later, his children wanted to see where their parents came from (their mother was from Latvia). They returned from this journey filled with emotional impressions, especially because after they discovered a small and remote Jewish cemetery in Aukštadvaris, the final resting place of their grandfather. I have now decided that I, too, must see with my own eyes his resting place and to discover more about him. It is impossible to describe the feelings I would have standing next to my great-grandfather’s resting place which until only a few weeks ago I did not imagine could ever be found. I have a special connection with the city of Vilnius, its past and future and ancient Jewish heritage. It is heartbreaking to see how one of the largest Jewish communities has disappeared almost completely.

All of my big family live in a small village in the north of Israel. They are people who contribute to the State of Israel and the Zionist movement in agricultural education and security. Our grandfather always said it was important to contribute to the state as much as possible. To do more and talk less. My goal is strengthening ties among Jewish communities with the land of Israel.

http://nivshimoni.wix.com/niv-s
http://nivshimoni.wix.com/niv-s#!contact/c24vq

Israeli Artist to Present Original Jewelry at Craft Vilnius 2015

The annual art fair Craft Vilnius for 2015 has the theme “objects with a story.” Not just the items themselves, but also the artists will tell their stories about the creation of the artwork. This year the guest-list includes artists from Georgia, Spain, Ukraine, Latvia and Estonia, and also the Israeli Tanya Chernov, who lived and worked in Moscow for a period of time. She studied design and jewelry smithing at the Stroganov Academy in Moscow. Now she lives and works in Tel Aviv in Israel. The artist creates jewelry using natural materials, silver and gold, and draws inspiration from nature’s forms and symbols.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

Panevežys Jewish Community Conference Report

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Principal Aida Adiklienė opened the conference “The History of the Holocaust: A Bridge from the Past to the Future,” financed by the Goodwill Fund and held on November 25 at the Rožynas Pre-Gymnasium in Panevežys, Lithuania. She emphasized the institution she heads supports the recognition of human rights. In consideration of that, the gymnasium constantly emphasizes local history, including local Jewish history. “It says in the Universal Charter of Human Rights that everyone is born free and equal, with intelligence and conscience,” the principal said. “When we talk about the Holocaust, we are truly talking about our own history. We need to be glad that we have addressed this topic for more than ten years now at the gymnasium.” Adiklienė said the Holocaust is one of the most complicated topics and not all schools want to deal with it. She was disappointed that even now not all people accept people of other religions and ethnicities. She said there were clear signs of intolerance at work in our society.

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Friday Prayer Breakfast Guests: An Imam from Bordeaux, a Rabbi from Paris

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania is hosting the 15th National Prayer Breakfast with the theme “Do Religions Cause Conflicts and Wars?” on November 27 in Vilnius.

“All the great world religions teach us to work for peace, to love our neighbors, to respect human rights and to respect the dignity of the individual. These values unite all the peoples and people of the world. We cannot now stand by and watch attempts by terrorists to veil their crimes in religious convictions and set people of different faiths at odds,” Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevičius said.

Rabbi Levi Matusof of Paris and imam Tareq Oubrou of Bordeaux were scheduled to speak at the event, among others.

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Full story here.

IDF Chief Visits Brussels to Set Up New Security Arrangements

Prompted by security fears in Europe, Eisenkot made the unpublicized visit earlier in the week where he met with both Belgium and American security officials.

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Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff lieutenant general Gadi Eisenkot appears at a hearing of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (photo: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff lieutenant general Gadi Eisenkot went to Brussels earlier this week to meet Belgian security officials less than one month after the Paris terror attacks, the Jerusalem Post’s Hebrew-language sister publication Ma’ariv reported Friday.

The purpose of the trip was to help establish new security arrangements between Belgium and Israel in light of new fears in Europe.

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Israel Might Be Winning in Cyberspace

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Israel advocacy group StandWithUs executive director says the group’s goal is to ‘humanize’ the Israeli image.

NEW YORK—In the midst of escalating tensions and stabbing attacks, thousands of pro-Israel internet users have taken up the fight to tell Israel’s side of the story in the social media.

Last week the organization StandWithUs, which has close to 800,000 followers on facebook and describes itself as a grassroots education movement dedicated to informing the public about Israel, achieved a combined post reach of 100 million on its page.

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Lecture Series

Litvak Resettlement in the Novorossiysk Area of Krasnodarsk Region in the First Half of the 19th Century, by G. Baranova

12 noon, Sunday, November 29

Hanukkah Celebration at Vilnius Grand Resort Hotel

You’re invited to a special Hanukkah celebration at the Vilnius Grand Resort Hotel
at 6:00 P.M. on December 12, 2015.

A warm Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony and a wonderful evening of celebration await you! Musical guests from Israel Uri Zer and Gala and Sergei Libenstein will perform a special program.

Tickets: 15 euros for adults, 10 euros for children 15 and under.

Tickets can be bought workdays from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. in the White Hall of the Lithuanian Jewish Community from November 26 till December 7.

For further information call 8 678 81514

Lithuanian Jewish Community Welcomes New Youth Programs Coordinator

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The LJC welcomes to our staff Pavel Guliakov, the new coordinator of youth programs for the community.

The son of members of the community, former Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium student and college student graduated with honors, Pavel is now our coordinator of youth programs and assistant to Valentin Solomiak. His bachelor’s work, not coincidentally, focused on the history of Jewish Vilna. Many of us already know him since he has worked as a volunteer at youth clubs for about a decade now. Pavel has the true calling of a teacher and likes working with children. Currently the work schedule of the coordinator is filled with meetings and lessons at the regional communities. Events will be held in Šiauliai and Kaunas in the near future. Last week Pavel attended the seminars held by the JDC for Jewish communities aimed at providing greater academic qualifications called “Project Organization, Problem Solving.” The new coordinator says he learned a lot of useful things he will apply in his main work with the Ilan, Knafaim and Students Clubs.

We wish him all the success in the world in his new post, coordinating the very future of the Community.

Israel Gave Intelligence to Germany about Imminent Attack

Germany received intelligence regarding an imminent terror attack against a packed soccer stadium from Israeli intel services less than two weeks ago, the German magazine Der Stern reported Wednesday.

Israeli intelligence provided information which lead German authorities to cancel a friendly soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands at Hannover Stadium on November 17.

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Lithuanian Jewish Community Student Activities

Last Sunday the weekly lecture in the lecture series was dedicated to European Jewish youth life. Amit Belaitė, elected this year to the board of the European Union of Jewish Students, shared her impressions of this organization. Attendees had the opportunity to speak directly with three guests who attended via telephone and shared information about the life of youth in their countries. These were Viktoriya Grodnik from Ukraine, European Union of Jewish Students president Benjamin Fisher and Natan Pollak, a Litvak born in South Africa and former head of the Jewish student union whose great-grandparents came from Lithuania.

The students of the Lithuanian Jewish Community began a photographic project which will tell the stories of Lithuanian Jews. The first interview should be forthcoming immediately. If you’d like to take part in the project and tell your story, please write or call Amit Belaitė at amit.belaite@gmail.com or 869227326

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YIVO Exhibit at Lithuanian Cultural Heritage Department

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As part of celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the YIVO institute for Jewish research in Vilnius, the Lithuanian Jewish Community and YIVO organized a moveable museum exhibit called “YIVO 1925-2015” which is currently being hosted by the Lithuanian Cultural Heritage Department on the first floor of their building at Šnipiškių street No. 3 in Vilnius.

The bi-lingual exhibit presents the story of the YIVO institute from its inception, presenting the founders, operations in pre-war Vilnius, the war years and operations in New York, where founder Max Weinreich relocated YIVO in 1939.

All of the texts, archival documents and photographs in the exhibit come from YIVO’s collections in New York. Currently YIVO conserves over 385,000 books and periodicals and about 24 million more documents, photographs and audio and video recordings. The curator of the exhibit is Eddy Portnoy and the designer was JUDVI. The Lithuanian Martynas Mažvydas National Lbirary and the Lithuanian Central State Archives also contributed to the exhibit.

The exhibit will be on public display until January 5, 2016 at the Cultural Heritage Department.