News

Neoklezmer from Israel: Gefilte Drive Concert

Neoklezmer from Israel: Gefilte Drive Concert

The neoklzmer group Gefilte Drive from Israel will perform a concert in Vilnius next week. Cost of tickets starts at €35. Tickets are available here.

Description from the ticket vendor:

A neoklezmer band blending East and West, kosher rock’n’roll and Odessa-style romance. Songs in Yiddish, Russian, English and even backyard Odessa hits translated into Hebrew. It’s the music of our grandparents, reimagined through the lens of modern sound and heartfelt expression.

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@GefilteDrive

Time: 7:00 P.M., Friday, August 15
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius

Zimbabwe and Gaza

Zimbabwe and Gaza

by Grant Gochin, July 31, 2025

As a 16-year-old South African in 1980, I watched Zimbabwe’s “liberation” unfold on television–a moment seared into my memory. The Rhodesian flag fell, the Zimbabwean flag rose, and the haunting strains of “Auld Lang Syne” marked the end of colonial rule. Those notes still pull me back to that fleeting hope for a better future. But let’s be brutally honest–hope was a cruel illusion.

The world cheered as Rhodesia’s white regime fell under global pressure. The cause was righteous: equality was non-negotiable. But the world ignored the *day after.* Independence’s euphoria drowned out any thought of governance or stability. Rhodesia’s economy, though prosperous for a few, had thrived on systemic inequality. Yet post-independence Zimbabwe became a husk of poverty, starvation and tyranny. Equal rights? No: equal suffering for all.

Zimbabwe’s collapse is a glaring warning for any conflict where ideals outpace pragmatism, especially in the Israeli-Palestinian quagmire. Critics, including feeble Western governments, hound Israeli prime minister Netanyahu for not presenting a tidy post-war plan for Gaza while rockets rain down. Meanwhile, activists chant “from the river to the sea,” a call for Israel’s annihilation which ignores the consequences. Sound familiar? It’s Zimbabwe 2.0–glory in the cause, deliberate obfuscation for the ignorant masses.

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:20 P.M. on Friday, August 1, and concludes at 10:27 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 9:02 P.M. and completed before sunset at 9:20 P.M. Sunday is Tisha b’Av with the 24-hour fast beginning at sundown on Saturday and ending when stars appear Sunday evening. Friday is also the Christian harvest festival Lammas.

Reflections of Vilnius in Buenos Aires: The YIVO Institute in Argentina

Reflections of Vilnius in Buenos Aires: The YIVO Institute in Argentina

The Lithuanian National Martynas Mažvydas Library continues celebrations the 10tth anniversary of teh founding of the YIVO Jewish research institute in Vilnius with a lecture by Silvia Hansman titled “Reflections of Vilnius in Buenos Aires: The YIVO Institute in Argentina” next week,

Silvia Hansman is director of the lesser-known YIVO chapter in Buenos Aires. She’s an historian, translator of Yiddish manuscrupts and archivist with 30 years experience leading archival research projects in the USA and Argentina.

The YIVO chapter was founded in Buenos Aires at the same time the headquarters in Vilnius and chapters in Berlin and New York were founded, back in 1925.

The lecture is free and open to the public, and will be in English. For more information in Lithuanian, click here.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, August 7
Place: Second floor, National Library, Gedimino prospect no. 51 Vilnius

Kiryat Ono Youth Orchestra Plays Tolerance Center

Kiryat Ono Youth Orchestra Plays Tolerance Center

The Kiryat Ono Youth Orchestra from Israel capped off their concert tour in Lithuania with a performance last week at the Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon Jewish Historical Museum in Vilnius.

Earlier they played Palanga, Kaunas and other venues in Vilnius. The Kaunas concert celebrated the 135th birthday of the birth of Volf Kagan, Lithuanian volunteer soldier in the battles for independence in the early 20th century and chronicler of Jewish life and the Holocaust in Lithuania.

In Vilnius the LJC’s Viljamas Žitkauskas who is also a qualified tour guide showed the young musicians around the city and the remains of Jewish Vilna. They then sampled menu items from the soon-to-open Kosher Kesher restaurant before the concert at the Tolerance Center.

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Remembering Žilvinas Bieliauskas

Remembering Žilvinas Bieliauskas

he Vilnius Jewish Public Library will hold a memorial for the death of library founder director Žilvinas Bieliauskas who passed away one year ago. The memorial ceremony will include the unveling of a plaque in the library and a screening of a documentary film about Žilvinas Bieliauskas’s life.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Monday, July 28
Place: Vilnius Jewish Public Library, Gedimino prospect no. 24, Vilnius

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:32 P.M. on Friday, July 25, and concludes at 10:44 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 9:14 P.M. and completed before sunset at 9:32 P.M.

LJC on Government Plan to Change Old Šnipiškės Jewish Cemetery Memorial

LJC on Government Plan to Change Old Šnipiškės Jewish Cemetery Memorial

The Lithuanian Jewish Community, uniting 32 organizations across Lithuania and abroad, is deeply surprised by the unilateral decision made by the Government under the leadership of Gintautas Paluckas to disregard a project previously approved back in 2024 for the memorialization of the old Šnipiškės (Shnipishok, formerly Piromont neighborhood) Jewish cemetery and the existing commemorative site at the Palace of Sports. This project has been under development for several years and was carefully coordinated by a working group composed of representatives from the Lithuanian Jewish Community, the European Jewish Cemetery Preservation Committee, the American Jewish Committee’s Department of International Affairs and other organizations dedicated to preserving Jewish heritage.

The solutions proposed so far have ensured appropriate respect for the Jews buried in the cemetery as well as historical events related to Lithuania’s struggle for independence and the victims of the tragic events of January 13, 1991, at the Vilnius television tower.

We emphasize the decision to alter the intentand content of the memorial was made without prior consultation with the Lithuanian Jewish Community or any other Jewish organizations anywhere. We were not informed of any changes to the original plans.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community will refrain from further commenting on this decision for now because we have not received confirmed information regarding the content of this new plan nor the reasons behind this change in course.
Nevertheless, we wish to note that such actions undermine trust in our state and damage Lithuania’s reputation in the eyes of strategic partners.

Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community

Embattled PM Has Big Plans for Old Jewish Cemetery

Embattled PM Has Big Plans for Old Jewish Cemetery

The Lithuanian and Russian news portals madeinvilnius.lt and ru.delfi.lt are reporting Lithuanian prime minister Gintautas Paluckas (Social Democratic Party) has renewed government plans to refurbish the former Palace of Sports complex in central Vilnius and to renovate the Jewish cemetery where it was built and which surrounds the building.

Paluckas is facing calls to stand a confidence vote in parliament following revelations of sweet-heart loan deals and large discounts for real estate purchases.

According to both news sites, Paluckas wants to renovate the large but decrepit building for use as a conference center, the same plan floated by earlier governments. This iteration of the on-going talk of renovation now includes plans by the PM to install a museum within that space for commemorating the first meeting of Sąjūdis there, and victims of the January 13, 1991, Vilnius television tower massacre. Sąjūdis officially became a political party there and went on to contest elections to the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet against the Lithuanian Communist Party led by Algirdas Brazauskas. Original member of Sąjūdis and later Brazauskas supporter Arvydas Juozaitis is currently completing a boom on the history of the early Lithuanian independence movement which includes a detailed description of that founding meeting, according to pre-publiicty from the author himself.

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North Americans Visit Ukmergė

North Americans Visit Ukmergė

Natania Ramba visited Ukmergė this week with her film crew. She’s filming a documentary about Jews from Ukmergė, or Vilkomir in Yiddish.

Her grandfather also came from Vilkomir.

Ukmergė Jewish Community chairman Artūras Taicas was interviewed for the film.

The Jewish population was almost entirely murdered during the Holocaust.

Taicas showed Ramba around the city just a short drive north of Vilnius, including Jewish heritage sites.

They plan to show the film to descendants of Jews from Vilkomir and to Litvals in general in Mexico and the United States.

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Tisha b’Av and the Ongoing Struggle against Lithuanian Holocaust Revisionism

Tisha b’Av and the Ongoing Struggle against Lithuanian Holocaust Revisionism

by Grant Gochin, July 18, 2025

Tisha b’Av, observed annually on the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, is a solemn day of mourning in Judaism, commemorating a series of tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, most notably the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. Over time, this day has also become a time to reflect on other catastrophic events in Jewish history, including the Holocaust, which saw the systematic murder of approximately six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1941 and 1945. For many Jewish communities, Tisha b’Av serves as a moment to mourn the six million victims of the Holocaust, often through the recitation of kinnot, liturgical dirges that lament historical persecutions, including those of the 20th century. As we commemorate these profound losses, however, a troubling issue persists in Lithuania: the government’s ongoing efforts to revise and deny its historical role in the Holocaust, a matter I have confronted through extensive legal action. This article explores the intersection of Tisha b’Av’s remembrance, Lithuania’s Holocaust revisionism and my legal battles to expose this distortion, drawing on insights from my work and the broader discourse on antisemitism.

Tisha b’Av: A Day of Collective Mourning

Tisha b’Av is marked by a 25-hour fast and the recitation of the Book of Lamentations, which mourns the destruction of Jerusalem. Over centuries the day has evolved to encompass additional tragedies, such as the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 and the Holocaust. Religious communities often incorporate special kinnot composed after the Holocaust, such as those by Rabbi Shimon Schwab in 1959 and Rabbi Solomon Halberstam in 1984, to honor the six million Jewish victims. This practice underscores the day’s role as a time to reflect on the enduring impact of antisemitism and the importance of historical truth. The Holocaust as a pinnacle of antisemitic violence is a focal point of this commemoration, making Lithuania’s revisionist policies particularly jarring in the context of Tisha b’Av.

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Happy Birthday, Emanuelchik

Happy Birthday, Emanuelchik

A very happy birthday to Lithuania’s only Jewish MP, signatory to the 1990 Restoration of Lithuanian Independence Act, philologist, the first chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community aka the Jewish Culture Club founded in 1988 and all-around good person Emanuelis Zingeris.

The entire Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes you good health, endless energy and the highest continued success in your life and work. Mazl tov. Bis 120!

Šiauliai Jewish Community Celebrates 100th Birthday of Leiba Lipshitz

Šiauliai Jewish Community Celebrates 100th Birthday of Leiba Lipshitz

from the newspaper Šiaulių kraštas

The Chaim Frenkl Villa of the Aušra Museum in Šiauliai hosted a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Leiba Lipshitz on July 16. Lipshitz chronicled Jewish life in Šiauliai, researched regional history and was a well-known publix figure. People called him a walking encyclopedia. He survived the Stuthoff and Dachau concentration camps but lost his entire family in the Holocaust. He went back to his hometown and dedicated the rest of his life to documenting Jewish history and life in Šiauliai.

Historian Jonas Kiriliauskas delivered a presentation of Lipshitz and his views on life at the ceremony.

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:43 P.M. on Friday, July 18, and concludes at 11:00 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 9:25 P.M. and completed before sunset at 9:43 P.M. Sunday is International Chess Day.

Lithuanian Jewish Community Appeals to Prosecutor General over Hate Crimes

Lithuanian Jewish Community Appeals to Prosecutor General over Hate Crimes

Unpunished vandals continue to target spaces belonging to the Lithuanian Jewish Community. Last week, for the second time, perpetrators smashed the window of the Community’s Bagel Shop. Security camera footage clearly shows this was not an accident but a deliberate act aimed at one of the most frequently visited spaces of the :LJC. Sadly Lithuanian police seem incapable of recognizing crimes which exhibit the signs of anti-Semitism; instead they prioritize incidents solely based on material damage. While a few dozen or even a few hundred euros might not seem like a large sum, violence motivated by ethnic hatred is a hate crime punishable by imprisonment.

We emphasize this is not the first clearly anti-Semitic incident. Our Israeli flag was stolen and desecrated; glass near the children’s club in the Community building was smashed; the Vilnius Choral Synagogue was vandalized; the Šiauliai Jewish Community has been attacked multiple times and our Bagel Shop has repeatedly become a target for anti-Semites. Regrettably, in none of these cases did the Lithuanian police or prosecutors take meaningful action to identify and punish the perpetrators. This sends a dangerous message to malicious actors: they may spread hatred and endanger members of the community without consequence.

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Natalja Cheifec on Vegetarianism and Judaism

Natalja Cheifec on Vegetarianism and Judaism

Natalja Cheifec continues her lecture and discussion series on Jewish tradition. The next internet zoom meeting on Thursday will focus on vegetarianism in Jewish life. From the story of Cain and Abel in biblical history, Nazi theories about subhumans to the 21st century controversial ad campaign “Holocaust on your plate,” she’ll cover the gamut of issues from the micro to the macro view on diet, including:

• When the dinner table transforms into a “sacred altar;”
• Joy from meat and wine: myth or truth? {from Maimonides);
• Jewish principles regarding meat consumption;
• The heirarcyh of all God’s creatures;
• Sympathy for animals in Jewish tradition, why people were given dominion over the animals, and the contradiction of pity for animals and meat consumption.

To receive zoom credentials, click here.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, July 17
Place: zoom vidphone app, internet

France Institutes Annual Dreyfus Day

France Institutes Annual Dreyfus Day

lechaim.ru

French president Emmanuel Macron has announced that July 12 will be a national day of remembrance for captain Alfred Dreyfus, the Jewish officer unjustly convicted of treason due to public anti-Semitism, starting in 2026.

“From now on, July 12 will be Dreyfus Day, a day of truth and justice triumphing over hatred and anti-Semitism,” the Elysee Palace said in an official statement. The date was chosen to commemorate the decision of the French Court of Cassation on July 12, 1906, which fully acquitted Dreyfus. On the same day in 1935 Dreyfus died at the age of 76.

Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish captain in the French army, and was the victim of a fabricated case in 1894. He was accused of passing secret documents to Germany. Despite the lack of evidence, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to hard labor in Guyana. The case was accompanied by mass anti-Semitic demonstrations.

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Kaunas Jewish Community Celebrates Volf Kagan’s 125th Birthday with Concert

Kaunas Jewish Community Celebrates Volf Kagan’s 125th Birthday with Concert

The Kaunas Jewish Community has the pleasure of inviting you to a celebration of the 125th anniversary of the birthday of Volf Kagan with a concert performed by the Kiryat Ono youth orchestra from Israel.

Kagan came from Balbirishok and served in the volunteer army in the first Lithuanian republic. He fought in the early battles for independence and was awarded the medal Knight of the Order of the Cross of Vytis twice.

The Kiryat Ono youth orchestra’s program includes works by Lithuanian composer Čiurlionis, traditional European and Near Eastern melodies contemporary Israeli music and some excursions into jazz and pop arrangements.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Time: 5:00 P.M., Monday, July 21
Place: Great Hall, Vytautas Magnus University, Gimnazijos street no. 71, Kaunas

Coordinated Terror Attacks on Jews in Melbourne

Coordinated Terror Attacks on Jews in Melbourne

by Geoff Vasil

Pro-Hamas activists staged coordinated terror attacks on Jews in Australia’s second city Melbourne on Friday evening, July 4.

Police and fire were called to the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation shul where around 20 members of the community were at Sabbath table under the direction of Rabbi Dovid Gutnik. A boy in the outer vestibule alerted celebrants the outer double doors were on fire. The fire was contained before it could spread beyond the doors. Fire inspectors quickly determined an accelerant had been used to light the blaze. Victoria State Police anti-terrorism officials used public surveillance cameras to track down the perpetrator, 34-year-old Angelo Lorez from western Sydney, and he was arrested that night in the Melbourne Central Business District. During the arrest police dsicovered he was armed with a banned weapon, but police didn’t report whether that was a gun or a knife. He is being held for two weeks prior to an initial hearing.

Almost simultaneously a group of around 20 people wearing hoods, masks and Palestinian scarves marched through Melborne’s core, the Central Business District or CBD, banging drums, waving signs and chanting “Death, death, death to the IDF.”

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