Religion – Lithuanian Jewish Community

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:59 P.M. on Friday, June 19, and concludes at 11:32 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 9:41 P.M. and completed before sunset at 9:59 P.M. Celebrations of the summer solstice or Midsummer’s Eve, the longest day of the year, take place around the world starting Friday, but the Lithuanian state holiday called Švento Jono diena, or St. George’s Day, is on Wednesday, June 24, with solstice celebrations taking place the evening before, called Joninės.

2026-06-18

United States Holocaust Envoy Visits Shnipishok

Ellen Germain, the special envoy for Holocaust issues at the United States Department of State, visited the old Jewish cemetery in the Shnipishok or Šnipiškės neighborhood of Vilnius last week, spoke with representatives of the Lithuanian Jewish Community about the site housing the ruins of the Soviet Palace of Sports complex and discussed plans for the site.

2026-06-15

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:55 P.M. on Friday, June 12, and concludes at 11:27 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 9:37 P.M. and completed before sunset at 9:55 P.M. Sunday, June 14, is Flag Day in the United States and Freedom Day in Malawi.

2026-06-11

How to Win in Iran: Thoughts from outside the Box

by Geoff Vasil

The first task in the American and Israeli war against Iran is to open the Strait of Hormuz. This isn’t an impossible military task. It simply entails a cold, hard slog up the coast, reducing by attrition Iranian radar, speedboat, drone and missile sites.

For Donald Trump to lose the military engagement in Iran would be an American tragedy. Never mind he forgot to sell the war to the American public and Congress. Maybe he thought a 4-day war’s results would speak for themselves. I might be misremembering, but George Herbert Walker Bush spent about 6 months selling his First Gulf War and about 4 months actually fighting it, to a semblance of victory. My flawed memory doesn’t recall any war at all America engaged in which didn’t include a prequel to war, a long build-up and more importantly an argument or explanation of why it was in America’s national interest. The secret bombing of Cambodia and Laos might be an exception, but “Ho Chi Minh Road” was kind of self-explanatory in the end. Did fourth American president Madison make the case against Canadian terrorism and British imperialism in the War of 1812? I don’t know, I wasn’t born yet, but I kind of think he did make that case to the American people in that weirdest of all American wars. America’s third president Thomas Jefferson definitely did make the case in the two Barbary Pirate Wars before that..

Donald Trump as the most significant American president since George Washington can’t afford to lose. Of course he never wanted to be a “wartime president” and he probably isn’t cut by nature or nurture to be a great military leader. Maybe there was some hubris involved in the technically good military kidnapping of the Venezuelan president a month before; if we can do that, we can do anything.

2026-06-102026-06-11

Solomon: King and Wise Man

Natalja Cheifec continues her lecture series and discussion club Thursday at 6:00 P.M. with a presentation on King Solomon, both on his monarchy considered a time of peace and plenty, and on his renowned wisdom. To receive zoom credentials and participate, click here.

2026-06-092026-06-09

Jewish Life in the Baltic Countries, 1917-1945

Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas in cooperation with the US Holocaust Museum, the Sugijara House Museum in Kaunas and the Ninth Fort Museum in Kaunas is holding a conference called “Jewish Life in the Baltic Countries, 1917-1945: from June 9 to June 11. The conference marks the 85th anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust in the Baltic states with presentations on Jewish life including art, music, literature, education, languages, religion, government, land and nature, emigration, resistance, the rescue of Jews and commemoration. The Kapela Kotra trio will perform Litvak music and documentary films by Saulius Beržinis will be screened.

The conference will be held in the Senate Hall at Vytautas Magnus at Donelaičio street no. 28 in Kaunas. The program begins at 9:00 A.M. on Tuesday, June 9. It begins at 11:00 A.M. on June 10 and at 9:30 A.M. on June 11.

2026-06-092026-06-09

How Israel Should Respond to Trump

by Geoff Vasil

Last night the Israeli-American relationship was cast into doubt when Trump told the press he was about to call Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “tell” him not to respond to Iranian missile attacks on Israel.

Trump has gone back and forth for weeks now claiming he’s close to “a deal” with some group of Iranians on a peace plan. It’s fairly obvious the gangsters in the Islamic Republic have been goading and cajoling him on into some sort of idea of a peace plan, but that’s what Iran is best at, endless negotiations on a set of untenable principles.

It should be obvious to everyone watching that the best way to end the impasse with Iran is through military victory. They’re claiming some sort of sovereignty over the choke-point on world commerce, the Strait of Hormuz. They want Israel to stop bombing Hezbollah. They want war reparations from America. There are no common points for negotiation, but Trump keeps pretending there are. Even regarding nuclear enrichment.

2026-06-08

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:49 P.M. on Friday, June 5, and concludes at 11:18 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 9:31 P.M. and completed before sunset at 9:49 P.M. Saturday, June 6, is D-Day in the United States. Sunday is Father’s Day in Lithuania and Curaçao.

2026-06-042026-06-04

More Visitors in Panevėžys

A delegation of three guests from Israel visited the Panevėžys Jewish Community last week. Mordechai (Moudi) Ben Shach’s father and grandparents had lived in Panevėžys and ran the former Kommerts Hotel there. His grandfather Yaacov Chachvich from the Tuch family came to Panevėžys in 1890 from the town of Gedera in what is now Israel.

The rabbi accompanying the other two visitors was looking at the Community’s photography exhibit and was surprised to see a photograph of his great-grandfather, also a rabbi. He said it was a great honor to visit Panevėžys, one of the most important Jewish religious and cultural centers in the world.

Moudi Ben Shach said the foundation for the life of the community is not just various activities and projects, and that meeting and talking to people, keeping in contact and working together for the good of the community are just as important if not more so.

2026-06-042026-06-05

Sholem Aleichem Day Camp

Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium is offering a day camp for children aged 8 to 12 starting next Monday. Activities include creative workshops, sports, educational field trips, origami lessons and jewelry-making, films and a discotheque and a challa-making workshop. The day camp will run from June 8 to 12 from 8:00 A.M. till 6:00 P.M. at the Sholem Aleichem school located at Kraševskio street no. 5 in Vilnius. For more information, contact Vilma Bieliūnienė by telephone at +370 659 41244 or write vilma.bieliuniene@ort.lt.

2026-06-02

Choral Synagogue Tour

Educator and lecturer Natalja Cheifec will lead another guided tour of the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius Thursday. The synagogue is generally closed to tourists at this time. During the tour, Cheifec, will talk about the architecture, traditions and symbolism of Vilnius’s only working traditional synagogue. The tour starts at 6:00 P.M. on Thursday, June 4, at the Choral Synagogue located at Pylimo street no. 38 in Vilnius. Participants are asked to donate 5 euros to the synagogue during the event. To register, click here.

2026-06-01

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:40 P.M. on Friday, May 29, and concludes at 11:06 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 9:22 P.M. and completed before sunset at 9:40 P.M. Sunday is Orthodox Pentecost.

2026-05-28

LJC on New Decisions on the Sports Palace and the Šnipiškės Jewish Cemetery

The Lithuanian Jewish Community expresses its profound concern regarding the decision adopted by the parliament or Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania following its initial approval of draft resolution No. XVP-1423 which effectively revives plans first proposed more than a decade ago to convert the former Vilnius Sports Palace into a venue for congresses, conferences and cultural events (Government Resolution No. 597 of June 9, 2015).

These plans had previously provoked strong opposition from international Jewish organizations, including Jewish religious authorities. According to Jewish religious law, a cemetery is sacred and inviolable ground; not only are entertainment events and concerts prohibited there, but even disturbing the soil is forbidden. It was precisely for this reason that a special working group was established, bringing together representatives of state institutions, the Lithuanian Jewish Community and international organizations.

After lengthy and complex discussions, a compromise solution was reached, one that balanced respect for the dead, preservation of historical memory and the public interest. This agreement was confirmed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in July of 2024 (No. S-2174 of July 17, 2024).

2026-05-222026-05-25

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:30 P.M. on Friday, May 22, and concludes at 10:50 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 9:12 P.M. and completed before sunset at 9:30 P.M. Shavuot begins at sundown on Thursday, May 21. Sabbath restrictions apply for the second day of Shavuot celebrated outside Israel. Sunday is Christian Pentecost. Monday is Memorial Day in the United States.

2026-05-212026-05-21

Shavuot on Thursday, May 21

Shavuot or Shavuos, the Feast of Weeks, starts at sundown Thursday, May 21. It is a two-day holiday outside Israel and lasts one day from sundown to sundown in Israel. Sabbath rules apply.

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Shavuot is the holiday which celebrates the receiving of the Torah. This marks the day the Jewish people received the Law. It is celebrated on the 6th day of Sivan on the Jewish calendar. This is a state holiday in Israel.

Shavuot means “weeks” in Hebrew. It is the seventh week from the second day of Passover. It marks the day when Moses received the Ten Commandments of G_d on Mount Sinai. They were written on two stone slabs. These are known in Hebrew as Aseret haDvarim and in Greek as the Decalogue.

2026-05-212026-05-21

Great Synagogue Exhibit at Litvak Identity Museum

The Litvak Identity Museum of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum will open a new exhibit dedicated the Great Synagogue in Vilnius, damaged by the Nazis and destroyed by the Soviets, but never completely forgotten by Vilnius and the residential community.

The exhibit includes archaeological discoveries, depictions in art, historical photographs and reconstructions.

The opening ceremony is to include a performance by cantor Shmuel Ya’atom and a guided tour of the Gros-Shul exhibit by its curators. The exhibit runs till January 31, 2027.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Tuesday, May 19
Place: Litvak Culture and Identity Museum, Pylimo street no. 41, Vilnius

2026-05-19

News from Panevėžys

Last weekend volunteers from the Panevėžys Jewish Community cleaned the interior and grounds of the Chevra Torah synagogue there. The brick synagogue was built in 1910. It was closed in 1940, the interior was destroyed and the decorative façade heavily damaged.

On May 6 Panevėžys Jewish Community representatives attended a lecture at the Lost Shtetl Museum in Šeduva by Holocaust historian Christoph Dieckmann called “How Did It Happen?” During questions afterwards, Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofman thanked Dieckmann and asked about sources on Jewish vital statistics from the period between 1938 and 1941, engendering a discussion about the drop-off in marriages and births at a time when the Jewish community sensed the onset of tragedy.

2026-05-192026-05-19

Shavuot Celebration for Community Members

Dear members,

The Programs Department of the Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to come celebrate Shavuot together with us. Shavuot, or Shavuos, is one of the three most important occasions in Judaism, celebrating the gift of the Law. On this holiday homes are decorated with flowers, we talk about traditions, we sing Jewish songs and dance Jewish dances. We eat the traditional foods.

The celebration will include a presentation by Natalja Cheifec and a performance by the Jewish song and dance ensemble Fayerlakh. It begins at 6:30 P.M. on the evening of Thursday, May 21. The location will be disclosed following registration. Please register by May 20 by writing zanas@sc.lzb.lt. Note that space is limited.

2026-05-18

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:18 P.M. on Friday, May 15, and concludes at 10:34 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 9:00 P.M. and completed before sunset at 9:18 P.M. Thursday, May 14, is Ascension Day for Catholics. Friday, May 15, is Jerusalem Day. Monday on the 17th is International Museum Day. Shavuot starts at sundown Thursday, May 21.

2026-05-14

Kurkliai Synagogue Opens Rhona Gorvy Exhibit for European Museum Night

The restored Kurkliai synagogue in the Anykščiai region north of Vilnius will open its doors to the public on European Museum Night, May 23, with an exhibit of graphic works and sculpture by the late South African artist Rhona Gorvy called “Life and Dreams.” The program for the evening includes an address by Ieva Šadzevičienė, curator of the Samuel Bak museum of the Vilna Gaon Jewish History Museum, live percussion by Arkadijus Gotesmanas and recollections of the past and stories from others. The event is free and open to the public.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Saturday, May 23
Place: Kurkliai synagogue, Salomėjos Neries street no. 4A, Kurkliai, Anykščiai district

2026-05-142026-05-15

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