Religion

New Museum of Jewish Culture to Open in Slonim, Belarus

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A new Museum of Jewish Culture will be housed in the 17th century synagogue in Slonim, Belarus, the BELITA news agency reports. The Slonim regional administration and the Slonim Jewish Association in Israel are to finance directly further restoration of the synagogue.

The synagogue, built in the mid-17th century, is located in the middle of the city of Slonim. Restoration work has been performed and the roof has been fixed. Original interior elements have been preserved.

“In earlier times Jews constituted more than 80% of the population in Slonim. Visitors from abroad continuously come to see the homes of their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. Many visit the synagogue. The Jewish museum would be a tourist attraction and would draw more visitors to the city,” the regional administration observed.

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Work to Renovate Žiežmariai Wooden Synagogue Begins

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A ceremony was held at the unique wooden synagogue in Žiežmariai, Lithuania on May 19, 2016, to mark a new stage in its life: its resurrection. The ceremony marked the beginning of work by the Kaišiadorys Regional Administration and Lithuania’s Cultural Heritage Department to restore the house of worship and featured a concert by the Rakija Klezmer Orkestar and works of Paganini by violinist Gediminas Dalinkevičius.

An allocation of 85,000 euros from the Ministry of Culture to the Kaišiadorys Regional Administration and an additional 24,840 euros from the regional administration are to be used initially to fix the roof and repair the façade, stabilize the building and perform archaeological work. A total of 693,000 euros is needed for reconstruction of the synagogue and additional sources of funding are being sought.

“The Lithuanian Jewish Community agrees to turn the synagogue over for public use because the Jewish community of Žiežmariai no longer exists and the synagogue won’t be used as a house of prayer. The synagogue can be utilized very well for the cultural needs of the region and at the same time remain a place of commemoration for the Jewish community of the area,” LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky said.

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YIVO Awarded $260,000 by NEH

YIVO Receives $260,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
May 16, 2016

New York, NY – The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (YIVO) is pleased to announce that is a recipient of a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for the Vilna Collections Project, a seven-year initiative to preserve, digitize and virtually reunite YIVO’s prewar archives and library located in New York City and Vilnius, Lithuania, through a dedicated web portal.

The NEH’s Division of Preservation and Access has awarded $260,000 over two years for the processing, conservation and digitization of rare archival documents rescued from the destruction of the Holocaust. The materials, looted by the Nazis and recovered with the help of the U.S. Army, were brought to New York in the late 1940s. They are a diverse resource on Jewish life, community and culture in Europe. They span the range from handwritten autobiographies by Jewish youth and humble folktales and folk songs to the archives of scholars, such as that of Simon Dubnow, known as the father of Russian Jewish history. They include photographs, Yiddish theater and political posters and the administrative records of Yiddish and Hebrew schools and yeshivas.

As City University of New York historian Jack Jacobs noted in a letter of support for YIVO’s application to the NEH, “It is simply impossible to write a dissertation or do any serious research project related to Eastern European Jewry without consulting the YIVO materials.”

Full story here.

Lithuania to Grant 30,000 Euros to Vilnius YIVO Project in 2017

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The Lithuanian Ministry of Culture plans to allocate 30,000 euros in 2017 for the Vilnius YIVO project.

The Vilnius YIVO project is a seven-year endeavor to preserve, digitize and join together virtually two pre-war YIVO collections in New York and Vilnius. The project will also attempt to recreate digitally the Strashun library, one of the largest collections of judaica in pre-war Europe. YIVO, the Lithuanian Central State Archives and the Lithuanian Martynas Mažvydas National Library are partners in the project.

The project covers approximately 10,000 rare and unique books and publications and around 1.5 million documents. Material includes literary works, correspondence, memoirs, theater posters, photography, rare books, brochures, newspapers, political pamphlets and documentation of religious and communal activities.

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LJC Chairwoman Speaks on Lithuanian National Radio about Citizenship for Litvaks

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Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky was one of three distinguished guests on the late morning Aktualiju studijas [News Studio] program on Lithuanian radio May 12.

“This question keeps bothering me: when did the institution of citizenship, when did that institution stop, when was it interrupted? Was it when the person was imprisoned in the ghetto? When he was transported to the concentration camp? Nobody saved those passports anywhere. You see this is such an inhumane, such an unintelligent step when you look to the future. But as the chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community I would like to say, that Litvaks are welcome in our community, with or without a passport, and we would be very proud if our Lithuanian Jewish Community grew thanks to those people who left Lithuania. So we gladly invite and welcome them without regard to their political status,” Faina Kukliansky said during the discussion.

The main topic for the show as “Why don’t we want to grant citizenship to Litvaks?” The introductory blurb for the show was: “Lithuanian Jews–Litvaks–are not just people who have achieved great things in the world, they contributed greatly to the strengthening of the Lithuanian state as well. They sought Lithuanian independence and they fought in the battles for independence [in 1918-1919]. Unfortunately, almost all of them were murdered during World War II. Only a small portion survived. Today some Lithuanian bureaucrats don’t want to grant citizenship to the small group of Jews who want it. Why not?”

The other two guests were former Lithuanian prime minister, current deputy parliamentary speaker MP Gediminas Kirkilas and the historian Alvydas Nikžentaitis.

The audience was invited to call in and pose questions.

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Rabbi Moshe Shapiro Visits Lithuanian Jewish Community

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The well-known Rabbi Moshe Shapiro, a follower of the Gaonic scholarly and Litvak tradition, has paid the Lithuanian Jewish Community a visit, where he met with chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, religious community leader Simas Levinas and Rabbi Samson Isaakson.

Commemorating Sister Marija Rusteikaitė in Panevėžys

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A project to commemorate sister Marija Rusteikaitė was discussed with mother superior and general director Jūratė Marcinkevičiūtė and sister S. Klara–Hana Bivil of the God’s Love Monastery at the Panevėžys Jewish Community. The project to commemorate Rusteikaitė in Panevėžys and to teach city residents about her remarkable story in the rescue of 15 Jewish children during the Holocaust was prepared by the Panevėžys Jewish Community and presented to the city’s Architecture and Urban Planning Department.

The goal of the project is to commemorate Righteous Gentile Marija Rusteikaitė (1892-1949), the founder of the God’s Love congregation, by naming a new street after her and posting a memorial sign at the start of the street briefly describing her noble deeds.

Marija Rusteikaitė was an intellectual person, a social activist, a medic, a teacher and a nun who was very important to the city and area of Panevėžys. She grew up in the family of estate owners Stanislovas and Jadvyga, a family of nine children, four sons and five daughters. Marija was the third child. Her mother Jadvyga was dedicated to charity work, her children and homemaking. Both parents were extremely loving towards their children and guided their education, belief in God and moral development. The people of Vaiguva who knew her say her charisma was something akin to that of Mother Teresa in Calcutta. She spent her nights sitting up with sick patients, quietly praying.

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Kaunas Jewish Community Celebrate Last Day of Passover

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Kaunas Jewish Community members gathered at the Punto Jazz café to celebrate the last day of Passover. They were treated to a surprise concert by the family klezmer group Klezmer Klangen, reportedly performing their first concert in Kaunas ever. The crowd seemed to love them and there was much dancing. The band performed tight songs in Yiddish with good choreography down to their smallest member, four-year-old Ramunė. While the klezmer musicians took breaks, celebrants took to the stage to compete in now-traditional Passover skits. The last day of Passover coincided with the birthday celebration of Veronika Pečkienė who wasn’t forgotten amid the general party-going and was plied with flowers and birthday greetings.

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Mimuna in Israel: A Holiday to Unite All

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Mimuna, when Passover is over, when all the doors to the house are open.

When Passover ends, Jews from North Africa celebrate Mimuna. This is a holiday when sweets are made of flour, when post-Passover chametz dishes return. In Morocco, on the afternoon of the last day of Passover, Muslim neighbors bring to the homes of their Jewish neighbors gifts of flour, honey, milk, butter and green beans.

The pictures below portray a Mimuna family holiday spread, including pancakes with butter, margarine and honey, a favorite. The green pastries with almonds contain rings. Everyone wishes one another a successful marriage and much happiness on this day.

Shavua tov! שָׁבוּעַ טוֹב

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Rome to Open Jewish Catacombs to the Public

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Rome plans to open the 2,000-year-old Villa Randanini Jewish catacombs to the public for the first time between May 1 and June 5 as part of a cultural initiative as one of the several initiatives taken by the Italian Cultural Ministry to promote the scope of the “Jubilee Year of Mercy” declared by the pope.

The Jewish catacombs were discovered beneath the vineyard of Villa Randanini in 1859. The maze of tunnels covers nearly 18,500 square meters (about 199,000 square feet) and has a depth of five to 16 meters (about 16 to 52 feet). The walls have inscriptions in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew providing information about people buried there. The catacombs have been vandalized over time, but still contain many colorful frescoes and tablets with Jewish candelabra depicted. The walls are covered with paintings of birds, dancing maidens, flourishes and grapevines. The catacombs also contain kokhim, a type of Jewish burial chamber.

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Wooden Synagogue in Pakruojas, Lithuania

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EEA and Lithuanian state support as well as from the Pakruojas regional administration has been allocated for fixing the wooden synagogue in Pakruojas, Lithuania.

The plan is to house a children’s literature section of the Juozas Paukštelis Public Library in the synagogue and to use it for educational activities and cultural events. The synagogue has no heat and will have to be outfitted with a heating system for year-round use.

A team of architectural experts, cultural heritage protection specialists, restorers and engineers visited Lithuania’s oldest wooden synagogue April 27. This mission organized by Lithuania’s Ministry of Culture was intended to come up jointly with experts the best solution to the heating problem and other outstanding issues at the site. Participants said the meeting was highly productive and hoped similar heritage issues would see the same sort of good practices applied in the future.

From EEA Grants for Culture in Lithuania

Photos from the trip here.

Lithuanian and Indian Jewish Communities Make Contact

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On Sunday, April 16, Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky met with representatives of the Indian Jewish Community and discussed opportunities for working together.

Chairwoman Kukliansky visited synagogues, met with local Jews and learned about their history and activities in India.

Kukliansky was visiting Mumbai, formerly Bombay, India’s largest city and home to a number of religious minorities in the country.

In discussions with local Jewish leaders, Kukliansky spoke about the experience of Litvaks and proposed holding a screening in Mumbai of documentary films about the history of Lithuanian Jews.

Her visit took place with the help of the Lithuanian embassy in India. Until now there has been no official contact between the Indian Jewish community and the Lithuanian Jewish Community.

About 4,000 Jews call Mumbai home and the city of around 12.5 million people has 8 working synagogues.

Photos here.

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LJC Chairwoman Faina Kukliansky with Passover Greetings and a Message about Anti-Semitism

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Recently US State Department special envoy for Holocaust affairs Nicholas Dean visited the Lithuanian Jewish Community. This was not just a coincidence. The rise of Holocaust denial in Lithuania was the reason for his visit. Jews from Lithuania and their offspring living in Israel and South Africa have been receiving negative answers regarding their applications for Lithuanian citizenship for some time.

As the questions mount over why one set of people have received Lithuanian passports while others haven’t, despite similar circumstances, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, the Interior Affairs Ministry, Migration Department officials and members of parliament have begun to investigate. While the law on citizenship says one thing, officials are saying other things, and one wonders why it is left to each individual bureaucrat to interpret history. Yet another revision of history is being carried out in Lithuania, which is an essential element in denials of the Holocaust. The vitality of anti-Semitism in Lithuania is shown by the way citizenship is restored, attempting to foist upon Jews who fled persecution that they left Lithuania for other reasons, not for political reasons, not for opposing the occupational regime, not because of persecution by that regime. Another example of the upturn in anti-Semitism is provided by Laisvas Laikraštis, a newspaper which prints openly anti-Semitic articles without commentary. The Community has lodged a complaint against the newspaper with the prosecutor, but no action has been taken.

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Deputy Speaker Sends Passover Greetings

Former Lithuanian prime minister and current deputy speaker of parliament Gediminas Kirkilas has sent Passover greetings to chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and the Lithuanian Jewish Community. Kirkilas is also the chairman of the Lithuanian parliament’s European Affairs Committee.

“Please accept my sincere greetings to the Lithuanian Jewish Community and to you personally as the significant holiday of Passover draws near. Recently I visited Israel where I had the opportunity again to remember the miracle of the Jewish People’s liberation from slavery in Egypt,” the former Lithuanian prime minister wrote.

“On this occasion I wish success in your and your honored community’s further work, the wonderful fulfillment of your plans for the future and harmonious living as we face the challenges of the present. Let concord not lack in your families, nor human happiness in your hearts,” Kirkilas concluded in his Passover greetings.

Bridges Connecting People

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Lithuanian newspaper Kauno diena reports that Wednesday a photo exhibition illustrating Pope Francis’s visit to Israel opened at the Old Town Hall in Kaunas. The exhibit has travelled around Lithuania for a year now and attracts keen interest, although Pope Francis’s visit to Israel was 2 years ago now, the newspaper reports.

“The exhibit talks about building bridges, which is what the Pope calls joining together people of separate religions and separate cultures. The Pope invites us to build these bridges, to meet one another, to talk, to get to know each other. That which connects leads to that which is good,” the newspaper quoted Kaunas archbishop Lionginas Virbalas.

The word “pontiff” comes from the Latin pontifex, “builder of bridges,” and was used to designate the high priest, pontifex maximus, in pagan Rome. Pope Benedict XVI introduced it as his twitter handle, @Pontifex, which remains the papal twitter address following his retirement.

For the full story about the exhibition in Kaunas in Lithuanian, see here.

Pope Visit to Israel Photo Exhibit Goes to Kaunas


An exhibition of photographs documenting Pope Francis’s visit to Israel in 2014 will be placed on display for public viewing in Kaunas at the Old Town Hall there on Wednesday, April 20. The exhibit contains 20 photographs illustrating Pope Francis’s visit and meetings in Israel. An opening ceremony for the exhibit is planned for 4:00 P.M. on April 20 to be attended by Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas, Israel’s ambassador to Lithuania Amir Maimon, Kaunas archbishop Lionginas Virbalas and Kaunas mayor Visvaldas Matijošaitis.

Francis’s visit in 2014 came 50 years after Pope Paul VI’s historic visit.

The mobile exhibit was the result of an initiative by the Israeli embassy in Lithuania and has been show around the country in large and small towns. The Kaunas showing is scheduled to end in mid-May.

Lesson about Passover with Rabbi Samson Isaacson

The Student Union of the LJC invites you to attend a lecture by Rabbi Samson Isaacson about Passover this Sunday at 4:45 P.M. at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius.

We will conduct our own kind of exodus from a room decorated with Egyptian motids immediately following (ExitRoom.lt).

A good time is guaranteed.

Registration required. Send your full name to LUJSINFO@gmail.com

or see:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1065169300210620/

The Student Union is also holding a “youth seder” at 8:45 P.M. on April 23 at the kosher Rishon restaurant. Entrance is 5 euros.

Event program:

Havdalah ceremony with Rabbi Samson Isaacson;
delicious dinner with the tradition four cups of wine;
hunt for/theft of the afikoman;
reading of the haggadah and much more!

Space is limited so please register by April 20.

http://apklausa.lt/f/pesach-sederis-xkebhyc/answers/new.fullpage

For more information contact:
lujsinfo@gmail.com
869227326