Religion

Background to the Epstein File

Background to the Epstein File

by Geoff Vasil

Not all Litvaks belong to the positive side of the ledger. Some start out shady and make good. Some fall into semi-disgrace, such as Boris Johnson. Others calmly observe their fellow Litvaks and rarely make judgments one way or the other.

Jeffrey Epstein claimed Litvak roots saying his grandparents came from Lithuania. That can mean a lot of things, from Russian to Belarussian to Ukrainian to Polish antecedents. The recently released tranche of Epstein files also show he had some connections with the modern Republic of Lithuania. One couple he supported received significant funds from him, and even more in his last will and testament. There is also documentation he recruited girls from Lithuania for his criminal activities.

The problem with the Epstein scandal is that there are so many aspects and players, one can see whatever one wants in the evidence. The human trafficking is just the tip of the iceberg. What lies below that is the real reason for the cover-up.

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Palanga Jewish Cemeteries: Inscriptions, Records, Territories

Palanga Jewish Cemeteries: Inscriptions, Records, Territories

Information from Mindaugas Surblys, Palanga Jewish Community

When fire ran rampant in Palanga in 1830, old burial pinkhas were destroyed, dating back to 1487. Beginning in 1831 burial records were kept for the new Jewish cemetery at the edge of town. For a time two Jewish cemeteries operated in tandem in Palanga, the old one since 1487 till 1892, located inside Birutė Park. The new cemetery was instituted near Naglys Hill.

There are ten remaining headstones (matsevot) of different sizes made from granite and cement with inscriptions in Hebrew letters. Three headstones are broken in their upper sections. One is splintered with fragments lying on the ground. Many of the surviving monuments are difficult to read.

Several inscriptions are legible and correspond to the burial records of the Palanga Jewish community. The inscriptions match the information in the pinkhas, for example, “Here lies our dear and honored father who was famous for his charity work and high moral character, Natan Frank, son of Hirsh (Tzvi), deceased on Rosh Hashanah, 1935” (partial translation).

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UN Holocaust Day at the Šiauliai District Jewish Community

UN Holocaust Day at the Šiauliai District Jewish Community

The Šiauliai District Jewish Community marked the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust on January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, with an evening of tea celebrating Vulf Visotiski, a tea expert whose family began dealing in tea in Žagarė back in 1849.

The Šiauliai District Jewish Community invited experts and cultural anthropologists from Žagarė and around Lithuania as well as the general public and served Visotski tea imported from Israel. The fifth generation of the family is still blending tea in Israel now. High school student singers from the area and from Klaipėda provided the highlight of the evening. Speakers also provided historical insights into the Volpert family and the history and current state of Žagarė.

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Tu b’Shvat

Tu b’Shvat

Today is the Jewish holiday of Tu b’Shvat, the 15th day of the month of Shvat, the New Year for trees also known as Israeli Arbor Day. It is traditional to eat of the shvat ha’minim (seven species endemic to the Land of Israel): wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. Hag sameakh!

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 4:53 P.M. on Friday, January 30, and concludes at 5:53 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 4:35 P.M. and completed before sunset at 4:53 P.M. Monday is Tu b’Shvat, Jewish Arbor Day. Monday is also Candlemas for Christians and Groundhog Day in the US and Canada.

Driver Rams Car into Chabad HQ in New York City

Driver Rams Car into Chabad HQ in New York City

Photo: Chabad Lubavitch headquarters in Brooklyn on January 28. Photo by Louis Keene

by Louis Keene and Jacob Kornbluh, Forward, January 29, 2026

The incident occurred on a day of celebration in the Chabad community. No one was hurt.

CROWN HEIGHTS–A driver crashed a car into an entrance of the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn Wednesday night, damaging the building on a night thousands were gathered there to celebrate.

Video circulating online and verified by eyewitnesses shows a vehicle repeatedly driving into the building’s doors at 770 Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighborhood, the main synagogue of the Chabad movement and one of the most recognized Jewish institutions in the world. One witness said the driver had yelled at bystanders to move out of the way before he drove down a ramp leading to the doors.

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Palanga Jewish Community Marks UN Holocaust Day

Palanga Jewish Community Marks UN Holocaust Day

Members of the Palanga Jewish Community, representatives of the municipality and local high school students marked the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust Tuesday by visiting a marker commemorating victims at a cemetery there.

“The Holocaust isn’t a past tragedy, it’s a warning of what happens when apathy becomes the norm and hate becomes acceptable. Our duty is not just to remember the victims, but also to protect the truth, which is uncomfortable to some. Remembering isn’t a ceremony, it’s a daily choice,” Palanga Jewish Community chairman Vilius Gutmanas remarked on the occasion.

The seaside resort town has several Holocaust memorial sites with commemorative markers and plaques. The local cemetery has a stele marking where 106 Jews and 5 Lithuanians murdered in 1941 were reburied. Jewish sites including the Great and Lesser Synagogues and a site connected with Dr. Lazar Gutman are also marked now, as are two pre-Holocaust Jewish cemeteries.

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 4:39 P.M. on Friday, January 23, and concludes at 5:41 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 4:21 P.M. before sunset at 4:39 P.M. on Friday. Sunday is Burns Night, in honor of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Monday is Australia Day.

Kabalat Shabat with Rabbi Natan Alfred

Kabalat Shabat with Rabbi Natan Alfred

The Bnai Maskilim association invites members and friends to ring in the new year with a special evening and an old friend. Progressive Rabbi Natan Alfred, a co-founder of the Bnai Maskilim association and currently serving in Geneva and as acting chairman of the European Rabbis Association, will preside over the ritual and discuss current events.

Registration required by sending an email to bneimaskilim@gmail.com.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Friday, January 23
Place: Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 4:26 P.M. on Friday, January 16, and concludes at 5:29 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 4:08 P.M. and completed before sunset at 4:26 P.M. Friday is National Religious Freedom Day in the United States.

Natalja Cheifec on Raising Children according to the Torah

Natalja Cheifec on Raising Children according to the Torah

In the first part of a series on raising children according to the Torah, Natalja Cheifec will discuss:

• Main phases of raising and disciplining chldren according to age;

• Democracy or authority: which sort of relationships lead to greater harmony between parent and child;

• Which should come first, instilling good behavior or imparting understanding;

• Can parents and children be equal?

To participate and receive zoom credentials, click here.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, January 16
Place: internet

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 4:14 P.M. on Friday, January 9, and concludes at 5:19 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 3:56 P.M. before sunset at 4:14 P.M.

Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 4:04 P.M. on Friday, January 2, and concludes at 5:10 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 3:46 P.M. before sunset at 4:04 P.M. on Friday. January 4 is World Braille Day.

Lithuanian Economics Ministry Likes Idea of Holocaust Museum at Shnipishok Cemetery

Lithuanian Economics Ministry Likes Idea of Holocaust Museum at Shnipishok Cemetery

The Lithuanian Ministry of Economics and Innovation has issued a press release on the Baltic News Service webpage expressing approval for the idea of setting up a Holocaust museum at the former Palace of Sports built on top of the Vilna Jewish cemetery by the Soviets in the Shnipishok neighborhood on the northern side of the Neris (viliya( River.. The building has been in serious disrepair for over a decade.

“Taking into account the position held regarding the possibility of adapting the former Palace of Sports, since this site is not suitable for modern and competitive conference tourism… it would be more appropriate to renovate the Palace of Sports and equip it for use as a new memorial and museum,” the Economics and Innovation Ministry posted on the BNS press release webpage.

Vilnius mayor Valdas Benkunskas after meeting with economics minister Edvinas Grikšas last week told BNS the Vilnius municipality and the Economics Ministry have a common position regarding the aging concert and sports complex.

Mayor Benkunskas said: “We perceive in the same way that the Palace of Sports has to be renovated and adapted as a memorial and museum space, and that it wouldn’t be competitive for conference tourism, and would pose a risk to our public image as such.”

The Economics and Innovation Ministry earlier posted the building was not fit to use as a conference venue following a study ordered by the Government.

“According to the current studies, this site could only host some of the requirements as a venue, there would be a lack of parking places, and the costs of reconstruction are difficult to predict,” the Ministry said.

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 3:57 P.M. on Friday, December 26, and concludes at 5:03 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 3:39 P.M. and completed before sunset at 3:57 P.M.. Tuesday, December 30, is Asarah b’Tevet, the fast day is to mourn the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia. December 28 and 29 are related days of fasting.

American Embassy Hosts Presentation of New Community Center

American Embassy Hosts Presentation of New Community Center

Goodwill Foundation co-presidents Rabbi Andrew Baker and Faina Kukliansky presented plans for a new Lithuanian Jewish Community Center at the US embassy in Vilnius last week.

World-renowned Litvak architect Massimiliano Fuksas’s team are drafting plans for the new building to be built at the site of the Great Synagogue complex in Vilnius Old Town.

Baker and Kukliansky provided details at the presentation on a planned YIVO exhibit at the new center telling the history of Litvaks, Litvak life, traditions, the people and their mass murder during the Holocaust.

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 3:53 P.M. on Friday, December 18, and concludes at 4:59 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 3:35 P.M. and completed before sunset at 3:53 P.M. The eight days of Hanukkah end at sundown on Monday, December 21. Hanukkah candles may be list according to Sabbath rules, at or before 3:35 O.M. on Friday.