Children are invited to submit their drawings on any subject connected with the Passover story until April 7. Please write your name on your drawing or have your parents do it, and send a digital copy to info@lzb.lt. Participants will receive a box of special chocolate-covered matzo bread.
Matzo is available in 5 and 10 euro packages in the lobby of the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius, open from 10:00 A.M. till 6:00 P.M. weekdays, except for April 2 and 3.
The Sabbath begins at 6:46 P.M. on Friday, March 27, and concludes at 7:42 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 6:28 P.M. and completed before sunset at 6:46 P.M. Saturday is Yom haAliyah. Sunday is Palm Sunday, marking the beginning of the paschal week. The eight days of Passover begin at sunset, 7:37 P.M., Wednesday, April 1, adjusted for Daylight Saving Time. Daylight Saving Time begins in begins at 2:00 A.M. on Sunday, March 29, in Lithuania. Set your time devices forward one hour, 2:00 A.M. jumping ahead to 3:00 A.M. on Sunday morning.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community is pleased to invite you to come celebrate Passover together with a seder led by ba’al tfillah (prayer leader) Viljamas Žitkauskas. The public seder will retell the Passover story in music performed by Fayerlakh and prayer. Registration is required by sending an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt by noon Wednesday, April 1. The cost is 15 euros for LJC members, 45 euros for non-members and free entry for children 14 and under.
Time: April 4, Saturday
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius
The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to come celebrate Passover together, with a musical seder scheduled for April 4. Stay tuned for more information.
Natalja Cheifec continues her internet lecture and discussion club on the topic of Passover this Thursday. To receive zoom credentials and participate, click here.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, March 26
Place: internet
The Sabbath begins at 6:32 P.M. on Friday, March 20, and concludes at 7:28 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 6:14 P.M. and completed before sunset at 6:32 P.M. Depending on your location and local customs, the spring equinox will be marked on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Nowruz, or Persian New Year, happens on the spring equinox and is now celebrated in multiple countries on multiple dates.
Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky attended the sixth Summit or European Jewish Leaders in Athens over the weekend, representing Lithuanian Jews, where she was elected to the General Assembly of European Council of Jewish Communities.
The European Council of Jewish Communities holds the event. This time over 250 participants from more than 30 countries attended. They included community leaders, heads of institutions, cultural professionals and members of Jewish communities from around Europe. Israeli president Isaac Herzog and EC president Ursula von der Leyen greeted the gathering. The meeting focused on continuing Jewish life in Europe and served as an opportunity for Jewish leaders to exchange ideas and experience.
The Panevėžys Jewish Community celebrates International Women’s Day each year. This year was no exception and a large contingent of women gathered March 8 for a celebration of the day and improving spring-like weather. The common table was laden with special treats including Purim pastry from the holiday a few days earlier. Since they coincided so closely this year, the Community celebrated both at once, starting with a reading of the Book of Esther.
The Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community expanded Purim celebrations this year by inviting the general public from Šiauliai and elsewhere with a musical held at the Laptai Gallery of the Šiauliai Culture Center on March 3. The musical was called A Modern Story of Esther based on the text by Itzik Manger and composer Dov Seltzer. The performance space was packed by audience members. The musical itself is a modern version of the traditional purimshpil.
The play was preceded by a presentation by Community member and actress Jūratė Budriūnaitė-Kamrazer on the history, significance and traditions associated with this Jewish holiday.
Vytautas Magnus University Music Academy students performed in the musical, which was followed by traditional Purim treats including homentashn.
The Šiauliai Regional Jewish Community thanks musical director Audronė Eitmanavičiūtė, musical conductor Sabina Martinaitytė and their team of talent from Vytautas Magnus in Kaunas. They also thank the Laiptai Gallery for providing the space and making the event such a success.
Following three attacks on synagogues in Toronto last month, the US has seen at least four terrorist attacks in the last three weeks: a Senegalese supporter of Iran shot nightclubbers in Austin, Texas; ISIS terrorists threw three bombs which failed to detonate in New York City at a crowd of anti-Islam protestors; a Hezbollah family member attacked Michigan’s oldest Jewish community with firearms and explosives which he failed to detonate and a man shouting “Allahu akbar” attempted to murder an ROTC class at Virginia’s Old Dominion university, killing one.
Two synagogues/Jewish schools in Rotterdam and Amsterdam and one in Liege, Belgium, were the subject of unsuccessful bombings.
In the UK around 10 suspected Iranian spies were arrested for spying on Jews in London.
Two of the American attacks came after the Trump administration leaked to journalists counter-intelligence indicating Iran had sent a “go signal” to “sleeper cells” in North America. Security was increased in Los Angeles for the Academy Awards over the weekend.
The Sabbath begins at 6:18 P.M. on Friday, March 13, and concludes at 7:14 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 6:00 P.M. and completed before sunset at 6:18 P.M. Tuesday, March 17, is St. Patrick’s Day (March 16 in Labrador and Newfoundland). Sunday is Rescuers of Jews Day in Lithuania.
by Geoff Vasil
Even if president Trump declares mission accomplished, as many Americans are urging, the war with Iran won’t end. The new hidden imam ayatollah has issued official if non-credible instructions to keep the Hormuz chokehold closed in order to strangle world oil supply. Raising on a busted flush, Iran’s terrorist regime thinks by dictating to its neighbors and attacking them it can hold onto power until US public opinion comes to their rescue.
The problem with that is the neighbors and the world can’t afford to play that game. France seems to be the only country willing to say so out loud, sending naval vessels whose ultimate goal seems to be the Persian Gulf. The new doctrines of drone warfare have scared off the world’s largest navy from conducting safe-conduct escorts as they did back in the 1980s in response to threats from the same regime.
The only sane response to Iran’s gambit is to fight it out along the Iranian coast, from Basra to Hormuz, targeting drones and missile launchers. The neighboring Gulf states have never been fans of the Islamic Republic, but now almost the entire world has an interest in protecting the oil supply militarily.
An explosive device detonated before dawn outside a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liège, damaging the building and nearby homes; officials condemned the blast as a serious anti-Semitic incident, as police launched an investigation
An explosion occurred early Monday morning outside a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liège, causing property damage but no injuries.
The blast happened around 4:00 A.M. local time near the synagogue on Rue Léon Frédéricq. The synagogue’s main window was shattered, and windows in buildings across the street were also blown out by the force of the explosion, according to local residents cited by the French-language Belgian public broadcaster RTBF.
Liège mayor Willy Demeyer described the incident as a “criminal and anti-Semitic act.”
“I absolutely condemn this violent act of anti-Semitism which runs counter to Liège’s tradition of respect for others,” Demeyer said.
Full story here.
The Sabbath begins at 6:05 P.M. on Friday, March 6, and concludes at 7:00 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 5:47 P.M. and completed before sunset at 6:05 P.M. Sunday is International Women’s Day. Wednesday, March 11, is Lithuania’s Day of Restoration of Independence, a national holiday marking the act passed by the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet on March 11, 1990, restating the country’s independence from the Soviet Union.
by Holly Evans, Friday, March 6
The four men, an Iranian national and three dual British-Iranian nationals, were arrested on Friday morning
Four men have been arrested on suspicion of aiding Iran’s intelligence service by spying on locations and individuals linked to the Jewish community in London.
Detectives from Counter Terrorism Policing London said the men, one Iranian national and three dual British/Iranian nationals, were detained shortly after 1:00 A.M. on Friday at addresses in Barnet, Watford and Harrow as part of a pre-planned operation.
The Metropolitan Police said the men arrested were 52, 40, 55 and 22, with searches ongoing at their addresses.
Six other men aged 29, 39, 42, 49 and two aged 20 were arrested at the same location in Harrow on suspicion of assisting an offender.
by Geoff Vasil
The next phase of hostilities in Iran includes degrading missile launch pads and freeing up the Persian Gulf for shipping. Iran has a limited number of longer-range missiles and is seeking to use them before they’re destroyed. That means there will be a tapering off in attacks on Israel within two or three days but probably an increase in attacks on nearer neighbors with shorter-range rockets. The attacks so far seem to be a dead-man’s-switch response to the assassination of the ayatollah, a policy to enflame the region, almost literally running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Saudi Arabia could strike back; Kuwait has already demonstrated their readiness to fight, and Qatar reported shooting down Iranian “aircraft,” presumably fighter jets rather than drones.
The Iranian Persian Gulf coast has been undergoing fortification for decades according to various sources. Freeing shipping lanes from attack could mean targeting numerous launch pads and artillery all along that coast as well as degrading the Iranian Navy and the infamous “Iranian gun boats.”
If the military and security command structure continues to be destroyed, power vacua will probably arise in different areas of the country. Only about 50% of the population are native Persian (Farsi) speakers with numerous ethnic groups distributed throughout. The Kurds are probably the largest dissatisfied group, but the Arabic-speaking province Khuzestan adjacent to Kuwait and Iraq is supposed to be a hotbed of discontent. Even if the Islamic Republic can hang on in the Tehran basin, the outer provinces could fall to dissidents.
Natalja Cheifec continues her lecture series and discussion club with a discussion of Purim symbols, traditions and the deeper significance of the Jewish holiday. To receive zoom credentials and participate, click here.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, March 5
Place: internet
The Palanga Jewish Community invites you to visit an exhibit of photographs called “Jews of Palanga: An History in Photographs” at the Palanga Youth and Volunteer Center, Vytauto street no. 110, Palanga, opening March 3 and running till March 31.
With more than 20 authentic period portraits of interbellum Palanga, the exhibit tells the story of the Palanga Jewish community’s daily life, urban spaces and communal and cultural sites integrated in the landscape of the Lithuanian seaside resort town.
The exhibit is a joint project of the Palanga Jewish Community and the Palanga Youth and Volunteer Center. Mindaugas Surblys is the curator.
Dear Community members,
A happy and colorful Purim!
Our ancestors taught us a very important thing: to make use of every opportunity to enjoy life. Even as history has been full of challenges, we chose light, unity and joy. Therefore laughter, music and song ring out in our homes and community today.
May your tables be laden with fruit, your friendships be sincere and your hearts open. May there be no lack of homentashn, symbolizing the ear of the vizier Haman who sought to harm the Jews as a reminder to us that evil and falseness never win, but courage, hope and unity do.
I hope the joy of Purim inspires in us strength, a sense of belonging and togetherness and faith in the future.
Hag Purim sameakh!
Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community