The Sabbath begins at 4:30 P.M. on Friday, November 7, and concludes at 5:26 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 4:12 P.M. and completed before sunset at 4:30 P.M. Saturday is Night of Broken Glass Remembrance Day in Germany. Sunday is Remembrance Sunday in the United Kingdom and Tuesday is Veterans Day in the United States.
On October 18 Švenčionys Jewish Community chairman Moshe Shapiro, MP Emanuelis Zingeris and a number of local officials and residents as well as educators from Lithuania and abroad attended an event in Pabradė called Memory Written in Stone. The event was held by the Paribio Pažinimo Centras as part of a borader project to memorialize locations where synagogues once stood.
During this event two stone markers were erected at the site of two former synagogues. The Pabradė Fanfare Orchestra provided musical accompaniment.
Natalja Cheifec continues her lecture topic from last week, the Messiah, this Thursday at 6:00 P.M.
Register to participate here.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, November 6
Place: internet
NEW YORK —The World Jewish Congress has welcomed the remarks of Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday unequivocally condemned anti-Semitism during his general audience at the Vatican.
Addressing thousands of faithful the Pope said: “All my predecessors have condemned anti-Semitism with clear words,” adding, “I too confirm that the Church does not tolerate anti-Semitism and fights against it, on the basis of the Gospel itself.”
WJC president Ronald S. Lauder praised the Pope’s message calling it “an extraordinarily positive and deeply meaningful gesture.”
“At a time when Jews are facing the greatest persecution since the Second World War, the Pope’s message carries profound fraternal meaning,” Lauder said. “Gestures like this inspire us to strengthen the bonds between Jews and Catholics, and to work together for a world of greater co-existence among religions, in the pursuit of peace.”
The Pope’s statement comes as the Catholic Church marks the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the landmark declaration of the Second Vatican Council which transformed Jewish-Catholic relations and established a foundation of mutual respect and dialogue.
Full statement here.
The Sabbath begins at 4:44 P.M. on Friday, October 31, and concludes at 5:38 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 4:26 P.M. and completed before sunset at 4:44 P.M. November 1 is All Saints’ Day.
Natalja Cheifec continues her lecture and discussions series withe topic of Messiah, including:
The Messiah in Judaism;
Exile and liberation from suffering;
The agony of Creation;
Darkness before dawn;
Conciliation and resurrection.
She will also discuss the appearance of the Messiah on an ass, what happens when he appears, the disposition of Israel following the rebuilding of the Temple, the Final Judgment and the resurrection of the dead. To receive zoom credentials, click here.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, October 30
Place: internet
The Jewish song and dance ensemble Fayerlakh performed Sunday in Simnas as the final act in the celebration of the 120th birthday of the synagogue there and of the former Jewish community in the small town.
Members of the audience had the chance to sample traditional Jewish foods and learn more about the shtetl.
The Sabbath begins at 5:59 P.M. on Friday, October 24, and concludes at 6:52 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 5:41 P.M. and completed before sunset at 5:59 P.M.
Members of the Panevėžys Jewish Community and Panevėžys municipal officials visited the Lost Shtetl Museum in Šeduva October 17.
Panevėžys Jewish Community chairman Gennady Kofmanas.presented a new Jewish calendar to museum staff.
Lithuanian diplomat Dainius Junevičius will present his research on Litvaks in the Cape Town, South Africa, archives he and others conducted in 2024 at the Vilnius Jewish Public Library at 5:30 P.M. Tuesday, October 30.
The research project by the Lithuanian Literature and Art Institute sent the team to the Kaplan Jewish Research Centre at University of Cape Town and the Western Cape Archive where they discovered thousands of documents regarding Litvak immigration to South Africa and Litvak life and achievements in South Africa.
Junevičius was Lithuanian ambassador to the Republic of South Africa from 2021 to 2023. The presentation will be in Lithuanian.
Time: 5:30 P.M. Tuesday, October 30
Place: Vilnius Jewish Public Library, courtyard, Gedimino prospect no. 24, Vilnius
The Sabbath begins at 6:15 P.M. on Friday, October 17, and concludes at 7:07 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 5:57 P.M. and completed before sunset at 6:15 P.M. Saturday is World Menopause Day, created in 2009 by the International Menopause Society to encourage menopausal women to seek support and medical treatment available but perhaps unknown to them to ease this difficult period in the human life cycle.
In spite of poor weather, members of the Panevėžys Jewish Community celebrated Sukkot in the traditional way with a booth set up in the Community’s courtyard.
The holiday brought together members new and old who discussed current events and shared family stories.
Today is Simchat Torah.
The first Sunday in October is the traditional date for remembering Holocaust victims from the Švenčionys region at the Menorah monument in the city park in Švenčionys.
The Menorah monument marks the border of the ghetto where local Jews were held before being murdered at Platumai village.
Švenčionys Jewish Community chairman Moshe Shapiro, Choral Synagogue cantor Shmuel Yaatom, members of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and local officials took part in the ceremony.
Last Thursday members of the Šiauliai District Jewish Community celebrated Sykkot with a sukka in the courtyard where members dwelt, handled the four species, prayed, shared blessings and ate. The sukka is open for the entirety of Sukkot which ends on Tuesday (or Wednesday, depending on your tradition and inclination). Members and friends are invited to come and dwell.
The Sabbath begins at 6:32 P.M. on Friday, October 10, and concludes at 7:23 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. October 12 is Columbus Day.
Dear members,
We invite members of the Dubi and Ilan Clubs and their parents to come celebrate Sukkot together in the courtyard of the Lithuanian Jewish Community with kiddush blessings inside the booth, aka sukka, erected there. Cantor Daniel Zakhry from Sao Paulo will ;ead the ceremony.
Time: 1:00 P.M., Saturday, October 11
Place: LJC, Vilnius
Natalja Cheifec continues her internet lecture and discussion club with a lesson on Sukkot this Thursday.
Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles is one of the happier holidays on the Jewish calendar amd a great opportunity to spend time with family, visit others, share food and enjoy life. Natalja will talk about the origin and traditions of Sukkot. She’ll discuss the meaning of “dwelling” in the sukka or makeshift booth during the week of Sukkot and the four species.
To receive zoom credentials and participate, click here.
Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, October 9
Place: internet
Sujjot (Ashkenazic Sukkos) begins at 5:13 P.M. at sunset today, Monday, October 6, and ends at sunset 7, 8 or 9 days later, depending on your location and disposition.
The festival of Sukkot–literally meaning booths, tents, tabernacles–is celebrated for seven days in Israel and eight days in the Diaspora, starting on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. It is one of the three festivals during which Jewish men were required to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem in Temple times.
The Lithuanian Jewish Community is shocked by the events in Manchester and expresses our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the entire British Jewish community.
“This brital attack again reminds us of the danger which is posed by the ever-deepening hate and anti-Semitism which is taking root in society/ Eighty years ago European Jews experienced how that ends” more than 96% of Lithuanian Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. Evil often begins from lesser things which might seem insignificant at the time–apatjy, averted glamces–so we must be especially vigilant right now to insure history doesn’t repeat itself,” Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky said.
We pray for the victims and wish strength and resolution to everyone battling hate.