Religion

Pivonija Massacres Eighty-Four Years Later

Pivonija Massacres Eighty-Four Years Later

The 84th anniversary of the mass murder of the Jews of Vilkomir (Ukmergė) in the Pivonija Forest jut outside the town was commemorated on the first Sunday in September, the traditional date selected for honoring these victims of the Holocaust.

The entire Jewish population of Vilkomir and surrounding villages was exterminated ruing three mass murder operations in 1941. A sole survivor hid in the forest and later told the tale to the world.

Pivonija is the third-largest Jewish mass murder site in Lithuania after Ponar and the Ninth Fort.

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Lithuanian and Jewish Communities Meet in Los Angeles County

Lithuanian and Jewish Communities Meet in Los Angeles County

The Lithuanian Consulate and Lithuanian consul Sandra Brikaitė hosted an evening called “History, Heritage and Diplomacy” earlier this mont, bringing together the Lithuanian-American community, the Lithuanian Jewish Community, the local Valley Outreach Synagogue, diplomats and other interested parties.

The Lithuanian Consulate is located in Calabasas in the southwestern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County.

Consul Sandra Brikaitė, Valley Outreach Synagogue Rabbi Ron Li-Paz and Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky all spoke at the event and all three discussed together the deep roots of Litvak culture, the Holocaust and Righteous Gentiles, among other things.

“The Jewish heritage is part of the soul of Lithuania,” Brikaitė said.

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 8:00 P.M. on Friday, September 5, and concludes at 8:53 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 7:42 P.M. and completed before sunset at 8:00 P.M. Saturday is the Hungry Ghost holiday in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

Come Celebrate European Day of Jewish Culture with the LJC

Come Celebrate European Day of Jewish Culture with the LJC

Sunday is the annual European Day of Jewish Culture. This year the theme is People of the Book. The Lithuanian Jewish Community has a full day of events planned starting in the morning. Some events require prior registration, see below. Unless otherwise noted, events will take place at the Lithuanian Jewish Community at Pylimo street no. 4. The outdoor Cvi Park space is across the street from there. The Choral Synagogue is located about 300 meters away on Pylimo street as you go towards the train and bus station.

Program:

10:30 A.M. Beginner’s Hebrew lesson with Ruth Reches at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius. Register here.

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French Documentary on the Great Synagogue

French Documentary on the Great Synagogue

The French Institute will show a documentary film by Loïc Salfat on the history of the Great Synagogue of Vilnius at 5:30 P.M. on September 10. The French Institute is located at Didžioji street no. 1 in Vilnius.

The film includes ancient lore regarding the synagogue complex and the Vilna Gaon, damage from bombs during WWII, removal by Soviet authorities after the war and archaeological digs over the last several decades there. The French film has English and Lithuanian subtitles.

The event is free but registration is required by filling out the form here.

The screening of the documentary is part of an educational program called “Make No Idols,” For more information about that program in Lithuanian, click here.

Remembering the Unknown, Experiencing the Non-Existent

Remembering the Unknown, Experiencing the Non-Existent

The Vilnius Picture Gallery and the Lithuanian National Art Museum invite the public to a lecture by Giedrė Mickūnaitė called “risiminti nežinomą, patirti nesantį–keli žydiškojo Vilniaus maršrutai” [Remembering the Unknown, Experiencing the Non-Existent: Several Tracks in Jewish Vilnius] at the Vilnius Picture Gallery at 5:30 P.M.om September 9. The galLery is located at Didžioji street no. 4 in Vilnius.

According to the hallery’s announcement of the public lecture:

“Historical knowledge and making it topical, urban planning not just as space and architecture, but as a way of life–these are the questions confronting Vilnius. The lecture invites you to an indirect tour of the current city and provides a glimpse of the Jewish past, asking you to experience that loss in the present.”

The lecture is free, open to the public and registration is not required.

In Search of the Shtetl in Švėkšna

In Search of the Shtetl in Švėkšna

The Švėkšna Museum presents “In Search of the Shtetl in Švėkšna” illustrating the town’s multicultural and multiethnic past and legacy starting with an exhibit at the Švėkšna synagogue, now the Švėkšna Museum, at 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, August 6. The address is Liepų alley no. 12, Švėkšna, Lithuania. The exhibit features mosaics by Lina Šlipavičiūtė and Lauryna Kiškytė who both plan to attend the event. This will be followed by a guided tour of the town discussing the settlement by Jews in the 17th century, emigration, the period of thriving trade and a thriving economy, life and education of young Jews and the religious life of the shtetl. The event is part of the European Days of Jewish Culture which falls on the first Sunday in September every year.

For more information, call +370 657 57 152. or for more information in Lithuanian, see here:

Vilner Quiz at National Library

Vilner Quiz at National Library

The Vilnius Jewish Public Library in concert with the 15min.lt news website will hold a quiz on Jewish Vilna history and culture at the Lithuanian National Library at 3:00 P.M. on Sunday, August 7. The event is intended to commemorate the anniversary of the founding of YIVO in Vilnius and the European Days of Jewish Culture which falls on the first Sunday in September annually..

Master of ceremonies will be Ugnius Antanavičius, an editor at 15min.lt.

Contestants will compete in teams of from 2 to 6 people of their own making. Prizes await the winners. The quiz is expected to last about 2 hours.

The quiz is open to the public and there is no fee for competing. To register send an email to uantanavicius@gmail.com, indicating your team’s name and the expected number of players..

Event to Re-Open Former Synagogue in Žemaičių Naumiestis

Event to Re-Open Former Synagogue in Žemaičių Naumiestis

The town of Žemaičių Naumiestis is inviting the public to attend an event reopening the former synagogue there as a cultural and performance space, reintegrating it into the municipal landscape.

In the past the synagogue was used as a storage space and as a Soviet Palace of Culture, and for a time as a sports gymnasium. It has been empty and abandoned for years now.

The organizers of the upcoming festival called “Bridges of Michael” hope to extend a bridge between the past and present through art.

Ot begins at 5:00 P.M. on September 23 with an exhibit of works by Ilja Bereznickas including screenings of his animated films. At 6:00 P.M. an installation with live music opens featuring pianist Darius Mažintas, with video by Andrius Seliuta von Rath and Dali Rust. Organizers of the event invite visitors to photograph and film as much as they like, and to share their recordings on social media.

The event is free and open to the public but seating is limited, so attendees are asked to register by sending an email to mykolotiltai25@gmail.com or by clicking here.

There will be a party afterwards at the Pas Virgą café and ffor that registration is strictly required by clicking the same link indicated above.

International Yiddish Courses a Success

International Yiddish Courses a Success

The two-week International Yiddish Courses hosted by the Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium brought students together from around the world with Yiddish song, excerpts from classical texts, comedy and the lore of Jewish Vilne.

“I would like to thank all the organizers who helped us hold the annual courses. We are so happy that Jewish students from Lithuania and from abroad are studying Yiddish, that they are interested in it as a language, but also as a tradition, partially religious, including food and songs. All this together constitutes Jewish culture which we strive to preserve,” Lithuanian Hewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky commented.

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News from Šiauliai

News from Šiauliai

Visitors from Germany visited the Šiauliai Jewish Community last week. In the company of Šiauliai Jewish Community members they visited the Šeduva Lost Shtetl Jewish Museum whuch they said left a deep impression on them. The visitors said they’d like to visit the museum again.

The guests from Germany attended a Sabbath celebration with the Šiauliai Jewish Community.

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 8:18 P.M. on Friday, August 29, and concludes at 9:13 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 8:00 P.M. and completed before sunset at 8:18 P.M. Monday is Labor Day in the United States and Canada, and the first day of school in Lithuania.

EJC Joins Ten Leading Jewish Orgs to Support EC Anti-Semitism Coordinator

EJC Joins Ten Leading Jewish Orgs to Support EC Anti-Semitism Coordinator

The European Jewish Congress along with ten of its associate members in Europe including the Lithuanian Jewish Community is expressing support and gratitude to Katharina von Schnurbein, coordinator for fighting anti0Semitism for the European Communission.

Signatories also included Jewish youth groups throughout Europe.

The letter to the EC president and EC commissioner for internal affairs comes in response to criticism of von Schnurbein claiming she’s biased.The signatories claim she is being criticized for doing too much real work to fight anti-Semitism and foster Jewish life in the EU.

A copy of the letter can be found below.

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Australia Points Finger at Iran for Melbourne Synagogue Arson

Australia Points Finger at Iran for Melbourne Synagogue Arson

Speaking at press conference Tuesday morning local time, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said the Australian intelligence service ASIO had determined Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard was responsible got at least two terrorist attacks on Australian Jews.

ASIO director Mike Burgess told the press conference Revolutionary Guard agents used cut-outs and proxies to effect the attacks on the Addas Israel Synagogue in Melbourne and the Louis Continental Kitchen and Curly Lewis Brewery at Bndin Beach in Sydney. Addas was firebombed in December, 2024, and the Jewish restaurant were subject to arson attack in October, 2024.

Albanese and foreign minister Penny Wong said Australia expelled the Iranian ambassador and three Iranian embassy officials un response, eddectively shuttering the Iranian embassy in Australia opened in 1968. The PM said Australian embassy staff in Tehran had been removed to a safe third country. Albanese and Wong said they would maintain skeleton diplomatic relations with Iran through a third party, likely the Swiss embassy.

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Great Synagogue Topic of Interest on Morning Radio

Great Synagogue Topic of Interest on Morning Radio

The Ryto Allegro [Mornin Allegro] program on Lithuanian state radio’s classical music channel asked about plans to rebuild the Great Synagogue in Vilnius last week, following the announcement the Vilnius municipality began removal of a Soviet0era brick school house on top of the remains of the Great Synagogue on August 18.

Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky told the interviewer, “Rebuilding the synagogue as a house of prayer doesn’t make sense because there are not enough Jews who want to pray to support that.”

Sje moted the final death knell for the Great Synagogue came in the Soviet era. Although it was heavily damaged by bombardment in World War II, the Soviets sought to erase religion from daily life, and billdozed the parts of the synagogue which were still stamding..

“The Community’s main goal is to revivify the neighborgood which for many years was known as the Jewish Quarter. Many interesting artifacts were discovered during archaeological digs which the story of the Jews who lived here, and these should be memorialized and shown to the public,” Kukliansky told the radio audience.

The interviewer asked whether it was realistic to expect the site to become a Jewish community center. Kukliansky said that possibility shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.

“I don’t want to say too much while plans haven’t been finalized, but there is a team with world-renowned architect Massimiliano Fuksas to create a modern center which included creating an attractive space for young people to learn about the Vilna Gaon, Jewish history and the former Great Synagogue,” Kukliansky commented.

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Sabbath Times

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 8:34 P.M. on Friday, August 22, and concludes at 9:32 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 8:16 P.M. and completed before sunset at 8:34 P.M.

Australian-Israeli Relations on the Brink

Australian-Israeli Relations on the Brink

by Geoff Vasil

The Australian media, former Australian ambassador to Australia Dave Sharma, Jewish community leader Alex Ryvchin and a series of Australian politicians on both sides of the aisle are saying Israeli-Australian relations are at an all-time low.

This followed a tweet by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling Australian PM Anthony Albanese a weak leader who has failed to protect Australian Jews.

Albanese appeared to brush off the criticism and told the press he tries to deal with international leaders respectfully.

Shortly after a letter Netanyahu had sent Albanese several days earlier leaked in the media. The letter accused Albo of pouring fuel on the fire of anti-Semitism in Australia and called him a coward in so many words for appeasing Hamas with recognition of Palestinian statehood.

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Natalja Cheifec on the Holy Land, Part 3

Natalja Cheifec on the Holy Land, Part 3

Natalja Cheifec continues here discussion of the Holy Land and its people in a third installment as part of her internet discussion club Thursday. To receive zoom credentials, click here.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Thursday, August 21
Place: internet

School House on Great Synagogue Site to be Demolished

School House on Great Synagogue Site to be Demolished

The Vilnius news website madeinvilnius.lt reports work to remove a brick building, a former school, above the subterranean remains of the Great Synagogue in Vilnius is set to begin August 18. The city municipality says the removal is necessary to both provide access to and protect the archaeological site which includes the Great Synagogue and adjacent mikvot.

Full story in Lithuanian here.