Religion

Klaipėda Jewish Community Celebrates Purim with Concert in Yiddish

The Klaipėda Jewish Community held a concert March 22 by the Klezmasters led by Lev Sandiuk and vocalist Alina Ivakh with solo performances by Mikhail Blinkov on clarinet and Aleksei Rozov on violin. The group performed songs in Yiddish as well as Hebrew, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Russian, Belarusian and even Azeri. The concert was held as a sort of joint celebration of Purim, the happiest of Jewish holidays, and the International Day of Happiness. The Purim holiday was presented to the multicultural audience. The concert went late into the night and Klaipėda municipal officials and members of the various ethnic communities in Klaipėda thanked the organizers for the good time had by all.

For more, see here.

New LJC Project to Make Recommendations on Anti-Semitism at EU Level

Remembrance. Responsibility. The Future. These are the sequential steps leading to real changes in society. The future of democracy and tolerance depends on memory and responsibility assumed, allowing for moving forward. A step towards the future–after surveying, judging and adopting expertise from the best initiatives aimed at fighting discrimination–this is the goal of this new start-up project.

The new project is called Development and Publication of Recommendations for Actions to Fight Anti-Semitism and Romophobia in Lithuania.

The project is supported by the Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft foundation or EVZ in Germany. This foundation supports systematic and long-term studies of discrimination against and marginalization of Jews and Roma in Europe.

The Lithuanian Jewish Community has brought together a group of leading experts from among Lithuanian human rights organizations, community activists, academics and specialists from abroad. This group is undertaking to come up with effective and valuable recommendations on actions for fighting anti-Semitism and Romophobia in Lithuania.

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LJC Gešer and Kaveret Clubs Celebrate Purim

The Gešer and Kaveret Clubs of the Lithuanian Jewish Community held a joint Purim carnival/party last Friday. Since the party fell on the Sabbath, they kicked off the celebration with a Sabbath prayer by a young couple in the Kaveret Club.

The event was hosted by LJC program coordinator Žana Skudovičienė and Michailas Frišmanas. The theme was “hipsterism” from the 60s, 70s and 80s and participants were instructed to come dressed as hipsters from that era. There were skits performed on the story and traditions of Purim.

There was also a surprise in store for everyone: famous American cellist, composer and vocalist Ian Maksin showed up and performed. He said he was enthralled by the warm atmosphere and hospitality at the Lithuanian Jewish Community celebration.

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Frankfurt Jewish Community Looks Forward to Passover

Frankfurto žydų bendruomenė taip pat laukia Pesacho šventės

Employees of the Lithuanian Jewish Community’s Social Programs Department are currently visiting the Frankfurt Jewish Community in Germany. Under the EU’s ERASMUS program, ten center employees will learn from colleagues in Germany, Poland and France this year how best to expand the care and services network for the elderly and how to provide higher-quality services to our clientele.

Our employees studying practices in Germany are being hosted by our partner-organization Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle der Juden in Deutschland or ZWST. This is one of the organizations with the longest experience serving the elderly. Their main clients are Jews and their families who have immigrated from Eastern Europe. The LJC Social Programs Department wants to learn more about the standards of services provided, European perspectives and how to apply them in dealing with the problem of aging in the Community.

Below you will find some pictures and descriptions of the Frankfurt Jewish Community, the second-largest Jewish community in Germany about 60% of whose members hail from Russia, Ukraine and other countries. Members pay a membership fee based on their income tax.

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Department of Ethnic Minorities Presents Virtual Tour of Heritage Sites

The Department of Ethnic Minorities under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania invited those interested in cultural heritage to the launch of their multimedia DVD March 16. The DVD presents moveable and non-moveable heritage objects and sites of ethnic minorities living in Lithuania. The disc contains panoramic photographs of Lithuanian ethnic minority heritage sites by photographer Kostas Šukevičius. This section of the disc includes heritage associated with the Polish and Jewish communities in Lithuania.

Speakers and participants at the event included Cultural Heritage Department director Diana Varnaitė, senior archivist of Lithuania Ramojus Kraujelis, acting director of the State Tourism Department Indrė Trakimaitė-Šeškuvienė, journalist and author Aurelija Arlauskienė who has written a number of books about Lithuanian cultural sites including about the Paulava Republic, and Lithuanian Jewish Community heritage specialist Martynas Užpelkis. Donatas Puslys, editor-in-chief of the website bernardinai.lt, was moderator.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

Matzo Brei with Spinach

The Bagel Shop Café has started selling matzo and matzo flour, so we’d like to present some traditional Jewish dishes made from these items.

Matzo brei also known as matzo metugenet is a simple Ashkenazi dish whose name refers to matzo being fried. The dish is often made for breakfast during Passover.

You will need:

2 cups boiling water
5 eggs
6 matzo bread wafers

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American Hebrew Academy Director Visits LJC

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Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky met with Glenn Drew, chief executive officer of the American Hebrew Academy, the international Jewish college preparatory boarding school with a distance-learning program via internet, on March 17 to discuss educational opportunities for members of the LJC and their children. The Baltic Council for International Education facilitated the meeting.

Mr. Drew first visited Vilnius in October, 2016. Reading recently about the Lithuanian Jewish Community’s chairwoman and her work, he decided to make contact with the Community directly.

In a letter to the chairwoman sent before the meeting, Mr. Drew wrote:

“I spend a considerable amount of time traveling around the world visiting Jewish communities to inform them about opportunities for Jewish teenagers to study and the American Hebrew Academy in the United States. During my visit to Vilnius, I welcome the opportunity to meet with you and your board. I believe we share many common interests and would like to explore how we may collaborate in the future.

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Matzo Is Here!

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Members of the Vilnius Jewish Community are invited to pick up a box of matzo bread in room 201 at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius on workdays between 8:30 A.M. and 4:30 P.M. from March 22 to March 28. On Sunday, May 26, please come between 11:00 A.M and 5:00 P.M. Try to remember to bring you membership card!

Please note: Matzo will be distributed to social program clients separately. They are invited to pick up a box of matzo bread in the computer classroom on the first floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius on workdays between 11:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M. from March 21 to April 4.

Every member will receive a full box of matzo without charge, but due to financial constraints we are unable to provide more than one box per member. Additional boxes may be purchased at the Bagel Shop Café for €3.50 per 1 kg box.

Special Celebrations at the Šiauliai Jewish Community

Last weekend was special for the Šiauliai Jewish Community. Friday many members of the community gathered to celebrate the Sabbath conducted properly by Rabbi Kalev Krelin. The men went for prayer to the synagogue and the women lit the candles to the kiddush and challa. We had a special guest: Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Amir Maimon paid an unofficial visit.

At the culmination of the evening the entire community enjoyed kosher floimen-tzimmes.

Early Saturday morning the men gathered again for prayer at synagogue with the rabbi.

In the evening all members of the community dressed up in carnival costumes and masks and gathered to celebrate Purim. Rabbi Kalev Krelin read from the Book of Esther and all of us, together and loudly, wiped the name of Haman from history.

This year the holiday coincided with the 27th anniversary of modern Lithuanian independence and the community didn’t neglect that holiday either, singing the Lithuanian national anthem (and Hatikvah).

With our feasting and fun we celebrated Purim according to all the Jewish traditions.

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Department of Ethnic Minorities to Launch DVD on Polish, Jewish Minorities in Lithuania

The Department of Ethnic Minorities to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania invites the public to attend the launch of a multimedia DVD on Polish and Jewish heritage in Lithuania.

The event is scheduled for 2:00 P.M. March 16, 2017, at the Department of Ethnic Minorities building at Raugyklos no. 25 in Vilnius.

For more information and the register, please email informacija@tmde.lt

Purim at the Kaunas Jewish Community

Kauno žydų bendruomenės Purimo šventė

Members of the Kaunas Jewish Community celebrated Purim wishing one another good fortune, joy, success and inner and world peace. As in earlier years specially-baked homentashen added to the festivities. The Lithuanian Jewish Community’s social programs department and the Goodwill Foundation helped make the celebration possible.

LJC Gešer and Kaveret Young Families Clubs Putting on Purim Party

The Gešer and Kaveret Young Families Clubs invite you to come celebrate the happiest Jewish holiday of the year, Purim, with a Purim Carnival, with music and atmosphere from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s and the unforgettable Michailas Frišmanas and DJ Titas Morkūnas.

The Carnival theme is стиляги (hipsterism), including foxtrot, jive, boogie woogie and rock’n’roll. Recommended attire includes loud shirts and dresses of all eras, colorful jackets, ties, umbrellas and fedoras, but use your imagination and go wild, hipsters come in all shapes, sizes and historical eras. Only those in costume to be admitted.

The party starts at 7:00 P.M. on March 17 at the Natali restaurant located at Žalgirio street no. 92. The cost of ticket per person is €10.00 and reservations may be made from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. from March 7 to March 14, please call Žana Skudovičienė at 8 678 81514

Purim: Shame, Power and Dumb Luck


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by Andrés Spokoiny

What if we are wrong about Purim? What if Purim is not the joyful holiday that we think it is, but a mordant exercise in self-criticism, a painful look at the mirror, a scathing self-deprecation designed to inspire shame rather than glee?

Let’s go back to the basics of the story: King Ahasuerus of Persia tries to publicly humiliate Queen Vashti. The Queen refuses and Ahasuerus sends her away. He replaces her with Esther, a Jewish woman who is the cousin of Mordechai, a Jew of some renown. Mordechai subsequently uncovers a plot to kill the king, but does not immediately receive any reward. A showdown takes place between Mordechai and the evil viceroy Haman, who demands that all subjects bow to him. Mordechai refuses and Haman convinces the king to exterminate all the Jews, because they are a people “scattered among the peoples of all the countries of your empire, whose laws differ from every other people, and they don’t obey the laws of the king” (Esther 3:8). Haman draws lots and determines that the 14th of Adar will be the day of the massacre. (Purim means “luck” or “lots”). Esther plans a convoluted plot to expose Haman in front of the king by revealing her own true identity and accuse the viceroy of disloyalty. Haman gets hanged on the same tree on which Mordechai was supposed to be executed, and the Jews go on a rampage to kill those who sought to harm them. Since then, and for some 2,500 years and counting, we party and get drunk. In the famous epigram: they tried to kill us, they failed, let’s eat and drink.

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Purim at the Panevėžys Jewish Community

Purim is the spring holiday when we celebrate the rescue of the Jews from death in Babylon. On March 12 the Panevėžys Jewish Community began the celebration with chairman Gennady Kofman reading the Purim story out loud, the Book of Esther from the Bible which tells of the destruction facing the Jews living in Babylon and the miracle of their rescue due to the efforts of queen Esther, the Jewish wife of the Persian king. Not only were the Jews saved, they defeated the king’s evil vizier Haman who chose the day for the destruction of the Jews by casting lots, but who was himself punished. Many children attended the Panevėžys Jewish Community’s Purim celebration. There was a dining table for children, the children put on plays and watched films and concerts in connection with Jewish history. Purim is the happiest Jewish holiday and there was much song and much laughter. Everyone received a small gift as well.

Bagel Shop Café Wishes You a Happy Purim and Offers Traditional Holiday Foods

Hag Purim sameakh!

The Bagel Shop this week offers vegetarian bebelakh. During the Purim holiday period we are also making a variety of delicious treats including hamentashen and serving wine. We are making vegetarian dishes in honor of Queen Esther, who was a vegetarian. The Bagel Shop is located at Pylimo street no. 4 at street level in Vilnius.

Bean bebelakh, a recipe from Riva Portnaja’s mother Sara Berienė

Sara always made this dish for the Purim holiday where all dishes were vegetarian in honor of Queen Esther.

Soak a liter of large beans overnight, boil in salted water for a long time until they go soft. Served cold sprinkled with salt. Simple and delicious!

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Free Hamentashen for Kids!

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Children who come into the Bagel Shop Café in Purim masks or who say the secret code phrase–Hag Purim sameakh!–will receive a small gift.

This week Jews in Vilnius and around the world are baking the pastry called hamentashen, aka Haman’s ears, engage in an exchange of gift bags or Purim baskets of food and drink called mishloakh manot and put on the best parties of the year. Purim is the one holiday where adult Jews are allowed to get drunk and it considered customary to do so.

Our Litvak hamentashen are made with yeast according to recipes from families of Lithuanian Jewish Community members. Head baker Riva Portnaja tells how in her family they called hamantashen “ormentashen,” and her mother always added yeast to the dough. Classical Litvak hamantashen only used poppy seeds for filling and the triangles forming the base and top of the pastry are almost sealed close.

For more, see this facebook page.