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
Avner Korin and wife Olga Goroveya from Jaifa will speak about the situation in Israel, the war with Hamas, bombardment by Hezbollah in Lebanon, and will answer questions from the audience about the general atmosphere in Israel and what’s happening on the ground. Registration is ewquired by sending an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt.
Time: 6:30 P.M, Wednesday, September 17
Place: LJC, Vilnius
Mira Imbrasas has died. She was born ub 1937. She was a member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. We extend our deep condolences to her daughter and many friends and family.
Sofia Vysotskaya (Sofja Vysockaja) has died. She was born in 1952. She was a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center and a member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community. We extend our most sincere condolences to the son and daughter left behind.
Raisa Savalyeva has passed away. She was born in 1934. She was a member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. Our deepest condolences go to the son she leaves behind and all who knew and loved her.
Ilya Arkhangorodsky (Ilja Archangorodskis) has passed away. He was born in 1931. He was a member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. We extend our deepest condolences to his friends and family.
Unpunished vandals continue to target spaces belonging to the Lithuanian Jewish Community. Last week, for the second time, perpetrators smashed the window of the Community’s Bagel Shop. Security camera footage clearly shows this was not an accident but a deliberate act aimed at one of the most frequently visited spaces of the :LJC. Sadly Lithuanian police seem incapable of recognizing crimes which exhibit the signs of anti-Semitism; instead they prioritize incidents solely based on material damage. While a few dozen or even a few hundred euros might not seem like a large sum, violence motivated by ethnic hatred is a hate crime punishable by imprisonment.
We emphasize this is not the first clearly anti-Semitic incident. Our Israeli flag was stolen and desecrated; glass near the children’s club in the Community building was smashed; the Vilnius Choral Synagogue was vandalized; the Šiauliai Jewish Community has been attacked multiple times and our Bagel Shop has repeatedly become a target for anti-Semites. Regrettably, in none of these cases did the Lithuanian police or prosecutors take meaningful action to identify and punish the perpetrators. This sends a dangerous message to malicious actors: they may spread hatred and endanger members of the community without consequence.
Ana Rolnik passed away July 2. She was born in 1935. She was a member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. Our deepest condolences to the sister she leaves behind, Berta Rolnik.
Telesforas Laucevičius gas passed away. He was born in 1942 and was a member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. Our deepest condolences to his wife, family members and all who knew him.
Although sadly their numbers continue to diminish naturally, Righteous Gentiles were again honored by the Kaunas Jewish Community at their annual event.
Kaunas Jewish Community chairman Gercas Žakas said: “It is also great to receive these old family friends of ours we know so well, and it is equally great to meet these new descendants of rescuers and to make new friends with them.”
Architect Tauras Budzys attended the event for the first time this year. He’s been marking the graves of Righteous Gentiles with a symbol of his own design, at his own initiative and expense. Conservative MP Paulė Kuzmickienė also attended. She initiated legislation for Lithuania’s Day of Righteous Gentiles, March 15, in parliament back in 2022. The duet Perfect Nemesis provided musical accompaniment for the evening.
Genia Žuromskienė has passed away. She was born in 1944. The Lithuanian Jewish Community and chairwoman Faina Kukliansky extend our deepest condolenes to the sister, relatives and friends she leaves behind.
Julija Ruminienė has passed away. She was born in 1938. She was a member of the Šiauliai Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. Our deepest condolences to the children and friends she leaves behind.
Jewish scouts hiked the Neris Regional Park last week on the way to a campsite. Fording a river in the scouting manner, hikers took in beautiful forest and natural vistas, played a game they called “nature bingo” to learn more about nature and botany, sang songs and did other activities in the program.
More experienced scouts taught newer ones how to use a compass and maps, and how to determine cardinal directions in the natural environment. The scouts also cooked their own meal. The younger ones learned about semaphore flag signals and different groups tried to communicate over long distances using that system. More experienced scouts tried their hand at building shelters, tying knots and using them in the structures and setting up tents.
The program for the hike was made up largely by the older scouts at weekly meetings. Several months ago hiking skills were brought up and resulted in a teaching program for scouts where they performed various tasks and learned about prepared for hikes in the wilderness, how to wear backpacks more effectively, planning routes, navigating by compass, appropriate food needs and similar things, and then organized this recent hike.
Thank you to everyone who participated and to those who didn’t, more such events are being planned.
Instructors at the Ilan and Dubi Clubs have come up with a special program of activities for the upcoming Mother’s Day weekend. In Lithuania Mother’s day is marked on the first Sunday in May. Saturday’s club meetings will challenge children and young people to come up with their own programs for celebrating Mother’s Day in the afternoon starting at 1:00 P.M., followed by the arrival of their mothers afterwards at 3:00 P.M.
Registration is required for this meeting of the clubs and the event afterwards. Send an email to levickajasimona@gmail.com.
Times: 1:00 P.M. for club meetings, 3:00 P.M. for mothers’ arrival, Saturday, May 3
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius.
Sofija Estrina has died. She was born in 1936. She was a member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. Our deepest condolences to her surviving son, family members and friends.
Ada Gelpernaitė has passed away. She was born in 1960. She was a member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. Our deepest condolences to the brother she leaves behind and her many family and friends.
Jonas Karbutas has died. He was born in 1940. He was a member of the Kaunas Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. Our deepest condolences to his family and friends.
Taking care of our elderly is a Jewish tradition. Our Seniors Club which operates throughout the year with concerts, lectures and lots of fun, attended a special Passover celebration and seder at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius last week.
LJC programs coordinator Žana Skudovičienė came up with a special program for our seniors this year with music and prayer by cantor Shmuel Yaatom and a speaking event by Natalja Cheifec on Jewish history.
Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky was on hand to deliver holiday greetings from the entire Community.
Reportedly every member of the Seniors Club attended.
Dear Community members, friends, supporters and dear reader,
Greetings to all Jews on the great holiday Passover. This holiday crows the liberation of the Jews from the oppression of the Egyptian pharaoh and our becoming one people and a free people.
Passover isn’t a time of noisy gatherings. It is a traditional family holiday when the home is cleansed of leavening agents, children seek out the hidden pieces of matzo, when the whole family sits down at the seder table and reads the Haggadah.
We are so very happy that this year the majority of Litvak families are celebrating Passover in line with all traditions and rules, celebrating at home with their families. Our staff and homecare workers are also visiting our members who live alone that they might also feel cared for and share in the holiday spirit of warmth and joy.
I wish everyone a happy family Passover. Let’s always remain free and let’s always be happy.
Happy Passover! Hag Pesach sameach!
Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community
Borisas Liberčukas has died. He was born in 1936. He was a member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. Our deepest condolences to his widow, children and friends left behind.