Social center

Beginner and Advanced Israeli Dance Classes

Beginner and Advanced Israeli Dance Classes

The Rikudei Am Club invites those with no experience and experienced dancers to attend classes on Sunday at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius.

The cost is 20 euros for 4 classes, or 10 euros for 4 classes for LJC members. Registration is required: send an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt.

Time: 12:30 P.M., Sundays
Place: LJC, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius

Women’s Club Meeting Friday

Women’s Club Meeting Friday

Dear reader,

The Women’s Club will be expecting you again this Friday, and this meeting will be especially fun and delicious as we make quiches and pastries.

This time of year is special, the High Holy Days, and we cannot avoid the holiday spirit. THis Friday we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot, when we sit down at the table together with our families and also treat those who come by. So, dear homemakers, we will learn to make the Israeli dish pashtida, sometimes called a kugel, which resembles a quiche, and layered apple pastries.

A good time is guaranteed.

Please register before noon on Thursday by sending an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt or by calling (+370) 678 81514. Space is limited.

Time: 6:30 P.M., Friday, October 18
Place: Bagel Shop Café, Pylimo street no. 4, Vilnius

Somber Tone as Seniors Citizens Celebrate Rosh Hashanah on Eve of October 7

Somber Tone as Seniors Citizens Celebrate Rosh Hashanah on Eve of October 7

Senior citizens and elderly members of the Lithuanian Jewish Community gathered for a different kind of Rosh Hashanah celebration at the LJC in Vilnius on the weekend.

With the anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 invasion and mass murder of Israelis last year, there was less of the usual music and fun and more prayers in Yiddish and Hebrew performed by Choral Synagogue cantor Shmuel Yaatom. The cantor’s wife Natalja Cheifec spoke about the history and traditions of Rosh Hashanah and the role of the woman in the Jewish family.

Rosh Hashanah Event Program

Rosh Hashanah Event Program

Rosh Hashanah is almost here. When the sun sets Wednesday, the celebration begins.

Program of LJC Rosh Hashanah events:

Choral Synagogue:

October 2

6:00 P.M. Mincha and Maariv prayer service

October 3

10:00 A.M. Shacharis
12:00 noon Blowing of the shofar
12:15 P.M. Torah reading and Musaf
2:30 P.M. Mincha
6:00 P.M. BLowing of the shofar
7:42 P.M. Maariv

Rosh Hashanah Celebration for Seniors

Rosh Hashanah Celebration for Seniors

The LJC’s Saul Kagan Welfare Center and the Abi Men Zet Zich Club invite seniors to celebrate the new year 5785 together.

Registration required by contacting Žana at zanas@sc.lzb.lt or +370) 678 81514.

Time: 2:00 P.M., Tuesday, October 1
Place: Third floor, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius

Shana tova!

Condolences

Irina Felgina passed away September 27. She was born in 1931 and was a member of the Union of Former Ghetto and Concentration Camp Prisoners as well as a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. We extend our deepest condolences to her daughter Anna, grandson Alex and her other friends and family members.

Condolences

We report in deep sadness the death of Yuri Smirnov on Septmber 20, 2024. He was born in 1935 and was a member of the Panevėžys Jewish Community and a client of the Saul; Kagan Welfare Center.

Yuri was born in the Pskov region. He, his mother, two brothers and sister were sent to the concentration camps in Panevėžys and Šiauliai during the Holocaust. He survived thanks to his mother.

An active member of the Panevėžys Jewish Community, he served for many years as deputy chairman there.

We extend our deepest condolences to his grandson Viktoras and daugher-in-law Jovita.

Condolences

We are saddened to report the death of Elli Rubin on August 10. He was born in 1941. He was a member of the Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. Our deepest condolences to his widow Aldona, children and many friends and family members.

Condolences

Jurijus Rafas passed away August 10. He was born in 1964. 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 mother Aldona, sister Ania and his many friends and family.

Happy Birthday to Maja Moskovina

Happy Birthday to Maja Moskovina

We wish a very happy birthday to Maja Moskovina, a beloved member of the Community, volunteer and medical doctor. The entire Lithuanian Jewish Community wishes you health, continuing energy, continuing curiosity and the warmth of friends and family. Mazl tov. Bis 120!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday

We wish a very happy birthday to Leonidas Markovičius who celebrated a milestone this year on July 20. Mazl tov. Bis 120!

Condolences

We are saddened to report the death of long-time member Itzhak Solomon on July 1. He was born in 1946. Our deepest condolences to his widow Marija and to his many friends and family members.

More Attacks on Lithuanian Jewish Community

More Attacks on Lithuanian Jewish Community

Last week two more attacks were made against the Lithuanian Jewish Community. A man in a mask with the help of an accomplice brazenly stole the Israeli flag flying above the entrance of the building in Vilnius, then took the flag to a nearby park and cut it up with a knife. He also apparently threatened a person there with the same knife, but didn’t wound that person. The next day someone broke a window at the Bagel Shop Café operated by the LJC in the same building as LJC headquarters.

Both incidents were recorded on security video which has been turned over to police.

The LJC expects law enforcement will take swift action to punish the criminals in light of the rising danger posed to Jews in the Lithuanian capital.

“What’s most discouraging isn’t the crimes themselves, but people’s apathy. In the video recording you can clearly see pedestrians passing by who stopped to look back at the crazed masked man but didn’t bother to call the police. There is more than one living eye-witness in our community who has personally experienced what tragic consequences can ensue from remaining passive while crimes are committed,” LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky commented.

Condolences

Jevgenija Feldman passed away on June 7. She was born in 1939. She was a member of the Klaipėda Jewish Community and a client of the Saul Kagan Welfare Center. Faina Kukliansky and the entire Lithuanian Jewish Community send our deepest condolences to her daughter Maja and all her family and friends.

Ilan Club Ending Season

Ilan Club Ending Season

After a fun, intriguing and crazily fantastic season for the Ilan Club for children, the closing ceremony should be just as much fun. It happens this Sunday. To find out where and when, register by sending an email to levickajasimona@gmail.com. Please register by June 8.

Art Studio Ends Season with Exhibit

Art Studio Ends Season with Exhibit

The Lithuanian Jewish Community’s Art Studio under the tutelage of master painter Raimondas Savickas is ending the season with an exhibit of works by participants. Everyone is welcome, but registration is required by sending an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Friday, June 7
Place: Third floor, Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius

Next Quiz

Next Quiz

Those who like to exercise their mental faculties are invited to the next “Kas, kur, kada?” quiz with Irina Slutsker as MC. Registration is required by sending an email to zanas@sc.lzb.lt or by calling (+370) 678 81514 by next Wednesday, May 15. This time there is also a participation fee of 5 euros, which can be paid by bank transfer to the Lithuanian Jewish Community, account number LT 06 7044 0600 0575 7425 with the word “PROTMŪŠIS” indicated in the appropriate line. The quiz will be conducted in Lithuanian.

Time: 7:00 P.M., Friday, May 17
Place: Lithuanian Jewish Community, Vilnius

LJC Invites Holocaust Survivors and Veterans to Commemoration Ceremony

LJC Invites Holocaust Survivors and Veterans to Commemoration Ceremony

Last Wednesday Lithuanian Jewish Community programs director Žana Skudovičienė invited so-called was children, now senior citizens, to a commemoration and celebration of the surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies in 1945.

As in past years, the LJC invited Holocaust victims and our veterans to celebrate the end of the Holocaust in early May, on Victory Day, celebrated on May 8 and 9.

Participants lit candles in memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, the victims of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7 and in hope for the safe return of Hamas’s Israeli hostages.

Liba Britanishkina and Samuil Retznik, both now in their nineties but still extraordinarily active, and our centenarians Jewish partisan Fania Bratzovskaya and Aleksandr Asovski, were singled out for special attentions and presented gifts and flowers by LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky who visited them personally.

Victory Day

Victory Day

May 8 and 9 are celebrated as Victory Day, marking the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany which came into effect at 12:01 A.M. on May 9, 1945, Lithuanian time.