Lithuanian Jewish Community

Where in the World is Diego Garcia?

by Geoff Vasil

I always used to ask myself that every time i heard Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego on television.

Back in the 1980s Brøderbund Software released a game by the same name which became extremely popular with school children. It went on to become a children’s game show on the Public Broadcasting System network in the United States. Later the newcomer network Fox picked it up as well.

The games and series are essentially a mystery where clues are given to the current location of the arch-villain Carmen Sandiego, head of the international association of bad guys called V.I.L.E., shades of SPECTRE, HYDRA and KAOS.

2025-06-222025-06-23

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:59 P.M. on Friday, June 20, and concludes at 11:32 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 9:41 P.M. and completed before sunset at 9:59 P.M. In various countries the summer solstice is celebrated on various days from June 20 to 23, the longest day of the year and the official beginning of summer. In Lithuania June 24 is St. John”s Day and is a non-work day.

2025-06-19

Intensive Yiddish Courses Coming This Summer

The Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium in Vilnius will host two weeks of Yiddish course at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels under the tutelage of Dov-Ber Kerler and Anna Vershik–both teachers at the former Vilnius Yiddish Institute’s summer courses–and Yuri Vedenyapin from Poland August 3-15. The cost is €350 per student and registration is open now by clicking the following link:
https://forms.gle/DR4nzbXrDS84TVQ37

Beginners need no knowledge of the language at all but the instructors say knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet would be a big help. For more information, write to: yiddishcourse@ort.lt

2025-06-182025-08-25

Makabi to Hold Paddle Tennis Competition

Lithuanian Makabi Athletics Club will hold for the first time a paddle tennis competition. Registrations is open till June 24. The cost is 30 euros per person or 60 euros for a team. To register click here. For more information, write info@maccabi.lt

Time: 11:00 A,M. to 2:00 P.M., Sunday, June 29
Place: Fanai paddle ball courts, Metalo street no. 2, Vilnius

2025-06-18

Scouting Camp by Boat

ewish scouting leader Michail Adomui Kofman is planning a scouting camp at the Vaitlunkis camp and recreation area in the Panevėžys district to be reached and exited by boat from July 2 to July 8.

The program includes abundant activities, four meals per day, amenities and camp badges and emblems.

The cost is 90 years for the full program, 15 euros per day for part-time participants and a donation of 30 euros from adult volunteers and older scouts. Part-time volunteers are asked to pay 5 euros per day. Parents and guests attending visitor’s day are asked to pay 10 euroes per day. Scout leaders supervising groups of young people are not asked to pay anything. There are discounts for two children from the same family at 75 euros per person, and 3 members of the same family pay just 6- euros each. Discouns don’t apply to adult family members.

2025-06-182025-06-18

Journey to Agartha Scouting Jamboree in Panevėžys

A jamboree of scouts from across the Panevėžys district including a contingent of Jewish scouts met in the Žalioji Forest and camped there from May 31 to June 1.

Almost 150 scouts already on scene greeted a minbus full of Jewish scouts just before the opening ceremony for the campsite.

The scouts were divided into age groups and activities for the youngest included handicrafts and botanical identification. Scouts aged 10-14 played games to increase vigilance, leadership and strategic thinking. Scouts 14-18 honed their skills in constructing shelters (knots, wooden construction, tool safety), built a dug-out bunker and cooked for themselves.

This was the first time Jewish scouts appeared with their new official troop title, the Yitzhak Meir Jewish Scouting Club.

The jamboree was called A Journey to Agartha, the mythical subterranean kingdom popularized in Europe by Ferdynand Ossendowski and René Guénon.

2025-06-18

Hey Hey Film-Making Camp for Children

Milana Rozovskaja will lead a filmmaking workshop/camp for young people aged 7 to 14 from July 27 to August 1. Instruction will include fundamentals of cinematic literary from writing scenes, character development, animation to special effects. The young people will perform in their own films and will do video and audio editing. The intensive workshop will conclude with screenings of the films produced.

To register, click here. For more information, call Milana at+370 686 59719.

2025-06-18

Natalja Cheifec’s Lecture on Jewish Courts

Natalka Cheifec will deliver her weekly lecture on Jewish life followed by discussion on Jewish judicial commissions, i.e., Jewish courts. The internet lecture and dsicussion starts at 6:30 P.M. this Tursday, June 19, via the zoom platform.

Among the topics she plans to address:

• Criteria for selecting judges;
• Definition of theft and its eight species;
• Punishment for murder;
• Definition of unintentional homicide;
• The death penalty;
• Greater guilt of inciter over perpetrator;
• Definition of bribery;
• Sanctuary;
• Rules of war.

To receive zoom credentials, click here.

2025-06-18

Bundeswehr, Maceva Clean Up Old Jewish Cemetery in Merkinė

Soldiers from the German Bubdeswehr’s 45th armored brrigade and members of the Maceva Jewish cemetery preservation group spent four days last week cleaning up the old Jewish cemetery and Holocaust monument in Merkinė in southeast Lithuania.

Merkinė is the site of early if not the earliest Jewish settlement in Lithuania.

Brigade commander Christoph Huber, German ambassador to Lithuania Cornelius Zimmermann and Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky visited the cemetery to see the soldiers’ work at a special ceremony for concluding the upkeep mission.

About 130 soldienrs working with people from Lithuania’s Maceva Jewish cemeteries initiative removed moss, polished headstones and cleared brush from the site. Members of Maceva photographed the markers and cemetery as well.

One German soldier stationed in Lithuania since April said: “It’s not an obvious thing to me that I as a German soldier can contribute to the meaningful work by Maceva at Jewish cemeteries. This was an especially moving experience for me, to look at our complicated page of history in Lithuania.”

2025-06-172025-06-17

The War with Iran: No Contest

by Geoff Vasil

Critics contend the claim Iran is weeks away from a nuclear bomb has been a talking point for at least a decade if not 30 years now.

Israel and the International Atomic Energy Commission say Iran has violated restrictions on uranium enrichment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in the last several months.

Iran says this is their first violation and that they don’t want and never have wanted a nuclear bomb.

If Iran has been accused of the same thing for over a decade, and Israel maintains that the danger is here at the door, which side is right?
\
Actually, it turns out all sides are right. The reason is simple. the funny little secret about nuclear bombs is that they aren’t very high technology at all. In fact, the basic atomic bomb is as simple as smashing two rocks together.

2025-06-162025-06-17

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:56 P.M. on Friday, June 13, and concludes at 11:29 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 9:38 P.M. and completed before sunset at 9:56 P.M. Saturday is Flag Day un the United States.

2025-06-112025-06-11

From Lithuania to Israel via Siberia

The Vilnius Jewish Public Library is pleased to announce a presentation of a translation of Shmaryahu Pustopetsky’s book From Lithuania to Israel via Siberia on Monday, June 16.

Translators Regina Kopilevich, an accomplished genealogist and tourist guide for Jewish Vilna, and historian and author Dalia Epšteinaitė will discuss the book with sociologist and historian Violeta Davoliūtė who specializes in family studies as moderator.

Pustopetsjy was a military officer in pre-World War II independent Lithuania, and was deported to Siberia, He was an active member of the Beitar movement before the Holocaust. In the book, he discusses both world wars, Litvak culture in the 1930s, the story of the so-called prisoners of Zion and the brutal prison camps under Stalin.

Time: 6:00 P.M., Monday, June 16
Place: Vilnius Jewish Public Library, Gedimino prospect no. 24, Vilnius

2025-06-112025-06-12

Geert Wilders: If Jerusalem Falls, So Do We

Dutch Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders delivered a strong speech to the Dutch parliament supporting Israel, and said Israel’s fight with terrorist organizations is a fight for the West itself. He said: “If Jerusalem falls, so will Paris, and Berlin. Israel is fighting for all of us.”

JNS reported the speech was made June 4 as Wilders’s party was considering leaving the ruling government coalition because of the failure by coalition partners to keep pledges on controlling immigration into the Netherlands.

Wilders also said: “A mother in Holland can sleep peacefully because a mother in Israel is staying awake to see if her son returns home from battle. Israel is an outpost of freedom. It is the only democracy in the Middle East and if it falls, so will Europe.”

Wilders decried the “almost anti-Semitic” statements made by opposition leader Frans Timmermans slandering the state of Israel. Wilders mused on the loss of moral compass among so-called leaders in the West who “are ready to condemn a state that is defending itself, and remain silent about those who are shooting up orphanages.”

2025-06-112025-06-11

Rafael Gimelstein Takes Respectable 2nd Place in Lithuanian Championship

Lithuanian Makabi athlete and LJC member Rafael Gimelstein, 47, recently took second place in the Lithuanian Table Tennis Veterans Championship, both in individual play and in duals with partner Jurga Grucytė,

Last year Gimelstein won first in dual matches and shared third and fourth places for one-on-one play. He is currently preparing to compete at the World Maccabiah Games in Israel later this year as part of the Lithuanian delegation. Even so, he finds time to teach ping-pong to students at Sholem Aleichem in Vilnius. He also holds table tennis sessions at the park across the street from the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius open to the general public, with matches on the weekends.

2025-06-11

Natalja Cheifec Discussion Club Meets Thursday

Natalja Cheifec’s internet discussion club will meet via the zoom platform this Thursday, June 12, at 5:30 P.M. To receive zoom credentials, click here.

2025-06-11

Yiddish Veršes Album Launch/Concert

Belarussian musicians will present their new album Yiddish Veršes with a performance of tracks at Petras Cvirka Park in Vilnius on June 13, which Vilnius Culture Night.

Tok Rukoo, Sveta Ben and Syndrom Samazvanca have created a musical interpretation of early 20th century Yiddish poetry from Belarus.

The performance of selections will be followed by a discussion at the bar of the outdoor performance space Cvi Park.

The organizers are the Blearussian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center, Radio Plato, the Goethe Institute in Vilnius and the Cvi Park outdoor Israeli street food kiosk.

Tracks can be heard here: https://bnd.lc/ydver

Time: 8:00 P,M., Friday, June 13
Place: Petras Cvirka Park, Pylimo street no. 4 across from the LJC, Vilnius

2025-06-11

Sabbath Times

The Sabbath begins at 9:50 P.M. on Friday, June 6, and concludes at 11:20 P.M. on Saturday in the Vilnius region. Sabbath candles should be lit at 9:32 P.M. and completed before sunset at 9:50 P.M. Friday is D-Day in the United States. Catholic, Russian and Greek Orthodox and other Christian churches celebrate the Feast of Pentecost Sunday.

2025-06-05

Art of the Jewish Renaissance Exhibit

The Jewish Culture and Information Center is pleased to announce an exhibit called Art of the Jewish Renaissance from the collection of Tanya Rubinstein-Horowitz. She comes from a family of collectors and inherited much of the family collection from granfather Jakov Rubinstein, born in Warsaw in 1901, deceased in Moscow 1983. Jakov managed over a quarter of a century to amass a collection of early 20th century Jewish art from the Russian Empire and tje Soviet Union rivalling any other such collection in the world.

This period of creativity has been called the Jewish Renaissance, tragically cut short by Soviet ethnic and religious policy.

The exhibit includes a portion of wokrs by Tsfania-Gedalia Kipnis in her series Shtetl: Arayn un Aroys.

The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Time: June 5 to August 8
Place: Jewish Culture and Information Center, Mėsinių street no. 3a/5, Vilnius

2025-06-042025-06-05

Israeli President Isaac Herzog Visits Lithuania

On the War in Israel and the Situation in Lithuania