Lithuanian Jewish Community

Honored on International Day of Tolerance

Information from the Ethnic Minorities Department under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania

The Ethnic Minorities Department under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania assembled an awards commission for their annual award November 18. Nominations were accepted from chairpeople of ethnic community organizations, minority NGOs, social organizations and cultural center directors for whom to award as part of the Department’s celebration of the International Day of Tolerance. The awards commission received 36 requests and recommendations for award recipients.

Alvida Gedaminskienė, the director of the social organization the Ethnic Communities Center, was chosen to receive the grand prize version of the award “For Merit.”

The next highest award was the golden award of respect “For Merit” and was awarded to Aldona Kodytė, a member of the Lithuanian Association of Belarussian Schools; Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and to Kęstutis Zenonas Šafranavičius, the chairman of the Kaunas Regional Tartar Community.

2020-12-07

Happy Birthday to Eugenijus Bunka

We wish Eugenijus Bunka a happy 70th birthday. He created the Litvak Memorial Garden in the Žemaitijan National Park, is a great journalist, ethnographer and public figure.

Bunka was awarded the title of Tolerant Person of the Year for 2019. The award is made annually by the Chiune Sugihara/Diplomats for Life Foundation to Lithuanian citizens who stand up against xenophobia, anti-Semitism, radicalism and expressions of violence in Lithuanian public life by their words and deed.

Eugenijus has long led his father and sculptor Jakov Bunka’s fund, civic initiatives and restoring Jewish memory of Plungė, Žemaitija and Lithuania locally and around the world.

We wish you excellent health and may your life also be illuminated by happiness and joyful moments.

Mazl tov! Bis 120!

2020-12-07

Condolences

In sadness we report the death of Izrailius Tiktinas November 16. He was born in 1943. Our deepest condolences to his daughter Valentina.

2020-12-07

Condolences

Rachmielis Kulmanas (1929-2020) passed away November 13. We are deeply saddened by his loss and send our deepest condolences to his daughter Dina and granddaughter Jana.

2020-12-07

Academic discussion “Lithuanian Jewish History: Modern Directions.”

You are welcome to join, watch and listen to the online academic discussion “Lithuanian Jewish History: Modern Directions.”

The Lithuanian Jewish Community with the Lithuanian History Institute and other partners have organizes a series of discussions to commemorate 2020 as the Year of the Vilna Gaon and Lithuanian Jewish History. Due to the COVID-19, the World Jewish Congress in Lithuania was postponed and other events related to the Year of Vilna Gaon were not held. So this online series of discussions are the final touch to commemorate the Year of Vilna Gaon by gathering members of the global Jewish community and everyone interested in Jewish history and culture to share their thoughts virtually.

Time: 9:45 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. (UTC+2)

THe nline discussion with simultaneous translation to English will be broadcast on the event’s website: >>HERE

Audience members may join the discussion by writing questions in the chat.

2020-12-052021-01-28

Discussion “Lithuanian Jewish History: Modern Directions”

You are welcome to join, watch and listen to the online academic discussion “Lithuanian Jewish History: Modern Directions.”

Time: 9:45 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. (UTC+2)

THe nline discussion with simultaneous translation to English will be broadcast on the event’s website: >>HERE

Audience members may join the discussion by writing questions in the chat.

2020-12-042020-12-05

EJC President Slams Decision by Austrian Freedom Party to Appoint Anti-Semite to Upper House of Parliament

Brussels, November 25, 2020–European Jewish Congress president Dr. Moshe Kantor has expressed outrage after the Austrian Freedom Party appointed former foreign affairs spokesman Johannes Hübner to the Bundesrat, which is the equivalent of Austria’s Senate. In 2017 Hübner aborted an attempt to run for parliament after an anti-Semitic comment he shared at a far-right event in Germany the previous year was aired.

“The Freedom Party have claimed that they have left their anti-Semitic past behind them and have recently tried to revive their reputation, but this appointment represents a huge step backwards,” Dr. Kantor said. “It is unconscionable that a renowned anti-Semite would be given such a respectable position.”

“We call on the Freedom Party to rescind this decision and to once again turn away from its sordid anti=Semitic past,” Kantor concluded.

Oskar Deutsch, president of the Jewish community of Vienna, added: “The political return of Mr. Hübner is a confirmation of the lack of credibility of the Freedom Party. This is exactly what happened with Udo Landbauer who resigned after his student fraternity’s Nazi song books were seized and then came back as a regional party leader.”

2020-11-25

International Day for Tolerance Event Darna on Facebook

The International Day for Tolerance will be marked around the world on Monday, November 16. The Lithuanian Jewish Community has prepared a virtual celebration called Darna which will run from 10 A.M. to 10 P.M. that day, including well-known performers Jurgis Didžiulis, Erca Jennings, Afrodelic and Paulius Kibauskas. It will also include yoga and meditation activities, a discussion on the topic of tolerance and other activities.

The first Darna festival for celebrating the International Day for Tolerance invites the public to celebrate tolerance, harmony and concord, and to do so through the creation of art and community. The LJC had planned to hold the celebration as a real event, but decided to make it virtual because of concerns about the corona virus and to make an entire day’s worth of events available to those homebound.

Event organizer Rafael Gimelstein said: “We are trying to encourage the celebration of human ties and a harmonious and tolerant life through this event. We wanted to bring together all people who think the same way and to commemorate these values through creative work. To show we have very diverse and talented people who are united by a shared idea, and that tolerance is a very topical idea to them.”

2020-11-132020-12-10

Searching for the Synagogues of Pakruojis, They Found Part of the Old Town

by Živilė Kavaliauskaitė

Archaeologists working in Kranto street in Pakruojis, Lithuania, found the foundations of the Winter Synagogue and also uncovered cultural strata from the 17th and 18th centuries of the Old Town there. They were unable to locate a shtibl believed to be located at the Tailors’ Synagogue there. Team leader Dr. Ernestas Vasiliauskas said there is still no comprehensive historical or archaeological studies of the Winter and Tailors’ Synagogues.

Shtetl by the River

Archaeological digs took place at Kranto street no. 8 in Pakruojis in later August and early September. The public entity Archeologijos Centras performed the work by order of the Pakruojis regional administration.

The regional administration is preparing a project for putting the banks of the Kruoja River and the city park in order and the Lithuanian Jewish Community is offering observations for the identification and investigation of Jewish heritage buildings there.

“Almost nothing is known about the sites being sought, except for material from 1938 in an expedition by Chaim Lemchen and the Aušra Museum of Šiauliai, and the research by synagogue researcher Marija Rupeikienė, but this is comprised of just a few sentences. Everyone writes about the Summer Synagogue,” Dr. Vasiliauskas commented.

2020-11-112020-12-09

EU-Israel High Level Seminar on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Anti-Semitism

Joint Statement 13th EU-IL High Level Seminar

2020-11-11

Dr. Moshe Kantor Re-Elected President of the EJC

Dr. Moshe Kantor has been re-elected the president of the European Jewish Congress by representatives of European Jewish communities. A press release from the EJC said there were no election violations and voting was safe and credible in the vote of confidence.

Marie van der Zyl, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, was re-elected head of the EJC’s executive committee.

“I am honored and I feel the support shown by the Jewish leaders and communities across the entire Continent,” Dr. Kantor said. “European Jews are a powerful force in the Jewish world; we have remained in the forefront in fighting anti-Semitism, defending Jewish traditions and reviving Jewish communities and institutions.”

In recent months the EJC under Kantor’s leadership has undertaken new action helping provide support to Jewish communities and institutions, including schools, community centers and other organizations vitally important to European Jews facing the complex challenge of the corona virus epidemic.

2020-11-102020-11-20

Happy Birthday, Libė Britanskina

The Lithuanian Jewish Community sends heartfelt congratulations to Libė Britanskina on her milestone birthday and we wish you a happy birthday, great health and much joy!

Libė is said to the be the only Jew left from Utena and is an active member of the Community and our seniors club.

Mazl tov! May you live to 120!

2020-11-09

Ruling Peasants’ Party Leader Says Genocide Center Won’t Get Square

Ramūnas Karbauskis, the head of the ruling Union of Lithuanian Peasants and Greens said the current parliament won’t consider amendments handing Vilnius’s Lukiškės Square over to the Center for the Study of the Genocide and Resistance of Residents of Lithuania. The square is located across the street from the center which is housed in the former Gestapo and KGB headquarters.

He said previously the draft amendments would return to the parliamentary floor from committee after elections. On Thursday Karbauskis said it wouldn’t make sense to do so now as a new ruling majority is being formed.

Full story in Lithuanian here.

2020-11-09

Condolences

The Lithuanian Jewish Community together with the World Jewish Congress mourn the passing of UK Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.

We have lost an extraordinarily profound intellect and theologian of deep moral convictions. Rabbi Sacks was a moving speaker and a wonderful writer whose teachings reached Jews and Gentiles, connecting Jewish tradition with modern thinking. His writings, especially his weekly Torah portions, will set an example for future generations.

We extend our deepest condolences to Lord Sacks’s wife Eilaine and their family. May his memory remain as a source of great inspiration.

2020-11-09

Vilna Gaon Commemorative Coin Causing Consternation among Collectors

Some coin collectors who weren’t able to purchase the Vilna Gaon 300th birthday commemorative coin issued recently by the Bank of Lithuania are saying the release was a carefully-planned scam for a small group of people to get rich.

Bank of Lithuania officials said they found this reaction strange because anyone who wanted the coin was able to purchase two of them in early sales on the internet. The coin was officially released to the public on October 20, but weren’t available for sale at banks in Vilnius and Kaunas that day. Instead there was a flood of resellers offering the coin at inflated prices. The central Bank of Lithuania sold the coin for 62 euros, while in the initial days of the official release internet speculators offered it for hundreds of euros, and the asking price later climbed.

A week later vendors were asking for up to 990 dollars, or 846 euros, on ebay.com, and one Lithuanian internet commerce site asked for 1,500 euros for one coin. That vendor’s offer was exceptional, but others sold the coin for from 500 to 600 euros.

2020-11-09

World Jewish Congress President Mourns Death of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

NEW YORK–The World Jewish Congress mourns the death of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth and one of the spiritual and intellectual giants of contemporary Judaism.

Reacting to the news, WJC president Ronald S. Lauder declared: “The World Jewish Congress and the entire Jewish world are profoundly saddened by the passing of former British Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. A theologian of extraordinary intellectual depth and moral conviction, Rabbi Sacks was a riveting orator and brilliant author who brought the timeless teachings of Jewish scripture to both Jews and non-Jews alike, fusing Jewish tradition with modern thought. His writings, including–and perhaps especially–his commentaries on the weekly Torah portion will be cherished by future generations. He was also a pillar of integrity who inspired Jews and non-Jews alike.

“We extend our deepest condolences to Lord Sacks’s wife Elaine and their family. May they and the whole house of Israel be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, and may his memory be an everlasting blessing and source of inspiration.”

2020-11-092020-11-09

Bake Challa at Home and Join Millions in the #ShabesatHome Project

The Lithuanian Jewish Community invites you to join millions of other Jews around the world and join the #ShabesatHome initiative. The Lithuanian side of the initiative known as #Šabasnamuose will include the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium and the Vilnius, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Šiauliai, Ukmergė and Švenčionys communities are invited as well to join up by internet right now, Friday, November 6. Vilnius Jewish Religious Community chairman Simas Levinas, LJC chairwoman Faina Kukliansky and her granddaughter Esther will also be on hand.

Social media announcements: #ManoŽydiškaKelionė #ŽydųKultūrosMetai #ShabesatHome #ŽyduKultūrosDiena #Šabasnamuose #KeepingItTogether #GeroŠabato

For more information, contact Dovilė Rūkaitė at projects@lzb.lt (before the sun goes down).

2020-11-062020-11-06

Dr. Ruth Reches Presents Her New Book on the Holocaust and Identity

The Holocaust is the worst tragedy of humanity in the 20th century and its consequences remain the object of study of famous scholars, historians, artists, film and state directors and the best authors and poets of our time. The sum of their work brings us back into the past, recalling the horrific atrocities of the Nazi era and cautioning us against further crimes against humanity as the Holocaust makes us say and think, “never again.”

The Lithuanian Jewish Community hosted Dr. Ruth Reches’s presentation of her new book on personal identity and the Holocaust on October 19. Besides teaching Hebrew, then becoming acting principal and now principal at the Sholem Aleichem ORT Gymnasium in Vilnius, Ruth Reches recently defended her doctoral thesis in psychology.

Her book “Holokaustą patyrusių asmenų tapatumo išgyvenimas” [The Experience of Identity by Holocaust Survivors] is based on her doctoral thesis. She examines how Holocaust-induced trauma changed the identity–self-identity, personality and values system–of its experiencers during the war and long after.

There has been research on how the pain experienced during the Holocaust doesn’t just affect victims directly, but can be passed on generationally, even to the third generation. Ruth Reches, the granddaughter of a ghetto prisoner, drew on her own experience in presenting the book.

“It’s crucial to understand the feelings and thoughts of the people who went through the Holocaust. As time passes we will in the future only have a chance to interpret their emotional legacy. I often think about how the war changed the life of my grandparents. What would they have become if the war hadn’t happened? Who would I be? Even 70 years after the war, Holocaust survivors continue to live with the past. This tragedy affected their emotional, social and spiritual development,” she said.

2020-10-302020-12-14

Israel Thanks Lithuania for Wonderful Gesture, Netanyahu Calls Commemorative Coin Exciting

LRT.lt

The Bank of Lithuania has issued a coin with Hebrew inscriptions commemorating the Vilna Gaon as part of the project to mark 2020 as the Year of the Vilna Gaon and Litvak History. Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday this was an “exciting” moment.

The new coin with a nominal value of 10 euros was issued publicly last week.

“Yesterday I heard that the Lithuanian government minted a coin in honor of Vilna Gaon, who was one of the biggest Jewish philosophers and Torah specialists and one of the greatest people to have been born into the Jewish nation. It’s very exciting to have a European coin with Hebrew letters on it, commemorating one of our greatest people,” Netanyahu said Sunday, adding: “I say this as Israel’s prime minister and as a son of the Jewish nation, but also because my family is related to Vilna Gaon’s family.”

2020-10-282020-12-09

Israeli President Isaac Herzog Visits Lithuania

On the War in Israel and the Situation in Lithuania