Lithuanian Jewish Community

Slobodka Cemetery and Seventh Fort Mass Murder Site in Kaunas to be Cleaned Up

Following a meeting between the Israeli ambassador and the mayor and city council of Kaunas in early March, on the first Friday in April the Kaunas deputy mayors, municipal staff and the chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community visited the Jewish cemetery in the Slobodka neighborhood [Vilijampolė] and the mass grave at the Seventh Fort. During this meeting in the field, it was resolved that the municipal body Kapinių priežiūra [Cemetery Maintenance] would set up an information stand at the entrance to the Slobodka cemetery and would post signs forbidding cars, smoking, walking dogs and lighting fires there.

Another resolution was adopted for the Seventh Fort mass murder site: the city maintenance department (represented by Jolanta Miliauskienė) is to clean up the site (clean flagstones and collect garbage) around the monument to the Jews murdered there. The environmental department (represented by Radeta Savickienė) is to cut down trees and bushes according to a request drafted by cultural heritage department head Saulius Rimas which includes a photograph showing what is to be cut down and with the consent of Gercas Žakas, chairman of the Kaunas Jewish Community.

2016-04-06

Order of Malta Benefit Concert in Munich Raises 123,000 Euros for Righteous Gentiles in Lithuania

Faina Kukliansky, Christian von Bechtolsheim and Aloyzas Žukauskas

Vilnius, April 6, BNS–A benefit concert by the Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Order of Malta held in Germany has raised over 123,000 euros for Righteous Gentiles living in Lithuania.

Ambassador of the Order of Malta to Lithuania baron Christian von Bechtolsheim presented the symbolic check for the full amount to go to the Righteous Gentiles at the Lithuanian Jewish Community in Vilnius Wednesday.

“Righteous Gentiles are the true heroes of that time, they risked their own lives and those of their loved ones providing haven to people who would have been murdered by the Nazis. They hid them, fed them, provided a roof, and all of this demonstrates a human face during the darkest times in Europe,” the ambassador said.

2016-04-06

Order of Malta to Aid Lithuania’s Righteous Gentiles

April 6, 2016–Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė met Wednesday with Righteous Gentiles, or people who rescued Jews during World War II in Lithuania. The ambassadors of the Order of Malta, Germany and Israel and the leaders of the Order of Malta Relief Organization and the Lithuanian Jewish Community attended the meeting.

During friendly conversation over tea, the outstanding achievements of these brave Lithuanians were remembered and thoughts were shared on their problems, concerns and the help they need. The Order of Malta project to aid Righteous Gentiles in Lithuania was presented. All Righteous Gentiles still living in Lithuania are quite elderly and many of them live in isolation and need help.

A benefit concert was held in Munich to raise money for the Righteous Gentiles in Lithuania. More than 123,000 euros were raised for this purpose from that concert.

Baron Christian von Bechtolsheim, the ambassador of the Order of Malta to Lithuania, said: “The Maltese in Lithuania take care of many ill, elderly and isolated people. But Righteous Gentiles are special. These noble and courageous people were not afraid and risked their own lives to rescue their neighbors and countrymen from death. Now it’s our turn to help them.”

2016-04-06

Children’s Chess Competition

11:00 A.M., April 9

The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Rositsan and Maccabi Chess and Checkers Club
invite you to a children’s chess competition.

The match is dedicated to the memory of Vladas Mikėnas

Children up to age 10 will participate. The competition will take place at Kaštonų street No. 2, Vilnius (at the Children’s Chess School)

Tournament director: FIDE master Boris Rositsan, senior referee/judge: Ričardas Fichmanas

To register or for more information, contact: info@metbor.lt or telephone +3706 5543556

2016-04-06

More about the Righteous Gentiles Project with the Order of Malta

The countries of Europe was exhausted by bloody battles during World War II, but the Jewish people suffered especially and were murdered merely for being Jewish. They were murdered in all countries occupied by the Nazis including Lithuania. In Lithuania the Jewish communities were strong and maintained a strong cultural identity, and the country was referred to as the Jerusalem of the North sometimes, but even so, more than 95% of all Jews were murdered here during World War II, and out of approximately 250,000 only 5,000 survived.

In those dark days of chaos, violence and mass murder, however, some very brave, noble and resolved Lithuanians stepped forward to oppose what was happening around them, and sought ways to save at least a few lives of their fellow citizens. Rescuers of Jews risked their own lives and those of their families, and many were killed and sent to concentration camps. The title Righteous among the Nations, or simply Righteous Gentile, is awarded by the state of Israel to those who saved Jews. Currently a little under 100 people who have received this award live in Lithuania, and all of them are quite old. Many of them are living in poverty and suffering from illness. The morality and sacrifice it takes to save an innocent child, elderly person, a man or a woman, your own neighbor from the jaws of death is no less an heroic act than fighting for the freedom of your country. Wanting to help these heroic people, the ambassador of the Order of Malta to Lithuania, baron Christian von Bechtolsheim, launched an initiative and on November 2, 2015, a benefit concert was held in Munich, Germany. The conductor was world-renowned Enoch zu Guttenberg. Patrons included president of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė and German president Joachim Gauck. The benefit was quite successful and raised more than 125,000 euros. These monies will be used for the welfare and benefit of Righteous Gentiles, many of whom are isolated, poor and in need.

2016-04-06

Lithuanian President Meets with LCJ, Maltese Charitable Organization Head to Discuss Aid to Righteous Gentiles

April 6, 2016

Wednesday, April 6, Vilnius. President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė met with the initiators of a unique project to aid rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust in Lithuania and Germany. The unusual project for Lithuanian Jewish rescuers carried out in two countries was the initiative of the Order of Malta and the Lithuanian Jewish Community.

The goal of the project was to help people living in Lithuania who saved Jews during World War II. Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė and German Federal Republic president Joachim Glauck supported the initiative.

“Even during the darkest hours of our history, Righteous Gentiles demonstrated humanity. Lithuania and Germany together remember their bravery and sacrifice, and we will always be grateful for the heroism and nobility of the Righteous Gentiles. This project brings together people and countries and forms a bridge between the past and the future, denying victory to apathy,” the president of Lithuania said.

2016-04-06

Israeli Supreme Court Says State Should Recognize Orthodox Conversion

TEL AVIV (JTA)–Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the state must recognize Orthodox conversions performed in Israel outside the authority of the Chief Rabbinate. The ruling Thursday means any non-citizen who converts in a private Israeli Orthodox conversion court can gain Israeli citizenship under the country’s Law of Return. Previously, converts who converted abroad could only gain Israeli citizenship if they lived in a Diaspora Jewish community. Some 150 citizens who have converted in private Israeli Orthodox conversion courts will now be seen as Jewish by the state.

The court rejected the state’s claim that only Chief Rabbinate conversions are legitimate within Israel. Because of the Jewish community’s multifaceted nature, the court ruled, any conversion performed by any Orthodox community, whether in Israel or abroad, are recognized as valid.

“The Jewish nation is indeed one nation, but it is spread out across the world and is composed of communities, layers and sub-layers,” the court’s decision read. Recognizing only the Chief Rabbinate “does not attribute weight to the existing range of Jewish communities–and that is unacceptable.”

Full story here.

2016-04-05

Thank You

The Kaunas Jewish Community expresses their heart-felt thanks for the timely ordering and delivery of matzo for the community. Our gratitude to Lithuanian Jewish Community chairwoman Faina Kukliansky, Social Center director Simas Levinas, accountant Asta Rainytė, program coordinators Michailis Segalis, Ema Jakobienė, Rašelė Šeraitėi, project leader Lauras Sabonis, administrator Rokas Dobrovolskas and Indrė Rutkauskaitė.

Holiday greetings to all!

2016-04-01

Challa at the Bagel Shop Café

The Bagel Shop Café has begun making challa bread for Sabbath the way it should be. Besides bagels, visitors can now purchase authentic challa bread, not too sweet but very delicious. A good Sabbath to all.

2016-04-01

Amercian Virtuosi to Play Panevėžys

The Panevėžys Musical Theater
Nepriklausomybės [Independence] square No. 8
5:30 P.M., April 20, 2016

Concert

Music: The Best Bridge between All Nations

The American Virtuosi ensemble:

Emmanuel Borowsky on violin, Frances Borowsky on cello, Elizabeth Borowsky on piano, Charles Borowsky on harmonica and voice.

Jerusalem of Lithuania ensemble musicians to perform at the concert:

Boris Traub on violin, Henrikas Marcinkus on alto violin and Valentinas Kaplūnas on cello.

Program:

Day One: Faustas Latėnas – Borisas Traubas. “Jerusalem of Lithuania,” musical score for Grigorijus Kanovičius’s drama “Nusišypsok mums, Viešpatie!” [“Smile upon us, O Lord!”]. Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911) – Five pieces (an adaptation by Boris Traub). Luigi Boccerini, quintet, “Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid” [“Night Music of the Streets of Madrid”].

Day Two: Max Bruch, Scottish Fantasy, op. 46, parts 2 and 3. Francis Poulenc, Sonata for cello, FP 143, parts 2 and 3. “Music from around the World” medley by the American Virtuosi.

Lithuanian concerts by the American Virtuosi supported by:

2016-03-31

Israeli Food Industry Reps to Visit Lithuania

Next week a delegation of representatives of the Israeli food industry are to visit Lithuania. About 20 people from 13 Israeli companies are scheduled to come to look for partners. They are reportedly looking for ecological and vegetarian products, products with a long shelf-life and items which might be new to their national market. The public organization Versli Lietuva is to organize meetings with about 50 Lithuanian companies. The Israeli delegation will also attend a business forum along with representatives of the Israeli embassy to assess the results of cooperation between the two countries so far and to talk about the future. Israeli ambassador to Lithuania Amir Maimon said the visit demonstrates the desire by both countries to increase trade and business ties.

In the past Lithuanian food producers have visited fairs in Israel and more and more Lithuanian businesses are getting kosher food certificates. Almost 40 percent of Lithuanian exports to Israel are food products, mainly milk products, and agricultural production. One hot Lithuanian export item has been cheese for about 20 years now. Non-food exports include pharmaceuticals and furniture.

The most promising Lithuanian exports to Israel include biotech, IT services, chemicals, furniture, food, timber and tourism. The Lithuanian company Altechna exports lasers to Israel and biotech firm ProBioSanus has entered the Israeli market as well.

2016-03-31

Our Deepest Condolences

Girsh Vainer, member of the Lithuanian Jewish Community’s Social Club, passed away March 29. Our deepest condolences to his family and friends.

December 6, 1946—March 29, 2016

2016-03-31

LJC and Rositsan and Maccabi Elite Checkers and Chess Club Chess Championship

The Lithuanian Jewish Community and the Rositsan and Maccabi Elite Checkers and Chess Club invite you to a chess championship open to the public at 11:00 A.M. on April 3.

At 11:00 A.M. on April 10 there will be a chess tournament dedicated to the memory of chess master Donatas Lapienis.

Both events are to take place at the Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo No. 4, Vilnius.

Boris Rositsan, FIDE master, will direct both competitions.

For more information and to register, contact:

info@metbor.lt
telephone +3706 5543556

2016-03-31

Lox on Bagels: An Answer to Eggs Benedict?

A Bit about Bagels

The history of the bagel is surrounded by myth and legend but seems to begin in the 12th century. One version has it that a Church ban on commercial Jewish bakeries was responsible for its appearance. In 1264 Polish grand duke Bolesław the Pious issued his Statute of Kalisz or Charter for Jews of Grand Poland which allowed Jews to freely by, sell and touch bread in common with Christians. In response a group of Polish bishops forbade Christians from buying any food at all from Jews, as it were anathema. As Moses ben Israel Isserles put it in the 16th century” “it is preferable to live on dry bread and in peace in Poland” than to remain in better conditions in lands more dangerous for Jews. At some point Jews were allowed to work with bread which was boiled, and they created the bagel to comply with his ruling, according to this version. In 1610 the first mention appears of the word “bagel” in Yiddish in the written sources, in regulations issued by the Jewish council of Kraków, which stated that bagels were to be given as a gift to women in childbirth.

Whatever the case, the bagel was popular among Jews in Eastern Europe, and came with them to America in the 19th and 20th centuries.

2016-03-31

Lithuanian Psychologist: Three Years Ago I Believed the Double Genocide Theory

Rasa Bieliauskaitė, photo: Ugnius Babinskas

Three Years Ago I Believed the Double Genocide Theory
by Geoff Vasil

So said Rasa Bieliauskaitė, a psychologist specializing in trauma therapy, at what was, for Lithuania, a remarkable meeting of the minds recently.

The Vilnius Jewish Public Library hosted a panel discussion featuring historians and psychologists on the topic of the Holocaust and collective memory.

In their introductory statements several of the speakers, including Bieliauskaitė, mentioned Rūta Vanagaitė’s new book about the Lithuanian Holocaust, and the unexpected popularity of that book became the backdrop for much of the conversation which lasted several hours and which became a much larger discussion when distinguished members of the audience chimed in towards the end.

2016-03-30

Is Turkey Planning to Destabilize Lebanon?

by colonel (retired) Dr. Jacques Neriah
March 27, 2016

Institute for Contemporary Affairs
Founded jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation

Vol. 16, No. 6
March 27, 2016

Interviewed by Lenny Ben-David, Director of Publications

• The Turkish leadership saw the uprising in Syria and Egypt as an opportunity to replace regimes opposed to Turkey’s policies in the Middle East. Turkey looked at two targets: Egypt and Syria. In both countries, the Islamic opposition was headed by the Muslim Brotherhood, natural allies of Turkish president Erdogan.

• Turkey viewed developments in Syria as an opportunity to intervene and topple the Alawite regime. Turkish military intelligence was instructed to assist rebel factions opposed to the Assad regime almost from the very first days of the civil war in Syria.

• Testimony in Turkish courts alleges that rocket parts, ammunition and semi-finished mortar shells taken from Turkish intelligence depots were carried in trucks accompanied by state officials to parts of Syria under hardline Islamist rebel control.

• Turkey may have chosen to take advantage of the already boiling situation in Lebanon between Hizbullah and its Sunni opponents and try to provoke a renewed civil war in Lebanon.

• Greek authorities intercepted a ship recently, loaded with a Turkish shipment of weapons, supposedly destined for Muslim radicals in the northern part of Lebanon.

2016-03-30

Lithuanian Prime Minister Thanks Fayerlakh Ensemble

To the Vilnius Cultural Center Jewish song and dance ensemble

Fayerlakh

Dear guardians of ethnic tradition,

There is no doubt the identity of a people resides in the depths of their folklore where a unique world of music beckons to us and symbolic meanings cavort. For many a year now the Fayerlakh ensemble in their concerts have brought lovers of folklore together and have popularized Yiddish culture wonderfully.

Inventive musicians, great singers and expressive dancers have come together nicely under the Fayerlakh flag. And so your concerts are dominated by a sense of beauty and cohesion. Your playful appearances are eagerly awaited by many admirers around the world.

You are probably the only ensemble in Europe who so creatively, cleverly and tightly present your own musical sources and roots.

I sincerely congratulate the entire Fayerlakh collective on the beautiful 45th anniversary of your establishment.

Let your music ring out widely across the nations for many centuries. Celebrate and preserve your foundational values. I wish you great success, creative talent and many happy meetings with the real lovers of folklore on all continents.

Algirdas Butkevičius
March 22, 2016
Vilnius

2016-03-29

A Letter of Thanks to the Fayerlakh Ensemble from the Lithuanian Jewish Community

Celebrating their 45th anniversary, the Jewish song and dance ensemble Fayerlakh provided a real celebration for the people of Vilnius with their performance, and a packed hall of spectators applauded, swayed to the beat and tapped their feet because the musicians enchanted them and warmed everyone’s hearts. The Lithuanian Jewish Community is grateful to and proud of the Vilnius Cultural Center Jewish song and dance ensemble Fayarlakh, whose name is Yiddish for “little flames.”

Let the creative fire of this ensemble led by Larisa Vyšniauskienė continue to burn, reminding everyone of the rich culture of the Litvaks. It is extremely important to our community that the ensemble with Yiddish songs and dances which over many years has achieved a highly professional level has preserved our dear Jewish cultural legacy. Thank you, our thanks to the ensemble and their director, to the wonderful performers, for the program The Shtetl Once Upon a Time, which is now being offered to audiences in Lithuania and abroad. The program is about the small town, or shtetl in Yiddish, where until the Holocaust Jewish people and people of other ethnicities lived together in harmony. The mood of the concert is one of happy songs, dances, music which gives rise to good emotions, nostalgic and exciting, in everyone’s hearts. We appreciate that the ensemble celebrates the Yiddish language and that Jewish works in this language are performed in concert. It fills us with gladness to see all the ensemble’s groups, from children to senior citizens, on stage. Our sincerest gratitude to all of you.

Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman
Lithuanian Jewish Community

2016-03-29

Purim at the Gesher Club

The Gesher Club of the Lithuanian Jewish Community celebrated Purim March 25 at the Natali Restaurant in Vilnius. Since carnival costumes are a usual part of Purim, all participants were required to come in costume or at least partially dressed in costumes. LJC program coordinator Žana Skudovičienė took care of those who for one or another reason were unable or did not have time to get ready for the holiday. She let them chose a mask or costume accessory provided by Fayerlakh ensemble director Larisa Vyšniauskienė for the occasion.

2016-03-29

Israeli President Isaac Herzog Visits Lithuania

On the War in Israel and the Situation in Lithuania