Lithuanian Jewish Community Welcomes New Youth Programs Coordinator

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The LJC welcomes to our staff Pavel Guliakov, the new coordinator of youth programs for the community.

The son of members of the community, former Sholem Aleichem Gymnasium student and college student graduated with honors, Pavel is now our coordinator of youth programs and assistant to Valentin Solomiak. His bachelor’s work, not coincidentally, focused on the history of Jewish Vilna. Many of us already know him since he has worked as a volunteer at youth clubs for about a decade now. Pavel has the true calling of a teacher and likes working with children. Currently the work schedule of the coordinator is filled with meetings and lessons at the regional communities. Events will be held in Šiauliai and Kaunas in the near future. Last week Pavel attended the seminars held by the JDC for Jewish communities aimed at providing greater academic qualifications called “Project Organization, Problem Solving.” The new coordinator says he learned a lot of useful things he will apply in his main work with the Ilan, Knafaim and Students Clubs.

We wish him all the success in the world in his new post, coordinating the very future of the Community.

Israel Gave Intelligence to Germany about Imminent Attack

Germany received intelligence regarding an imminent terror attack against a packed soccer stadium from Israeli intel services less than two weeks ago, the German magazine Der Stern reported Wednesday.

Israeli intelligence provided information which lead German authorities to cancel a friendly soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands at Hannover Stadium on November 17.

Lithuanian Jewish Community Student Activities

Last Sunday the weekly lecture in the lecture series was dedicated to European Jewish youth life. Amit Belaitė, elected this year to the board of the European Union of Jewish Students, shared her impressions of this organization. Attendees had the opportunity to speak directly with three guests who attended via telephone and shared information about the life of youth in their countries. These were Viktoriya Grodnik from Ukraine, European Union of Jewish Students president Benjamin Fisher and Natan Pollak, a Litvak born in South Africa and former head of the Jewish student union whose great-grandparents came from Lithuania.

The students of the Lithuanian Jewish Community began a photographic project which will tell the stories of Lithuanian Jews. The first interview should be forthcoming immediately. If you’d like to take part in the project and tell your story, please write or call Amit Belaitė at amit.belaite@gmail.com or 869227326

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YIVO Exhibit at Lithuanian Cultural Heritage Department

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As part of celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the YIVO institute for Jewish research in Vilnius, the Lithuanian Jewish Community and YIVO organized a moveable museum exhibit called “YIVO 1925-2015” which is currently being hosted by the Lithuanian Cultural Heritage Department on the first floor of their building at Šnipiškių street No. 3 in Vilnius.

The bi-lingual exhibit presents the story of the YIVO institute from its inception, presenting the founders, operations in pre-war Vilnius, the war years and operations in New York, where founder Max Weinreich relocated YIVO in 1939.

All of the texts, archival documents and photographs in the exhibit come from YIVO’s collections in New York. Currently YIVO conserves over 385,000 books and periodicals and about 24 million more documents, photographs and audio and video recordings. The curator of the exhibit is Eddy Portnoy and the designer was JUDVI. The Lithuanian Martynas Mažvydas National Lbirary and the Lithuanian Central State Archives also contributed to the exhibit.

The exhibit will be on public display until January 5, 2016 at the Cultural Heritage Department.

A Message from the Author Ellen Cassedy

This is our history, our memory

“This is our history, our memory. When one whispers the names and professions of the people who lived here, one can no longer forget.”

A project called “Vardai” (“Names”) is giving Lithuanians an opportunity to touch the nearly-vanished Jewish world, to remember, to mourn, and to connect.

Facing History in Lithuania, my article in Na’amat magazine, tells the story of how Lithuanians are engaging with Jewish heritage through educational curricula, museum exhibitions, plaques, and cultural events. These initiatives help people reflect on questions like these:

Chief Rabbi of Brussels: No Future for Jews in Europe

Synagogues in Belgian capital closed on Shabbat for the first time since World War Two, Rabbi Avraham Gigi tells Israel’s radio 103 FM.

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Belgian soldiers and a police officer control the documents of a woman in a shopping street in central Brussels, November 21, 2015. (photo credit: REUTERS)

In the shadow of the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people and as Belgian police sweep the country for terror suspects, the Chief Rabbi of Brussels said Monday that there is no future for Jews in Europe.

Rabbi Avraham Gigi spoke to Israeli radio station 103 FM about the atmosphere of fear in the Belgian capital that has been in a state of near martial law for the past three days.

“There is a sense of fear in the streets, the Belgians understand that they too are targets of terror. Jews now pray in their homes and some of them are planning on emigrating,” Gigi said.

Legendary Japanese Diplomat Honored at Lithuanian Embassy in Tokyo

“If you save one life, you save a whole world,” so was the event called held at the Lithuanian embassy in Tokyo to honor Japan’s consul in Lithuania Chiune Sugihara, who issued “visas for life” to Jews fleeing the Holocaust 75 years ago.

“Time cannot erase from our memory the suffering of millions of people, the tragedy of the Holocaust. It is thanks to Chiune Sugihara, recognized as a Righteous Gentile, that our future generations will be able to understand that even under the worst circumstances one person, an individual, can achieve so much,” Lithuanian ambassador to Japan Egidijus Meilūnas said at the event.

The Lithuanian ambassador also quoted the words Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevičius spoke during Diplomat Day: “This year we dedicate a lot of attention to the memory of Chiune Sugihara who worked in Lithuania. His basic modus operandi was to help people. This should be the most important symbol of the profession of diplomat, and because of that we may and do take pride in our profession.”

Blogger Focuses on Litvak Architecture, Cemetery Protection

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Among the 60 or so experts from more than a dozen countries at the multi-disciplinary conference on Jewish cemeteries in Europe organized by the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe and hosted by the Lithuanian Jewish community on October 25-28 in Vilnius, Lithuania, was Samuel Gruber. Gruber is a cultural heritage consultant who has consulted in the drafting of various documents, scientific research, conservation, exhibition and educational projects in the USA and Europe. He is an historian of architecture and an archaeologist, and an expert on Jewish artistic, architectural and historical sites. He is also a prolific blogger. His blog contains copious posts on Jewish sites, commemorative monuments and issues in Lithuania.

Some of his more recent postings include:

Lithuania: Test Excavations (2011) and Ground Radar Survey (2015) of Great Synagogue and Shulhoyf point to More Archaeology in 2016

Lithuania: The Pakruojis Jewish Cemetery as an Example Where Historic Boundaries Have been Diminished

Social Center Takes Children to See Play

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On November 21 the Lithuanian Jewish Community Social Center’s program the Jewish Family Service took children and parents to the formerly Jewish theater to watch a fun performance of the Three Little Pigs. Twenty-six people turned out for the event. We would like to thank the Goodwill Fund which made it possible for us to attend. It was a lot of fun for everyone.

The coordinator of the program is planning more such cultural events for families to allow children and their parents to have a good time together during the dark and chilly days of fall.

Congratulations!

Congratulations, Ilja Bereznickas, we’re proud of you!

The Lithuanian Jewish Community congratulates Ilja Bereznickas on receiving the important Golden Gunnar Award at the Fredrikstad Animation Festival 2015 in Norway. Ilja Bereznickas received the award for lifetime achievements and contributions to the Nordic and Baltic animation industry.

Ilja, we’re proud of you! We wish you much inspiration and success! Mazl tov!

Lecture Series

European and Lithuanian Jewish Youth (Work, Projects, Vision)
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Participation in a photo project about Jews living in Lithuania now. If you have an interesting historical photograph or an item important to you, bring it along (but not more than three items, please).

12 noon, Sunday, November 22 in the Jascha Heifetz Hall on the 3rd floor of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, Pylimo No. 4, Vilnius

Ilja Bereznickas Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Ilja Bereznickas Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

During the official opening ceremony for Fredrikstad Animation Festival 2015, held at Litteraturhuset, Ilja Bereznickas was awarded the Golden Gunnar Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the Nordic-Baltic animation industry. Chairwoman Trine Vallevik Håbjørg presented Bereznickas with the award, highlighting the following as the reason for the board’s decision:

“On behalf of the festival board, we would like to honour a person who’s had a major impact on the Nordic-Baltic animation scene. Ilja Bereznickas is a key figure within Lithuanian animation and has for over four decades had a career within the animation industry. His filmography includes several short films, and he is an acclaimed teacher and draughtsman. In addition to Lithuania, he’s also worked in countries such as Israel, the USA and Norway. He has worked as a director, animator and scriptwriter at the Lithuanian Film Studio since 1985, and in 2002 he initiated and became the head of the animation programme at the Vilnius Academy of Art. The festival board honours Ilja Bereznickas with a lifetime achievement award in recognition of his work within and dedication to the animation industry.”

Congratulations, Ilja!

Jewish Teacher Stabbed in Marseilles by ISIS Members

Educator’s condition not life-threatening; assailants uttered anti-Semitic remarks during incident.

MARSEILLES—A teacher at a Jewish school in the southern French city of Marseilles was stabbed on Wednesday by three people professing support for Islamic State, but his life was not in danger, prosecutors said.

The victim was identified as Tziyon Saadon who is in his fifties.

The three men who attacked the teacher uttered anti-Semitic remarks during the incident, AFP reported.

Three people on two scooters, one of them wearing an Islamic State t-shirt, approached the teacher in the street, Marseilles prosecutor Brice Robin told Reuters.

European Rabbis Condemn New EU Labeling of Products from Occupied Territories

The Times of Israel reports an umbrella group of European rabbis branded the recent EU move to require special country-of-origin labels on good manufactured in the Golan Heights, West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem “a new case of anti-Semitism in Europe.”

The Conference of European Rabbis Wednesday condemned the EU decision to label Israeli goods produced in the occupied territories without regard to opposition from a number of leading religious figures.

The CER’s condemnation echoes denouncements by Israeli politicians who criticize the EU decision to impose labeling guidelines on Israeli products produced over the Green Line, with the government likening the move to a boycott and MKs saying it was tantamount to anti-Semitism.

A Loss in the Family

We are saddened to learn of the death of Boris Mishkin on November 6 of this year. He was born on November 14, 1929. Our deepest sympathies go to his family and friends.

An Evening of Getting to Know One Another

with Rabbi Efraim Priyampolski and his family

Sunday, November 22, 2015

The weekly Vaishlakh

4:00 P.M. Lesson: “Three Sources, Three Ingredients…” (with Rabbi Efraim)
5:00 P.M. Children’s Hour. Let’s learn about Kiddush haShem (Yitzhok and Tsofochka)
6:00 P.M. Lesson “Hanukkah in the Talmud”/free discussion (Rabbi Efraim)
7:00 P.M. Lesson for women: “What is a Lie?” (Devora)
8:00 P.M. We say goodbye, but we remain together

To be held at the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius.

Presentation of Book on Biržai Jews

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During a conference on November 13 to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Meir (reported here in earlier news items), a large book called “Žydai Lietuvos žemėlapyje. Biržai” [“Jews on the Map of Lithuania. Biržai”] was presented to the public in the Arsenal Hall of the Biržai Castle. Those who attended included Panevėžys Jewish Community members Yuri Smirnov and Tamara Antanaitienė, Panevėžys school teacher Asta Kurulytė and history teacher and head of the Rožynas school’s Tolerance center Genutė Žilytė. Israel’s ambassador to Lithuania, Amir Maimon, was invited and arrived early to look over the old Jewish cemetery in Biržai and pay his respects at the graveside of the last Jew of Biržai who recently passed away, Sheftel Melamed, and to visit the memorial for the Jews who were murdered in the Pakamponys Forest. Greeting the large audience who turned out for the event, the ambassador remembered the old proverb: “If you want to know where you’re going, you have to know whence you’ve come.”

Speaking of the Holocaust, the ambassador said the past cannot be forgotten so that it never happens again. “One of my priorities is the protection of Jewish heritage,” he also said. The ambassador managed to surprise even locals with his knowledge of Biržai Jewish history, citing prewar population figures and talking about the walks of life of local Jews.

Full story in Lithuanian and picture gallery here.