Lighting the Chanukah candle in the Lithuanian winter.
Happy Chanuka!

הפוסט Chanuka הופיע ראשון ב-The Jewish Center Kaunas.

Purim Katan celebrations at the Jewish center Kaunas with a lot of joy as only our students know how to give!
Happy month!

הפוסט Purim Katan הופיע ראשון ב-The Jewish Center Kaunas.

from Yated Ne’eman magazine, By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz (September 15, 2017):

(PDF, 7.85MB)

הפוסט Yated Ne’eman הופיע ראשון ב-The Jewish Center Kaunas.

As part of their desire and effort to provide the students with an Israeli, Jewish and homey atmosphere, even abroad, the people at the Center prepare themselves for the upcoming holiday in order to make the students familiar with it. In anticipation of Succot, they build a kosher succah and purchase the most meticulously kosher arba’ minim.  During the holiday, festive and especially sumptuous meals are held at the Center.  During the meals, the students are introduced to the essence of the holiday, its meaning, its rituals and symbols. On Succot, the Center also hosts the small community of elderly Jews who live in Kaunas. Members of this community, who still have memories of their family home, are happy to be hosted by the Jewish Center, to recite a blessing on the arba’ minim and to be part of a Succot festival in a Jewish, festive, home atmosphere.

הפוסט The Festival Succot הופיע ראשון ב-The Jewish Center Kaunas.

Prior to Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur, preparations are made in the Jewish Center to give Jewish students the opportunity to experience these days in a suitable manner.  On Rosh Hashannah, the customs are observed at especially festive, lavishly laid tables. During the meal, explanations are given as to the customs observed on the holiday, the symbols that are used and the significance and meaning of the day.  Meals are in a festive, uplifted atmosphere, with plenty of good things to eat and the best food.  On the days of the holiday, all the appropriate prayer services are held, along with shofar blowing.

The custom “Tashlich” takes place on the banks of the Neiman River, with explanations about it being given. The days of Rosh Hashannah are spent by the students in an especially festive, uplifting and charming atmosphere.

On Yom Kippur, lectures are given here by guest lecturers who come specially to the Center. This, of course, in addition to the prayer services that are also held here. Because of the energetic and dedicated efforts of the people at the Jewish Center, Jewish students are allowed to be absent from their studies and tests in the local university, which makes it much easier for them to participate in lectures and prayers held on the holy day.

הפוסט Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur הופיע ראשון ב-The Jewish Center Kaunas.

In the framework of cultural activity at the Center, different lecturers, guests and rabbis come to present their thoughts to the students.

Fascinating lectures and enriching workshops are given by professors, doctors, media experts, rabbis and experts in different fields – people who come specially to Kaunas and who are guests here. Most of the lecturers are sent by the organization “Nefesh Yehudi”, which works in cooperation with the Center. So, every few weeks a guest lecturer arrives and delivers talks on various subjects, such as Zionism, state and religion, medicine and Jewish law, Holocaust, Jewish identity, connection between the Jewish world and the world in general and additional current events topics. During the lectures, there usually develop heated discussions. The students participate in productive and interesting discussion with different engaging personalities, among them rabbinic personages from the other side of the Israeli scene. These are people that, from the nature of things, the students would never meet or hear when in Israel. It is here, of all places, far from Israel, far from the media, far from obstacles and stigmas, that students and rabbis can have a direct meeting, one that benefits both sides.  The different lectures and varied discussions leave the students with much mind-opening, fascinating material for thought.

“It was riveting, informative and challenging.  I’m waiting for the next lecture.”

הפוסט Guest Lecturers and Rabbis הופיע ראשון ב-The Jewish Center Kaunas.

Being abroad, students are not willing to forget the festivities of Israel Independence Day. The Israeli point of identity in each one of them finds expression on this festive day. The Jewish Center takes care of supplying them with an Israeli experience – abroad.  The students enjoy barbecue on the river bank, there is no lack of the plastic hammers [associated with this day in Israel], Israeli flags billowing in the wind, plenty of food, and Israeli songs, to the accompaniment of guitar-playing students. With amazing cooperation, a home-style party gets put together, one that warms the soul. Everyone is waving flags, everyone is turning kababs over on the fire – everyone. The atmosphere is fun, relaxed, family-like, unified, and – most important of all – Israeli.

“It’s true, I’m a student abroad – but above all, I’m Israeli. And this is the birthday of my state!  Here, at the Center, they are helping me to celebrate together with my people, even if technically, I am far away. It’s just amazing!”

הפוסט Independence Day הופיע ראשון ב-The Jewish Center Kaunas.

In the Jewish Center, the events for Memorial Day for soldiers killed in action and for terrorism victims open with reciting the Yizkor prayer, in remembrance of those who lost their lives and with viewing the government ceremony on Mount Herzl, in Jerusalem. Memorial Day is both meaningful and important for the Israeli students who served in Tzahal. Some even served in various special units. In the course of the evening, the students share personal experiences and stories with their friends – stories about themselves and their friends, acquaintances and family members who were lost in the wars and different military operations that the State of Israel went through. It is a tense and sensitive atmosphere. Israeli identity becomes ever stronger, and the feeling of unity and the mutual Israeli destiny intensifies and binds the students together.

הפוסט Memorial Day הופיע ראשון ב-The Jewish Center Kaunas.

On the Holocaust Memorial Day, the students assemble at the Center for an evening of history and continuance. Marking Holocaust Day in Kaunas takes on special significance in the light of the glorious Jewish past in the city. Close to 80 years after the Jews of Kaunas were led to death and slaughter at the hands of the Nazi’s, may their name be blotted out forever, and the Lithuanians who went hand in hand with them – Jewish Israeli students return and fill the city streets. Later on in the evening, a film on the subject of the Holocaust is shown. Usually, the film concerns the part that Lithuania played in the war and especially deals with the city of Kaunas. The events of Holocaust Memorial Day in the Center are highly emotional and give the students much food for thought.

“It’s amazing to think about the history of this city; until now, I viewed it as another typical European city. Now, I look at it completely differently, in every way.”

הפוסט Holocaust Memorial Day הופיע ראשון ב-The Jewish Center Kaunas.

Seder night is conducted with the students in full elegance and splendor. Students sit around tables that have been carefully and tastefully set. Each participant receives a Hagaddah, wine and matzot. There is a Seder Plate with all the customary symbols set before each few students. The Seder narrative is given in clear language, accompanied by explanations as to the significance of all the symbolic items on the Seder Plate. In the course of the Seder, the students get to know the content of the Hagaddah; they are given simple and explicit explanations about the content of the holiday and its ceremonies. Those sitting at the tables hear stories and Midrashic accounts of the Exodus from Egypt and have a powerful, family-like experience. The culinary aspect of the evening finds expression in “shulchan orech”. Then, the guests enjoy a richly meal loaded table with kosher lemehadrin Pesach feast. This special Seder, which, for many is their first real, true halachic Seder, gives all present the desire observe it again and again, as it should be observed, in the coming years.

“This was the first real Seder I’ve had in my whole life.”

הפוסט Pesach הופיע ראשון ב-The Jewish Center Kaunas.