and Jewish Life
Siauliai with Sania Kerbilis & Antonina Gainulina
Panevezys with Gennady Kofman
Master Yuter Family Tree
Panevezys Telephone Directory
Visitors Book
With Gennady Kofman & a scout group
Josvainiai with Laima Ardaviciene and Harry Gorfine (Australia)
Ukmerge with Vida Pulkaunkiene & Arturas Taicos
Another excellent tour of Polin with Michael Leiserowitz
Michael is an official Hebrew and German speaking guide at the Museum. Come join us for some highlights. The previous visits are at the end of this post.
Video – Michael
Video – Michael
The Entrance from the bridge
Back View
Video – Michael
With Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Director of the Core Exhibit, in Melbourne in November 16.
They Call Me Mayer July – her book in the background – drawings by her dad
The famous dialogue of Shlomo Luria and Moshe Isserles
My Katzenellenbogen rabbinic roots
My pink VISA card is back! – an in-joke!
Waiting for the train!
Model of the Great Synagogue of Warsaw
Video – Michael
Alexander Harkavy
Video – Michael
Alexander Harkavy Novogrudok
Source: youtu.be/5n-zEPkNCJE
Kid’s games 
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_to_the_Ghetto_Heroes
A brilliant tour of Polin with my host Michael Leiserowitz, official guide. POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews – Wikipedia POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews (Polish: Muzeum H…
Source: elirab.me/warsaw-day-2/
POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Source: elirab.me/warsaw-poland/
May 2015 Polin Museum. I have visited the museum twice before in 2013 and 2014, but this is the first time since it officia…
Source: elirab.me/polin-museum-warsaw-poland/
July 2018
After the torah reading on shabbat, we recite Av Harachamim
Av Harachamim or Abh Haraḥamim (אב הרחמים “Father [of] mercy” or “Merciful Father”) is a Jewish memorial prayer which was written in the late eleventh or early twelfth century, after the destruction of the Ashkenazi communities around the Rhine River by Christian crusaders during the First Crusade.[1] First appearing in prayer books in 1290, it is printed in every Orthodox siddur in the European traditions of Nusach Sefarad and Nusach Ashkenaz and recited as part of the weekly Shabbat services, or in some communities on the Shabbat before Shavuot and Tisha B’Av.[2][3]
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArtScroll
Tehillat Hashem (תְּהִלַּת ה’, “praise of God” in Hebrew) is the name of a prayer-book (known as a siddur in Hebrew) used for Jewish services in synagogues and privately by Hasidic Jews, specifically in the Chabad-Lubavitch community. The name of the siddur is taken from Psalm 145, verse 21, “Praise of God shall my mouth speak, and all flesh shall bless His holy Name forever and ever.”
A noteworthy custom fitting the mood of the Sefira period deals with the prayer Av Harachamim. Av Harachamim, recited on Shabbat after the Torah reading was written in response to the Crusades. In it we memorialize the righteous martyrs and pray for retribution for their spilled blood. Av Harachamim is generally not recited on Shabbatot which have an added celebratory nature – such as Shabbat Mevarchim (the Shabbat in which we bless the new month). In many congregations during the Shabbatot of Sefirat Haomer, Av Harachamim is recited even on the Shabbatot in which we bless Iyar and Sivan. The Mishna Brura (284,18) adds, that even if there is a Brit Milah that Shabbat, giving us a second reason why Av Harachamim should not be recited, Av Harachamim is still said, since this was the season of the tragedies.
Before reading the Av Harachamim prayer, we select one of the 6500 shtetls that existed before and during the Holocaust from this three volume set:
We then share the story of the particular shtetl to illustrate what we lost in Holocaust!
This week – Plunge / Plungyan
The encyclopedia of Jewish life before and during the Holocaust / editor in chief, Shmuel Spector ; consulting editor, Geoffrey Wigoder ; foreword by Elie Wiesel – Collections Search – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Source: collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/bib63061
With thanks to Rabbi Marcus Solomon of Dianella Mizrachi Shule for sharing this idea with me.
Thanks to Michelle Urban and the Western Australian JHGS for allowing me to use these books from their excellent library housed at Noranda CHABAD.
For more on Plunge visit the KehilaLink:
Source: kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/plunge
Plunge, Lithuania
Source: kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/plunge/Home.html
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Harwood
Sea Point High School, formerly Sea Point Boys High School, is a co-educational public high school in Main Road, Sea Point, Cape Town, South Africa. The school was established on 21 April 1884. In 1925, the senior grades were separated from the junior grades. In 1989, the school merged with Ellerslie Girls’ High School after becoming co-educational.
Sea Point Boys connected to Plunyan
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Point_High_School
The Jewish member of the Seimas, the Lithuanian Parliament
Emanuelis Zingeris (born 16 July 1957 in Kaunas, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian philologist, museum director, politician, signatory of the 1990 Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, currently serving as a Member of the Seimas (1990–2000 and since 2004), chairman of its foreign affairs committee (since 2010), Vice President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (since 2009) and President of the Parliamentary Forum of the Community of Democracies (since 2010).[1] A Lithuanian Jew, he has been director of the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum, honorary chairman of Lithuania’s Jewish community, and is Chairman of the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania. He is a founding signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism, that proposed the establishment of the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuelis_Zingeris
Emanuelis Zingeris MP talks about Avraham Mapu
Source: youtu.be/r_TGbEO9lsQ
The Choral Synagogue
From my 2017 visit:
The restoration of the Geliu synagogue Renovation of Synagogue on Geliu Gatve starts in Vilnius The Lithuanian Department of Cultural Heritage confirmed on July 21, 2015, the renovation of the syna…
Source: elirab.me/back-to-vilnius/
The Jewish cemeteries of Vinius are the three Jewish cemeteries of the Lithuanian Jews living in what is today Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, which was known to them for centuries as Vilna, the principal city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire. Two of the cemeteries were destroyed by the Soviet regime and the third is still active.
Noranda CHABAD, Perth, Western Australia, 30 June 2018
Avraham Shalom Halberstam spends Shabbat Balak with us. I had discovered on his previous visit to Perth in July 2016 that we were 8th cousins. Researching using Geni.com, I discovered that we both are members of the Katzenellenbogen Rabbinic Family Tree.
Earlier the day on Shabbat, we did something during Shacharit that brought the Rebbe and our community together as never before – read below.
Please note: no photos were taken during shabbat!
My 8th Cousin – The Stropkover Rebbe – The Admor of Stropkov
Video
Mendy of RARA and the Stropkover Rebbe. Other guests were Moishe, the Rebbe’s assistant, and Moishe from RARA
Source: youtu.be/wzTfMchMCCs
13 July 2018
Earlier after the torah reading on shabbat we recited Av Harachamim
A noteworthy custom fitting the mood of the Sefira period deals with the prayer Av Harachamim. Av Harachamim, recited on Shabbat after the Torah reading was written in response to the Crusades. In it we memorialize the righteous martyrs and pray for retribution for their spilled blood. Av Harachamim is generally not recited on Shabbatot which have an added celebratory nature – such as Shabbat Mevarchim (the Shabbat in which we bless the new month). In many congregations during the Shabbatot of Sefirat Haomer, Av Harachamim is recited even on the Shabbatot in which we bless Iyar and Sivan. The Mishna Brura (284,18) adds, that even if there is a Brit Milah that Shabbat, giving us a second reason why Av Harachamim should not be recited, Av Harachamim is still said, since this was the season of the tragedies.
A few weeks ago, Rabbi Marcus Solomon of Dianella Mizrachi Shule, told me about an initiative he had started in his shul.
Before reading the Av Harachamim prayer, he selects one of the 6500 shtetls that existed before and during the Holocaust from this three volume set:
Rabbi Solomon then shares the story of the particular shtetl to illustrate what we lost in Holocaust!
Today was the first time we did the same at Noranda CHABAD Shul during Shacharit.
With the Stropkover Rebbe spending Shabbat with us, I chose the following shtetl from Volume 3:
Thanks to Michelle Urban and the JHGS for allowing me to use these books from their excellent library housed at CHABAD.
https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/bib63061
It goes without saying that those in shul were inspired to hear about Stropkov with its Rebbe in our shul. The further connection as 8th cousins was an added bonus for us!
We discussed the Rebbe’s previous visits to Perth and at his request, last night I found this clip I filmed of the Rebbe at Benny Sasson’s barmitzvah June 2000. We did not know our connection then, and here 8 years later, I am pleased to be able to upload it to the internet for all to view and share!
At Benny Sasson’s barmitzvah
Source: youtu.be/nn1M-SVGTHk
The Stropkover Rebbe has just completed a visit to Perth Australia from Jerusalem.
We were honoured to have him spend Shabbat with us at the CHABAD shul in Noranda WA.
He has visited Perth before.
I took the opportunity on Saturday night to learn more about him and his town.
The Rebbe was born in Germany and lives in Jerusalem. The Stropkover Rebbe’s “once upon a time” community was based in Stropkov in Slovakia.
| Stropkov | ||
| Town | ||
 View of Stropkov
|
||
|
||
| Country | Slovakia | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Prešov | |
| District | Stropkov | |
| River | Ondava | |
| Elevation | 202 m (663 ft) | |
| Coordinates | 49°12′18″N 21°39′05″ECoordinates: 49°12′18″N 21°39′05″E | |
| Area | 24.667 km2 (9.524 sq mi) | |
| Population | 10,866 (2012-12-31) | |
| Density | 441 / km2 (1,142 / sq mi) | |
| First mentioned | 1404 | |
Stropkov (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈstropkow]; Hungarian: Sztropkó, pronounced [ˈstropkoː], Yiddish: סטראפקאוו) is a town in Stropkov District, Prešov Region, Slovakia.
Jews first arrived in Stropkov, possibly fleeing Polish pogroms, in about 1650. About fifty years later, the Jews were exiled from Stropkov to Tisinec, a village just to the north. They did not return to Stropkov until about 1800. The Stropkov Jewish cemetery was dedicated in 1892, after which the Tisinec cemetery fell into disuse.
In 1939 the antisemitic Hlinka Party gain control of the Stropkov Town Council. From May–October 1942 the Hlinka deported Jews from the Stropkov area to Auschwitz, Sobibor, Maidanek, and “unknown destinations”. By the end of World War II, only 100 Jews remained in Stropkov out of 2000 in 1942.
The first rabbi of Tisinec and Stropkov was Rabbi Moshe Schonfeld. He left Stropkov for a position in Vranov. He was succeeded in 1833 by Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Teitelbaum (I)(1818–1883) who served as Stropkov’s chief rabbi until leaving for a post in Ujhely. The next incumbent was Rabbi Chaim Yosef Gottlieb (1790–1867), known as the “Stropkover Rov”. He was succeeded by Rabbi Yechezkel Shraga Halberstam (1811–1899), a son of Rabbi Chaim Halberstam of Sanz. His scholarship, piety, and personal charisma transformed Stropkov into one of the most respected chasidic centers in all Galicia and Hungary. Rabbi Moshe Yosef Teitelbaum (1842–1897), the son of the aforementioned Rabbi Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum, was appointed as Stropkov’s next chief rabbi in 1880.
The charismatic and scholarly Rabbi Yitzhak Hersh Amsel (c1855–1934), the son of Peretz Amsel of Stropkov, was first appointed as a dayan in Stropkov and then as the rabbi of Zborov (near Bardejov). As legend has it, Rabbi Yitzhak Hersh Amsel died while praying in his Zborov synagogue. He is buried in the Stropkov cemetery where a small protective building ohel was erected over his grave to preserve it. Rabbi Amsel was succeeded in 1897 by Rabbi Avraham Shalom Halberstam (1856–1940). Jews, learned and simple alike, sought the advice and blessing of this “miracle rabbi of Stropkov”, revered as a living link in the chain of Chassidus of Sanz and Sienawa. Rabbi Halberstam served in Stropkov for some forty years, until the early 1930s, when he assumed a rabbinical post in the larger town of Košice. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Halberstam (1873–1954),the son of the aforementioned Rabbi Avraham Shalom Halberstam was then appointed chief rabbi of Stropkov and head of the Talmud Torah. After World War II Rabbi Menachem Mendel Halberstam lived in New York until the end of his life, teaching at the Stropkover Yeshiva, which he founded in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The present day Admor of Stropkov is HaRav Avraham Shalom Halberstam of Jerusalem. The Admor runs several yeshivas and kolelim in Jerusalem and other cities in Israel. The Admor dedicates himself to Ahavat Yisrael and to helping many who need to return to their Jewish roots.
I then went into my Geni account and looked up the Stropkover Rebbe and found what appeared to be his family line.
I recalled that on Shabbat, he had been called up to the torah as HaRav Avraham Shalom ben Yechezkel Shrage.
Havdalah after Shabbat.
On Sunday I printed out this page on Geni and showed it to the Rebbe who confirmed that this was indeed him – i.e. Avraham Shalom Lipschutz (Halberstam). He also confirmed that his mother was Beila, daughter of Avraham Shalom Halberstam.
I also printed out the Geni page which shows our relationship and presented a copy to the Rebbe.
So, besides all the friends he has Downunder, he now is happy to have added a 8th cousin in this isolated Jewish community!
We are both members of the Katzenellenbogen Rabbinic Tree.
Shabbat Balak
There is an old saying that what makes G‑d laugh is seeing our plans for the future.However, if Tanakh is our guide, what makes G‑d laugh is human delusions of grandeur. From the vantage point of heaven, the ultimate absurdity is when humans start thinking of themselves as G‑dlike.
Source: mailchi.mp/af9131e6afbc/life-without-bumps-3300829?e=678b339d93
This is my second visit to Birzai or Birzh, Lithuania, as it was called. My first was in June 2015
Source: kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/birzai/Photos.html
I met with Merunas Jukonis, the youth coordinator in the town. He and his dad, Vidmantas, have been very active in working in the field of Tolerance education, Holocaust commemoration and related projects. See report below:
While in Lithuania last week we spent a fascinating 4 days in Birzai, known to the Jews who lived there as Birzh.
On 8th August 1941 the 2400 Jews of the town were marched to the forest where they were all murdered, Men, Women and Children.
There exists in Birzai an ancient Karaite and Jewish cemetery. For years it remained neglected and uncared for.
And then a few years ago, the local teacher of History and Tolerance, Vidmantas Jukonis, together with his son Merunas, also a teacher of History, started a project of cleaning up the cemetery , removing the overgrown grass and weeds, and cutting the trees. They were joined by the local Reformed Lutheran Church where they are members ,and then by a Lutheran community in Germany who came to Birzai in the summer, camped outside the walls of the cemetery, and helped with the work. Later they made contact with SEFER, the well-known organization in Moscow specializing in Jewish Heritage, Sefer conducted a big 3 year academic international project
The participants were:
1) Center for University Teaching of Jewish Civilization “SEFER” .Moscow
2) Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences .Moscow
3) Centre for the Studies of the Culture and History of East European Jews . Vilnius
4)Birzai Regional Museum “Sela” Birzai
5) Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority . Jerusalem
Professionals and Volunteers joined in the project and expertly cleaned the gravestones, identified the names, and mapped out the gravestones that were still there. The leader of the final group was Motl Gordon, a St. Petersburg Jew, who became religious a few years ago, fluent in Yiddish. This final group was funded by the Birzai municipality (half) and by local sponsors, including the family of Sheftel Melamed, the last Jew in Birzai, who passed away on 31st August 2015. The Birzai district municipality also helped with materials, logistics and more.
The Birzai “Ausra” secondary school’s Tolerance Education Centre, headed by Vidmantas Jukonis provided volunteers , citizens of Birzai, who remembered Jews, arranged meetings for those people, and drove groups of students to meet them.
In Birzai on Friday afternoon an event was held to celebrate the completion of the project, and to launch the book that had been written about the project and its findings.
The book, 374 pages , in Russian, was published by SEFER with the help of the GENESIS Philanthropy Group and the UJA FEDERATION OF NEW YORK.
There is little in English in the book. But from the table of contents (in English) it appears that there is much of interest. The book is written in the form of essays written by scholars involved in the project and tables recording the 1627 stones that were found in the cemetery, mostof them with names.
Glenda and I were given a copy. When I asked if we could buy some more, for family and friends with an interest in Birzai (Birzh) Motl Gordon told usthat they had distributed the few copies that they had brought for the event, but that he would enquire from Sefer in Moscowwhat the cost would be to buy.
It is hoped that a translation into English will be available via a PDF document on-line. Attached are photos of the front cover (1), the back cover (2), a photo on the inside front cover (5) and a photo on the inside back cover (6). This book is of great historic importance.
A rough check of the list of tombstones shows that the last two tombstones to be erected and that remain are those of Barukh Michaelson (he was the famous town photographer) who died on 13th July 1939, and Herce (Hirsch) Evin, who died in 1940. Michaelson’s tombstone was found buried during the work on the cemetery and restored. It should be noted that after the Soviet occupation in June 1940 Jewish religious life came to a halt and it is probable that no further Jewish funerals and consecration of tombstones took place. There was however a tombstone dated 1945. And the newer tombstones from the ’30’s were probably stolen and used in building as was the case throughout Lithuania.
Source: kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/birzai/Torah.html
Source: kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/birzai/Home.html
A short walk around town. Old buildings in the former Jewish area. 
Kvass is a traditional Slavic and Baltic beverage commonly made from rye bread ,[1] known in many Eastern European countries and especially in Ukraine and Russia as black bread. The colour of the bread used contributes to the colour of the resulting drink. It is classified as a non-alcoholic drink by Russian standards, as the alcohol content from fermentation is typically low (0.5–1.0%).[2][3] It may be flavoured with fruits such as strawberries and raisins, or with herbs such as mint.[4]
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kvass
Biržai Regional Park covers 14,659 hectares (36,220 acres) in northern Lithuania near its border with Latvia. It was established in 1992 to preserve a distinctive karst landscape. About 20% of its area is covered by forest.
Biržai ( pronunciation (help·info), known also by several alternative names) is a city in northern Lithuania. Biržai is famous for its reconstructed Biržai Castle manor, and the whole region is renowned for its many traditional-recipe beer breweries.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birzai
This post covers this year’s visit to my ancestral town of Kedainiai – Keidan in Lithuania and the activities of Laima Ardaviciene, English teacher at the Atzalynas High School. Each time I visit, there are so many new surprises in store for me! Thank you Laima!
70 Years After Destruction, Memory of Lithuanian Community Lives in Diaspora Descendents of Jews From Keidan Proudly Recall Roots People from my grandfather’s hometown in Lithuania were known to be…
Source: allequalalldifferent.weebly.com/rooted-in-keidan.html
Educational projects, Academic process, Meeting Keidaners
Video
Source: youtu.be/UWwTFIiMGg8
Short Video
Short-Video
The Video taken from the Israeli side
A virtual meeting between students of the English teacher Laima Ardaviciene.at Atzalynas Gimnazija, Kedainiai and students of the lecturer Dr. Ben-Tsiyon Klib…
Source: youtu.be/menN7r4qsmM
about a soldier and a girl
Video
Source: youtu.be/5GQHA4ZYYpY
With Mantas and Arnas
The complex of the two former synagogues
Video
Video
Video by Laima Ardaviciene
Kedainiai. Past & Present
Source: youtu.be/R-CKRm7uxy0
Featuring Rachel Elezi – New York
Josvainiai is a small town in Kėdainiai district, central Lithuania. It is located on the Šušvė River 10 km southwest from Kėdainiai. In the town there is a Catholic church, secondary school, post office and public library.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josvainiai
My op-ed in the Australian Jewish News today
Yiddish May 2018
