Zog Nit Keynmol – The Poem

Here is an idea for your school students or youth group:

Recite the poem, Zog Nit Keynmol, written by Hirsh Glik 20, in the Vilna ghetto in 1943.

Do it in your own language!

And then SHARE it with us!

The song is the anthem of the Survivors. With their rapidly diminishing numbers, we want our youth to continue the legacy.

Be creative like Giedrius Galvanauskas of Atzalynas Gymnasium in Kedainiai, Lithuania.

Inspired by his English teacher, Laima Ardaviciene, Giedrius used a Lithuanian translation, background music on (1) viola and (2) piano, with a backdrop of old images of his hometown, Kedainiai, and even added English subtitles.

The viola was played by Tzvi Friedl of Perth Australia.

Translated by Roza Tzvi Ben Litay and Sergey Kanovich

Wouldn’t it be great if you recited it in your own language and chose photos from your heritage town and then shared it around the world?

The viola version

The piano version

Here is Aaron Kremer’s English version by Freydl Mrocki of Shalom Aleichem College, Melbourne, Australia.

Tzvi Friedl on the viola

Atzalyno Gimnazija, Kedainiai, Lithuania

The students take me on a multicultural tour of Kedainai, the last stop being the two former synagogue complex, one of only a handful in Lithuania. The centre is run by Rimantas Zirgulis, director …

Source: elirab.me/my-bond-with-atzalyno-gimnazija-a-school-in-kedainiai-2/

 

The Legacy of the Partisan Song

Zog Nit Keynmol – the partisan song

A simple request from King David High School in Johannesburg has now snowballed into an international project involving schools in South Africa, Australia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Moldova.

This is an amazing opportunity for this beautiful and inspiring song to be heard. Sung by young students, it rekindles hope for their and future generations.

Please contact me at eli@elirab.com to find out how your school or organisation can become involved.

Click on the link below and read more details about this anthem and how this project developed.

Zog Nit Keynmol

King David Linksfield

King David Linksfield

King David Victory Park

My radio interview on ChaiFM on 7 February.

Click here  Zog Nit Keynmol for more details on the project and videos used in the presentation.

ORT Solomo Aleichemo, Vilnius, Lithuania

On 11 January 2017, I was asked by Rabbi Craig Kacev, head of Jewish Studies at King David Schools, Johannesburg, South Africa, whether I could make a presentation to the students at the Linksfield…

Click here to continue with more details: elirab.me/zog-nit-keynmol/

In the News

Dylan Kotkis showing the Lithuanian students around Noranda CHABAD

The Maccabean

The Australian Jewish News Melbourne

The Australian Jewish News Sydney

Maoz Tzur Sung in Perth Heard in Keidan

Maoz Tzur Sung in Perth Heard in Keidan

Just think of this – when was the last time Maoz Tzur was heard in Keidan, Lithuania, sung by a Jewish kid? Maybe 75 years ago! When Laima Ardaviciene, the English teacher at Atzalyno Gymnazi…

Source: elirab.me/maoz-tzur-sung-in-perth-heard-in-keidan/

Maoz Tzur Sung in Perth Heard in Keidan

Just think of this – when was the last time Maoz Tzur was heard in Keidan, Lithuania, sung by a Jewish kid? Maybe 75 years ago!

When Laima Ardaviciene, the English teacher at Atzalyno Gymnazija in Kedainiai Lithunia, asked whether I could give a talk on Chanukah via Skype to her students,  I would normally have sourced one of the many brilliant articles by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and shared this with them, speaking from my home.

As I only live a minute’s drive from our CHABAD Shul in Noranda, I came up with the idea of enlisting the assistance of Rabbi Shalom White and doing it at the Shul. I also asked a young and talented friend,  Dylan Kotkis, to join us. Dylan has a friendly and outgoing personality together with a beautiful singing voice. He is a 15 year old student at Carmel School, Perth’s Jewish Day School.

Due to the 7 hour time difference between Perth and Kedainiai, 1pm (7pm here) was the best time for Laima and her students, so we held the meeting in the Shul’s library.  A minyan was taking place in the sanctuary at the same time.

Here are some photos and video clips taken  both from the Kedainiai and from the Perth ends.  I synchronised and edited the videos and combined the footage taken by Laima and myself.

Rabbi White, Dylan and I  spoke about the festival and Dylan took the Lithuanian students on a tour of the shul. Dylan sang Maoz Tzur for them.

Photos taken at Atzalyno Gimnazija

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Photos taken on the Perth side

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Screenshots and photos of  the signs the Lithuanian students presented.

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My bond with Atzalyno Gimnazija, a school in Kedainiai

The Internet by Dylan Kotkis

Herzlia – Atzalyno Bridges

Panorama 1

 

Panorama 2DSC_7340 DSC_7338  DSC_7333 DSC_7332 DSC_7330

My Litvak Powerpoint slides

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Litvak Hangout with Cape Town & Kedainiai: A Unique Event!

On 11 February 2016, a unique event will take place!

Screen Shot 2016-02-10 at 10.30.00 PM

Two quite different schools on opposite sides of the world, will link up in a Litvak Hangout.

A joint session between students of Herzlia, the Jewish Day School in Cape Town, South Africa and those of Atzalyno Gimnazija, a high school in Kedainiai, Lithuania will be held at 11am South African and Lithuanian time.

Eli Rabinowitz will make some introductory comments about Jews of Lithuania and South Africa and how the Litvaks got to SA.

Three of the Lithuanian students will talk about the Jewish history, the importance of Kedainiai and the Jewish sites in the town.

Three Herzlia students will talk about their Lithuanian heritage, their family shtetl, and when and how their family came to SA.

And then we will talk about the future!

Click here for the link to watch this event live on YouTube:

Several people around the world have been working hard to make this event happen:

Laima Ardaviciene, the English teacher at Atzalyno in Kedainiai

Mark Helfrich, Curriculum Head at United Herzlia Schools, Cape Town

Steve Sherman, Chief Imagination Officer at Living Maths, Cape Town

Eli Rabinowitz, Perth Australia.

Read more about Eli’s bond with Atzalyno:

https://elirab.me/australia/my-bond-with-atzalyno-gimnazija-a-school-in-kedainiai-2/

My bond with Atzalyno Gimnazija, a school in Kedainiai

pizap.com14326572232231

The students take me on a multicultural tour of Kedainai, the last stop being the two former synagogue complex, one of only a handful in Lithuania. The centre is run by Rimantas Zirgulis, director of the Museum and includes a permanent Jewish display, one of the first towns in Lithuania to do so.

The video report on a Lithuanian TV channel with a synopsis in English by two of the students: Juste & Julija

Kedainiu Zinios 7:21 – 9:55 – meeting at our school
The English teacher Laima Ardavičienė surprises her students every single lesson. She is diversifying her lessons with various tasks and even guests.
Laima says, „ Last year I was working on a project and the main idea was to introduce different cultures to students. I found a video of Jewish weddings which reflected Jewish traditions. After watching this video, I asked the author if I was able to use it and I got shocked when he replied „ Laima, you can use it. By the way, you can be really surprised, but I‘m rooted in Kėdainiai“. The author of the video was our guest Eli Rabinowitz. It‘s the second time Eli Rabinowitz is visiting our school. Last year he was a participant in our project too, while students were learning about different communities in Kėdainiai. Meetings like this never end. We keep in touch via skype and have skype meetings with students.

An article in the Lithuanian press:

Anglų kalbos pamokos kitaip
Iš arčiau 2015/05/29 by Vilija Mockuvienė
Vieni „Atžalyno“ gimnazijos mokiniai mokytojos Laimos Ardavičienės anglų kalbos pamokų laukia su baime, kiti – su džiaugsmu. Gimnazistai žino, kad šios patyrusios pedagogės pamokose nebus nei nuobodulio, nei tuščio laiko leidimo.
Paįvairindama pamokas „Atžalyno“ gimnazijos mokytoja Laima Ardavičienė į Kėdainius pakvietė Australijoje gyvenantį žydą E. Rabinovičių, kuris turi sąsajų su šiuo miestu ir mielai bendrauja su jaunimu.

For further see:
http://muge.eu/anglu-kalbos-pamokos-kitaip/

My images are supplemented with some provided by Vilius, a delightfully engaging student, who would like one day, to have sports photography business, possibly in South Africa!

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The Jews Of Krakes School Project

One day last May,  I visited two schools in Lithuania, one in Kedainiai, the other in nearby Krakes.

I was able to see the outstanding work two teachers have been doing in educating young Lithuanian students on the Jewish history of their towns.

I have previously written about my special morning in Kedainiai with the students of Atzalyno Gimnazija.

Click below for my report:

My bond with Atzalyno Gimnazija, a school in Kedainiai

Later that day, Atzalyno’s English teacher, Laima Ardaviciene and I visited the small town of Krakes.

We met the history teacher, Robertas Dubinka at the Krakes Community Centre where he spoke about the Jews of Krakes and the school project he had led.

In 2002 Robertas and his students at the Mikalojaus Katkaus Gimnazija undertook a project in which they interviewed some Jewish residents of Krakes, who have since passed away. This project was translated into English and submitted to Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Centre in Jerusalem. Robertas went to Jerusalem to make the presentation.

DSC_0926

Laima and Robertas outside the Krakes Community Centre

A short video of Robertas talking about the Jews of Krakes

Buildings of Krakes

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IMG_3976

Mikalojaus Katkaus Gimnazija

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Some pages from the 2002 project

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Robertas with some pages from the report

The Jewish houses on the map of Krakes

More about the Jewish aspects of Krakes

My post on my Virtual Heritage Tour on JewishGen.org:

Mikalojaus Katkaus Gimnazija’s website:

 

My bond with Atzalyno Gimnazija, a school in Kedainiai

pizap.com14326572232231

The students take me on a multicultural tour of Kedainai, the last stop being the two former synagogue complex, one of only a handful in Lithuania. The centre is run by Rimantas Zirgulis, director of the Museum and includes a permanent Jewish display, one of the first towns in Lithuania to do so.

The video report on a Lithuanian TV channel with a synopsis in English by two of the students: Juste & Julija

Kedainiu Zinios 7:21 – 9:55 – meeting at our school
The English teacher Laima Ardavičienė surprises her students every single lesson. She is diversifying her lessons with various tasks and even guests.
Laima says, „ Last year I was working on a project and the main idea was to introduce different cultures to students. I found a video of Jewish weddings which reflected Jewish traditions. After watching this video, I asked the author if I was able to use it and I got shocked when he replied „ Laima, you can use it. By the way, you can be really surprised, but I‘m rooted in Kėdainiai“. The author of the video was our guest Eli Rabinowitz. It‘s the second time Eli Rabinowitz is visiting our school. Last year he was a participant in our project too, while students were learning about different communities in Kėdainiai. Meetings like this never end. We keep in touch via skype and have skype meetings with students.

An article in the Lithuanian press:

Anglų kalbos pamokos kitaip
Iš arčiau 2015/05/29 by Vilija Mockuvienė
Vieni „Atžalyno“ gimnazijos mokiniai mokytojos Laimos Ardavičienės anglų kalbos pamokų laukia su baime, kiti – su džiaugsmu. Gimnazistai žino, kad šios patyrusios pedagogės pamokose nebus nei nuobodulio, nei tuščio laiko leidimo.
Paįvairindama pamokas „Atžalyno“ gimnazijos mokytoja Laima Ardavičienė į Kėdainius pakvietė Australijoje gyvenantį žydą E. Rabinovičių, kuris turi sąsajų su šiuo miestu ir mielai bendrauja su jaunimu.

For further see:
http://muge.eu/anglu-kalbos-pamokos-kitaip/

My images are supplemented with some provided by Vilius, a delightfully engaging student, who would like one day, to have sports photography business, possibly in South Africa!

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