Tag: dylan kotkis

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