Tag Archives: Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky

Vilnius’s Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky Issues Response to Official ‘State Restitution’ Community’s Statement on Violent Attack at Synagogue Gate

Posted on 25 September 2026 by Defending History

“GOOD WILL FOUNDATION” | GWF’s CAMPAIGN AGAINST VILNIUS’S ONE RESIDENT RABBI | US & ISRAELI MEMBERS OF THE BOARD PROVIDING LEGITIMIZATION [ARCHIVED] | LITHUANIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY ISSUES | TEXTBOOK CASE OF FAILURE OF RESTITUTION FOR VALUE OF PREWAR JEWISH RELIGIOUS PROPERTIES | STOLEN ELECTION SAGA | AJC MISADVENTURES IN LITHUANIA | CHABAD IN LITHUANIA | LITVAK AFFAIRS

◊

Sept. 14 photos at gates of Vilnius Synagogue and in nearby hospital emergency room by Moshe Diamant, one of the visiting tourists who witnessed violent attack on Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky by a security guard.

VILNIUS—The following statement was circulated via email today by the office of Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky, who has been a full-time resident rabbi in Vilnius for thirty-two years. It comes in the wake of the shocking violent attack on him, perpetrated on 14 September at the  gates of the city’s one functioning synagogue, the Choral Synagogue at Pylimo Street 39, where he has been the only officiating rabbi for years. The syngagogue security guard who attacked him, in the view of witnesses who photographed the incident and then issued written statements, is an employee of the Good Will Foundation  (GWF).

Continue reading

Posted in Chabad in Vilnius, Lithuania, Lithuania: Textbook Case of East European Restitution (for Lost Jewish Assets) Abused to Dismantle a Vibrant Jewish Community, Lithuania's Jewish Community Issues, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Quango Called 'Good Will Foundation' (GWF): Has it Been Using Jewish Restitution Funds for Bitter, Sometimes Violent Campaign against Chabad Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky?, Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Vilnius’s Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky Issues Response to Official ‘State Restitution’ Community’s Statement on Violent Attack at Synagogue Gate

When Will ‘Made in Vilnius’ Start Reporting ‘Both Sides of the Story’?

Posted on 15 September 2026 by Defending History

MEDIA WATCH | “GOOD WILL FOUNDATION” | GWF’s CAMPAIGN AGAINST VILNIUS’S ONE RESIDENT RABBI | US & ISRAELI MEMBERS OF THE BOARD PROVIDING LEGITIMIZATION [ARCHIVED] | LITHUANIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY ISSUES | TEXTBOOK CASE OF FAILURE OF RESTITUTION FOR VALUE OF PREWAR JEWISH RELIGIOUS PROPERTIES | STOLEN ELECTION SAGA | AJC MISADVENTURES IN LITHUANIA | CHABAD IN LITHUANIA | LITVAK AFFAIRS

◊

OPINION

◊

VILNIUS—The excellent and informative web journal Made in Vilnius has once again made the serious error of presenting only one side of a controversial story. A deeply disturbing incident took place in Vilnius on Monday morning, when the city’s resident rabbi of thirty-two years was attacked and injured at the gates of its sole functioning synagogue by a security guard allegedly employed by entities funded by Lithuania’s most notorious quango, the Orwellian-named “Good Will Foundation.” It is the same quango that funds the state-supported “official Jewish community.”

A free press seeks out the opposing views of matters in conflict.

Continue reading

Posted in Chabad in Vilnius, Lithuania, Lithuania: Textbook Case of East European Restitution (for Lost Jewish Assets) Abused to Dismantle a Vibrant Jewish Community, Lithuania's Jewish Community Issues, Litvak Affairs, Media Watch, News & Views, Opinion, Quango Called 'Good Will Foundation' (GWF): Has it Been Using Jewish Restitution Funds for Bitter, Sometimes Violent Campaign against Chabad Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky?, Vilnius | Tagged , , | Comments Off on When Will ‘Made in Vilnius’ Start Reporting ‘Both Sides of the Story’?

Opinion: Assault at Vilnius Synagogue Gate

Posted on 14 September 2026 by Defending History

OPINION | “GOOD WILL FOUNDATION” | TEXTBOOK CASE OF FAILURE OF RESTITUTION FOR VALUE OF PREWAR JEWISH RELIGIOUS PROPERTIES | GWF’s CAMPAIGN AGAINST VILNIUS’S ONE RESIDENT RABBI | US & ISRAELI MEMBERS OF THE BOARD PROVIDING LEGITIMIZATION [ARCHIVED] | LITHUANIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY ISSUES | STOLEN ELECTION SAGA | AJC MISADVENTURES IN LITHUANIA | CHABAD IN LITHUANIA | LITVAK AFFAIRS

◊

OPINION

◊

by Dovid Katz

◊

When good intentions produce bad consequences, those with the power to act have a moral obligation to do so. Lithuania — a proud and successful EU and NATO democracy — did the right thing in providing tens of millions of euros in restitution for the assessed value of pre-Holocaust Jewish communal religious property. Yet the institution created to administer those funds, the Orwellian-named “Good Will Foundation” (GWF), has, over a decade and a half, become an entrenched structure under the same two non-rotating co-chairs. The latest lark conceives plonking a modernist multi-million euro luxury building for GWF executive offices, among other things, on top of the precious remnants of the Vilna Great Synagogue.

Beyond directing resources to cronies, relatives and self-promotional projects, the Foundation has used its publicly endowed power to marginalize, defame and undermine various of the people who actually rebuilt Jewish life and culture in Lithuania after independence. Among the most serious developments have been the dismantling of long-standing Jewish community democracy through the disenfranchisement of individual voters (that 2017 change having come in the middle of an election campaign that was “going the other way”); the use of substantial funds to construct ersatz communities for the purpose of undermining existing ones not deemed sufficiently compliant (most notoriously, ensuring that the democratically preserved Vilnius Jewish Community receives not a penny and has no premises, while a concocted “second one in an office” fixes things on paper); repeated failures to stand up for Jewish values in the spirit exemplified by the community before restitution; and the use of security and police in ways that have served to harass and intimidate.

Continue reading

Posted in "Good Will Foundation" (Jewish Restitution in Lithuania), Chabad in Vilnius, Lithuania, Lithuania: Textbook Case of East European Restitution (for Lost Jewish Assets) Abused to Dismantle a Vibrant Jewish Community, Lithuania's Jewish Community Issues, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion, Quango Called 'Good Will Foundation' (GWF): Has it Been Using Jewish Restitution Funds for Bitter, Sometimes Violent Campaign against Chabad Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky?, Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Opinion: Assault at Vilnius Synagogue Gate

Were ‘Good Will Foundation’ Funds Used in Today’s Assault on Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky at Vilnius’s One Synagogue?

Posted on 14 September 2026 by Defending History

“GOOD WILL FOUNDATION” | GWF’s CAMPAIGN AGAINST VILNIUS’S ONE RESIDENT RABBI | US & ISRAELI MEMBERS OF THE BOARD PROVIDING LEGITIMIZATION [ARCHIVED] | LITHUANIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY ISSUES | TEXTBOOK CASE OF FAILURE OF RESTITUTION FOR VALUE OF PREWAR JEWISH RELIGIOUS PROPERTIES | STOLEN ELECTION SAGA | AJC MISADVENTURES IN LITHUANIA | CHABAD IN LITHUANIA | LITVAK AFFAIRS

0260914092826/https://gvf.lt/en/◊

DOES RESPONSE FROM GWF-SPONSORED LJC JUSTIFY VIOLENCE AGAINST OPPONENTS BY INVOKING AN ADL ALERT?

A DECADE-OLD STORY      EDITOR’S OPINION

◊

◊

VILNIUS—Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky, the city’s resident rabbi, now a full-time provider of Jewish religious life in the city for thirty-two years, was beaten and thrown to the ground at the synagogue gates by a man described by witnesses as one of the security guards. The guard is apparently employed by entities funded in part or in whole by the quango called “The Good Will Foundation” (GWF) which has been awarded tens of millions of euros for a decade and a half.

These funds are designated as restitution and derive specifically from valuations of prewar communal Jewish religious property. Throughout its existence, the GWF’s two joint, nonrotating chairs have been a Lithuanian citizenship specialist attorney and a leading figure of the American Jewish Committee in Washington, DC. In addition to locals who have benefitted from GWF funding, the boards are “legitimized” by major Jewish organization figures, primarily from the United States and Israel. Coopted organizations—whose current or recent leaders serve on these boards—include the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the American Zionist Movement (AZM), B’nai B’rith International, and the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO).

Continue reading

Posted in "Good Will Foundation" (Jewish Restitution in Lithuania), A Stolen Election and a Small Jewish Community's Protest, American Jewish Committee (AJC) in Lithuania, Chabad in Vilnius, Lithuania, Lithuania: Textbook Case of East European Restitution (for Lost Jewish Assets) Abused to Dismantle a Vibrant Jewish Community, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Quango Called 'Good Will Foundation' (GWF): Has it Been Using Jewish Restitution Funds for Bitter, Sometimes Violent Campaign against Chabad Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky?, Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Were ‘Good Will Foundation’ Funds Used in Today’s Assault on Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky at Vilnius’s One Synagogue?

April-May 2026 Updates in the Saga of the Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery

Posted on 1 May 2026 by Defending History

[LAST UPDATE]

OPINION | OLD VILNA JEWISH CEMETERY AT PIRAMÓNT: THE SAGA OF 2015-2025 | EARLIER OPPOSITION | 2023-2024 “WORKING GROUP” ON VILNA CEMETERY | LIST OF MEMBERS | MOUNTING OPPOSITION TO NEW “MUSEUM PROJECT” | USCPAHA (UNITED STATES COMMISSION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF AMERICA’S HERITAGE ABROAD) | THE CPJCE (COMMITTEE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF JEWISH CEMETERIES IN EUROPE) | THE AJC (AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE) | THE CER (CONFERENCE OF EUROPEAN RABBIS) | THE GWF (GOOD WILL FOUNDATION) | CEMETERIES & MASS GRAVES | HUMAN RIGHTS

◊

The new debate is between the factions of would-be destroyers of the Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery, where thousands lie buried:

Continue reading

Posted in Christian-Jewish Issues, Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok), Opinion, Politics of Memory | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on April-May 2026 Updates in the Saga of the Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery

Finally, View that ‘a Cemetery is a Cemetery’ Makes it into Lithuanian Media as Debate Sharpens on Fate of Vilnius’s Old Jewish Cemetery

Posted on 24 April 2026 by Defending History

Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky

The following is Defending History’s translation into Lithuanian of Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky’s statement of 11 March 2026, Lithuania’s Independence Day. The original English appeared the same day in DH, and on 17 March it was published in The Times of Israel. See also Professor Sid Leiman’s response from New York. For some weeks, there was no mention of it in Lithuanian language media, a priori rather curious given the rabbi’s thirty-two years of resident service in the Lithuanian capital. But by mid April there were cracks in the efforts to keep from Lithuanian language readership the very existence of the opinion that it is in Lithuania’s interest to honor, not humiliate, the five hundred year Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery, not to reconstruct a Soviet ruin where throngs would cheer, drink and flush lavatories surrounded by thousands of extant graves of fellow citizens of Vilna. Would this even be contemplated if it were about a half-millennium old cemetery that was the resting place of the great scholars of the ethnic and religious majority?

The ice started to break with veteran journalist Arvydas Jockus’s article in Alfa.lt (16 April), a survey of views that exposed the misimpression that the state-financed official “Lithuanian Jewish Community” is somehow representative of Jewish views (whether local or international). Then, the Vilnius-area Vilniaus kraštas published a translation, on 22 April, albeit with a classic “biased headline” implying that the “purpose of the Jews” is to take away the Soviet Sports Palace. This was somewhat rectified by the publication of a Lithuanian translation with the correct author’s title, carried as a press release by BNS (Baltic News Service) and by Elta.lt, among others, on 24 April. Since 2015, Defending History has offered a section in Lithuanian on these issues.

Continue reading

Posted in Christian-Jewish Issues, Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok), Opinion, Vilniaus senosios žydų (Piramonto) kapinės Šnipiškėse | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Finally, View that ‘a Cemetery is a Cemetery’ Makes it into Lithuanian Media as Debate Sharpens on Fate of Vilnius’s Old Jewish Cemetery

Ruta Bloshtein Asks: ‘Dear Mr. Yatom (Yusem): Did This Defamatory Circular Really Come from You?’

Posted on 30 March 2026 by Defending History

OPINION | VILNIUS | LITVAK AFFAIRS | STOLEN-DEMOCRACY OFFICIAL COMMUNITY | CHABAD IN VILNIUS

◊

by Ruta Bloshtein

◊

As a member of the very small religiously observant (Orthodox) Jewish community of Vilnius, and as someone born here in Vilnius, I at times feel it important to speak out publicly on current issues of Jewish life. I am writing this open letter first and foremost to express my public question as to whether a shameful document very widely circulated for several months now, purporting to come from the office of the official Head of the “Vilnius Jewish Religious Community” was indeed written by or approved by the personage whose name appears on top: Mr. Shmuel Yatom (whom I recall previously using the spelling Yusem), the official head of this “Vilnius Religious Jewish Community” that is financed by the restitution-fueled official so-called “Jewish (Litvak) Community of Lithuania” which has done so much damage to genuine Jewish life here in Vilnius, not least by dismantling its longtime democratic structure.

Could this libelous screed really have originated from the office of Mr. Yatom (Yusem), official head of the “religious community”?

Continue reading

Posted in A Stolen Election and a Small Jewish Community's Protest, Chabad in Vilnius, Lithuania, Lithuania: Textbook Case of East European Restitution (for Lost Jewish Assets) Abused to Dismantle a Vibrant Jewish Community, Lithuania's Jewish Community Issues, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion, Quango Called 'Good Will Foundation' (GWF): Has it Been Using Jewish Restitution Funds for Bitter, Sometimes Violent Campaign against Chabad Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky?, Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky, Ruta (Reyzke) Bloshtein, Vilnius | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Ruta Bloshtein Asks: ‘Dear Mr. Yatom (Yusem): Did This Defamatory Circular Really Come from You?’

Professor Sid Leiman: ‘Superb Declaration by Vinius’s Devoted Rabbi, Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky’

Posted on 12 March 2026 by Defending History

OPINION | OLD VILNA JEWISH CEMETERY AT PIRAMÓNT: 2015-2025 | EARLIER OPPOSITION |  2023-2024 “WORKING GROUP” ON VILNA CEMETERY | LIST OF MEMBERS | MOUNTING OPPOSITION TO NEW “MUSEUM PROJECT” | USCPAHA  (UNITED STATES COMMISSION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF AMERICA’S HERITAGE ABROAD) | THE CPJCE (COMMITTEE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF JEWISH CEMETERIES IN EUROPE) | THE AJC (AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE) | THE CER (CONFERENCE OF EUROPEAN RABBIS) | THE GWF (GOOD WILL FOUNDATION) | CEMETERIES & MASS GRAVES | HUMAN RIGHTS

◊

Professor Sid Leiman, the Distinguished Professor of Jewish History and Literature at Touro University’s Graduate School of Jewish Studies, reacted today to Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky’s declaration on the fate of the Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery in the following letter to the editor. See also Prof. Leiman’s earlier publications in Defending History.

◊

Superb declaration by Vilnius’s devoted Rabbi, Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky, of why Vilna’s Old Jewish Cemetery needs to be preserved and restored, and not buried under a Sports Stadium, or a Convention Center, or a Museum of any kind — whether Lithuanian or Jewish.

Continue reading

Posted in Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok), Opinion, Politics of Memory, Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky, Sid (Shnayer) Leiman | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Professor Sid Leiman: ‘Superb Declaration by Vinius’s Devoted Rabbi, Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky’

Vilnius’s Resident Rabbi for Last 30 Years is Called ‘Mr. Krinsky’ in Latest Hate Piece from State-Restitution-fueled ‘Official’ Jewish Community

Posted on 21 April 2025 by Defending History

[2 May 2025 update at end of post]

OPINION | DOCUMENTS | LITHUANIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY AFFAIRS | A STOLEN ELECTION | CHABAD IN VILNIUS | HUMAN RIGHTS

◊

OPINION

◊

VILNIUS—Even people who “thought they had seen everything” were taken aback a week ago, when without prior warning Vilnius’s only functioning synagogue was closed down on the occasion of the first seyder night of Passover, one of the most sacred Jewish calendar days of the year. The “explanation” did come shortly thereafter in the form of an official 13 April 2025 statement on the official website of the restitution fueled “Jewish (Litvak) Community of Lithuania” (the “LJC” as is it is still known from the long time title “Lithuanian Jewish Community”, LZB in Lithuanian). That is the “community” that disenfranchised virtually all the remaining few thousand Jewish people in Lithuania, by changing the system of voting (in the middle of an election campaign season!) from choice by community members to that of “associations” mostly benefiting from restitution funds. This transpired during the allegedly rigged 2017 community elections. See also the contemporary JTA reports (here and here). The official community has received tens of millions of dollars from the government in restitution.

Continue reading

Posted in "Good Will Foundation" (Jewish Restitution in Lithuania), Chabad in Vilnius, Documents, Human Rights, Lithuania, Lithuania's Jewish Community Issues, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion, Quango Called 'Good Will Foundation' (GWF): Has it Been Using Jewish Restitution Funds for Bitter, Sometimes Violent Campaign against Chabad Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky?, Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Vilnius’s Resident Rabbi for Last 30 Years is Called ‘Mr. Krinsky’ in Latest Hate Piece from State-Restitution-fueled ‘Official’ Jewish Community

Vilnius Chabad Rabbi, Sholom Ber Krinsky, Circulates Appeal on Closing of Synagogue, Cites Concerns on Entanglement of ‘Conference of European Rabbis’ (CER) in Local Shenanigans

Posted on 7 December 2023 by Defending History

OPINION | DOCUMENTS | LITHUANIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY AFFAIRS | CHABAD IN VILNIUS | CONFERENCE OF EUROPEAN RABBIS (CER)

◊

VILNIUS—A public statement distributed via email today by Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky, Vilnius’s Chabad rabbi for thirty years, and the only full-time resident rabbi in the city during the three decade period, has by this evening reached hundreds, or possibly thousands, and is in the public domain. Defending History provides the text below, noting that the prime topic, the closure of the city’s Choral Synagogue for several months now on orders of the chairperson of the state-financed “Lithuanian Jewish Community” invokes such episodes in previous years, and had recently been the subject of an earlier public statement by Rabbi Elchonon Baron. Readers interested in more background are invited to peruse the following Defending History sections: Chabad in Lithuania; Lithuanian Jewish Community Affairs; Good Will Foundation (GWF); American Jewish Committee (AJC) and its damaging meddling in Lithuanian Jewish affairs; the Conference of European Rabbis (CER).

Continue reading

Posted in "Good Will Foundation" (Jewish Restitution in Lithuania), American Jewish Committee (AJC) in Lithuania, Chabad in Vilnius, Conference of European Rabbis (CER), Lithuania, Lithuania: Textbook Case of East European Restitution (for Lost Jewish Assets) Abused to Dismantle a Vibrant Jewish Community, Lithuania's Jewish Community Issues, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion, Quango Called 'Good Will Foundation' (GWF): Has it Been Using Jewish Restitution Funds for Bitter, Sometimes Violent Campaign against Chabad Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky?, Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Vilnius Chabad Rabbi, Sholom Ber Krinsky, Circulates Appeal on Closing of Synagogue, Cites Concerns on Entanglement of ‘Conference of European Rabbis’ (CER) in Local Shenanigans

Lithuania Hears Pleas and (For Now?) Cancels Funding for Convention Center Project in Old Jewish Cemetery

Posted on 20 December 2020 by Defending History

OPINION  | HUMAN RIGHTS | CHRISTIAN-JEWISH ISSUES  |  CEMETERIES & MASS GRAVES  |  OLD VILNA JEWISH CEMETERY AT PIRAMÓNT | OPPOSITION TO ‘CONVENTION CENTER  IN THE CEMETERY’ PROJECT |INTERNATIONAL PETITION

◊

by Andrius Kulikauskas

◊

A Victory for Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s

On December 16, 2020, the sixth day of Hanukkah, defenders of the oldest Jewish cemetery in Vilnius (at Piramont-Šnipiškės) won a major, decisive, surprising, timeless victory. Lithuania’s government, acting on our campaign’s and Seimas member Kęstutis Masiulis’s proposals to the Seimas (parliament) Budget and Finance Committee, struck from the 2021 budget all funding for the reconstruction of the Vilnius Sports Palace into a Vilnius Congress Center. This building, which the Soviets had erected in the middle of the Cemetery, had fallen into disuse. The Lithuanian government acquired the building in 2015 with plans to remake it as a center for international conferences, further desecrating the Cemetery for untold years to come. Thankfully, the newly elected Government has eliminated funding.

Continue reading

Posted in Andrius Kulikauskas, Andrius Kulikauskas on Vilnius's Oldest Jewish Cemetery, Christian-Jewish Issues, Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Human Rights, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok), Opinion, Politics of Memory, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Lithuania Hears Pleas and (For Now?) Cancels Funding for Convention Center Project in Old Jewish Cemetery

Motke Chabad Says: Rabbi Forbids His Own Community’s Bagels in Vilnius — ‘Not Kosher’

Posted on 2 August 2020 by Defending History

 OPINION  | HUMOR (OF SORTS)  |  VILNIUS JEWISH LIFE  |  CHABAD IN VILNIUS

◊

by Motke Chabad (Vilnius) (Russian version here)

Midsummer greetings to all my readers! Of course you have not forgotten Motke. Sure, Motke may speak like Motke, with an allegory or a little twist here and there, to enable you, dear reader, to enjoy life and the wonders of the incredible world we live in. But there is something else you know about Motke. When I, Motke, who knows everything about what is happening in my old hometown Vilne give you a document, you better believe that the document is real. No sir, Motke does not deal in Fake News!

The document is of course the document that everyone in town is talking about. Just go around town and ask. What is the sensation this week?

Continue reading

Posted in A Stolen Election and a Small Jewish Community's Protest, Chabad in Vilnius, Humor (Of Sorts), Lithuania's Jewish Community Issues, Litvak Affairs, Motke Chabad, News & Views, Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky, What Do Fake Litvak Games Look Like? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Motke Chabad Says: Rabbi Forbids His Own Community’s Bagels in Vilnius — ‘Not Kosher’

Dieckmann & Vanagaite Book Scores €10,000 from Lithuanian Gov. Fund On Top of $20,525 from Crowdfunding

Posted on 20 February 2020 by Defending History

◊

VILNIUS—In November 2018, Defending History raised some questions about a crowdfunding campaign for a new book by Professor Christoph Dieckmann, a longtime member of the Lithuanian government’s “red-brown commission,” in partnership with bestselling author and Holocaust truth-teller Ruta Vanagaite. The article is reproduced below unchanged for speed of reference.

Continue reading

Posted in "Red-Brown Commission", History, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Politics of Memory | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Dieckmann & Vanagaite Book Scores €10,000 from Lithuanian Gov. Fund On Top of $20,525 from Crowdfunding

Sources in London: Legal Action in Preparation Regarding CPJCE’s Betrayal of Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery

Posted on 8 June 2018 by Defending History

UK  |  OLD VILNA JEWISH CEMETERY  |  OPPOSITION TO CONVENTION CENTER PROJECT  |  PETITION   |  CHRISTIAN-JEWISH RELATIONS  |  CPJCE

◊

LONDON—Reliable sources in London reported this morning that solicitors are being instructed by a group of international clients whose ancestors lie buried in the old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt, in today’s Snipiskes district of Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital. For years, the Lithuanian government’s justification for planning to situate in the cemetery its new national convention project, confirmed on numerous occasions in writing, is the “permission of the CPJCE in London,” a group of renegade rabbis who have ignored the pleas of all other rabbinical groups, and all major Litvak (Lithuanian origin) rabbis internationally, to give “permission” for the convention center in the heart of the cemetery. When Rabbi Chaim Burshtein, the then chief rabbi of Lithuania dared speak up in opposition, in 2015, he was rapidly dismissed. In late 2016, Rabbis Kalev Krelin and Sholom-Ber Krinsky were among the first to sign the international petition (see also Rabbi Krinsky’s blog and DH section). Rabbi S. J. Feffer, author of dozens of learned books on the Gaon of Vilna, based in the city for a quarter century and head of its Litvak rabbinic authority, published a powerful ruling in 2017.

Continue reading

Posted in Christian-Jewish Issues, CPJCE (London), Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Human Rights, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok), United Kingdom | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sources in London: Legal Action in Preparation Regarding CPJCE’s Betrayal of Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery

Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky: Not Afraid to Blog on Community Leaders’ Injustices

Posted on 2 September 2017 by Defending History

CHABAD IN VILNIUS  |  VILNIUS JEWISH LIFE  |  GOOD WILL FOUNDATION

◊

VILNIUS—After a number of readers reported technical difficulties in accessing the publicly posted and widely read blog of Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky, in the interests of preserving the history of the Lithuanian Jewish community these are here offered in chronological order with separate links for each (the original is also available in internet libraries). Rabbi Krinsky’s respectful call for the resignations of leaders of the Good Will Foundation is perhaps the best known, covering the wider issue of integrity of restitution payments far beyond Chabad issues alone. For  highly divergent views on the events the rabbi covers in these blog posts, see the Defending History section tracking Rabbi Krinsky’s recent history in Vilnius, and the official website of the state-sponsored Jewish Community of Lithuania (e.g. here; here).

Continue reading

Posted in "Good Will Foundation" (Jewish Restitution in Lithuania), A Stolen Election and a Small Jewish Community's Protest, Chabad in Vilnius, Human Rights, Identity Theft of Litvak Heritage, Lithuania, Lithuania: Textbook Case of East European Restitution (for Lost Jewish Assets) Abused to Dismantle a Vibrant Jewish Community, Lithuania's Jewish Community Issues, Litvak Affairs, Media Watch, News & Views, Opinion, Quango Called 'Good Will Foundation' (GWF): Has it Been Using Jewish Restitution Funds for Bitter, Sometimes Violent Campaign against Chabad Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky?, Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky: Not Afraid to Blog on Community Leaders’ Injustices

London Beth Din (Rabbinical Court) Issues Summons to Two Leaders of Lithuania’s Official Jewish Community

Posted on 3 March 2017 by Defending History

HUMAN RIGHTS  |  VILNIUS JEWISH LIFE  |  LITVAK AFFAIRS

◊

LONDON—Defending History has learned from reliable sources that The Judicial Division of the London Beth Din (Court of the Chief Rabbi) issued a summons on 27 February 2017 (1 Adar 5777 by the Hebrew calendar) calling upon Simas Levinas, chairperson of the Vilna Jewish Religious Community, and Faina Kukliansky, chairperson of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, to “agree to attend a hearing and sign a binding Arbitration Agreement, on receipt of which we will fix a hearing date for the mutual convenience of all parties.”

Continue reading

Posted in "Good Will Foundation" (Jewish Restitution in Lithuania), Chabad in Vilnius, CPJCE (London), Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Human Rights, Lithuania, Lithuania: Textbook Case of East European Restitution (for Lost Jewish Assets) Abused to Dismantle a Vibrant Jewish Community, Lithuania's Jewish Community Issues, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Quango Called 'Good Will Foundation' (GWF): Has it Been Using Jewish Restitution Funds for Bitter, Sometimes Violent Campaign against Chabad Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky?, United Kingdom | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on London Beth Din (Rabbinical Court) Issues Summons to Two Leaders of Lithuania’s Official Jewish Community

When the Picture and the Headline Tell Opposite Stories

Posted on 12 February 2017 by Defending History

OPINION  |  VILNIUS JEWISH LIFE   |   LITVAK AFFAIRS

◊

by Dovid Katz (Vilnius)

◊

Full credit to the Forward’s Paul Berger, who has, as ever, sought to be meticulously fair in his new article on some aspects of contemporary Lithuanian Jewish life. This “addendum” goes in a sense more to the wider issues encountered when Western journalists cover stories in the “slightly exotic east,” here in Eastern Europe, on ground zero of the Holocaust, where Jewish communities are ipso facto remnant communities, and where certain larger trends can at times be in play.

Continue reading

Posted in "Good Will Foundation" (Jewish Restitution in Lithuania), "Jewish" Events as Cover?, Chabad in Vilnius, Dovid Katz, In the Era of Yivo's 100th, Israel, Lithuania, Lithuania's Jewish Community Issues, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Quango Called 'Good Will Foundation' (GWF): Has it Been Using Jewish Restitution Funds for Bitter, Sometimes Violent Campaign against Chabad Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky?, Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky, United States | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on When the Picture and the Headline Tell Opposite Stories

Defending History’s 2017 People of the Year

Posted on 1 January 2017 by Defending History

◊

three-winners-1

As 2017 gets underway, Defending History is proud to honor three Vilnius personalities, this year all from its Orthodox Jewish community, who have stood up for cherished principles against powerful forces. In all cases, the principles defended pertain also to human rights more generally. Their courage and determination can serve as an example to all who defend human rights and history even when it is inconvenient and draws the ire of power-invested institutions that are often associated with state-supported entities.

The three honorees are, in alphabetical order, Ruta Bloshtein, Rabbi Kalev Krelin, and Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky. On Facebook. See from previous years the Prophet Amos Human Rights Awards and the 2014 Person of the Year.

Continue reading

Posted in "Good Will Foundation" (Jewish Restitution in Lithuania), Bold Citizens Speak Out, Chabad in Vilnius, Defending History's Person of the Year, Defense of Old Jewish Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites, Human Rights, Lithuania, Lithuania's Jewish Community Issues, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Old Vilna Jewish Cemetery at Piramónt (in Šnipiškės / Shnípishok), Opinion, Persons of the Year, Quango Called 'Good Will Foundation' (GWF): Has it Been Using Jewish Restitution Funds for Bitter, Sometimes Violent Campaign against Chabad Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky?, Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Defending History’s 2017 People of the Year

Vilnius 2016 Chanukah Celebrations

Posted on 28 December 2016 by Defending History

VILNIUS JEWISH LIFE

◊

 

Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky led his 23rd annual Grand Menorah Lighting in the center of Vilnius on Wednesday evening 28 December, for (in Lithuanian Yiddish) di fínfte líkhtale, the fifth candle of Chanukah. The event attracted hundreds from different faiths who filled the square to celebrate harmony in the Lithuanian capital. It was addressed by Mayor Remigijus Šimašius and attended by diplomats from the embassies of Israel, Norway, Turkey, and the United States, among others, and dignitaries from the nation’s parliament, among them MP Emanuelis Zingeris, cofounder of the city’s Jewish museum.

MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE VILNIUS CITY-CENTER MENORAH:

City of Vilnius    TV3.lt    Lrytas.lt   15min.lt   Delfi.lt   Wilnoteka.lt

The event seemed to succeed even more this year following various alleged attempts at sabotage. Many of the Vilnius Jewish residents present were visibly thrilled that Mayor Šimašius had boldly ignored some public calls, one from a Lithuanian academic, one from an unsigned piece on the official Jewish community website, and one from an antisemitic author, all of which imlpied that it was suddenly (after 22 years of previous universally beloved events) “controversial,” perhaps for featuring Rabbi Krinsky, who has recently been the target of a bizarre campaign of harassment.

A big part of the crowd comprised young people who particularly enjoyed the candle lighting, the smaller menorah of ice, and the large tent where traditional foods were served to hundreds of Vilnius residents. Chanukah menorahs were handed out to all who wanted one.Continue reading

Posted in Events, Lithuania, Lithuania's Jewish Community Issues, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Vilnius 2016 Chanukah Celebrations

Runup to Chanukah 2016 in Vilnius

Posted on 27 December 2016 by Defending History

READERS IN LITHUANIA

All welcome at Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky’s annual Grand Chanukah Menorah Lighting on Wednesday evening 28 December 2016 at 5 PM (17:00) in central Vilnius on Gedimino Boulevard on Kudirka Square (opposite the Novotel). An annual highlight of Jewish life and also for Lithuanian-Jewish and Christian-Jewish friendship for nearly a quarter century. Also in Klaipėda (26 Dec), Kaunas (27 Dec) and Šiauliai (29 Dec).

Continue reading

Posted in Chabad in Vilnius, Events, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Runup to Chanukah 2016 in Vilnius