News

We invite you to participate at the Conference "Building Our States Together: The Role of Litvaks in The Creation of Independent Lithuania and Israel" on December 12, 2018, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Modern Lithuania and the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel. Please register at amb.il@mfa.lt until December 10, 2018.  

Date:                                   December 12, 2018

Venue:                                Eretz Israel Museum, The Alexander Center 2 Haim Levanon St., Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69975

Organizers:                         Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the State of Israel                                                        

PROGRAMME

09.45                                  Registration of the participants

10.00                                  Welcoming remarks by H.E. Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to the State of Israel Edminas Bagdonas

10.10 – 11.30                       Session I: The Role of Litvaks in The History of Lithuanian and Israeli Statehood

Moderator: Laimonas Talat Kelpša, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Lithuania

-Jewish-Lithuanian Social, Cultural and Political Dialogue as Reflected in Lithuania's Libraries and Archives Collections - Dr. Lara Lempertienė, Director of the Judaica Research Center of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

-The Role of Livaks in Creation of the State of Israel - Dr. Mordechai Zalkin, Ben Gurion University of Negev

-Towards the Architectural Legacy of Litvaks: the Jewels of Kaunas Modernism of the 1920ties and 1930ties - Arūnas Gelūnas, Member of Parliament, Republic of Lithuania

11.30 – 12.00                        Coffee break

12.00 – 13.15                        Session II: Preserving Jewish Heritage and the Memory of Holocaust Victims in Lithuania

Moderator: Arūnas Gelūnas, Member of Parliament, Republic of Lithuania

-Lithuanian and Jewish Common Past and Present - Modern Lithuania's Stance - Dainius Junevičius, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Lithuania

-Representative of the Yad Vashem Institute (tbc.)

-Presentation of Dr. Laurence Weinbaum, Director General, WJC Israel, Director General, Israel Council on Foreign Relations

-Jewish Community in Lithuania inheriting the past, building the future - Renaldas Vaisbrodas, Executive Director at the Lithuanian Jewish Community

-Presentation of the Project ”Lithuanian-Jewish Special Interest Group”- Carol Hoffman, the immediate past President of LitvakSIG

13.1 – 14.30                       Session III: Litvaks in the World

Moderator: Laimonas Talat Kelpša, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Lithuania

-Jewish Lithuanian Footprints in India – Dr. Shimon Lev, Israeli writer and researcher

-Comments by H.E. Ambassador of India to the State of Israel Pavan Kapoor

The official book launch of Shimon Lev’s "From Lithuania to Santiniketan: Schlomith Flaum & Rabindranath Tagore" by Lithuanian Ambassador Edminas Bagdonas and Indian Ambassador Pavan Kapoor

14.30                                  Glass of wine

The exhibition “Reflections in the Shattered Mirror” prepared by the Judaica Research Centre of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania will be showcased against the backdrop of the conference. The exhibition depicts the life of the Jewish communities of Lithuania and Vilnius during the inter-war period.