-- The Shnipishok (Šnipiškės) Jewish cemetery in Vilnius, has been a target for desecration since its founding over 500 years ago. It is an internationally renowned cemetery, the initial burial ground of the legendary Torah scholar, the Vilna Gaon and the resting place to over 50,000 Jewish graves.
In the 1960s the Soviet regime built the Vilnius Concert and Sports Hall (Sport Palace), ruthlessly desecrating hundreds of graves. In 2004 the edifice was closed and abandoned.
Between 2005 and 2008, after Lithuania’s independence, the government constructed a set of apartment buildings on the cemetery. In that process hundreds of skeletal remains were desecrated. The world shook and protested. In 2008 the US Senate passed a resolution condemning the action of the Lithuanian government.
In 2009, the Lithuanian Government came to an agreement with the Committee for Protecting Jewish Cemeteries in Europe (CPJCE) and the Lithuanian Jewish community, defining several protective zones on the cemetery. The agreement was met with mixed sentiments. Many believed that the agreement didn’t offer sufficient protection to Jewish cultural and heritage considerations.
In 2015 Lithuanian Seimas passed a law (resolution 597), facilitating the state-owned Turto bankas acquisition of the Sports Palace and paving the way for the development of the conference center.
The VCC conference center initiative was supported by Ms. Faina Kukliansky, the Chair of the Lithuanian Jewish Community together with the CPJCE who vowed to manage its development within the framework of Jewish law.
In January 2020, a senior rabbinical court, Rabbi Nissim Kareletz’s Bais Din, prohibited the VCC initiative.
Pointedly, the CPJCE accepted the rabbinical court’s ruling prohibiting the VCC development and even published the court’s decision on their Twitter account, depicting the ruling as their swan song, a final salute and exit from Lithuania, after close to twenty years of work in managing the cemetery. The ruling against the development of the VCC on the Jewish cemetery according to Jewish law had also been signed by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, the world’s leading authority on Jewish law.
The CPJCE acted in good faith. It tried diligently to find creative ways to circumvent Jewish law. But that ship has sailed. The CPJCE is bound to the dictates of Jewish law and their rabbis, which it has accepted. Today, the chances of the CPJCE participating in the VCC project or providing “rabbinical supervision” for the initiative are close to zero, unless the members of the CPJCE change their religion.
Ms. Faina Kukliansky, who is another key factor in the equation, recently stated, “I do not have the expertise to determine whether the VCC project is compliant with Jewish law.” Her claim appeared on the Turto Bankas website. Additionally, Ms Kukliansky verified that she had relied on the expertise of others. She has also reiterated that she will follow Jewish law. As all Jewish authorities have ruled that the VCC is prohibited, she is hardly likely to challenge that ruling.
Further, according to the 2009 Agreement, the Jewish Community of Lithuania is by definition “the Organization that represents the interests of Lithuanian Jews and collaborates with international Jewish organizations regarding the old Jewish cemetery in Šnipiškės (Vilnius).”
Notably, all leading international Jewish organizations have expressly opposed the VCC.
It has been a long haul. Lithuania has seen many years of desecration and the destruction of countless graves. At night only the ghosts of yesteryear tell their tale. About 95 percent of the Jewish community were slain during the war, many by Lithuanian “freedom fighters”.
But it’s a new day in Lithuania. Temperatures have changed. The new guard replaces the old. A new breeze blows. Without the support of the Lithuanian Jewish community and the CPJCE, the Vilnius Congress Center project is dead to the wind. And that’s encouraging. It’s a salute to those causes that battle Antisemitism, human rights violations and that value freedom of religion.
Contact Info:
Name: Saul Kemp
Email: Send Email
Organization: Media Reporter
Address: 300 Park Ave, New York NY 10022
Phone: 310-907-7701
Website: https://asaproject.com/about/
Release ID: 89031754
Google
RSS