A Rabbinic Delegation visited today Vilnius and met the authorities to plead with them to cancel plans to construct a Congress Hall on Snipiskes Jewish cemetery. The Snipiskes cemetery was established over five centuries ago, and it interred the most famous Jewish leaders of Vilnius. Sadly, the cemetery’s Gravestones were razed and the cemetery was desecrated by a series of regimes, including the Nazis and the Soviets. The latter built a now-abandoned Sports Palace on the cemetery land. Desecration continued in recent years, under Lithuania’s democratic government. During the last ten years, two apartment buildings were constructed on cemetery grounds and human remains were disturbed, shattered and excavated, despite protests from Jewish communities worldwide. Recently, the government announced plans to redevelop the abandoned Sports Palace into a Congress Hall. Leading American and Israeli Rabbis who maintain the Lithuanian tradition of Talmud study publicly decried the plan, protesting “any use of this sacred site other than for prayer and solemn reflection.” On Tuesday, a hi-level rabbinic delegation, with members from the US, Europe and Israel, met the Lithuanian authorities. The group met the First Deputy Chancellor Mr. Rimantas Vaitkus – who welcomed the group on behalf of Prime Minister Mr. Algirdas Butkevičius while he was abroad – and the Mayor of Vilnius, Mr. Remigijus Šimašius, to personally express the international Jewish Community’s opposition to the plan. The meetings were attended by a number of top governmental advisers and the chair of the local Jewish community, Ms. Faina Kukliansky. Among the group members were leaders of the most famous Jewish institutions carrying on the glorious Lithuanian-Jewish tradition, such as Rabbi Malkiel Kotler, dean of Beth Medrash Govoha, a 6,500 student Yeshiva in Lakewood, NJ, and Rabbi Osher Kalmanowitz, dean of the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, NY. Both are descendants of Vilnius. They were joined by the veteran European Rabbi and Halachic author Rabbi Avraham Yaffe Schlesinger, Chief Rabbi of the Orthodox Jewish community Machsike Hadass in Geneva, Switzerland; Rabbi David Niederman, representing the Central Rabbinical Congress of the USA and Canada, an umbrella group of hundreds of Jewish congregations with a total membership of over 100,000; Dr. David Michael Schaps, of the Conference of Academicians for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries; and Rabbi Chizki Kalmanowitz, expert of Asra Kadisha, an organization active for over half a century in preserving Jewish cemeteries worldwide. “We had a thorough discussion with the Deputy Chancellor and Mayor and other officials, and we appreciate the time they gave to hear the outcry from the rabbinical leaders and worldwide Jewry, and their promise to review our request and respond to us. We were encouraged to hear that the plans aren’t final yet. We hope and pray that our plea to fully preserve the cemetery and cancel the current plans will be granted,” said Rabbi Niederman. Upon their return, the delegation members will meet their counterparts in the US, Europe and Israel, and Jewish leaders and communities are determined to double down on the effort to reach out to their government and world leaders to assure the preservation and sacredness of the entire cemetery. Vilnius was known among Jews as the “Jerusalem of Lithuania,” being the city of the most famous scholars and leaders of the Lithuanian-tradition Yeshivos and torah scholarship. At the onset of WWII, the Lithuanian Jewish population

Washington, DC – With historic Jewish cemeteries across Europe being desecrated, vandalized, or redeveloped, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to encourage embassies and local governments abroad to preserve these burial sites, which represent thousands of years of Jewish tradition and are the few ancient European Jewish burial grounds still in existence. Moving or disturbing these sites is a violation of Jewish religious tradition. Senator Gillibrand said, “We must preserve these historic cemeteries and ensure they are neither neglected nor forgotten. Moving or destroying these cemeteries would be an affront to family members of those buried there and would erase Jewish remnants from that time. I am committed to working with the U.S. State Department to honor and respect those laid to rest there.” Many families in New York and throughout the United States have enduring personal ties to the historic cemeteries, including those located in Lithuania, Poland and Malta, according to Rabbi David Niederman of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg. The following lists examples of vandalism, redevelopment, and desecration of these burial grounds: Snipiskes Cemetery in Vilnius, Lithuania. The Jewish community expressed concerned that expanding or repairing the 1950s Soviet-era sports complex built on top of the Snipiskes Cemetery would disturb the surrounding area, where remains still exist. Scholars say the site is the first Jewish cemetery in Vilnius. The site dates back to the 15th century, with approximately 50,000 Jews buried there. RaMah Shul Cemetery in Krakow, Poland. In April 2010, members of New York’s Jewish community who traveled there to pray discovered digging at the side of the synagogue and exposure of human remains. Catacombs in Rabat, Malta. Since 2009, at least two out of the five Jewish catacombs were emptied and holy remains taken and used for research. In 2008, there was discovery of bodies strewn and burial holes opened in the Jewish catacombs. The burial site of Malta, which is approximately 2000 years old, is one of the few ancient Jewish burial grounds still in existence. Senator Gillibrand wrote a letter to Secretary Clinton praising her personal commitment to the desecration of Jewish cemeteries overseas and requesting that the Department of State proactively work with the Jewish community and take full consideration of New York constituents’ concerns. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)