Vision and Mission — Association of Jews of Vilna and vicinity in Israel

We appeal to each and every one of you to send us personal stories, testimonies of survivors and their families, videos of root trips to Vilna and the vicinity, genealogy research, family commemorations, etc.; We promise to give all of these a respectable platform on the Association's website.

Mickey Kantor, Chairperson

Vision and Mission

Words from Mickey Kantor, Chairperson of the Association:

Throughout the years of the Association's existence, its founders and hundreds of active members have persisted in implementing the goals for which it was established: assisting and supporting survivors, commemorating the memory of those who perished; collecting historical material about the glorious community and passing it on to the next generations.

Beit Vilna in Tel Aviv is proud of the impressive achievements of the Association's generations of volunteers, memorial and commemorative activities, the various cultural events, the organized reference library, the singing of the endearing choir, imparting the heritage to IDF soldiers and high school students, heritage trips to Vilna and the surrounding area, the Ponar March of the Living (Vilna), the Ninth Fort (Kovno), the Polygon (Švenčionys) and the close contact with the Lithuanian community, and with the embassies in Lithuania and Israel.

The Chain of Generations

We continue to walk through this deep and significant channel that our parents have defined for us and through which we lead our successors. We are also curious to learn and know what happened in our parents' homeland after their martyrdom; learn about the history of the community that rose on the ruins of Jerusalem DeLita, and get to know the renewed culture which sprang up and grew out of the pages of the glorious history of the many years that went up in smoke.

In recent years, along with the emergence of the complex processes of generational change, and decades away from the events of the Holocaust, we witness the phenomenon of young people wanting to know more stories of the Holocaust, the personal and human side of the victims, and to touch their lives before the war. They also learn to recognize the bridge created by the second generation between their parents who survived the Holocaust and their children – their successors - and to walk on it with confidence and pride.

Deepening the Channel

We must tie all these goals and desires and leverage them to create a special, accessible and inviting opportunity, in contemporary ways, with contemporary tools, in a tangible and understandable language for young people; to intrigue them with an in-depth acquaintance with the spiritual and cultural customs and leaders of our heritage, their achievements in the fields of science, education and sports before the war, and to touch all those who came after; to draw lessons from their lifestyles and the historical processes of the community within Lithuanian society - then and now.

All this may be done by using digital means, social networks and online information sources. We must increase the desire to reach out and touch family origins in Lithuania, in those of us who have not yet experienced it, to swing between the rich, emotional, and warm world of memories lost to our parents, and the reality in which we live; to teach them the magnitude of the destructive power of racism which may also grow out of a sane and developed culture, against the backdrop of past and present; to remind them of the importance of the existence of our state, despite endless attempts to eliminate it; to teach them to believe in the power of man and his ability to create a completely new life.

"Public Appeal"

For this we need you, to integrate fresh forces imbued with motivation, into the ranks of our activists. This is a great opportunity to call on those of you who are interested and able to contribute their time, energy, abilities, skills, connections and any other vital resource. We need good and hardworking people who will join our ranks to create together brainstorming teams to outline ideas and practical methods, and together with us, mobilize new processes and possibilities for creating interest, curiosity, and relevance.

I believe that together, with willpower and common endeavor, we can create a new reality of continuity, and restore to Beit Vilna its many years of vitality and importance that will bring together Vilner and Lithuanian Jews for generations.