Below is an article which Howard Margol sent the tour group:



Jews close down Vilnius synagogue

Jews close down Vilnius synagogue as internal power struggle intensifies

Jews close down Vilnius synagogue as internal power struggle intensifies

By Lev Krichevsky

MOSCOW, June 2 (JTA)

Lithuanian Jews have done what the Communists never dared to do: close the

only synagogue in the country's capital.

The synagogue in Vilnius, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last

September, was shut last week by Simonas Alperavicius, the community's

president, because of a dispute over the post of chief rabbi of Lithuania's

small Jewish community.

Alperavicius told JTA the step was a temporary measure intended to "show

who is the master in the synagogue."

The closing of the Vilnius synagogue establishes Lithuania as the latest

battleground in a power struggle over who controls Jewish life in the

former Soviet Union - and who gets to represent Lithuanian Jewry in

negotiations with the government for the restitution of Jewish property.

The fight pits those aligned with Chabad-Lubavitch against other Lithuanian

Jewish officials. Battles between Chabad and non-Chabad Jews in Russia and

Ukraine occasionally have turned nasty, and if last week's incident is any

indication, the situation in Lithuania may be following suit.

Lithuania, which has a population of 3.5 million, is home to some 5,000 to

8,000 Jews.

Alperavicius closed the synagogue after fist-fighting broke out during

Shavuot services between two groups of worshipers who wanted to have the

other's rabbi removed from the shul. The service also was interrupted by

police, who were called in by one of the groups.

Community members said it is the first time since the Holocaust that the

synagogue has been closed.

"The Jewish community considered that the physical safety of worshipers

wasn't guaranteed and decided to close the synagogue," Alperavicius said in

a statement published this week in the community's newspaper.

Alperavicius supports Lithuania's recently appointed chief rabbi, Chaim

Burstein, an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and former Soviet refusenik. Burstein's

appointment was supported by some international Jewish bodies, including

the Conference of European Rabbis.

The other figure claiming the mantle of chief rabbi is Sholom Ber Krinsky,

a U.S.-born Chabad rabbi who has been Lithuania's only resident rabbi since

1994. Krinsky is widely credited for building a network of Jewish

institutions in post-Communist Lithuania.

Krinsky also is backed by Israel's Ashkenazi chief rabbi, Yona Metzger.

Alperavicius and his supporters said they objected to Krinsky's nomination

as chief rabbi because he belongs to a Chasidic group, while Lithuanian

Jewry historically has been known as a stronghold of opposition to

Chasidism.

Krinsky says Alperavicius simply wants to maintain his power.

After the synagogue was closed, Burstein said, some Krinsky supporters came

to his home demanding that the synagogue be reopened. A scuffle resulted,

and Burstein said he was grabbed by the neck and suffered a minor injury.

Community officials who oppose Krinsky then filed complaints with the

police.

Witnesses who support Krinsky said they never lifted a hand against

Burstein. Instead, they accused Burstein's people of resorting to physical

violence and committing what one party described as a "spiritual holocaust"

against the Jewish community.

"Even in the times of the Communist regime our synagogue was open. It was

only closed by the Nazis!" said an unsigned e-mail sent around town.

The power struggle in Vilnius broke out last year when the Alperavicius-led

Jewish community nominated Burstein as Lithuania's chief rabbi just as

Krinsky, a longtime local community rabbi, stepped up his effort to become

the officially recognized chief rabbi. The post previously was held by a

London-based rabbi who paid only occasional visits to this Baltic country.

The battle over the post also affects negotiations between international

Jewish groups and the Lithuanian government over the restitution of former

Jewish communal property.

Lithuania has not adopted restitution legislation to enable the Vilnius

Jewish community to receive dozens of properties seized by the Soviets when

Lithuania was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. Negotiations between the

World Jewish Restitution Organization and the Lithuanian government on the

matter have been under way for three years. At stake are at least 100

parcels of property, sources say.

Some say Krinsky wants to become Lithuania's official chief rabbi to ensure

that Chabad gets some property through the restitution process even though

Chabad owned little property in Lithuania before 1940. Without Krinsky as

an advocate, Chabad would have little chance of getting any property from

the government.

For its part, Chabad accuses Alperavicius and the American Jewish Joint

Distribution Committee of removing Krinsky from the board negotiating on

Lithuanian Jewry's behalf.

The JDC says Krinsky was never on the board, and that in any case the World

Jewish Restitution Organization is responsible for the board's composition.

Krinsky said the conflict surrounding the synagogue has been aggravated by

the JDC, which he charged pays for Burstein's salary.

"The Joint is dividing the community," Krinsky said. "Ten years we had

peace and tranquility, we built the infrastructure of Jewish life in

Lithuania. The Joint brought divisiveness to our community."

A JDC official in charge of Lithuania denied the accusations.

"We stand for the right of each community to decide who their leaders and

rabbis should be," said Andres Spokoiny, the Paris-based JDC country

director for the Baltic and Scandinavian states.

Spokoiny denied that the JDC is paying Burstein's salary.

"We are very concerned that the public fight inside the community is

damaging the fabric of Jewish life in Vilnius," Spokoiny said.

As long as the synagogue remains closed, services are being held at two

separate locations in town: one in Vilnius' Chabad center, the other in the

community center that houses Alperavicius' office. Chabad said some people

also have met to pray outside the locked synagogue.