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Our Mission
Jewish Heritage in Lita is dedicated to the protection, preservation, and restoration of Jewish heritage throughout Lithuania. For centuries, Lithuania was home to a vibrant and influential Jewish population and served as a center of Jewish religious and cultural life in Europe.
We work to support and revitalize Jewish religious life within Lithuania's small Jewish community. Jewish religious observance—such as keeping kosher and observing the Sabbath—requires dedicated infrastructure. Despite Lithuania’s historic role as a hub of Jewish life, today there is almost no functioning Jewish religious infrastructure available for local Jews or visiting Jewish travelers. We are actively working with the local community to address this need.
Lithuania is home to approximately 500 Jewish cemeteries and Holocaust mass graves. We view the preservation, protection, and restoration of these sites as both a sacred religious obligation and a moral responsibility. Jewish tradition include belief in the eventual resurrection of the dead, and all Jewish cemeteries were originally purchased as freehold property, to be safeguarded in perpetuity. Among other holy sites deserving protection is the historic Vilna Shulhoyf, a legendary center of Jewish life.
Today, the Republic of Lithuania holds two invaluable and underutilized assets. First, there are over one million Jews worldwide who identify with the Lithuanian (Litvish) Orthodox tradition, rooted in Lithuania’s rich Jewish past. This population harbors deep goodwill toward Vilna and Lithuania, and engaging with them could yield significant diplomatic and economic benefits. Second, Lithuania contains the highest concentration of Jewish heritage and holy sites outside of Israel—an untapped treasure trove with enormous potential for cultural tourism and international recognition.
We seek partnerships with Lithuanian governmental and private entities to advance this vital agenda and to serve as a model for others. Our practical work began with the restoration of the Jewish cemetery in Vilkija, in successful cooperation with the Kaunas Regional Municipality.We offer consulting and support to all levels of government and private sector to help advance these initiatives. All proposed projects involve significant foreign investment—with 100% of the return directly benefiting Lithuania.
We work to support and revitalize Jewish religious life within Lithuania's small Jewish community. Jewish religious observance—such as keeping kosher and observing the Sabbath—requires dedicated infrastructure. Despite Lithuania’s historic role as a hub of Jewish life, today there is almost no functioning Jewish religious infrastructure available for local Jews or visiting Jewish travelers. We are actively working with the local community to address this need.
Lithuania is home to approximately 500 Jewish cemeteries and Holocaust mass graves. We view the preservation, protection, and restoration of these sites as both a sacred religious obligation and a moral responsibility. Jewish tradition include belief in the eventual resurrection of the dead, and all Jewish cemeteries were originally purchased as freehold property, to be safeguarded in perpetuity. Among other holy sites deserving protection is the historic Vilna Shulhoyf, a legendary center of Jewish life.
Today, the Republic of Lithuania holds two invaluable and underutilized assets. First, there are over one million Jews worldwide who identify with the Lithuanian (Litvish) Orthodox tradition, rooted in Lithuania’s rich Jewish past. This population harbors deep goodwill toward Vilna and Lithuania, and engaging with them could yield significant diplomatic and economic benefits. Second, Lithuania contains the highest concentration of Jewish heritage and holy sites outside of Israel—an untapped treasure trove with enormous potential for cultural tourism and international recognition.
We seek partnerships with Lithuanian governmental and private entities to advance this vital agenda and to serve as a model for others. Our practical work began with the restoration of the Jewish cemetery in Vilkija, in successful cooperation with the Kaunas Regional Municipality.We offer consulting and support to all levels of government and private sector to help advance these initiatives. All proposed projects involve significant foreign investment—with 100% of the return directly benefiting Lithuania.
Rabbinic Advisory Board
Rabbi Mechel Gruss
Advisory Board
Rosh Yeshiva
Mayan HaTalmud
Lakewood, NJ
Rabbi Yissochor Herzka
Advisory Board
Rosh Kollel
Kollel Zichron Yaakov Yitzchok
Lakewood, NJ
Rabbi Dovid Kamenetsky
Advisory Board
Jerusalem, Israel.
Leading Authority on the Vilna Gaon's Torah Scholarship and Lithuanian Jewish Heritage. Author of many acclaimed Torah works, including a seminal treatise on Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzensky's Writings
Leading Authority on the Vilna Gaon's Torah Scholarship and Lithuanian Jewish Heritage. Author of many acclaimed Torah works, including a seminal treatise on Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzensky's Writings
Directors
Rabbi Baron
President
Rabbinical Emissary to Lithuania, formerly representing Bnei Berak Rabbinical Rabbi Elchonon Baron, raised in Montreal, Canada has represented the international rabbinate to preserve Jewish heritage in Lithuania for the past several years. A scion of a rabbinic family spanning the generations and the continents, his grandfather Rabbi Chaim Eliezer Samson, a product of the Lithuanian Yeshiva world, served as dean of Baltimore, Maryland’s Talmudical Academy, the first Yeshiva in the US outside of New York, from 1921-1972.
Rabbi Baron's father, Rabbi Leib Baron, exemplified the Litvishe (Lithuanian tradition) Rosh Yeshiva. He was a prime disciple of Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman of Baranovich, a towering preeminent Rabbinic Jewish leader of pre-Holocaust Europe, murdered in the 7th Fort of Kovno, Lithuania. Rabbi Baron Sr escaped Soviet occupied White Russia to independent Lithuania, where he was fortunate to procure travel documents as well as a transit visa from Japanese vice-consul Chiune Sugihara to Japan, eventually spending the war years in Shanghai. He eventually emigrated to the USA and Canada, where he was influential in reestablishing the Lithuanian Yeshiva movement on American shores.
Rabbi Elchonon Baron studied under the great Lithuanian halachic authority Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, and in Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey, where he earned a Bachelor of Hebrew Letters. He also studied with Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch in South Africa, and at the world famous Brisker and Mirrer Yeshivas in Jerusalem, Israel, after which he received rabbinic ordination from leading rabbis. More recently, Rabbi Baron was privileged to study with the late profound thinker, Rabbi Moshe Shapiro.
Rabbi Baron has had a hand in founding and heading litvishe Torah institutions in Jerusalem since 1988, including a Yeshiva and post-graduate Kollel program. More recently he established a scholarly publishing house to disseminate the teachings of the Baranovich Yeshiva, where in addition he has authored several learned treatises and original scholarly works.
Since 2019, Rabbi Baron has been active in lobbying to protect Jewish cemeteries, mass graves and other holy sites in Lithuania, and in promoting authentic Lithuanian Jewish heritage. He is engaged with the Lithuanian government at the highest echelons, believing that the recently formed Lithuanian government presents a unique opportunity to breathe new life into the Lithuanian Jewish community. To this end, he is partnering with Lithuanian Jews to reinvigorate the community with their authentic heritage.
Read MoreRabbi Baron's father, Rabbi Leib Baron, exemplified the Litvishe (Lithuanian tradition) Rosh Yeshiva. He was a prime disciple of Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman of Baranovich, a towering preeminent Rabbinic Jewish leader of pre-Holocaust Europe, murdered in the 7th Fort of Kovno, Lithuania. Rabbi Baron Sr escaped Soviet occupied White Russia to independent Lithuania, where he was fortunate to procure travel documents as well as a transit visa from Japanese vice-consul Chiune Sugihara to Japan, eventually spending the war years in Shanghai. He eventually emigrated to the USA and Canada, where he was influential in reestablishing the Lithuanian Yeshiva movement on American shores.
Rabbi Elchonon Baron studied under the great Lithuanian halachic authority Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, and in Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey, where he earned a Bachelor of Hebrew Letters. He also studied with Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch in South Africa, and at the world famous Brisker and Mirrer Yeshivas in Jerusalem, Israel, after which he received rabbinic ordination from leading rabbis. More recently, Rabbi Baron was privileged to study with the late profound thinker, Rabbi Moshe Shapiro.
Rabbi Baron has had a hand in founding and heading litvishe Torah institutions in Jerusalem since 1988, including a Yeshiva and post-graduate Kollel program. More recently he established a scholarly publishing house to disseminate the teachings of the Baranovich Yeshiva, where in addition he has authored several learned treatises and original scholarly works.
Since 2019, Rabbi Baron has been active in lobbying to protect Jewish cemeteries, mass graves and other holy sites in Lithuania, and in promoting authentic Lithuanian Jewish heritage. He is engaged with the Lithuanian government at the highest echelons, believing that the recently formed Lithuanian government presents a unique opportunity to breathe new life into the Lithuanian Jewish community. To this end, he is partnering with Lithuanian Jews to reinvigorate the community with their authentic heritage.
Jack Lyon
Vice President
Jack Lyon’s father was a real Litvak and a farmer from the Babtai and Vandžiogala area of Lithuania. When the Nazis invaded Lithuania, he fled to the forest with his brother, eventually joining the partisans. He was one of only several hundred Jews remaining alive when Lithuania was liberated from the Nazis in 1944. After the war, he emigrated to the United States, settling in Bridgeport, NY, where he farmed cattle.
Building on this farming heritage, Alex Lyon founded Alex Lyon and Son Auctioneers in 1950 as a livestock business focused on community support. When Jack Lyon joined the family business, it expanded to include farm equipment, growing while staying family-owned and operating from its original farmhouse headquarters.
Building on this farming heritage, Alex Lyon founded Alex Lyon and Son Auctioneers in 1950 as a livestock business focused on community support. When Jack Lyon joined the family business, it expanded to include farm equipment, growing while staying family-owned and operating from its original farmhouse headquarters.
Rabbi Eliyahu M Cohen
Treasurer
Rabbi Eliyahu M. Cohen is a scholar, Jewish historian, and librarian with over 35 years of experience as a researcher and rare book collector. A student of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and alumnus of the Mirrer Yeshiva in Israel, he earned ordination after 12 years of advanced study at Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, NJ, where he also served as Head Librarian. He later managed the Hebrew Books Division at Judaica Plaza in Lakewood. Specializing in Jewish Lithuanian history, Rabbi Cohen has visited Lithuania multiple times as a guide and serves as Treasurer of the Society for the Preservation and Promotion of Lithuanian Jewish Heritage.
Executive Committee
Avraham Moshe Muller
CEO KosherWest
Lakewood NJ
Lakewood NJ
Brian Brom
CEO Afrivest Holdings LTD
Structured Networth Corporation (PVT) LTD
Structured Networth Corporation (PVT) LTD
Daniel Moss
Associate at Credit Agricole CIB
Joseph Dorfman
CEO JD Consulting
Brooklyn NY
Brooklyn NY
