Power struggle in Lithuanian Jewish community escalates

A dispute within the Jewish community of Lithuania may be headed to the courts. Simonas Alperavicius, the president of the Lithuanian Jewish community, told the "Jewish Telegraphic Agency" that he was going to file a lawsuit this week to have the authorities remove a group of Jews from the synagogue yard, where they have been holding an around-the-clock vigil in support of one of the candidates for chief rabbi. The lawsuit may just be the latest move in a months-long power struggle over who is to receive Jewish property expected to be returned to the Lithuanian Jewish community from the State. The crisis has escalated to the point where North American Jewish officials are being dragged into the dispute. Chabad Rabbi Sholom Ber Krinsky and his followers, who are holding the vigil, said they would not abandon their attempts to have the Vilnius synagogue re-opened months after Alperavicius ordered it shut amid a dispute over the post of Lithuania’s chief rabbi.