Russian Jewish Youth Congress unites young people from more that 40 cities. It is headed by Igor Dabakarov, Chairman of Ulyanovsk Regional Jewish National and Cultural Autonomy. The main goal of the Congress is to revive national identity among the younger Jewish generation.
It is for the first time in last several years that young people from the biggest federal districts of Russia had an opportunity to attend a training course dedicated to the beloved Hanukkah. The seminar covered history and customs of the holiday. During those 4 days Ulyanovsk Jewish community turned into a center for studying ancient traditions and hosted 40 participants from 13 cities of the Ural and Volga Regions (Perm, Ufa, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Penza, Chelyabinsk, Izhevsk, Ulyanovsk, Volgograd, Magnitogorsk and others). At the opening ceremony, young people were greeted by Ramis Safin, Deputy governor of Ulyanovsk region for nationality issues. Lectures were given by the leading experts on Jewish studies: Rabbi Uri Spassky, a well-known Talmud researcher, Yevgenia Mikhalyova, General director of Federal Jewish National and Cultural Autonomy, Sergey Vakulenko, Vice-president of Russian Jewish Youth Congress.
Yulia Adamova, seminar participant (Ulyanovsk):
– Exposure to the spiritual component of Shabbat was very interesting and useful. We asked Rabbi Uri and Rabbi Yosef (head rabbi of Ulyanovsk region) a lot of tricky and controversial questions and we got comprehensive answers with a good sense of humor. I still remember ceremony when girls could take a Jewish names. I chose a name Rachel.
