Preservation of Yiddish Culture

Preservation of Yiddish Culture and Heritage

Сохранение культуры идиша

אָפּהיטן אונדזער ייִדישע קולטור־ירושה

לשמור על תרבות היידיש

5th Yiddish Festival in Birobidzhan

The 5th Yiddish Festival (Yiddishfest) took place in Birobidzhan from March 1 to March 3, 2026. Yoel Matveyev from Saint Petersburg, the editor-in-chief of our website, along with Olga Matvienko, an associate professor of the Donetsk State University, visited the capital of the Jewish Autonomous Region and gave lectures about their work. Matvienko specializes in poetry translation and translates Yiddish poetry into Russian and Ukrainian.

The festival’s conclusion coincided with a Purim party organized by the local Jewish community. It included concerts where professional musicians and Birobidzhan’s children choir Ilanot performed songs in Yiddish. There were also presentations of books produced in Birobidzhan that contain original materials in Yiddish and translations from Yiddish into Russian. The festival included a wide array of other events as well.

Especially powerful and emotional was the festival’s opening on March 1, which included a theatrical presentation of the unique bilingual Yiddish-Russian poetry book “Продолжит петь его строка” (His Poem’s Line Will Continue to Sing). It contains poems of 23 Yiddish poets who died as Red Army soldiers fighting the Nazis during WWII. Published in Birobidzhan, the book is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the WWII victory.