«Jewish Weekend» in Chernivtsi
Lectures and discussions with historians, literary scholars, and researchers of Jewish culture, workshops, guided tours, interactive activities, engaging conversations, idea exchange, and new connections.
Learn all about «Jewish Weekend»
Event Program
March 15
🕙 10:00AM – 12:00AM (20 participants) – Walking Tour «Jewish Chernivtsi»
📍 Guide: Stanislava Zhutovska – researcher of Jewish community life and traditions, working in archives and collecting personal testimonies. She is a regular consultant for the «Heritage» ethnographic project at the Bukovynian Center for Culture and Arts, specializing in Jewish traditional culture. She is particularly interested in the contribution of the Jewish community to the development of Chernivtsi.
Join us for an engaging and moving journey through the Jewish past of Chernivtsi. During the walk, you will see Jewish religious buildings, learn about the location of the ghetto during World War II, and hear the names of Chernivtsi’s Jewish figures known worldwide.
🕚 11:00AM – 12:00AM – Guest Registration
🕛 12:00AM – 12:30PM – Official Opening of «Jewish Weekend»
🕛 12:00AM – 1:30PM (20 participants) – Workshop «Depicting Passover Traditions in Greeting Cards»
📍 Instructor: Oksana Sikorska – Master of History, Yiddish lecturer at the Ukrainian Catholic University.
Together, we will explore how various Passover symbols and languages are reflected in traditional greetings. To bring this to life, we will create our own festive greeting cards.
🕧 12:30PM – 1:30PM – Lecture «Jewish Communities in the World and Ukraine: The Connection Between Israel and the Jewish Diaspora»
Speaker: Binyamin Hadad – Director of the «Sohnut-Ukraine» Branch.
During the lecture, we will discuss:
— The current state of Jewish communities in Ukraine and worldwide;
— The influence of Israel on the diaspora and vice versa;
— Shared challenges and opportunities for strengthening Jewish identity;
— Future development paths for Jewish communities.
🕝 1:45PM – 2:45PM – Lecture «The Jewish Community of Chernivtsi Region and Its Place in the Cultural Mosaic of the Region (1944–1991)»
Speaker: Iryna Yavorska – local historian, PhD in History, director of the Chernivtsi Regional Museum of Local Lore (2020–2023), laureate of the Stepan Sabadash Literary and Artistic Award, author and editor of 12 regional history publications.
This lecture will explore the new phase in the life of the Jewish community after World War II and their return from the Transnistrian camps. We will examine the challenges of the Stalinist era that left a mark on the Jewish community and discuss their search for ways to adapt to Soviet realities. Additionally, we will explore the reasons and characteristics of the repatriation of Chernivtsi’s Jewish community and the paths of emigration to Israel.
🕒 2:45PM – 3:15PM – Coffee Break
🕟 3:15PM – 4:15PM – Lecture «Tablets, Kindle, and Three (+1) Hearths»
Speaker: Nadiya Ufimceva – Historian, Master of Judaica, researcher of Jewish book culture, visiting researcher at Fordham University (USA) in 2022–2023 and 2023–2024, Program Director of the Ukrainian Judaica Association.
🕡 4:30PM – 5:30PM – Lecture «The History of the Jewish Theater in Chernivtsi (1945–1950)»
Speaker: Oleksandr Bezarov – Associate Professor at the Department of World History, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University.
This lecture will cover the final («Chernivtsi») period in the history of the Kyiv State Jewish Theater. You will learn much about the actors, performances, and the reasons why the theater was shut down. The lecture will include materials from the book of the same name, which is currently being prepared for publication.
🕡 4:30PM – 5:30PM (20 participants) – Workshop «Ba'al-Shem School: Learning to Protect Ourselves from the Evil Eye and Ease Childbirth, or Art Therapy of the 18th Century»
Instructor: Sofiya Korn – Devoted reader and admirer of Rabbi Hillel, Judaica researcher, Yiddish lecturer at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Create your own magical and/or healing amulet inspired by Rabbi Hillel Ba'al-Shem, author of the bestselling secret handwritten literature «Sefer ha-Hashek» ("The Book of Desire").
🕔 5:45PM – 6:00PM – Prize Draw
🕕 6:00PM – 7:30PM – Quiz «I Know That I Know Nothing»
The quiz is a fun and intellectual team game that doesn't require special knowledge and shows how a team can find an answer to any question.
What to expect: 40 questions of various forms and topics.
What you need: A team of up to 6 people, a bit of logic and intuition.
Prizes: For the winners and more!
16 березня
March 16
🕙 10:00AM – 12:00AM (20 participants) – «The Ensemble of Cultures of the City on the Prut: On the Relationships of Chernivtsi Residents from the Market to the Town Hall»
Guide: Yaroslav Adamchuk, known as Pan Yarko – Tour guide in Chernivtsi and Bukovyna, member of the Bukovina Association of Tourist Guides.
During the tour, we will discuss the relationships between the city's communities, societies, and centers of activity. Through several stories, you will learn how Jews and other communities of Chernivtsi interacted with each other.
🕙 10:00AM – 12:00AM (20 participants) – Workshop: «Lace Symbols of Reizele»
Instructor: Hanna Fochuk – Famous Bukovynian artist, member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, laureate of the regional Literary and Artistic Prize named after Yuriy Fedkovych.
During the workshop, you will learn about the technique of traditional Jewish paper-cutting art – Reizele. You will also learn how to cut out the unique lace decoration «Hamsa» – an ancient Jewish symbol and family amulet that brings blessings and happiness.
🕛 12:15PM – 1:15PM – Lecture «Yosef Burg and the Rooting of Yiddish in Bukovinian Soil»
Speaker: Tetiana Nepypenko – Literary scholar, translator, Yiddish specialist.
During the lecture, we will explore the journey of Yosef Burg through his short stories, mention other Jewish (Yiddish-speaking and not only) authors whose lives and texts were rooted in their native Bukovinian land. We will travel between fiction and reality and explore whether the Jordan River flows into the Cheremosh or the Prut.
🕒 1:15PM – 1:45PM – Coffee Break
🕒 1:45PM – 2:45PM – Lecture «Ukrainian and Jewish Ethnographic Codes. Points of Intersection»
Speaker: Ivanna Stefyuk – Candidate of Philological Sciences, Curator of the Ethnographic Project «Heritage» at the Bukovyna Center for Culture and Arts, Laureate of the Paul Celan Art Award and the Ukrainian-Jewish «Meeting» Award, Writer.
In this lecture, we will attempt to compare the philosophical themes of Malanka, Rosh Hashanah, Purim, and Shrovetide, and analyze the ethnographic influences between the cultures.
🕒 3:00PM – 4:00PM– Lecture «Escape from the 'Soviet Paradise': How Zina Pripas Outsmarted Soviet Intelligence»
Speaker: Anna Nevzlin, Project Manager of «Jewish Heroes», part of the ANU Museum, Tel Aviv.
Zinaida (Zina) Pripas – a Zionist from Chernivtsi, who organized underground routes for the escape of Jews from the Soviet Union to Palestine. While under persecution by the Ministry of State Security, she outsmarted Soviet intelligence and made her way to Israel.
🕒 5:15PM – 5:15PM – Tasty Talk «Jewish Cuisine as Part of Bukovyna's Culture»
Speaker: Marina Libanova, Director of the «Bukynist» Bookstore (Chernivtsi). Active researcher of traditional local culinary recipes, participant in the TV culinary program «The Big Frying Pan» (TVА, Chernivtsi).
Is Ukrainian maina(A festive rolled pastry with beef, considered a classic of Jewish Bukovyna cuisine.) a nonsense? And what about Jewish borscht? Join us for a delicious conversation about how dishes from Jewish or Ukrainian cuisine become «ours.»
5:30 PM – 6:15 PM. Performative Reading Based on the Works of Ivanna Stef'yuk "Local History".Director — Ivan Danilin. Music Arrangement — Lev Feldman. Actors of the Hryhoriy Ageev National Drama Theatre. Theatre and music will lead us through the lives of Ivanna Stef’yuk’s heroines. They will tell foreign stories — but not truly foreign. They will speak of what is permeated with the unspeakable. They will immerse us in darkness and then guide us back to the light.
6:15 PM – 6:45 PM. Prize Draw and Grand Closing of the "Jewish Weekend"
