Opinions & Interviews

VITEBSK, 31 May (BelTA) - Belarus deserves more objective attention, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to the Republic of Belarus Yosef Shagal told a press conference dedicated to the international educational conference “Art Limmud Belarus”, BelTA learned.

“The Republic of Belarus does not get the attention it deserves both from the historical point of view and in modern terms. Any help, any initiative to bring people of various ethnic, religious and cultural background to Belarus will help discover the country as it is. We sincerely want the negative myths, legends, and cliches about Belarus, and there are too many of them, to be destroyed. We want people to have an objective opinion of Belarus,” said Yosef Shagal. He also noted that many Israelis consider Belarus their historic homeland. "It is our sense of the past, of our parents,” said the Ambassador.

The diplomat expressed his gratitude to the organizers and sponsors of Limmud for the assistance they provide in terms of drawing more attention to Belarus, and expressed the belief that spirituality, knowledge, and culture, which young Israelis will learn here, will bring them enormous benefits.

The conference Limmud (the word means “learning” in Hebrew) will bring together about 500 people in Vitebsk from all regions of Belarus, as well as from Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Israel, Lithuania, the United States and other countries. The conference is dedicated to creativity, culture and art. The program includes trips, trainings, master classes, concerts, exhibitions and lectures on various topics ranging from issues of spirituality and history to the secrets of the national cuisine. All in all, the program includes about 150 sessions. Organizers and instructors take part in the conference solely on a voluntary basis while participants pay a fee.

The general partner of the conference is the Union of the Belarusian Jewish Public Associations and Communities. Among the partners of the event are also the Embassy of Israel in Belarus, the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee, the Vitebsk City Hall, the office of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Belarus, the religious association of the progressive Judaism communities in Belarus and others.