An international conference was held at the Sefer Center with the support of the EAJC

On December 1–3, with the support of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, the Sefer Center hosted the international conference "Professionals and Marginals in the Slavic and Jewish Cultural Traditions."

The conference featured presentations by prominent scholars across various disciplines, including historians, philologists, folklorists, and ethnographers. During one of the sessions, Prof. Ze'ev Khanin, Chairman of the Academic Council of the Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies, delivered a presentation entitled "'Lost Brothers' and 'Involved Sympathizers': The Phenomenon of the Search for Jewish Roots and Community Activism in the Post-Soviet Space."

Participants addressed a wide array of topics concerning the concept of professionalism in traditional societies, handcrafts, and the perception of tradesmen on the periphery of cultural spaces. Historically, within the Jewish tradition, members of certain professions existing at the intersection of cultures became marginalized. Converts represented a distinct marginalized group.

This conference was the 25th in a series of annual academic meetings. Since 1995, these gatherings have contributed to the international project "The Culture of Slavs and the Culture of Jews: Dialogue, Similarities, Differences," conducted by the Center for Slavic-Judaic Studies of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in cooperation with various academic and public organizations dedicated to fostering intercultural dialogue.

A live stream of the conference sessions is available on the Sefer Center Facebook page.