The 12th Stern Readings Have Commenced (Video)

On November 25, the 12th Stern Readings, titled "Post-Soviet Jews — 30 Years Later: Social Status, Culture, and Identity," took place.

The theme and program of the conference were dedicated to the main findings of a large-scale study on the Jewish population in post-Soviet countries. The study was initiated by the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) and conducted in the first half of 2019 in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova, and in early 2020 in Kazakhstan, by the EAJC-established Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies (IEAJS). The research was led by Prof. Ze'ev Khanin, Chairman of the Academic Council of the IEAJS.

The Stern Readings represent an annual Israeli forum "with a Russian accent," dedicated to the memory of the late Dr. Yuri Shtern, active Zionist blogger, former refusenik, fighter for the rights of Soviet Jews, and member of the Knesset, who was an outstanding representative of the Russian-speaking community in Israel.

Due to restrictions imposed by the coronavirus epidemic, this year’s Stern Readings were conducted online.

The list of participants included Lena Shtern, founder and head of the Yuri Shtern Holistic Care Center (Jerusalem) and widow of Yuri Shtern; Dr. Haim Ben Yakov, Director General of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress; Professor Vladimir (Ze'ev) Khanin, Bar-Ilan and Ariel Universities, Chairman of the Academic Council of the IEAJS; and Dr. Velvl Chernin, Ariel University, Director of Publishing Projects at the IEAJS.

During his address, Dr. Haim Ben Yakov extended his appreciation to Dr. Moshe Konigstein, the long-standing organizer of the Stern Readings, for his dedication to preserving the memory of Yuri Shtern. He also thanked Prof. Khanin for developing the methodology for the "Jewish Identity in the Former USSR: State and Challenges" study and for co-authoring the monograph on its results with Dr. Chernin. "We expect that this profound and comprehensive study will generate interest among researchers and experts, as well as those not directly involved in academic research but interested in the topic. We look forward to discussing the study results on other platforms in the future, with various academic and community organizations," emphasized the Director General of the EAJC.