The Agnon Literary Center: restoring the link between contemporary Buchach and a literary legend.   Welcome to Ukrainian Jewish Heritage on Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio. I’m Peter Bejger. Today—some reflections on periphery and center, the province and global culture, and a literary legacy interrupted, lost, and re-imagined. Buchach is a charming town of some twelve thousand people. It is nestled along a river among picturesque forests of the southern Ternopil region of western Ukraine. As with many small towns, the atmosphere is placid. And many residents may not know every aspect of their local heritage. A new initiative with the launch of the Agnon Literary Center explores this heritage. The energetic young arts activist Mariana Maksymiak set out to return to Buchach an important aspect of its literary identity. She organized weekly events at an informal art space that attracted a growing local audience. These cultural initiatives are still rare in the smaller towns of Ukraine. And she turned to restoring a link between contemporary Buchach and a literary legend. [English-language audio clip] Who was Agnon? First, some history. During the Habsburg Empire Buchach developed into an important county center and had a Jewish majority until 1914. The town was […]

Today—some reflections on periphery and center, the province and global culture, and a literary legacy interrupted, lost, and re-imagined. Buchach is a charming town of some twelve thousand people. It is nestled along a river among picturesque forests of the southern Ternopil region of western Ukraine. As with many small towns, the atmosphere is placid. And many residents may not know every aspect of their local heritage. A new initiative with the launch of the Agnon Literary Center explores this heritage. The energetic young arts activist Mariana Maksymiak set out to return to Buchach an important aspect of its literary identity. She organized weekly events at an informal art space that attracted a growing local audience. These cultural initiatives are still rare in the smaller towns of Ukraine. And she turned to restoring a link between contemporary Buchach and a literary legend. [Makysmiak English-language audio clip.] Who was Agnon? First, some history. During the Habsburg Empire Buchach developed into an important county center and had a Jewish majority until 1914. The town was ruined by the First World War but still had a substantial Jewish presence until the 1940s. Several prominent Jews were born in Buchach, among them the renowned […]

Propaganda. A loaded term that, today, has become so clichéd that its original definition is lost in a sea of moral equivalence. Once, propaganda was merely a word describing … the dissemination of ideas, information or rumour … for the purpose of helping or injuring … an institution, a cause, or a person. Today, unfortunately, the distinction between helping and harming has become all but irrelevant. “So what’s the difference between selling shampoo and what Putin is doing?” A PhD candidate at Cambridge University, one of the world’s top universities, asked this question during a guest lecture by Peter Pomerantsev, a British TV producer and expert on Russian propaganda. The question rendered him virtually speechless. Pomerantsev shared this story last June at the conference on propaganda and genocide organized by the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter. He was one of several world experts whose presentations revealed how propaganda techniques used to commit mass murder and genocide are universal, and change only superficially due to technology, time, and societal circumstance. The scholars examined the imagery and messaging used by the soviets and the Nazis. They also drew clear parallels to what is happening today. Professor Ludmilla Hrynevych is one of the first Ukrainian […]

Today we will play a game with the alphabet. “A” is for aristocrat, someone who is privileged but also someone who can be considered the best of its kind. “A” is also for ascetic, someone who practices profound self-discipline and abstains from the worldly pleasures of life. “A” is also for Andrei, as in Andrei Sheptytsky, a legendary Ukrainian religious leader and moral authority in the very much-tormented Galicia of the 20th century. A remarkable children’s book—and a book that will delight not only children—created a stir at this year’s Lviv Book Forum. Sheptytsky from A to Zed, or if you prefer, from A to Zee, offers a delightful yet thoughtful account of a renowned figure’s life through the letters of the alphabet. Of course, in the original Ukrainian the last letter is not zed, but rather “ya,” which means “I.” I, and you, and anyone else reading the book will get an invaluable tip when we reach this letter. But more about that later. The book, written by Halyna Tereshchuk and Oksana Dumanska, and illustrated by Romana Romanyshyn and Andrii Lesiv, covers with wit and panache all the highlights of a great man’s life. Count Roman Aleksander Maria Sheptytsky […]

From November 6-9, 2014, Limmud FSU hosted more than 600 Jews from around Ukraine and the former Soviet Union, taking over the Hotel Dniester in Lviv’s old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site. They were there to attend presentations on Jewish art, music, culture and history hosted by Limmud FSU. They were also there to network with other Jews wanting to strengthen their Jewish identity. This year, they’ll do it again. Limmud FSU is a global organization which seeks to restore the tradition of life-long Jewish learning — and to strengthen Jewish identity for young Russian-speaking adults in the Former Soviet Union, Israel, America and throughout the world. Limmud is built on a unique model of seminars, lectures, workshops, and discussions … on topics ranging from Israeli politics to Jewish cooking; traditional texts to Yiddish theatre, dance, music, and more. The word Limmud is derived from the Hebrew word for learning. FSU stands for Former Soviet Union. Limmud began in the United Kingdom in 1980. Hundreds of Jewish activists attended this first Limmud conference. By 1990, Limmud had spread to Jewish communities across the world. In 2006, Limmud FSU was founded. It brought conferences to Ukraine, Russia, and other countries […]