The Secretary General of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) Michael Chlenov has taken part in the 11th International Festival of Jewish Culture and Art in Birobidzhan, as well as the 1st International Conference "Jewish Culture in Yiddish: Roots, Tradition, Transformation, Today," which had been timed to the festival.

The opening of the Conference took place at the Government House of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO). After the greetings of the JAO Governor Alexander Vinnikov, EAJC Secretary General Michael Chlenov, who was one of the organizators of this international forum, made the report titled "The Jewish community of Russia in the context of national policy." In his report, Chlenov noted the important fact that the Russian authorities "no longer consider Jews to be an exclusively religious community, but have taken a turn to acknowledge their status to be both ethnic and that of a religious denomination, and have finally come to a legal reglamentation of the existence of the Jewish minority as an ethnic community." Michael Chlenov said that the main evidence for this is the law "On National-Cultural Autonomies."

The next day, the EAJC Secretary General made a report at the conference, titled "The Jewish and the National in Yiddish," in which he analyzed the circumstances around the fact that Yiddish has practically disappeared from folk usage as an everyday language.

The traditional festival of Jewish culture hosted performers and guests from many countries. Events of the festival took place in all of the main cultural and educational organizations of the oblast. The festival was opened by the "Wandering Stars" play, staged by the Moscow Jewish theater "Shalom," led by the People's Artist of Russia, member of the VAAD Russia Presidium Alexander Levenbuk.

Among the many diverse events, most notable were the solo concert of the People's Artist of the USSR Joseph Kobzon and the evening the the People's Artist of Russia Semen Strugachev.

The EAJC Secretary General took part in all of the main events of the festival. As part of his visit to the Jewish Autonomous Oblast he also visited all of the active Jewish organizations of the Oblast, and presented their leaders with the latest edition of the Euro-Asian Jewish Yearbook.

After the end of the events, Michael Chlenov noted the following to journalists: "As the current Festival shows, there is a steady interest towards a traditional Jewish culture.The responsibility for the preservation of national heritage that JAO has taken upon itself is a commendable example for leaders at the federal level who are in charge of the internal policy of our country with its many ethnicities."