The 18th of March is a special day for the Almaty Jewish community. It is the birthday of Moris Simashko, a writer whose name was given to the local Jewish library last year.

The Mitzvah Association of Jewish Organizations of Kazakhstan (the President of which is EAJC General Council member Alexander Baron) organized an event in honor of this date. The even gathered over 40 people, including important Kazakhstan scholars and cultural workers, students of the Kazakhstan National University, and members of the Jewish community. A book titled “The Russian Proze of Kazakhstan” was presented at the occasion. Its author, Philology PhD Svetlana Ananyeva, Head of the World Literature and International Ties department, analyzed the work of Moris Simashko and his importance for Kazakhstan's contemporary literature.
After head of the community center and chesed Inessa Chugainova's introduction, in which she noted the importance of the work the library is doing to preserve the memory of Moris Simashko, Svetlana Ananyeva read an excerpt from her work. She also noted the efforts of the Mitzvah Association in preserving the cultural heritage of Simashko. “This library is truly worthy of being named after this wonderful writer, and I am very glad that it is this library that bears his name on the Almaty map,” Ananyeva said.

Philolohy PhD Aluah Temirbolat, a representative of the Al-Farabi National University of Kazakhstan noted the uniqueness and value of the writer's work for Kazakhstan's university.

Guests from the “near abroad” also participated in the event. Dr. of Philology Serget Kibalnik, representative of the Institute of Russian Literature noted the necessity of studying the work of Moris Simashko, as well as the necessity of keeping the archival data carefully preserved by the library bearing the writer's name.

The library doesn't only preserve archival data, photos, audio and video recordings. It does not only carefully preserve the memory of the writer, but also unites the scholarly and creative circles of Almaty, Kazakhstan, and the CIS, and is a center of study for the heritage of Moris Simashko.