On December 7-8, 2018 a "Yiddish weekend" was held in Odessa. The event was organized by the International Yiddish Center at the World Jewish Congress in cooperation with the local Jewish center "Migdal".

The WJC YC representative Yulia Smilianska provided two lectures:

1. Yiddish history of birth. "The desire to be useful."

2. "Kol mevasser" - "Announcing voice" or "Voice of a herald"? From newspaper to library - the miracle of birth of literature in Yiddish.

The former lecture featured pioneer writers, poets and playwrights: the "great-grandfather of the Yiddish literature" Solomon Ettinger (1802–1856) with his play "Serkele", as well as Avrom Goldfaden and Avrom Gotlober.

The latter lecture presented the Yiddish literature through the eyes of Leo Wiener, who conducted researches in the 1890s and communicated with all the Yiddish literature classic writers: Sholom Aleichem, Mendele Moycher Sforim, and Itzkhok-Leybush Peretz.

Of particular interest was the history of the first periodicals in Yiddish, their editors and authors.

The lectures aroused great interest and active reaction from the audience.

At the first lecture 28 people were present. At the beginning of the second lecture started with 36 listeners, but by the end of the second one their number increased to 55. The lecturer received very good feedbacks and wishes from the participants to forward their studies in Yiddish culture.