On May 31, 2018, a preliminary seminar "Pearls of Yiddish Culture" was held in Yad Vashem (the Jerusalem-based International Institute for Holocaust Research) for 30 Yad Vashem staff members and volunteers, as well as for representatives of other Israeli organizations including Ministry of Culth Culture and National Authority for Yiddish Culture.

The Academical Director of the International Yiddish Center at the World Jewish Congress, Dr. Mordechay Yushkovsky, delivered two lectures: "Yiddish language and culture as a treasury of national and universal historical memory" and "Three classics of Yiddish literature - Mendele Moyher-Sforim, I.L. Peretz and Sholom-Aleichem - similarities and differences in their work".

The whole group is planning to continue studying Yiddish culture and heritage at WJC YC in Vilnius in the nearest future.

The audience was also familiarized with the goals and objectives of the Yiddish Center in Vilnius. The listeners expressed their great interest and desire to implement the acquired knowledge in their work.

After the lectures, a general discussion took place, its main subject being the necessity of treating Yiddish and its huge cultural heritage as a collective Holocaust victim.