On February 20-21, 2019 a Yiddish seminar for cultural workers took place in Kharkov, Ukraine. It was organized by the International Yiddish Center at the World Jewish Congress in cooperation with the local Jewish cultural center "Beyt Dan" and with the inter-regional department of the Theater Workers' Union.

The event was attended by employees of cultural institutions, creative intelligentsia of the city, teachers and students. They listened to lectures by the WJC YC academic director Dr. Mordechay Yushkovsky and the staff member of the Tel Aviv educational & research center "Sholom Aleikhem House" Dr. Leonid Roytman.

The first session was held in the premises of the Theater Faculty of Kharkiv National University of Arts named after I. P. Kotlyarevsky. The participants listened to the following lectures: "Jewish theatre in Ukraine" (by Dr. Roytman), "Solomon Mikhoels – tragic life of the Jewish king Lear" (by Dr. Roytman) and "Peculiar episodes from the history of Jewish theater" (by Dr. Yushkovsky).

Another Dr. Yushkovsky's talk "Mark Chagall in image and word" was delivered at the "Beyt Dan" cultural center. This presentation became a kind of sensation, since it was based on the last investigations of art.

Probably just a few people in the audience were aware of the fact that Mark Chagall wrote poems in Yiddish and illustrated Yiddish books. A lot of his paintings are filled with motives of Yiddish literature. He made friends with outstanding poets and writers, who created in Yiddish. Moreover, Chagall included illustrations of Yiddish proverbs and sayings into his own paintings. The listeners also got acquainted with Chagall's letters in Yiddish to prominent Israeli statesmen and politicians.