On July 6-18, 2010, Kyiv and Uman hosted the International Youth Religion Studies School in Jewish Studies, organized by the Youth Association of Religion Scholars and the Interdisciplinary Certificate Program in Jewish Studies of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. 30 students, postgraduates, and young scholars from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Latvia took part in the school, after having been previously selected on a competitive basis.
The school took place through the financial aid of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress and other professional and charity institutions, mostly of Jewish origin – in particular, the Dutch Jewish Humanitarian Fund.
The participants were given Jewish Studies lectures by famous scholars in the field, participated in creative workshops and a beit-midrash, visited synagogues, the Jewish Studies fund of the National Library of Ukraine, the Sholom-Aleichem museum, and, of course, had a tour of the Jewish Podil. Every participant had the opportunity to present his or her entry into the competition to enter the school, and to share his or her finds with colleagues.
A special highlight was the visit to Uman, the world-famous Hasidism center and pilgrimage goal for the Bratslav Hasidim. Uman prepared a program for its visitors that was no less involved than the program in Kyiv, and included lectures, a workshop, tours, and a quiz game.
Overall, this school gave a great boost to the formation of professional ties between students and teachers of Judaism and Jewish studies in the CIS, and was the first of its kind in Ukraine, with more quite probably to come.