Sunday night, 900 Russian-speaking Birthright Israel participants celebrated the lifelong journey they embarked on.

For most Birthright Israel participants from the Former Soviet Union, this trip marked not only their first visit to Israel, but also their first opportunity to discover firsthand the country’s cultural capital and bring the experience back home to their communities.

The participants got to enjoy various introductions to Israeli culture by leading artists and experts including: Musical performances with Habrigada Hatarbutit, Tusovka poetry session with Alex Rif, a talk from Oleg Kuvaev about Animation, a lecture regarding contemporary Israeli Cinema by Lena Rusovski, a Talk by Gidon Levin about Israeli Art, a lecture on photography and its effect on media platforms from Sasha Prilutsky, a discussion with Zeev Volk about the contributions of nostology and vintage to today’s Tel Aviv and a humoristic theater workshop with Tziporela and Tamara Klingon.

In addition, an education fair showcasing a broad range of programmatic opportunities in Israel available for young Jewish adults from the Diaspora was held for the participants, followed by a colorful dance party.

The event was a part of a comprehensive partnership between Taglit-Birthright Israel and Genesis Philanthropy Group, intended to provide Russian-speaking participants with various enrichment experiences while they are in Israel participating in Birthright trips. Over the years more than 45,000 participants from the FSU have taken part in Taglit.