A three-day Limmud FSU festival opened Friday in St Petersburg, Russia. The volunteers-driver and pluralistic event – the 5th in St Petersburg – is host to some 600 participants, the largest St. Petersburg festival ever, and runs through today.

The program features lectures, workshops, and discussions, and includes a special presentation by Etgar Keret, an internationally-renowned best-selling Israeli author, who will discuss his new book “The Seven Good Years,” which was translated to Russian with the assistance of Limmud FSU. The film “Operation Wedding,” which chronicles the Soviet Jewish operation to hi-jack a plane from then-Leningrad’s airport and escape to religious freedom in Israel, will be screened. Other discussion topics focused on Russia’s economy, Arab-Jewish relations, Israel’s right vs. left, and the life of Petrograd’s Jews in 1917.

“St. Petersburg has one of the most vibrant and flourishing Jewish communities in Eastern Europe with a rich cultural life, and we are thrilled to be part of it,” said Chaim Chesler, founder of Limmud FSU. “This conference, like all other Limmud FSU conferences, contributes to the Jewish life in the city and leaves a significant impact on the Jewish community members while they are looking to strengthen their Jewish identity.”