This week, two important manifestations will be dedicated to the launch of the Hebrew editions of some creations belonging to Benjamin Fondane and Mihail Sebastian, well-known Jewish writers born in Romania. One of the events (the Seminar "The traveler never ceased to travel") will be organized by the Romanian Embassy in Israel in cooperation with the French Institute in Tel Aviv. The seminar will be hosted by the University of Tel Aviv and will witness the launch of the first volume of poetry by Benjamin Fondane-Fundoianu translated into Hebrew. Speeches will be delivered by the following personalities:
- Monique Jutrin (University of Tel Aviv): a presentation of Benjamin Fondane, a poet and a philosopher
- Michael Finkelthal (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem): Fondane, the anti-philosopher
- Olivier Salazar-Ferrer (Alliance Française de Glasgow): Fondane on the bridge of the Titanic
- Yotam Reuveni (editor and translator): presentation of the first volume of poetry by Fondane translated into Hebrew
- Marlena Braester (University of Haifa): Fondane the translator
- Alexandru Calinescu (University of Iasi): France seen by a Romanian writer There will be reading sessions of the poet's work held by Caroline Zarrouk (in French), Carol Marcovici (in Romanian) and Yotam Reuveni (in Hebrew). The collection of poems by Benjamin Fondane was translated by Yotam Reuveni and published by the Nimrod Publishing House.

Another event (the round table "Fundoianu-Sebastian Today", organized by the Cultural Circle of Jerusalem), will be dedicated to the first Hebrew edition of B. Fundoianu's poems and of Mihail Sebastian's journal. The round table will be attended by Prof. Alexandru Calinescu ("Al. I. Cuza" University of Iasi), writer Virgil Duda, Prof. Michael Finkenthal, writer Yotam Reuveni (the translator and the editor of the books). The moderators will be Cornel Safirman and Leon Volovici. The event (during which the two books will be launched) will take place on October 21, at 17:15, at the Jerusalem Old Movie Theater, library hall, 1st floor.

Benjamin Fondane (Fundoianu) - a poet, philosopher, essayist, playwright and movie maker - was born in Iasi, in 1898. He spent the final part of his life in France. He wrote in both Romanian and French and is claimed by both cultures. He was killed in the Auschwitz extermination camp on October 3, 1944. Mihail Sebastian was born in Braila, in 1907. He studied law and philosophy in Bucharest. He wrote the novel "For Two Thousand Years". The best known of his novels is "The Accident" - a premonitory title, as Sebastian lost his life in an accident, in 1945… He asserted himself in the Romanian literature with the plays "The Star with no Name", "Playing vacation", "The Final Hour". His "Journal" was published in Bucharest, in 1996.

From the "Divers" magazine:

The second edition of the "Avram Goldfaden" international Yiddish theater and music festival will take place on October 23-30, in Iasi, as part of an ampler project (the Festival of the Yiddish Culture), which takes place for a whole year (April 2003-May 2004), with support from the European Commission through the program "Culture 2000".

The series of cultural events follows the itineraries of the Yiddish theater pioneers. The objective: promoting the Yiddish culture through theater, klezmer music concerts, film and round tables organized by the participating countries: France, Germany, Romania, Poland, Republic of Moldavia, Ukraine and Hungary.

So far, this year's tour included the cities of Vilnius, Timisoara and Cluj. Iasi will host the representations of the festival for eight days. The artist's itinerary will continue with Dresden (October 30-November 9) and Paris (December 17). Furthermore, some of the actors will be in Bucharest between November 3 and 6, in order to give daily musical and theatrical performances during the National Theater Festival.

The "Avram Goldfaden" festival will present 18 performances from 7 countries. During the event, an international seminar on Yiddish culture co-organized by New Europe College will take place in Iasi, on October 24-27. The agenda of the festival includes a film gala, a photographic exhibition and the projection of a 1924 movie - "The Town with No Jews" ("Die Stadt ohne Juden"), directed by Karl Breslauer.