Vesela Raytchinova: We Bulgarians enjoy a very good name in Israel

There are no precise statistics on the number of Bulgarians living in Israel. It is estimated that the Bulgarian Jews who moved there from Bulgaria are about 50,000. Regardless of their number, as in other countries around the world, some of our compatriots are part of an extremely united community, which is helped by numerous cultural initiatives. Among the people with significant merits in this direction is Vesela Raytchinova who chose Israel for her new home in the late 1990s. In addition to being a journalist and teacher, Vesela is the producer of two exciting festivals of a different nature.

"One is related to the art, literature, music of Bulgaria and the Bulgarians who create art in the country and abroad," explains Vesela.

"The second festival may not be exactly Bulgarian, but it brings together the different cultures and ethnicities in Israel", explains Vesela Raytchinova in an interview with Radio Bulgaria. "Its purpose is to show what young talents are capable of, especially in the field of music and dance. At the same time, we invite guests from all countries, with whom we are friends and colleagues and mutually appreciate young people. The festival's name is "Sea Pears", we have many participants and in recent years we hold the festival mostly online. I cannot say that it is particularly easy to assess the talent of the participants in this way, but the opportunity to get involved online has given wings to young people and helped them survive that heavy atmosphere of spiritual pogrom that came with the pandemic."

The festival, dedicated to the art, culture and literature of Bulgarians in the homeland and around the world, is called "Bulgarian Soul in the Holy Land". A kind of godfather of the event is Vesela Raytchinova's elder daughter – Anita:

"With her, we thought about what could unite Bulgarians around the world. Why exactly on the Holy Land? Because this land is really holy in many ways - people of different religions, ethnicities, cultures have the opportunity to live on it. This is something that cannot be seen in each country, but it can be felt if one has the opportunity to experience it. And since we Bulgarians enjoy a very good name in Israel, we are extremely respected, loved, valued - 9 years ago I started inviting Bulgarians performers, dancers, popular personalities to present their art in Israel. The goal was to help the people who settled here regain the memory of Bulgarian art, of Bulgarian folklore - everything that is a huge cultural heritage. This was one of my dreams - to create such a festival that unites Bulgarians all over the world. I created it in Israel together with my mother Vesela Raytchinova, who was one of the first presenters of youth shows on the Bulgarian National Television, and with another colleague and friend - Diana Angelov, who has also lived here for many years."

Vesela Raytchinova teaches Hebrew, history, the Old Testament, and geography. She is the vice-president of the Confederation of Bulgarian Cultural Organizations and Activists abroad. The goals of this organization, whose representative office is located in Chicago, are aimed at popularizing Bulgarian authors around the world and in Bulgaria, the presentation of artists from all fields of art, as well as the unification of numerous cultural organizations and compatriots abroad, so that they can carry out an active dialogue with the Bulgarian state. The Confederation, together with the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad and the Union of Bulgarian Writers, in the person of its secretary Anzhela Dimcheva, also support the holding of the Bulgarian Soul on the Holy Land Festival. This year's edition lasted for four months, because of the large number of people who wanted to participate - nearly two thousand from all over the world, Vesela Raytchinova tells us:

"We have several competition programs that are for groups and for individual participants. Participation in them is free and both children and adults from different parts of the world are welcome. I and my team try to do everything possible to make people feel good. As part of the festival, we are organizing the International Literary Competition "Celestial Meridians", which is open to people over 18 years of age - it is dedicated to the unforgettable poet Moni Papo, who was a bridge between Bulgaria and Israel. Another possibility is to perform instrumental music, Bulgarian folk, pop, rock, jazz or a song from Bulgarian films, dances, as well as a performance of a Bulgarian patriotic song. In my opinion, this is a particularly important direction, since the patriotic song carries the spirit of a part of the past, which many young people do not know. In addition, we have a category of artistic word, children's and youth creativity in the field of drawing, story and essay, as well as a competition for children's experimental short films and photographs."

For several years, first due to the pandemic and then due to the instability in the region, the festival has been held exclusively in an online format. "When a person loves what they do, one has the opportunity to be a unifier - the festival "Bulgarian Soul in the Holy Land" became a creative terminal and people, coming to our events, got to know each other," Vesela Raytchinova says with a feeling of reward.

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Photos: BNR, Bulgarian Soul in the Holy Land (archive), Milen Dobrev, Dimcho Debelyanov Primary School in Ihtiman