Between 21-24/03/2024 Samis Mosios, member of the ENE council, participated in a special Shabbaton entitled “ShabBalkanton”, which was organized by the Jewish youth of Serbia, North Macedonia and Croatia. The seminar took place in Skopje, at the Youth Center of the Jewish Community of Skopje, and was attended by 30 participants, the majority coming from Balkan countries.
In “ShabBalkanton”, there were various activities related to the Purim holiday (which was in those very days), Diaspora Jews and Jewish identity, as well as local Jewish history. Also, the participants had the opportunity to visit the impressive Skopje Holocaust Museum, where they came into contact with the sad story of the 7.148 North Macedonian Jews who met a tragic fate during the Holocaust, as they were sent directly to the Treblinka extermination camp.
Another big part of "ShabBalkanton" was about the creative dialogue about the "Haide Balkan" initiative, that is, the creation of a framework of development and coexistence for the Jewish youth in the Balkans. Throughout the seminar, issues of youth activation, as well as ways to strengthen community bonds, were discussed. The birth of the vision of "Haide Balkan" stems from the "Balkan Multipliers" Junction conference that took place in May 2023 in Thessaloniki, where a strong desire for mobility was observed by the youth of the Balkan communities. In fact, the seminar of E.N.E. "Bridges of Resilience: Understanding and Countering Antisemitism" held in Thessaloniki on 16-18/03/2024 was the event that started the implementation of the vision of the "Haide Balkan" initiative. "ShabBalkanton" in Skopje, one week later, was the second stepping stone in this great effort.
The council of E.N.E. welcomes and actively supports the vision of a united Balkan Jewish youth, as such an initiative can only do good, not only for the neighboring Balkan communities, but also for the Greek one. Therefore, he would like to warmly thank the Balkan youth sisters who invited E.N.E. to participate in this ambitious undertaking.
