On June 29, the Sabantui holiday was held in Israel, which was organized by the participants of the Miras association

05. 07. 2018

On June 29, the Sabantui holiday was held in Israel, which was organized by the participants of the “Miras” association. We spend this holiday for several years and every time we worry and experience how many people will come and come at all. People sometimes have to make a long and long way to get to us. Our community is scattered all over the country, people live in different cities and do not always have the opportunity to come. Another problem is the place of the celebration. Local authorities, to put it mildly, do not really come to our meeting. But despite all the difficulties the holiday also took place this time. Let it not be so large and not carried out on such a scale as it happens in Kazan and other cities where Tatars live compactly and there is state support for such events, But this is our holiday, and we love it, we grew up with it, it’s our history, and we are part of it. And the point, strictly speaking, is not so much in quantity. It is important that people love it. And the most pleasant thing is that he was loved by Jews living in Israel, whose childhood and youth are connected with Tatarstan. For those to whom this holiday, the next opportunity will touch their past.
One of my acquaintances, who was born and raised in Kazan, once said: “I again found myself in the Birch Grove – the place of traditional Sabantuy in Kazan, I seem to have returned to Kazan.” And this is not Tatar speaking. And I heard such words not only from him.
And the most pleasant thing is when people come up and thank us for this holiday and when these words you hear from children. Many do not know anything about the Tatars, about Kazan, but they like the holiday. Yesterday one of the little participants of the holiday came up to me and said: “Thank you very much, we had a lot of fun, and I want to come again to Sabantuy” – it’s true, and I do not invent anything. And at that moment I felt that everything we do is from the heart. All our worries and worries were not wasted. Such words inspire pride and confidence that we are not wasting our time, energy and energy, preparing this holiday. So the next generation of small Israelis will also love this holiday as their parents, grandfathers and grandmothers.
At the end of the holiday, we discussed it with my colleague and a true friend, with whom we started all this and for many years we are engaged in Guzyal Bashirova. “So we do not work in vain,” said Guzial, when I handed her the boy’s words. “Our goal has been achieved and now the next generation of people living in Israel will consider this holiday their own, and most importantly they will know more about the Tatar people.” I think that’s what we are doing all this for. That people learn more about our people and about our culture.

Ravil Sadykov,

Head of the Turkic-speaking association in Israel “Miras”