Issue "Professionals and marginals in the Slavic and Jewish cultural tradition" of the yearbook "Culture of Slavs and the culture of Jews: dialogue, similarities, differences" includes materials from the international conference of the same name, held in Moscow on December 1-3, 2021. The book includes 12 articles by scientists from Russia and Israel who have devoted their research to the social and cultural role of professionals and marginals in various ethno-confessional traditions. The problem of professional perception in culture is one aspect of the universal semantic opposition "friend or foe," when belonging to "one's own" or "other's" community or class becomes the defining marker.