by Yoram Dori Limmud FSU is always a special experience for its participants. Limmud FSU Princeton, held from May 11 to 13, at Princeton University, was an especially unique event for me. As usual, I learned more than I taught. Some 650 young Russian-speaking Jews, originally from the former Soviet Union, paid good money to hear about Judaism, to learn about Israel, to meet their brothers and sisters, all in a pluralistic spirit, without coercion and without pressure. The lecture topics were determined by the young people themselves, and the theme this year was Albert Einstein, the father of modern physics who lived, taught and died in Princeton. Unlike other Jewish conventions that I’ve attended over the years, since I served as the Jewish Agency chairman’s spokesman in the 1980s, most … Continue Reading
Remembering Einstein
by Nathan Roi More than 650 young Russian-speaking people (including 50 children,) living in the United States, came to Princeton University to participate in a Limmud FSU event centered on the life and work of Professor Albert Einstein. Another 240 could not be accommodated at the sold-out event which took place from 11-13 May. 2012. The past president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Prof. Hanoch Gutfreund, who has overall responsibility for the huge literary estate which Einstein bequeathed to the university attempted to answer questions from the audience in two packed sessions: how is it that Einstein is, to this day, held up as an a example to be emulated in the world in general and the Jewish world in particular. Gutfreund showed items from the Einstein Archive which attest to this … Continue Reading
Limmud FSU Princeton: Priceless
by Nathan Roi Princeton University is considered one of the leading universities not only in the United States but throughout the world. And, for the more than 600 young Russian-speakers who descended there this past Friday to participate in the Limmud FSU conference, it was a priceless opportunity to visit the campus where so many millions of young people aspire to attend but only a few succeed. It was here that Albert Einstein, on a visit to the United States in 1933, made his home after he decided that as a Jew it would be unsafe to return to his native Germany after the rise of Nazism and the assumption of power by Adolf Hitler. Thanks to wealthy Jewish donors who funded the Institute for Advanced Studies, which Einstein headed, he worked and lived in Princeton until his death in … Continue Reading
For U.S. Russian Jewry, An Exercise in Identity
by Michele Alperin JointMedia News Service PRINCETON, NJ - A gap remains between young Russian Jews and the larger American Jewish community, even as organizations like Limmud FSU and others work to build bridges between them. Sandy Cahn, co-founder of Limmud FSU, suggests that the only way to ultimately bring these two communities together is to continue, at least for now, having separate organizations and events for Russian Jews. “There is something very special about Russian culture where they have an affinity of wanting to be together,” she says. “Having their own Limmud empowers them to be stronger and encourages them to enter in a more impactful and empowered way on the American Jewish scene.” Alexander Levin, the president of the World Forum of Russian Jewry, agrees, … Continue Reading
Limmud FSU Einstein: A First Look
Kicking off Limmud FSU's seventh year, Limmud FSU Princeton opened this past Friday afternoon just a short hop away from Princeton University. This, the first multi-day Limmud FSU event to take place in North America, brought 650 participants (including 50 kids) together for three days of Jewish learning and exploration. The program, geared to all ages and every perspective, was organized by volunteers from the U.S. Russian-speaking Jewish community and reflects the participants’ desire to maintain their Russian Jewish culture while living in the United States. Speaking erev Shabbat, Rabbi "Shmuley" Boteach - a veteran of many Limmud programs around the world - described the atmosphere as "the warmest of any Limmud program" he has witnessed. Previous Limmud FSU programs have centered on … Continue Reading
Taste of Limmud Jerusalem Premiers This Week
MK Haim Amsalem and Rabbi Uri Regev, who heads “Hiddush - For Freedom of Religion and Equality,” will be among the presenters at Taste of Limmud Jerusalem, on Thursday, May 10, 2012, at the Herzl Center, on Jerusalem's Mt. Herzl. At a time when extremism and discrimination against women and immigrants is grabbing headlines, Limmud Jerusalem joins the worldwide Limmud family to promote and celebrate diversity, inclusiveness, dialogue and tolerance. “Limmud Jerusalem is the beginning of a revolution to break down the ghetto walls separating Jews of all stripes in this city,” says Limmud Jerusalem Founding Co-Chair Yogev Karasenty. “We are bringing to Zion Limmud’s grassroots, volunteer-led, cross-communal, multi-generational Jewish model, underscoring the strength in diversity and the … Continue Reading
Limmud FSU Raises the Roof in Moscow
by Nathan Roi Addressing a packed audience this weekend at the Limmud FSU conference for Russian-speaking young Jewish adults at the Klyasma Resort Center near Moscow, Sofa Landver, Israel’s Minister of Immigrant Absorption, said, “A nuclear holocaust in the Middle East would be a nuclear holocaust the world over.” She elaborated by saying that the special character of Iranian nuclear ambitions Israel threatens not only Israel as the Iranian leadership would wish and the Jewish people in general, but people all over the world. Among those in the audience - Ambassador Dorit Golander, Israel’s ambassador to the Russian Federation; MK Carmel Shama-Hacohen, chair of the Knesset Economics Committee and MK Alex Miller, chair of the Knesset Education and Culture Committee. Following her … Continue Reading
Limmud FSU Princeton: Bridging the Disconnect
With the goal of helping to bridge their disconnect from the American Jewish community, over 500 Russian-Jewish-American young adults will gather at Princeton University, May 11th-13th, for the first-ever three-day Limmud FSU Conference in the United States. The entire conference, including its content, is organized by volunteers from the U.S. Russian-speaking Jewish community and reflects the participants’ desire to maintain their Russian Jewish culture while living in the United States. An estimated 750,000 to 1 million Russian-American Jews live in the country, with about half residing in New York and New Jersey. Among the presenters at the conference are leading academics, politicians, writers and artists hailing from the United States, Israel, Russia and elsewhere including, Yossi Bachar, … Continue Reading
An Israeli Experiences Limmud NY
by Regev Ben David While being very active in the area of Jewish renewal in Israel for several years now, I only heard the name Limmud for the first time during ROI summit 2011 - but there I heard it over and over and over. So when LimmudNY approached and I was fortunate to obtain ROI's Micro Grant to participate in my first Limmud, I tried to contribute back by volunteering in several positions (which definitely seems to be the great spirit of the conference) and by giving three workshops. Even though I heard many good things, what I found there was above and beyond my expectations: it was an exciting, vibrant, and vital celebration of Judaism and Jewishness in all of its forms, colors and sounds; a huge collection (over 600 participants) of open-minded and welcoming people which were … Continue Reading
Limmud Modiin 2012 Kicks Off by Tackling Current Israeli Social Controversy
It is said to be better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. On Wednesday, January 4, eighty Modi’in residents chose to light such a candle, together. Over the past few weeks, Israel has been in a whirlwind about a social issue that has been burning on a low flame since - well - maybe forever. One by one, stories of the exclusion of women (or in Hebrew, “Hadarat Nashim”) kept popping up in the news. Soldiers walked out of a ceremony in which women were singing on stage. High ranking army officers and the Minister of Defense had a laugh at the expense of women soldiers. Ultra orthodox communities in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh maintained separate sidewalks for men and women. Advertisements were censored to exclude pictures of women. The final straw - when a man spat on an eight-year … Continue Reading
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