More than 40 Russian-speaking leaders of Limmud FSU coming from Russia, Ukraine, the U.S., Belarus, Moldova and Israel participated in an intensive four-day conference here in Jerusalem this past week. The international Limmud movement, founded in Great Britain 32 years ago, has become one of the most successful and important educational enterprises in the Jewish world. Pluralistic, egalitarian, non-political and volunteer-based, Limmud events take place in more than 60 countries across the globe. Limmud FSU for Russian speakers was founded six years ago and thousands of young people have taken part in its conferences and festivals. Speaking to eJewish Philanthropy, Sandra Cahn (who co-founded Limmud FSU along with Chaim Chesler) said, "This Summit represents a very important juncture in … Continue Reading
Toward the Miraculous Future: A Chanukiya of Predictions for 2012
“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein “Daddy, how do we know it REALLY was a miracle, not just that somebody counted the oil the wrong way?" Morgan Cohen, age 9 For the serious adult student, Chanukah presents interesting questions about Jewish history, the challenge of heroic narrative and the complexities of a Jewish authority. But for a nine year old, a simple question belies its profound impact: was it really a miracle that the oil burned for eight nights? This question, asked last week by my daughter Morgan, has been burning in my head ever since, especially as I prepared my annual list of predictions for the coming year. In many ways, 2011 was a year filled with surprises that, despite the … Continue Reading
Limmud FSU Leadership Summit Opens Today
Fifty Limmud FSU leaders from Russia, Ukraine, Israel, USA, Belarus and Moldova will gather in Jerusalem today for a four day Leadership Summit that includes professional training, team building and learning. They will be joined by staff, the Limmud FSU co-chairs and guests including Israeli author Etgar Keret, MK Yuli Edelstein (Minister of Public Affairs and the Diaspora, Julius Berman (Claims Conference), Natan Sharansky and Carolyn Bogush and Clive Lawton from Limmud International. In describing the Summit program, Chaim Chesler - the high energy founder and co-chair of Limmud FSU, told eJP, " The four day program provides an intensive series of lectures, presentations, excursions, workshops and discussions, all incorporated in the framework of the Summit. The participants will have a unique … Continue Reading
The Shtetl: Medzhybizh Then and Now
by Nathan Roi Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, better known as the “Baal Shem Tov,” usually abbreviated to “Besht,” was a mystic rabbi who is considered the founder of Hassidism. He was born either in 1698 or 1700 according to different sources, lived in the small Ukrainian village of Medzhybizh and died there in 1760. On the way to Medzhybizh, we pass through a small town called Tolchin: along the road are galvanized tin shacks selling a variety of smoked fish to people who come from all over Ukraine, even as far as Kiev, as the prices are evidently far less. In large basins carp are swimming. Decades ago they would have been destined to end up as gefilte fish on the Sabbath tables of the more affluent Jews in the shtetl. It could well be that the disciples of the Besht could not afford … Continue Reading
The Shtetl: Vinnitsa Then and Now
by Nathan Roi A wonderful example of cubist period art is a painting of the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, by the avant-garde Jewish artist, Nathan Altman. When I visited Vinnitsa for the first time, few people, including the residents of Vinnitsa, knew that it was the home town of Altman before he left for Paris. From 1902 to 1907, he studied painting and sculpture at the Art College in Odessa and in 1906 had his first exhibition in the town. In 1910 he went to Paris where he studied at the Free Russian Academy, working in the studio of Vladimir Baranoff-Rossine, and was in contact with Marc Chagall, Alexander Archipenko and David Sternberg. In 1910, before the Russian revolution, he became a member of the group Soyuz Molodyozhi (Union of Youth). When speaking to some of the young people … Continue Reading
Loving Your Neighbor
by Yoram Dori Va’ahavta lare’echa kamocha (“Love your neighbor as yourself” - Leviticus 19:18) is one of the golden rules in the Bible. It is also one of the basic precepts on which I and thousands of others like me were brought up from childhood. Sometimes I had the feeling that it was another brick in the wall of self-assurance that we are, indeed a chosen people - different from others - somehow better and more ethical. A recent Limmud FSU conference in Odessa taught me that there is sometimes a tangible meaning to the overworked expression. During the course of the conference I was asked to join a “home visit.” At first, I was not too clear about what was implied. What was the connection between Limmud and home visits? Were we going to visit young Odessa Jews in their homes and … Continue Reading
Ver Is Di Mezuzah?
by Yoram Dori Ver is di mezuzah? (“Where is the mezuzah?”) was the question at the heart of our tour of various Jewish sites in Ukraine, preceding the recent Limmud FSU festival in Odessa. After landing in Kiev, our first destination was Berdichev or in the language of Shalom Aleichem, Yehupetz, and we also found ourselves in Katrielevka. Our trip was in a modern mini-van, but the views from the window were of horse-drawn wagons which are still in use and which gave us the feeling that at any minute we would encounter Tuviya the milkman. A central issue in our discussions was - is there still a stetl called Anatevka? The answer, by the way, is no. This and the above, were just some of the many fictitious place names coined by the famous Jewish-Russian-Hebrew-Yiddish writer, Sholem … Continue Reading
Helping Holocaust Survivors in Odessa
by Nathan Roi The Hebrew writer, Shmuel Yosef Agnon, who won Israel’s first Nobel Prize (for literature in 1966) was born in 1888 in the small Ukrainian town of Buczacz in the province of Galicia. He visited the town again after the First World War in 1930, 22 years after he had left Buczacz via Odessa to Jaffa in 1908. His monumental novel, Oreach Nata Lalune - “A Guest for the Night” was published on April 7, 1939, five months before the outbreak of the Second World War. The chairman of the Nobel Prize Committee noted in his award speech that the book showed Agnon at the peak of his genius, and Prof. Dan Laor, head of the department of Hebrew Literature at Tel Aviv University, maintains that the book is the best creation of Hebrew literature in the 20th century. In the opinion of … Continue Reading
Limmud FSU Odessa
by Yoram Dori Every time I participate in a Limmud event for young Russian-speaking adults, it is a new experience. Although Limmud FSU in Odessa, which took place this November, was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Israel, it did not mean that the entire festival was built around it. Only one session (which I had the pleasure of attending) was dedicated to this topic and the remainder, in the best tradition of Limmud, were as varied as usual. Limmud FSU is not just the usual run-of-the-mill Jewish seminar, where it would be difficult to persuade participants to listen to endless debates about the political games of different organizations. Here at Limmud, the whole event pivots around the young participants, most of them … Continue Reading
Over 600 Participants Celebrate Limmud FSU Odessa
The most recent Limmud FSU Festival for young Russian-speaking Jews took place in Odessa, Ukraine, last week. More than 600 young adults from 14 countries, including Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, USA and Israel, participated. Additionally, Limmud FSU successfully collaborated with the European Jewish Union bringing young adults from Germany, France, Belgium, Britain and even Gibraltar, to Odessa. Several well-known lecturers, journalists, actors, musicians and political figures came to Odessa specially to participate in this festival. One highlight was the attendance of Andrei Makarevich, a famous Russian rock-musician, who at the Gala Opening, sang a number of his songs translated into Hebrew. Other prominent speakers included Michael Goldovsky, Head of the Jewish Agency Office in Odessa; … Continue Reading
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