by Julia Itin The whole concept of volunteer work among the numerous Jews from FSU living in Germany today seems to be a nonexistent. But only at first glance. During Limmud Day Berlin, we interviewed participants only to discover that volunteerism does exist as part of the post-Soviet Jewish experience in Germany - but it faces many challenges. Stand up, all Victims of Oppression! Involvement in politically motivated groups such as subbotniks, mandatory days of volunteer work, unions, as well as the Komsomol, the Communist Union of Youth carried with it a strong social component. Under communism, people volunteered not necessarily because they felt they were "building the country’s future," but because these committments gave them "social capital," a feeling of being responsible for … Continue Reading
The Limmud Phenomenon Rekindles the Global Jewish Flame
"Participants report one of Limmud’s strongest impacts is in connecting them to Jews “who are different than me.” Bringing together Jews of all (and no) denominations, ages and nationalities, Limmud nurtures a profound sense of peoplehood even as it serves as a networking hub across Jewish communities." Shining bright as the Chanukah lights, Limmud - the cross-communal, international Jewish learning movement that reaches over 30,000 participants annually - is countering assimilation and disengagement seen widely in the Jewish world. “The Limmud International Study: Jewish Learning Communities on a Global Scale,” released today, demonstrates the value of self-motivated, informal and intensive Jewish learning. The learning clearly serves both as an expression of and impetus to Jewish … Continue Reading
One Week from Today: Occupy Limmud
Nearly 2,500 Jews from the United Kingdom, together with Limmud International activists from 20 communities, will “Occupy Limmud” at the University of Warwick during Christmas week, December 25-29, 2011. To capture the excitement of Chanukah, which this year coincides with Christmas, a thousand dreidel enthusiasts are expected to break the world record for simultaneous dreidel spinning. Beyond the first-class cadre of presenters, including Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt, Israeli social protest leader Dafni Leef and Turkish Ambassador to the U.K. Unal Cevikoz, Limmud 2011 will see the launch of other firsts: An inclusive pilot project integrating learning disabled presenters and adult participants taking one more step in their Jewish journey in a project initiated by Conference Co-Chair … 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
UK Limmud Offers Free Places for European Youth Leaders
A new initiative sponsored by the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe in partnership with Limmud will be providing approximately 15 places for youth leaders/educators from across Europe at this year's Limmud conference in the UK. The group will have a special track each morning focusing on Jewish studies, programme management and professional development. The programme is being co-ordinated by Steve Israel who will be their madrich during Limmud. Conference participation and up tp £500 towards travel costs will be paid by the Foundation. For additional information, and application forms, visit rothschildfoundation.eu. The closing date is 14th November, 2011. … Continue Reading
An Interview with a Key Limmud Activist
In a series of interviews with Limmud activists around the world, here we celebrate a key activist involved in prioritising the grassroots volunteerism of Limmud Netherlands. Meet Emma Sevitt, President, Limmud Netherlands: What did you want to achieve when you started Limmud Netherlands? I didn't start Limmud Netherlands, or Limmoed as we call it over here. The concept had been brought to the Netherlands years before we began it as a volunteer organization, run through a long standing Jewish organization. What we did was transform it into a volunteer based event. However, when the small group of us "started" Limmud, our goal was to create an event that was attractive to all types of Jewish communities in Holland. The community has a history of being very disparate, and our hope was that … Continue Reading
Limmud Brings Unique Leadership Training Opportunity to Activists Across the USA
by Dani Serlin “Limmud's Training on Tour programme was a wonderful opportunity to connect with participants from Limmudim around the world. I learned so much from their experiences that I want to be able to bring back home!” Sara Levy, Limmud Philly, Co-chair Last week 30 participants from ten different Limmud communities across the US and Canada gathered to participate in the first “Limmud International Training on Tour Seminar”. The seminar was initiated, organised and run by Limmud International, a key project of the UK-based volunteer-led learning organisation Limmud. Demonstrating the depth and geographical spread of the grass-roots cross-communal concept of Limmud transported from the UK, Limmudniks involved in this volunteer development seminar came from North American Limmud … Continue Reading
The Jewish Community of South Africa has Moved Beyond the Apartheid Era
by David Newman I have written in the past to extol the virtues of one of the most successful educational experiments in the Jewish world in the past 20 years - the Limmud conferences held every winter vacation on a British UK campus, and which are attended by some 3,000 participants. A week-long festival of Jewish learning for young and old, religious and secular, who come together for no other purpose than the age-old desire to “study for the sake of it” (limmud lishma). And now I have experienced the international expansion of Limmud as it has moved beyond the British Isles, to almost every place where there is an organized Jewish community. This past week in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, I witnessed the coming together of 1,000 members of the South African Jewish community to … Continue Reading
Renewing the Jewish Communities of Europe through European Eyes
by Clive A Lawton I was a little surprised to read Ariel Beery’s response to The Summer of Change and the JPropel programme that he attended in Uppsala Sweden recently. I was there too briefly and have attended other such events in the past. My abiding feeling on leaving them is a sense of buoyant optimism. So many young enthusiasts from so many walks of Jewish life! In contrast, Ariel’s article seemed to suggest that he felt disheartened at the impression he received of an old guard hanging on with dead man’s grip on the resources of the communities of Europe, while the younger generation became increasingly frustrated with the blocking of their creativity and initiatives so that they would eventually give up and leave. So why might our responses be so different? I suggest it’s … Continue Reading
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