Atlanta – August 26, 2012 – For the first time, multiple Limmuds in the United States are collaborating to provide Jewish educators from across the Jewish spectrum with a blended learning opportunity combining immersive face-to-face learning with online education encounters. The Limmud North America Community of Educators is a partnership between Limmud NY, LimmudLA, Limmud Colorado and Limmud Atl+SE and will roll out over Labor Day weekend at LimmudFest Atl+SE.

“We’re hoping to create a scaleable model of collaboration for Limmuds throughout North America,” said David Wolkin, Limmud NY executive director and national coordinator of the initiative. “Limmud excels at creating spaces where different kinds of people can form connections that are not common in every day Jewish life. This initiative aims to leverage the ability to customize those spaces for different audiences. And, through it, we are encouraging a community of educators with a sense of continuity beyond the Limmud experience.”

The cross-communal cohort of educators at LimmudFest Atl+SE, representing a diverse range of Jewish formal and informal environments, will begin to build a powerful network for further learning and professional development with Jewish education leaders across the continent. Throughout the year, they will collaborate online, including learning sessions delivered by master educators/scholars, and become active co-creators in a national online community where they will be joined in 2013 by up to 75 fellow educators from the three other Limmud communities.

The three-year pilot project seeks to engage 300 Jewish educators through 2015. All will attend at least one of the partnering Limmud events, participating both in the educator track and the general program. Education track presenters at LimmudFest Atl+SE include Bible Raps’ Matt Bar; Karen Reiss Medwed, Northeastern University Chair of the Faith Based Educational Leadership concentration; Jeffrey Schein, Director of Adolescent Initiative and Special Projects at the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland; and, Aryeh Davidson, founding Dean of JTS’ Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education.

The Limmud North America Community of Educators is supported by the Covenant Foundation.