Limmud Around the World
The first Limmud began approximately 25 years ago as an annual, volunteer-driven event in Nottingham, England. In recent years, Limmud’s events have been recognized as a "best practice" of Jewish life and have spread across the global Jewish community. There are currently 38 Limmuds around the world, spanning 4 continents.
Limmud in the UK
Limmud NY
Limmud Colorado
Limmud Canada
Limoud France
Jom Ijun (Switzerland)
Limmud Turkey
Limmud Germany
Limmud Galil (Israel)
Limmud Israel
Limmud FSU
Limmud-Oz
Limmud South Africa
Limmud in the UK
Web: www.limmud.org
Email: office@limmud.org
Limmud in the UK is one of the most exciting and innovative educational organisations in the British-Jewish community. Over 5,000 people, from every walk of life, background, religious affiliation and age have attended at least one Limmud event this year - and over 20,000 have attended a Limmud event in its 25-year history. The original Limmud's event is a five-day residential Conference held at Nottingham University attended by over 2,000 people - which the Jewish Chronicle called the "jewel in the crown of Anglo-Jewry". This event attracts some 350 presenters annually, between them presenting over 900 sessions on every conceivable topic of Jewish interest.
Limmud NY
Web: www.limmudny.org
Email: info@limmudny.org
Limmud NY was established by six volunteers who were inspired by the annual Limmud Conference in England. With the help of UJA-Federation of NY, this group undertook a year-long needs assessment and strategic planning process. At the conclusion of this process in December 2003, UJA-Federation - through a grant from the Picower Foundation - provided funds to seed the creation of Limmud NY. Additionally, Limmud NY became one of the select residents of Bikkurim: An Incubator for New Jewish Ideas. The first Limmud NY conference was held in January 2005. 700 people gathered in upstate New York (including a sizeable delegation from Limmud in the UK) for three days of lectures, workshops, text-study sessions, discussions, exhibits, performances and much more - all planned by a community of volunteers. Now in its third year, Limmud NY has become an annual fixture in the calendar of New York Jews.
Limmud Colorado
Web: limmudcolorado.org
Email: karli@sherwinter.com
The inaugural Limmud Colorado conference will be held Memorial Day weekend, May 23-26, 2008 at the Keystone Resort. From Friday evening to Monday afternoon, participants will enjoy torah study, hiking, interactive workshops, live music, films, yoga, lectures, and more! Anyone from Colorado or around the country who is interested in Jewish learning, from every age group and background, is welcome to attend Limmud Colorado.
Limmud Canada
Web: www.limmud.ca
Email: info@limmud.ca
Limmud Canada held its first one day event on 21 November 2004 at York University's Founder's College in Toronto attracting over 400 people. The one-day Limmud Canada festival scheduled for December 2, 2007, at the Bahen Centre at the University of Toronto features 70 presenters, with 10 different sessions to choose from every hour.
Limoud France
Web: www.limoud.org
Email: contact@limoud.org
After three years of planning, Limoud France was launched in the luxurious setting of the Palais de Congres just outside of Paris. Attended by 700 participants from all over France, the event boasted some 160 sessions presented by over 100 educators from across mainland Europe. Ruth Ouzana, the President of Limoud France, explains: "We wanted to replicate the look and feel of Limmud Conference in the UK - therefore we wanted to offer our participants as much choice as possible." Under Ruth's leadership, nearly 80 volunteers - most of whom have attended Limmud in Nottingham - have created an event that Ruth says "will revolutionise the way that the French community thinks about Jewish education."
Jom Ijun (Switzerland)
Web: www.jomijun.ch
Email: info@jomijun.ch
Jom Ijun, created in 2001, is a Limmud-style initiative from the Swiss community based in Basel. The goal of the organizers of Jom Ijun is to bring together people with diverse interests and backgrounds to study Jewish issues. An inclusive, integrative event, Yom Ijun emphasizes what the participants have in common - interest in and curiosity about Jewish issues and Jewish sources, as well as the desire to learn and to exchange ideas. This one-day event has taken place every November since 2003.
Limmud Turkey
Web: www.limmudtr.org
Email: limmudtr@gmail.com
Led by a dedicated group of volunteers who were inspired by their visit to Conference in the UK, the first Limmud in Turkey took place in Istanbul on 20 November 2005 with approximately 450 participants. Over 60 presenters, both local and overseas (with simultaneous translation), presented a choice of nine sessions at any one time.
Limmud Germany
Web: www.limmud.de
Email: info@limmud.de
Launched with a highly successful one-day event in August 2007, Limmud Germany is planning its first two-day conference for spring 2008 outside of Berlin. The conference will be an opportunity to study all kinds of Jewish topics, to learn together, to discuss and to celebrate - in German, in Russian and in English. There will be workshops on difficult topics and more relaxing ones, food for thought and more pracitcal courses such as cooking or singing. And, when taking a break from thinking and discussing, there will be opportunities for sports or taking a walk in beautiful Brandenburg.
Limmud Galil (Israel)
Email: elana@012.net.il
Limmud Galil is a learning community that deals with questions of tradition, roots and sources, which together form the Jewish identity, and the ways this identity is manifested in the experience of this special place - life in the Galilee. The learning community of Limmud Galil was established in 2001 on the inspiration of Limmud in the UK. Since then, it has been adding new members who are interested in investigating their link to Judaism and its manifestation in day-to-day life. Limmud Galil has become a fixture in the region's cultural landscape as a result of its guiding principles - active social involvement of its members in community life and a policy of openness to all segments of the population (traditional, secular and religious, right and left wing, adults and youth, veteran residents and the newly arrived).
Limmud Israel
Email: limmud_yisrael@yahoo.com
Limmud Israel is a Jerusalem-based initiative led by an ever-expanding group of immigrants to transport the vision and share the spirit of Limmud with the wider Israeli community. Initiated in 2001 and registered as an Israeli NGO in 2003, Limmud Israel's activists now comprise a cross-section of immigrant and native Israelis. Their first event took place in September 2003, attracting some 200 people to a Jerusalem hotel for a stimulating learning and social evening program. Sessions, almost all presented in Hebrew, featured some of the most prominent local figures in Jewish Education, Philosophy, Literature, Music, Meditation and Media. Building upon the success of the launch, Limmud Israel's next event is in the planning stages, and organizers hope to expand the scope of their future activities accordingly.
Limmud FSU
Web: www.limmud.ru
Email: irina@limmud.ru
Limmud FSU was launched in 2006 with an event in Moscow attended by over 1000 people. Keynote presenters included both Chief Rabbis of Moscow, the Reform Moscow Rabbis, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, historian Deborah Lipstadt and Rabbi Avraham Infeld. As with all Limmud events, Limmud FSU was driven and organized by a dedicated group of over 100 volunteers. The group is now planning a series of events across the former Soviet Union.
Limmud-Oz
Web: www.limmudoz.com.au
Email: peta@shalom.edu.au
Limmud-Oz, Australia's version of Limmud, made its debut in Sydney in 1999. The Limmud experience proved to be as uplifting, intoxicating, stimulating and exciting here as it has elsewhere. With ever-increasing numbers of participants (over a thousand in Sydney this year and 850 in Melbourne in 2004), it was held in Sydney in 2001, 2003 and 2005 and in Melbourne for the first time in 2004.
Limmud South Africa
Web: www.limmud.org.za
Email: vivanst@iafrica.com
Limmud South Africa launched its inaugural conference in 2007 in Cape Town and Johannesburg, with more than 40 presenters. Participants were able to choose between 6-8 sessions on the hour or learn chevruta style, with sessions for the kids, teens and young adults, all under one roof.
