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Limmud
Founded1980
TypeJewish Educational Charity No. 1083414
Location
Websitehttp://www.limmud.org

Limmud is a British-Jewish educational charity which produces a large annual winter conference and several other events around the year on the theme of Jewish learning. Limmud it is not affiliated to any strand of Judaism and markets itself as open to "anyone interested in Jewish learning".

Founded in 1980, Limmud has a very small staff and is largely run by volunteers. Limmud comes from the Hebrew word meaning "learning," and is a name meant to reflect the goal of the organisation. The model has spread to several other countries and there are now locally-run Limmud events in the United States (New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Colorado), Canada (from Toronto), Israel, Australia, Germany (Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt/M., Munich), Hungary, Russia, South Africa and elsewhere.

Clive Lawton, its co-founder and former part time executive director, is the figure best associated with Limmud. In 2006 Limmud recruited its first full time Executive Director after a period of rapid growth. Raymond Simonson - former Director of UJIA Makor: The Centre for Informal Jewish Education - was appointed in May 2006.

Limmud Conference and other events

Limmud Conference, the organization's flagship event, regularly attracts more than 2,000 participants, and was inspired by the CAJE conference in the United States[1]. Other events include LimmudFest, held in August, and a yearly schedule of single day conferences. Typical of Limmud's events is that they regularly offer between 100 and 200 sessions on any one day, spanning religious, cultural and political aspects of Jewish life.

Crucially in a community that is made up of approximately 61% Orthodox Jews (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Jews), Limmud has been rejected by key Orthodox Figures such as Rabbi Yossi Chazan of Manchester and Organisations such as the Rabbinic Council of the Provinces and the London and Manchester and Federation Beth Dins (Rabbinic Courts.) The London Beth Din's Head Dayan (Judge,) Hannoch Ehrentreu, ruled that it is forbidden in Halachah (Jewish Law,) for Orthodox Rabbis to attend. Although now retired, this ruling had been recently re-emphasised by his successor Dayan Gelley. Despite this controversy, many Orthodox rabbis have chosen to participate in and present at Limmud events in recent years. Amongst them are R' Norman Lamm (the Chancellor of Yeshivah University), R' Shlomo Riskin (the Chief Rabbi of Efrat), R' Abraham Levy (the spiritual leader of the Spanish and Portuguese Communities), R' Nathan Lopes Cardozo, R' Joseph Telushkin, Dayan Michael Broyde, R' Michael Melchior and R' Yitz Greenberg. Participants come from right across the religious spectrum.

Limmud UK Events in 2010

Date Event
14 February Scotland Day Limmud[1]
2 May Liverpool Day Limmud[2]
23 May Wessex (Bournemouth) Day Limmud[3]
27 June Manchester Day Limmud[4]
26-30 August Limmud Fest[5]
10 October Thames Valley Day Limmud[6]
7 November Hackney Day Limmud[7]
24-30 December Limmud Conference[8]

Limmuds in other countries

Since its inception, Limmud in the UK has inspired and supported the adoption of the concept to over 45 communities worldwide – each producing unique conferences and festivals of Jewish learning and culture while adhering to the same core values of volunteerism, diversity, cross-communalism and open learning of Limmud. Each new Limmud event aims to reflect the diversity of its community by creating an accessible cross-communal and cross-generational experience.

By 2009 Limmud had spread to almost every continent, with teams and events being found in such diverse Jewish communities as New York, Lithuania, Ukraine, The Arava (Israel), Romania, Johannesburg, New Orleans, Turkey, Moscow, Cologne (Germany), Melbourne, Poland, Atlanta (Georgia, USA), Amsterdam, Serbia, Buenos Aries, St Petersburg, Los Angeles, Toronto, Stockholm (Sweden), Hong Kong and Sao Paolo.

Limmud International

Limmud Toronto

After years of planning by local volunteers, Limmud Toronto was first held on November 21, 2004 at York University. Over 400 participants enjoyed close to 50 sessions, including a Young Limmud program for children aged 5 to 12. Three years later on December 2nd, 2007, Limmud Toronto was held at the University of Toronto. Despite coinciding with the first major snowfall of the year, the conference drew nearly 500 enthusiastic, however late, participants. Limmud Toronto had its third conference, again at the University of Toronto, on February 15th, 2009. [9] As of February 2010, plans are underway for Limmud 2011. [10]

Limmud Toronto's website

Limmud South Africa

See the wikipedia article Limmud South Africa.


Limmud Modiin Will hold its first event in June 2010. (Limmud Modiin's website)

Articles

References

  1. ^ http://www.limmud.org/day/scotland/
  2. ^ http://www.limmud.org/day/liverpool/
  3. ^ http://www.limmud.org/day/bournemouth/
  4. ^ http://www.limmud.org/day/manchester/
  5. ^ http://www.limmud.org/fest/
  6. ^ http://www.limmud.org/day/thames-valley/thames-valley/
  7. ^ http://www.limmud.org/day/
  8. ^ http://www.limmud.org/conference/
  9. ^ http://www.limmud.ca/About
  10. ^ http://www.limmud.ca/2011
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