Limmud UK 2009
Source: Limmud UK 2009
Some 2500 people came to the halls of residence at Warwick University, West Midlands, to participate in the week-long Limmud 2009 learnfest during the last days of December. The Limmud conference, the world's biggest Jewish educational get-together, offers the chance to sleep in university dorms and spend the day in lecture theaters listening to academics, rabbis and lay people presenting on just about every Jewish topic conceivable.
Since its birth in 1981, as a small gathering in Oxford, Limmud has grown into a vast international operation, with the UK Limmud conference being exported to almost 50 Jewish communities around the world.
Americans, Israelis, Canadians, French, Hungarians, Poles and other distant participants joined the local British Jews at Limmud. Presenters, too, have come from far and wide to share their wares with the Limmud audience.
Among the conference highlights are David Saperstein, who represents the US Reform Movement to Congress and Hebrew University's Italian-born demographer Sergio DellaPergola. Also participating from Israel are Teapacks' former Eurovision star Kobi Oz and journalist Yair Sheleg of the Israel Democracy Institute.
Limmud offers many opportunities for Jewish involvement as chavruta learning, bet midrash style, engagement through drama, poetry or creative writing, viewing films, theatre and dance productions and much more.
The rich social atmosphere at Limmud allows for meetings, conversation and singing with people from all over the globe.
A series of lectures and panel events covering the core skills of Jewish communal professional life is offered where participants learn about fundraising, strategy, education and more from the experts.