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Sept. 20, 2013
Learning fest comes here
The Limmud conference will take place Feb. 9.
PAT JOHNSON
Limmud, a global phenomenon that has been called “a panoramic Jewish learningfest,” is coming to Vancouver. The day-long event is to take place Feb. 9, 2014 – and organizers are seeking both participants and presenters with diverse interests.
Since beginning in the United Kingdom 30 years ago, Limmud has expanded to at least 60 locations globally, including cities in North America, Europe, Australia, Russia and Israel, among many others. Limmud (the word is Hebrew for “learning”) events have been described as “nondenominational, multigenerational and truly transformational.” Limmud is not affiliated with any particular stream of Judaism and is a community-based opportunity where everyone is a learner and everyone is a teacher. Organizers of Limmud Vancouver hope this city becomes the “destination Limmud” for the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Western Canada.
While most presenters will be local people – applications are being accepted now – organizers have confirmed three out-of-town presenters, including Dr. Tirtsah Levie Bernfeld, an expert on Sephardim in the Netherlands; New York-based songwriter, activist, worship leader and educator Naomi Less; and Ruth Messinger, chief executive officer of American Jewish World Service. Several local rabbis and academics have already agreed to participate. One local presenter is Barry Shell, who will lead Making Scents of the Torah, a hands-on exploration of perfumery based on aromatic materials mentioned in the Bible.
Limmud is different from anything else the Jewish community offers, according to Avi Dolgin, chairperson of Limmud Vancouver 2014.
“The Limmud formula has been very successful around the world in bringing together wide sectors of the community to a common event,” he told the Independent. “Usually, members of the Orthodox community go to hear Orthodox speakers and young, hip Jews go to young, hip events. Limmud has developed a pattern of trying to bring all different sectors under one roof, which will increase the chances of people actually going to listen to a speaker they wouldn’t normally go to. It is not only a learning opportunity, it is also a tool of community creation.”
Examples of presentations at previous Limmuds worldwide include The Philosophies of Martin Buber and Rav Kook, Yosef/Yusuf: Midrash in Torah and Quran; Art of the Holocaust; Hebrew Calligraphy; The Evil Eye and Other Jewish Superstitions; Kosher Jesus; Jewish Farm Settlements in the Canadian Prairies; Jews and Tattoos; and Family Crafts for Purim.
While there will be numerous academic presenters, Dolgin stressed that Limmud is an opportunity for informal educators to reach audiences – and vice versa.
“There are wisdom sources in the uncredentialed people in the community,” Dolgin said. “You don’t need to be a rabbi to be wise. This is an opportunity to learn from a wide variety of people, many of whose paths you would never cross, all in one warm, fuzzy event.… The idea is that it is possible to learn from teachers that you would not normally expose yourself to, because they are part of a community that you are not a part of geographically or ideologically.”
Dolgin’s involvement in bringing Limmud to Vancouver stems from his late wife’s passion for Limmud.
“My wife Ruth attended Limmud and came back very excited by what she had experienced there,” he said. “Cancer interfered with her ability to complete her dream, and I am trying to honor it.”
The Limmud that she attended was in Germany, where their son, Noam, was among the presenters.
Noam Dolgin has presented at Limmuds in London, New York and Berlin over the past several years, on topics including Jewish environmental values, Israel’s environment and outdoor spirituality. “I really like the Limmud model,” he said. “It’s a forum for me to be creative and try interesting new stuff, both as a presenter and as a participant. I’m excited to spend a day experiencing a range of Jewish themes and teaching styles, including in-depth Torah study, music, social justice and even fragrance making. I’m most excited about the creativity and the grassroots nature of the program, as Limmud attracts participants and presenters of all ages, denominations and backgrounds.”
One of the people Ruth Dolgin called when she returned from Limmud Germany was Betty Nitkin. Since coming to Vancouver in the late 1960s, Nitkin has been involved as a volunteer and staff person in Jewish education, running the Jewish Resource Centre, which provided resources and professional development for teachers in Jewish supplementary and day schools, volunteering in education programs at Beth Israel and Har-El synagogues, and leading adult education at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, where she brought to town the Florence Melton Adult Mini School. Nitkin is now vice-chairperson of Limmud Vancouver 2014.
“I knew about Limmud and I knew how excited people were about it,” said Nitkin. The only thing similar to Limmud in Vancouver is the biennial Best of Hebrew U event, sponsored by Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University, said Nitkin. While she has attended every one of those sessions and enjoys them, Nitkin said Limmud is broader, because it is not limited to presenters who are associated with a particular institution.
While February’s Limmud is intended to be the first annual event, Nitkin believes it could also spawn other synergies in the community. If a number of people show an interest in something, she said, institutions in the community could take the ideas germinating from a Limmud session and run with them.
“Thirty years ago, this was a much smaller community and we didn’t have the variety of expertise,” Nitkin said. “We do have it now and we should be making full use of these people.”
More information on Limmud Vancouver 2014 is available at limmudvancouver.ca. Applications for presenters are on the site and the deadline for applications is Oct. 4.
Pat Johnson is a Vancouver writer and principal in PRsuasiveMedia.com.
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