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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Conference gathers people from across Jewish spectrum

By: Sharon Chisvin

Posted: 02/26/2011 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

An innovative cross-communal Jewish education program that began in Great Britain 25 years ago is finally coming to Winnipeg.

The program, known as Limmud, the Hebrew word for learning, is a weekend conference taking place March 12 to 13 at the Asper Jewish Community Campus.

Composed of myriad learning sessions focused on a wide range of topics, the conference aims to encourage lively and diverse Jewish learning and individual Jewish journeys, while bringing together people from across the Jewish spectrum.

"Limmud is a great opportunity for Winnipeggers to experience a variety of Jewish learning options and activities," said Tamar Barr, program director for the Rady Jewish Community Centre, one of the conference's seven co-sponsors.

"The programming of Limmud is diverse and pluralistic and will appeal to individuals of all affiliations and experiences," she said.

Limmud's philosophy is based on the idea that everyone is a student and everyone is a teacher, and everyone has something to learn, something to teach and something to share. As such, all Limmud sessions are led by volunteer presenters and everyone who wishes to teach a session is welcomed to do so.

As Rena Boroditsky, a member of the planning/steering committee, explains, "everyone is equal, there are no titles and even the most learned presenters are still learners."

Limmud presenters at the inaugural Winnipeg event will include rabbis, university professors and teachers as well as musicians, artists, dance instructors, storytellers and, said Boroditsky, "many interesting everyday folk who have something to share."

While all of the presentations will contain some basic Jewish content, they mainly will reflect the presenters' diverse areas of interest and expertise.

Presentations on archeology, business ethics, joke telling, cooking, martial arts, comic-book heroes, wine-tasting and meditation will be among the 60 sessions offered in the course of the conference.

Participants also will be able to choose from sessions focused on Israel, the Holocaust and Jewish history, as well as several faith-related topics. These will include seminars that explore the use of Jewish ritual objects, Kabbalah in the 21st century and sabbath observance. Those with an interest in the upcoming festival of Purim may elect to attend Rabbi Ari Ellis' timely presentation on the miracles and themes inherent in the Book of Esther

Like Ellis, most of the presenters currently on the Limmud roster have been gleaned from the local community.

A few out-of-town experts, however, also have been invited to Winnipeg to teach. These include the founder of the neoHasid movement, Rabbi David Seidenberg, who will speak about integrating Judaism with ecology, York University humanities professor Rabbi Martin Lockshin, who will discuss classical Jewish texts beyond the letter of the law, and Yacov Fruchter, spiritual leader of Toronto's downtown Annex Shul, who will lead a session on the Jewish stories that every camp counsellor should know.

Fruchter also will lead the Havdallah service Saturday evening, the traditional religious ceremony that commemorates the end of the sabbath and ushers in the beginning of the new week.

Following the evening service, participants will be invited to learn from Lisa Alcalay Klug, author of Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe. An American journalist and a descendant of the Sephardic chief rabbi of Sarajevo, Klug wrote her book as a handbook for 21st-century Jews to help them explore their spirituality, holiday celebrations, culture and customs.

Klug's session on Saturday will run concurrently with two others. Sunday will follow the same format, with 10 different sessions offered every hour.

The quantity and variety of sessions is deliberate. Limmud is specifically designed to attract Jewish community members from all neighbourhoods, denominations and backgrounds, regardless of their level of Judaic education or knowledge, and their affiliation, or lack of it, with the organized community.

"We want to create an inviting space to bring together a wide cross-section of Jewish people with no agenda other than Jewish learning, in whatever form that may take, and encourage participation from all ages," said Boroditsky.

schisvin@hotmail.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 26, 2011 H13

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