Limmud FSU

Updated on Oct 03, 2024

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Founded 2006		Location Jerusalem, Israel

Founders Chaim Chesler, founder (Israel); Sandra F. Cahn, co-founder (United States) Type 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization Focus To restore the traditions of lifelong Jewish learning and strengthen Jewish identity among Jews of Russian origin through informal Jewish education Method Limmud FSU raises funds among its partners and donors to create relevant programming and underwrite participation for low-income Russian-Jewish youngsters and adults, so everyone can attend their local Limmud FSU conference.

Limmud FSU (former Soviet Union) is an international Jewish education organization that focuses on giving young Russian-Jewish adults the opportunity to revitalize and restore Jewish learning and to strengthen Jewish identity in their communities. It was developed in 2006 by Chaim Chesler, founder (Israel); Sandra F. Cahn, co-founder (United States). Limmud (from the Hebrew word meaning "to learn") was originally a British-Jewish educational charity, which produces a large annual winter conference at Warwick University and several other events around the year in the UK on the theme of Jewish learning.

The Limmud model, first developed in the UK, has now spread to many other countries. According to the Charity Commission, Limmud operates throughout England and Wales and also in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Macedonia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States of America. Nearly 70 communities in 34 countries on six continents have hosted Limmud events including, in 2013 for the first time, Hong Kong, Peru, India and Montenegro. There are 18 Limmud communities in the United States and eight in Israel.

History

Limmud FSU, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2016, holds educational conferences, which have attracted more than 27,000 participants in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Israel, and the United States, with forthcoming events in Canada and Australia. Limmud FSU engages with young Russian-speaking Jewish adults and Jewish people of Russian backgrounds, offering them the tools to gain a better understanding of their Jewish identity and if they wish, to assume leadership roles in their local communities.

Limmud FSU events present Jewish learning and culture in its broadest sense through pluralistic, egalitarian volunteer-run conferences covering traditional subjects like the Bible and Talmud, to history, politics, Israel, the Middle-East conflict, theater, music and dance, the arts, literature and poetry, to Jewish cuisine, humor and folklore and much more.

Limmud ("study" in Hebrew), the volunteer-driven Jewish learning experience, started in the United Kingdom in 1980 and since then has spread to over 80 Jewish communities across the world, awakening inspiration in tens of thousands of participants. In the words of The Jerusalem Post, "Every place that has Jews should have its own Limmud."

In adapting the Limmud model to the special requirements of Russian-speaking Jewish audiences world-wide, Limmud FSU has developed a unique approach to cultural and educational activities, through lectures, presentations and workshops specially designed for the needs of young Jewish adults who were deprived of the opportunity to learn about their culture during 70 years of Communist rule in the Soviet Union.

Goals

Limmud FSU seeks:

To redress the injustices suffered by the Jewish people in USSR under Communism, by helping to rebuild the Jewish intellectual and cultural tradition eradicated by the Holocaust and decades of Soviet oppression

To infuse young Jewish adults with a feeling for their own role in the process of remembrance, by including a serious Holocaust component in the content of every event.

To engage unaffiliated young Russian-speaking Jewish adults, mostly aged 23– 40, in a broad range of topics in an open, pluralistic, and dynamic learning environment.

To empower young adults to participate in the revival of Jewish communities and culture and thus to develop a new generation of Jewish communal leaders.

To strengthen Jewish identity and in so doing to ensure a vibrant and sustainable Jewish future.

Organizational structure

Limmud FSU is governed by an International Steering Committee (ISC), which approves its programs and budgets. The ISC has representatives from supporting organizations, donor foundations and sponsors, as well as individuals who actively promote Limmud FSU’s educational and cultural work.

An Executive Committee sets operational policy for Limmud FSU, authorizes budgetary adjustments between ISC sessions and sets guidelines for the preparation of the annual work plan. Currently, its members include: Matthew Bronfman, Chairman, International Steering Committee; Aaron Frenkel, President; and Rabbi Yechiel Eckshtein, President, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), who joined the Limmud FSU Executive Committee following a partnership agreement concluded between IFCJ and Limmud FSU International in 2014. Rabbi Eckstein serves as a Dean for Jewish Though and Studies: Sandra Cahn, Co-Founder, chairs the FRD Committee, and Chaim Chesler, Founder, Limmud FSU, chairs the Executive Committee.

A professional project manager in each country reports to the Executive Director, Roman Kogan, based in Jerusalem. Carefully trained volunteer activists in each community comprise local organizing committees. The organizing committees work closely with project managers to develop the conference programming, volunteer and participant recruitment, marketing and outreach.

Limmud FSU projects

Limmud Belarus – www.limmud.by/en

Limmud FSU Canada – www.limmudfsu.ca

Limmud Moscow – www.limmud.ru

Limmud FSU New York – www.limmudfsuus.org

Limmud St Petersburg – www.limmud.spb.ru

Limmud Ukraine – www.limmud.org.ua

Limmud FSU Israel – www.limmudfsu.org

Activities

Utilizing the strength of Limmud model, volunteer training sessions and annual Limmud FSU conferences in each location attract lecturers and educators from the countries of the former Soviet Union, Europe, Israel, and North America. Prominent writers, journalists, entrepreneurs and business leaders, scientists, actors and public personalities, including representatives from local Jewish organizations and communities, as well as a number of noted Jewish scholars and political figures, are among the presenters.

Local organizing committees in each country, composed mainly of young adults in their 20s and 30s, and programming and logistics committees are responsible for planning and implementing annual conferences and related local events.

Funding

Limmud FSU International Foundation is registered in the United States as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, recognized by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Limmud FSU follows a policy of gradual incremental rises in the level of participation fees to ensure appropriate payment for a quality program. The aim is to bring each community to a level of 80 percent of the direct costs of their conferences. Currently, a global network of private individuals and partner organizations funds annual Limmud FSU conferences and volunteer training sessions.

Timeline

Below is a timeline of Limmud FSU's key conferences:

References

Limmud FSU Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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