Let ti metro >> Exciting Learning Limmud tradition comes to Michigan with a full-day conference in March. Barbara Lewis I Contributing Writer take care of you. With great rates, an even better staff, and the speediest buses in the business, trust Qwik Par to get you to the airport Qwik as a flash. Save tim eserve on I i n qwikpark.co 7782 Merriman R BRINGING IT HERE Birnholz was introduced to Limmud 10 years ago. Her daughter, Melanie Hildebrandt, was on the steering commit- tee of LimmudNY, a four-day conference in the New York area held on President's Day weekend, and invited her to attend. Birnholtz has gone back almost every year since, even after her daughter moved away. Goldfein learned about Limmud from a friend and thought it would work in Michigan. He called Birnholtz, whom he knew from local Jewish education programs, not realizing that she was a Exit 198 from 1-94 Exit 20 from 1-275 1.888.844.7275 • qwikpark.co 20 22 December 17 2015 A n exciting educational program is coming to Michigan in March. Called Limmud, it started in England in the early 1980s. Its ideas and philosophy have spread around the world. Limmud, meaning "learning" in Hebrew, is an educational experience aimed at people of all ages and at every level of Jewish knowledge and observance. Iry Goldfein, a producer of Jewish edu- cational media from Southfield, and Sue Birnholtz, a retired teacher from Sylvan Lake, chair a team of volunteers planning Michigan's first Limmud. The full-day conference is scheduled for Sunday, March 13, at the Michigan Union in Ann Arbor. Limmud got started because a group of British Jews were bored between Christmas and the secular New Year, Birnholtz said. With schools on break and regular activities suspended, they thought it would be an ideal time for a Jewish edu- cational conference. The presenters would attend the other sessions, and everyone would learn together. The presenters are not paid; Limmud calls them "voluntici- pante The Limmud idea has been widely copied around the world — there are now programs in 85 countries on six continents — because it's an ideal way to reflect the diversity of the Jewish community and cre- ate cross-generational experiences acces- sible to all, she said. "It's not like a 'day of learning;' it's an exploration and celebration of Jewishness. Everyone can get something from it, from bagels-and-lox Jews to Talmudic scholars:' Birnholtz said. "It's non-denominational and non-political." Some presenters will delve into Torah and Talmud; others will explore social jus- tice, literature, community and the arts. Ji Steering team: (standing) Davey Rosen and Karla Goldman, both of Ann Arbor; Sue Birnholtz, Sylvan Lake; Dan Horwitz, Huntington Woods; and Iry Goldfein, Southfield; (seated) Mira Sussman and Eitan Katz, both of Ann Arbor; Leslie Black and Roger Black, both of Farmington Hills; and Steven Rubenstein, West Bloomfield. Not pictured: Deirdre Hirschtritt and Emily Zussman, both of Ann Arbor, and Rene Lichtman, West Bloomfield. Limmud veteran. Together they formed a planning com- mittee of 14 — they call it the "steering team" — that includes young adults from the cities of Detroit and Ann Arbor as well as from Oakland County. They also gained formal nonprofit organization status. To call their program a Limmud, the planners had to present their plans to Limmud International and agree to adhere to that organization's core values. These include learning, community and mutual responsibility, diversity, empowerment, participation, enabling connections to be made and expanding Jewish horizons. Several local Jewish educators have agreed to present, including Howard Lupovitch, director of the Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies at Wayne State University; Justin Sledge, professor of philosophy at WSU; Mitch Parker of the Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning; Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Adat Shalom Synagogue; Rabbi Tzvi Muller, director of the Jewish Values Institute and rabbi at the Birmingham Bloomfield Chai Center; and Jay Kaplan from the ACLU. "These are amazing people who on their own would draw people for a whole day," Goldfein said. The planners also hope to have pre- sentations on challah baking, yoga and meditation, he added, as well as musical performances. The team welcomes applications from others who would like to present. No one is paid for presenting; those who travel from afar will be reimbursed for expenses. Planners hope to have eight sessions in each of five time slots, for a total of 40. The March 13 program will run 10 a.m.- 6 p.m., with a kosher lunch included in the registration fee. Babysitting and children's activities will be offered. If there's enough interest, they'll provide bus service from the Detroit area to Ann Arbor. The steering team hopes to keep the registration cost low — ideally at $18 — to encourage students and young adults to attend. To keep it that low, they need to attract sponsors (including in-kind donors) and foundation grants. A $5,000 grant has been secured from the Schusterman Foundation, with fur- ther grants coming from the Covenant Foundation and others, Goldfein said. The co-chairs are confident LimmudMl will be a success. "Detroit has the highest enrollment in Jewish educational programs, relative to population, of any city in the United States," Birnholtz said. "The hunger is there; the thirst for knowledge is there * For more information about LimmudMI or to find a presentation proposal form for potential presenters, visit www.limmudmichigan.org or email askus@limmudmichigan.org.