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Limmud Michigan
An invigorating day of Jewish learning
brought a diverse crowd together.
N
early 450 people soaked
up Jewish learning from a
variety of educators dur-
ing Limmud Michigan March 11
at the Student Center at Wayne
State University.
Participants had 70 sessions to
choose from during the full day,
including topics such as arts and
culture, current events, social
justice, Israel, our community,
text and thought, Jewish life and
practice, history, identity, and
body and soul. A new track was
for teachers by teachers.
In between sessions, people
stopped to chat, comparing
thoughts about different speak-
ers and topics.
Limmud, a Hebrew word
meaning “learning,” started in
the early 1980s in England, as
an activity for Jews during the
Christmas holiday week when
not much else was going on. It
has spread around the world,
with 88 cities on six continents
holding Limmud programs. •
Ariella Nadel of Farber Hebrew Day School presents “The
Prophet You Thought You Already Knew – Elijah.”
Eleanor Gamalski
“When you work professionally in the
Jewish community you get bogged
down in the day-to-day minutia.
Limmud is an opportunity to pause
and reflect on Jewish teachings and
traditions from an angle I do not
normally contact on a day-to-day
basis. The day helps me take a breath
and clarifies why Judaism and my
work within the Jewish community is
important to me.”
— Eleanor Gamalski, Hamtramck, community
organizer for Detroit Jews for Justice
Dr. Jeff Veidlinger, director of
the Frankel Center for Judaic
Studies at U-M, presents “Anti-
Semitism and the Alt-Right.”
Members of the Limmud Michigan Steering Committee
Limmud volunteers Wendy Kohlenberg and Carol Fogel,
both of West Bloomfield, flank Debbie Levin of Southfield.
Mark Nadel
“What a beautiful cross-section of
the Jewish community. It is incredible
to behold so many people gathered
together just to grow Jewishly. There
really is strength in numbers. Seeing
people talking with strangers … is just
beautiful. I enjoyed feeling the excite-
ment and thirst of people who came
in wanting to learn, and the content-
ment of people at the close of the
program who have spent the day in
learning.”
— Mark Nadel, Southfield
Rabbi Alana Alpert of Congregation T’chiyah and Detroit Jews for Justice
presents “Mayim Hayyim – A Jewish Perspective on Water Justice.”
Essie Shachar-Hill
“Today was a great coming
together of a diversity of Jews who
represented different ages, view-
points, and religious and cultural
backgrounds. I saw many familiar
faces as well as many new faces
and spoke to people I had never
met before. It was great to have
conversations and learn across all
these (demographic) lines within
the Jewish community.”
— Essie Shachar-Hill, grad student, Jewish
Community Leaderhip Program, U-M
“Jewish learning continues to be important to me as I spent a gap year in Israel between high
school and college with Young Judaea. I saw this day as a time to learn about Judaism with my
grandmother, aunt and cousin and to continue my passion for Jewish learning and involvement.”
— Madelyne Soltz, 23, Royal Oak
“It has been a joy to learn with the women in my family. All the classes we attended sparked an
interest in learning for my daughter that left her with the desire to learn even more.”
— Deborah Cymerint, Livonia
Phyllis Soltz, Deborah Cymerint, Katelyn Cymerint and Madelyne Soltz
26
March 29 • 2018
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PHOTOS BY YAKOV FATLIN
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