14 | OCTOBER 20 • 2022
wonderful to be back together learning
at Limmud, and to have that chance
meeting of running into that person
who was in your cabin at Tamarack
Camps or learn in the same session
with a parent who was in
your child’s b’nei mitzvah
class. Limmud provides
that opportunity to
reconnect with that person
you have not seen in a
while, plus the chance to
make new connections.”
Birnholtz said she and
her executive board,
which includes Rabbi
Steven Rubenstein of
Congregation Beth Ahm
of West Bloomfield, Irv
Goldfein, a consultant
and producer of Judaic
reference and academic
software and media,
and Mira Sussman of
Jewish Family Services of
Washtenaw County have
worked tirelessly to create
a program with a diverse
array of learning tracks.
BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER
“Our board has worked over the
months to offer classes that bring
people together from different streams
of Judaism,” Birnholtz said. “From
people who are Jewish to Jewish
adjacent to students of weekly Talmud
classes and everything in between,
Limmud has something to offer every
type of Jewish learner.”
Birnholtz explained that Limmud
will be completely in person, as the
WSU Student Center lacks the digital
capacity to simultaneously offer so
many courses online. Limmud will be
following COVID protocols as set by
WSU. Masking will be optional, and
all registered participants are required
to be vaccinated and must answer a
questionnaire about current exposure
to anyone with COVID before
receiving a QR for attendance.
Howard Lupovitch, professor of
history and director of the Cohn-
Haddow Center for Judaic Studies
at WSU, said the university’s student
center is the ideal setting for Limmud.
Not only is it a great venue to showcase
all that is continuing to bloom at the
university and the entire Midtown area
to Limmud attendees who are older,
WSU alumni, but the location on a
college campus also makes it accessible
to current students.
Lupovitch said that Limmud
furthers the mission of both WSU
and Cohn-Haddow of providing high-
level educational opportunities for
the Metro Detroit Jewish and wider
communities, respectively.
Lupovitch quipped that although
Limmud has been advertised on campus,
he said it is anyone’s guess of how many
current students of the Gen Z generation
will show up early on a Sunday to attend
more classes outside their current course
load.
“Having Limmud in Midtown
is reflective of the broader Jewish
return to the city,” said Lupovitch,
who will be presenting a lecture on
the complexities of the next Israeli
election. “It is a place where lots of
young people are moving in to live
and (WSU) is experiencing that as
well with the addition of residence
halls, and there is an increase of Jewish
students living at Wayne. We are very
happy that WSU can be a place where
Jews in Metro Detroit and throughout
Southeastern Michigan can gather like
this for a day of learning.”
OUR COMMUNITY
COVER STORY
Rabbi
Steven
Rubenstein
Irv Goldfein
Mira
Sussman
continued from page 13
A Limmud
learning session
from a prior year