W

hat is in a Jewish name? 
What does Judaism have 
to say about the advances 
in organ transplant and donation? Is 
there an emerging Jewish psychedelic 
movement? How is freedom of religion 
now being interpreted by the United 
States Supreme Court? Finally, because 
it is late October, are there ghosts, 
angels and demons lurking in our 
Jewish texts? 
The community at large is welcome to 
explore the answers to these questions 
and hundreds more as Limmud 
Michigan makes its comeback 11 a.m.- 
4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30, at the Wayne 
State University Student Center, 
5221 Gullen Mall in Detroit. Online 
registration is now open. Tickets are 
$36. Student fee is $18. The fee to 
attend includes a boxed lunch, drinks 
and snacks. To register, go to https://
limmudmichigan.org.
Limmud Chair Sue 
Birnholtz said the theme of 
this year’s event, the first 
live, in-person Limmud 
since 2019, is “henei matov 
umanaim” — how pleasant 
it is to be together. With 
more than 40 presenters, 
including many local area rabbis and 
Jewish educators to others across North 
America, the Jewish education event 
has something for every type of learner. 
Topics range from Jewish identity, 
Israel, ethics, law, history, social justice, 
and body and soul, to name a few. 
Limmud Michigan is part of a wider 
Jewish learning movement of the same 
name that originated in 1980 in the 
United Kingdom. Globally, Limmud is 
held in 83 communities in 43 countries. 
The last Limmud drew in more than 
500 participants and event organizers 
expect the same or even a larger 
turnout, Birnholtz said. 
“As a Jewish community, we need 
that human connection and we want to 
be together,” Birnholtz said. “It will be 

Sue 
Birnholtz

STACY GITTLEMAN 
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

continued on page 14

Courses Offered 
at Limmud

11-11:50 A.M.
• The Reemerging Jewish 
Entheogenic (Psychedelic) 
Movement
• From Rachel and David to Maya 
and Ezra: Trends in American 
Jewish Personal Names
• On Finding God: Returning the 
“Awe” into “Awesome”
• Jewish Vulnerability or White 
Privilege? Seeing American Jewish 
Identities through the Prism of 
American Racism
• Praying for the Sick
• Exploring the Lived Impact of 
the Holocaust on the Second 
Generation
• Jewish Values in a Secular 
Workplace and Learning Space — 
An Experiment
• Living a Jewish Life in 
18th-Century Michigan

NOON-12:50 P.M.
• Na La’amod! Honoring Gender 
Through the Halakhic Process
• How to set up Whova Event App
• Shomrei Adamah — Guardians of 
the Earth: Facing the Climate Crisis 
through Dialogue and Action
• God’s Justice Measure for 
Measure in the Exodus and 
Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address
• Science and the Divine Paradox
• Jewish Monster Hunting: A 
Practical Guide to Jewish Magic, 
Monsters and Mayhem
• Detroit’s Yiddish Theater: A 
Stage in the Wilderness
• Escaping Egypt and the Belief 
That Millennials Won’t Pay
• Still Liberal After All These Years: 
American Jews and their Politics

1-1:50 P.M.
• Three Hanukkah Blessings, Two 
Hanukkah Songs: Five Fascinating 
Texts
• Possibly Kosher? Exploring 
Impossible™ Meat and the 
Boundaries of Kashrut 

• Shabbat, Particularism and 
Universalism
• Organ Transplantation & Jewish 
Medical Ethics
• How Love Conquers Evil
• Soup Kitchens, Free Bagels & 
Other Old/New Forms of (Jewish) 
Mutual Aid
• When the Supreme Court “Got 
Religion” — The New Expansion of 
Religious Rights
• Not All Those Who Wander Are 
Lost and Vice Versa

2-2:50 P.M.
• Let’s Talk About Death: How & 
Why to Host a Death Over Dinner 
by Reboot
• What kind of Jew are You?
• Sing a New Psalm
• Tithing and Taxation
• Celebrating Jewish Resistance 
& Remembrance: ‘Lights in the 
Darkness’
• “Bubbe” or “Grandma”? “Singing” 
or “SinGing”? Language and 
change in Jewish Greater Detroit
• Israelis Head to the Polls ... Again
• Speakers and Keeners: 
Ashkenazic Women at Prayer
• Between Dybbuks and Exorcists: 
Judaism and Spirit Possession

3-3:50 P.M.
• Joseph and his Mishpacha: 
Family Joys and Family Struggles
• “Justice has not Been Done”: 
Police Accountability in Jewish 
Law
• The Golden Calf as Political 
Polemic
• Canon and Can Not: Should the 
Book of Ecclesiastes be Part of the 
Bible?
• To Grieve Like an Israeli — A 
Poetic Dialogue
• Here Comes Skotsl: Finding Our 
Place in the Jewish Community
• Israel’s Iran Problem
• Between the Lines: Under-
Represented Voices of Torah 
Channeled through Song
• A Brief History of Antisemitism

According to https://
limmudmichigan.org.

OCTOBER 20 • 2022 | 13

