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

