OUR TIMELINE: 2006 - TODAY

The very first Limmud FSU took place in 2006, in “Dom Uchenih” (“House of Scientists”) in Moscow. Hundreds of community activists, age 18 - 45 years old, from throughout the former Soviet Union and the Russian capital participated at the opening ceremony of the one-day event. On that day, Limmud FSU was launched.

The second Limmud FSU took place in October in Moscow, with more than 700 participants. The pluralistic, volunteer-based gathering of Jewish learning focused on bringing together and empowering young Jewish adults who are reviving and revitalizing the Jewish communities and cultures of their respective countries.

Limmud FSU held a conference for the first time in Israel with more than 1,200 participants. Gathering for an innovative festival of Jewish learning, at Ashkelon College, Limmud FSU launched its first program for Russian-speaking Israelis. A kaleidoscope of programs with 160 outstanding presenters and over 130 lectures, panels, performances, and discussions, all with Jewish themes, framed the content the for the two-day event. Many of the sessions were broadcast live over the web.

The first ever Limmud FSU in Ukraine took place in Yalta in October. Arriving full of anticipation, over 1,000 Russian-speaking Jews and presenters were ready to experience the 2nd mega-Limmud FSU Conference. The choices – 171 sessions and panels with roughly 150 presenters offered over the four days of intense programming. Also, over the four days of the Limmud FSU conference, over 13,000 kosher meals were served, 8,000 sausages eaten and 24,000 bottles of mineral water consumed.

In 2009 Limmud FSU had its first conference in the United States, and it took place at Westhampton Beach NY with more than 500 people. The participants from throughout the New York area exchanged ideas, thoughts and perspectives with more than 80 educators, lecturers and expert panelists at 35 sessions covering a wide variety of subjects, from anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, to Russian-Jewish cooking and dance, to Muslim-Jewish relations and Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

First ever Limmud FSU in Far East of Russia took place in September in Birobidzhan.  Over 300 young Russian Jews gathered in the capital city of Birobidzhan for four days of seminars, workshops, entertainment and just plain fun at the first ever Limmud in Russia’s Far East.Planned to coincide with the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Oblast’s founding, the attendees were provided a window not only to their own heritage but an opportunity to connect to the global Jewish community.

In 2010 Limmud FSU was held for the first time in Odessa in October with 500 participants. Over 500 young Russian-speaking adults from all over Ukraine and some from Russia, Moldova and Belarus, together with 50 presenters from Ukraine, Russia, Israel and the US took part. Odessa, with its remarkable role in Jewish cultural and literary life prior to the Second World War, was undoubtedly the star of the event, featuring its own special brand of Odessian language, literature and humor.

In 2011 Limmud FSU held its first conference in the cultural capital of Russia, Saint Petersburg. The organizers had reserved hotel space for 400 participants. Registration filled up within ten days and many people were turned away for lack of space. There were more than 50 separate sessions, covering such topics as conversion and its problems, new initiatives for Jewish charities, and even a session on Kabbalah.

Also in 2011, Limmud FSU Israel took place in the capital of Negev Beer Sheva with 800 participants. The program was devoted to the topic Space, Science and Technology, which was especially chosen to mark the 50th anniversary of the first flight in space by the Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin, in 1961. Among the guests at Limmud were the cosmonaut Alexei Leonov who was the first man to actually make a space walk. 

In May Limmud FSU US held its first conference in New Jersey with more than 500 people. It offered classes and workshops on Jewish life, culture and arts, Torah, and Israel, often through the lens of those whose perspective had been shaped under oppressive communist regimes.The event also represented a coming-out party of sorts for the young members of the first- and second-generation immigrant community from the FSU. It drew an array of notables involved in Limmud from around the world.

In 2012 the very first Limmud FSU Moldova was held, as a one-day conference with more than 400 participants. Also during the conference, an emotional event took place when Matthew Bronfman, Limmud FSU International Steering Committee chair, visited the town of Ataki, Moldova, where his family legacy began. This was the first time a member of the Bronfman family has visited Ataki since Matthew’s grandfather, Samuel Bronfman, immigrated to Canada.

2012 marked also the first time that Limmud FSU Ukraine was held in Uzhgorod. The conference was dedicated to the themes of tolerance and pluralism. Highlights of the opening night also included performances by internationally celebrated Jewish singer Iryna Rozenfeld of Kiev, an Uzhgorod folk-ethnographic ensemble, and an excerpt from My Fair Lady, performed by the Transcarpathian Regional Music and Drama Theater. Among the speakers were world renowned academics and journalists.

2013 was the year the first Limmud FSU Belarus was launched, in the city of Vitebsk, in June. The Conference was an intensive celebration of Jewish culture and identity. More than 100 presenters, panelists, and moderators included prominent journalists, artists, educators, and philanthropists from Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, and the United States. The conference included a number of special events, including the opening of a permanent photo exhibition to mark the 90th birthday of President Shimon Peres, who was born in Vishnyeva.

In 2014 the very first Limmud FSU was held in Canada near Toronto, with more than 400 participants. The event was launched in collaboration with UJA-Federation of Greater Toronto and the Jewish Agency for Israel. As in other international Limmud conferences, the whole family was invited and at the picturesque Canadian resort, nature walks, theater and programs for children were also on offer.

Limmud FSU Israel was held on the Kinneret in 2014. The festival of the Sea of Galilee, which included many first-time participants, celebrated the Zionist poet Rachel Bluwstein, known as Rachel the Poetess (Rachel HaMeshosheret in Hebrew). Rachel was born in Saratov, Russia, then lived and worked in the Galilee. She is considered the founding mother of modern Hebrew poetry by women. The opening event wsd an original musical based on Rachel’s songs and produced by the Acting School “Beit Zvi”.

First ever Limmud FSU Volga-Urals regions of the Russian Federation took place in the city of Kazan in September. The conference featured a series of exceptional events among them the “Interfaith Dialogue – Islam, Judaism, Christianity”, a conversation between religious leaders in the region with the participation of the Chief Rabbi of Russia, the Chief Rabbi of Tatarstan, the head of the local Russian-Orthodox church, the Grand Mufti of Tatarstan, senior Islamic clerics and two prominent rabbis from Israel.

In 2015 Limmud FSU arrived for the first time to the continent of Australia, in Melbourne. It featured a total of 45 presenters from Australia itself and beyond, including the jazz virtuoso Leon Ptashka from Israel, and Gil Hovav. A special event at the festival was an exhibit of paintings by the distinguished Israeli artist, Yosl Bergner, “A Land for the Jews.”

A new West Coast Limmud FSU conference took place in the Los Angeles area in January. The 3-day conference drew major figures including hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons, who joined Rabbi Marc Schneier to discuss the Jewish response to Islamophobia; Jewish Agency Chair Natan Sharansky; Emmy Award-winning actor Ed Asner; Israeli film star Tamara Klingon;The conference featured over 100 sessions on such issues as Russian-Jewish identity, the Russian-Jewish community in LA and Jewish perspectives on relationships.

Limmud FSU Belarus was held in May for the first time in the capital of the country- Minsk. It included about 150 trainings, workshops, concerts, tours and exhibitions. Among top speakers at the conference was former Israel Defense Forces Gen. Uzi Dayan, whose family roots trace back to Belarus. Other guest speakers included descendants of Abba Ahimeir, a right-wing Zionist activist, and Berl Katznelson, a socialist founder of Israel, both of whom hail from Belarus.

The first multi-national Limmud FSU conference for West European countries was held near London with more than 750 people. The conference included more than 100 activities by leading figures including members of Knesset Merav Michaeli and David Bitan; French, Russian and American presenters. Ambassador of Israel to the U.K. Mark Regev; former Ambassador of Israel to the U.N. Ron Prosor; American historian Deborah Lipstadt; Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar and many more.