Limmud.de is a place…

• where Jews of all religious and political backgrounds meet to learn, discuss and celebrate together,
• where you can expect to meet Jews who are different from you,
• where you can learn something new, whether you know nothing about Judaism yet, or you are a rabbi or professor,
• where participants themselves decide what they want to learn, and what they want to teach,
• where you can offer a presentation on any Jewish theme in which you have some expertise,
• where you can attend or offer workshops in German, English or Russian,
• where there is room for the broad diversity of Jewish topics: religion, tradition, politics, society, literature, art, music and more,
• where everyone from the age of 0 to 120 is welcome.

Limmud.de is an official non-profit organization – donations are tax deductible.

Limmud is created by volunteers. But Limmud needs funds, too – for office material, printing costs, travel expenses for some far-flung participants, and much more. We would be grateful for your help; and donations are tax deductible, because Limmud.de was founded as a registered association,  Limmud e.V., and is recognized as a non-profit by the Berlin Tax Authority for Corporations. For more information, see “join us“.

Limmud International

The first Limmud conference was held in England nearly 30 years ago. Since then, there have been many other Limmud festivals around the world. For more information, see Limmud International.

Mission Statement

We promise:

Wherever you find yourself, Limmud will take you one step further on your Jewish journey.

Learning:

• Learning embraces personal development, knowledge and skills
• Learning changes people, inspires action and opens new worlds
• There are many inspirations that can offer opportunities for learning
• Everyone can be a teacher and everyone should be a student
• We encourage the creation of a learning environment in which people are able to reflect and grow

Community and mutual responsibility:

• Limmud is a community of learning
• We can achieve more together than we can individually
• We both gain and should give something back to the Jewish and the wider community

Expanding Jewish horizons:

• Limmud strives to create collective and communal experiences, through which we strengthen and develop our Jewish identity

Enabling personal connections:

• We aim to create opportunities for communities and individuals to connect
• We recognise the strength of providing a space for spiritual, emotional and intellectual exchange

Participation:

• Volunteerism is a key feature of almost everything we do
• We are all responsible for each other and for the communities we create – everyone has an important contribution to make
• We encourage participants to take an active part in all we do

Empowerment:

• We inspire people to be ambitious about their contribution to Limmud
• We challenge people and trust them to rise to that challenge
• We see the potential of individuals and communities, and support their development
• We empower people to make choices, and provide the information to make informed choices
• The strength of Limmud lies with its participants

Diversity

• We value diversity in all that we do:
• We value choice in form, content and style
• We believe in the richness of our diverse community and create cross-communal and cross generational experiences
• We value accessibility, and aim to be accessible to all
• We recognise the strength of providing a space where spiritual, emotional and intellectual connections are made
• We encourage people not to stereotype others

Respect

• Limmud expects all participants to be respectful of one another, and to recognise that all volunteers are also participants. Personal attacks are not acceptable within session material

Arguments for the sake of heaven

• Limmud does not participate in legitimising or delegitimising any religious or political position found in the worldwide Jewish community. Anyone who comes to Limmud seeking opportunities for this will not find it
• Limmud has no part to say in the debates between/across denominations. Limmud will programme its events in such a way as to avoid religious or political conflict. However we do recognise and appreciate that ‘arguments for the sake of heaven’ can make a positive contribution to furthering our education and understanding

Religious observance

• Shabbat and kashrut are observed in all public areas. We recognise that in private areas people will behave as they wish.
• Should participants wish to hold a prayer group, they may do so providing they supply all resources and are responsible for the session or prayer group in its entirety.