Limmud Bay Area

LIMMUD IS AN INTERNATIONAL JEWISH PHENOMENON THAT BEGAN IN 1980 IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND HAS NOW EXPANDED TO 90 COMMUNITIES IN 42 COUNTRIES ON 6 CONTINENTS. CONFERENCES/FESTIVALS ARE HELD ISRAEL, EUROPE/UK, RUSSIA, AFRICA, ASIA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA AND THE US. AN ESTIMATED 40,000 PEOPLE PARTICIPATED IN A LIMMUD EVENT SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD IN 2017. LIMMUD IS NOW A WORLD-LEADER IN CROSS-COMMUNAL, MULTI-GENERATIONAL, VOLUNTEER-LED JEWISH LEARNING EXPERIENCES, AND HAS BECOME REGARDED AS ONE OF THE MOST VIBRANT, DYNAMIC AND SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLES OF ALTERNATIVE EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS IN THE JEWISH WORLD. IT IS UNDOUBTEDLY BRITISH AND EUROPEAN JEWRY'S PREMIER ADULT EDUCATION INITIATIVE, WITH OVER 2,000 PARTICIPANTS FROM 40 COUNTRIES ATTENDING THE 2021 UK LIMMUD FESTIVAL, WHICH WAS AN ONLINE EVENT DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. LIMMUD BAY AREA WAS ESTABLISHED IN JANUARY 2012 FOR THE PURPOSE OF OFFERING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING BASED ON THE LIMMUD METHOD TO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA. THE PRIMARY PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO BE AN ANNUAL CONFERENCE, TAKING PLACE OVER SEVERAL DAYS EACH YEAR, WITH PARTICIPATION BY UP TO ABOUT 500 PEOPLE OF DIVERSE AGES AND BACKGROUNDS AT EACH CONFERENCE. THE PROGRAM IS A LEARNING CONFERENCE, A FESTIVAL, A GATHERING OF JEWS FROM ALL PARTS OF THE BAY AREA, FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE, ALL JEWISH BACKGROUNDS, ALL LIFESTYLES, AND ALL AGES. THOSE SEVERAL DAYS OF LECTURES, WORKSHOPS, TEXT-STUDY SESSIONS, DISCUSSIONS, EXHIBITS, MEDITATIONS, CULTURAL EVENTS, PERFORMANCES AND MORE, ARE PLANNED AND PRODUCED BY A NETWORK OF VOLUNTEERS ORGANIZED BY LIMMUD BAY AREA. THE FIRST SUCH CONFERENCE WAS HELD OVER TWO DAYS IN FEBRUARY 2012 AT THE ASILOMAR CONFERENCE GROUNDS IN PEBBLE BEACH, CA WITH ABOUT 360 PARTICIPANTS.IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS CONFERENCES WERE HELD IN FEBRUARY 2013, WITH ABOUT 525 PARTICIPANTS, AND IN JULY 2014, AT SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY, WITH ABOUT 430 PARTICIPANTS. CONFERENCES WERE ALSO HELD AT SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY IN JUNE 2015 AND 2016. FOLLOWING A YEAR OF NON-RESIDENTIAL ONE-DAY "TASTE OF LIMMUD" CONFERENCES IN JUNE 2017, THE THREE-DAY CONFERENCE AT SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY RESUMED IN 2018 WITH ABOUT 260 PARTICIPANTS AND WAS HELD THERE AGAIN IN 2019 WITH ABOUT 210 PARTICIPANTS. DURING FISCAL 2020, THE LIMMUD BAY AREA BOARD AND MANAGEMENT AGREED TO ASSESS HOW LIMMUD COULD BEST SERVE ITS CONSTITUENTS GOING FORWARDING AND ALSO DECIDED TO SUSPEND PRODUCTION OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HELD IN JUNE 2020. HAD THIS DECISION NOT BEEN MADE, THE CONFERENCE WOULD HAVE HAD TO BE CANCELLED DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. DURING FISCAL 2021, THE LIMMUD BAY AREA BOARD AND MANAGEMENT CONTINUED TO ASSESS HOW LIMMUD COULD BEST SERVE ITS CONSTITUENTS GOING FORWARD AND ALSO SUSPENDED PRODUCTION OF THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. SINCE THEN, THE BOARD AND MANAGEMENT HAVE AGREED TO RESUME A HYBRID CONFERENCE WITH IN-PERSON AND ONLINE ATTENDEES AND PRESENTERS, WHICH IS BEING PLANNED FOR THE 2022 LABOR DAY WEEKEND.IN FISCAL 2022, PLANNING ACTIVITIES COMMENCED IN PREPARATION FOR THE HYBRID, TWO-DAY CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR THE 2022 LABOR DAY WEEKEND. FISCAL 2023 SAW THE RETURN OF A SUCCESSFUL HYBRID TWO-DAY CONFERENCE HELD IN A HOTEL IN SAN RAMON, CA, ATTENDED BY 77 PARTICIPANTS, INCLUDING 51 ON-SITE AND 26 REMOTE ONLINE. DURING FISCAL 2024, WE HELD AN IN-PERSON ANTISEMITISM SUMMIT AT TWO LOCATIONS IN THE BAY AREA ATTENDED BY 70 PEOPLE. THIS EVENT WAS PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TEMPLE EMANU-EL'S STREICKER CULTURAL CENTER IN NEW YORK, WHICH FEATURED SOME OF THE BRIGHTEST MINDS TO WRESTLE WITH THIS TIMELY TOPIC.AMONG LIMMUD BAY AREA'S GOALS ARE: 1) PROVIDING NUMEROUS POINTS OF CONNECTION TO JEWISH LIFE, INCLUDING INTELLECTUAL, SPIRITUAL, EMOTIONAL, FAMILIAR, AND COMMUNAL, INSURING THAT ALL WHO WISH TO PARTICIPATE HAVE THE ABILITY TO JOIN AND EXPLORE; 2) PROVIDING EXPERIENTIAL AND FORMAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES THAT SUPPORT PEOPLE IN THEIR JEWISH DISCOVERY; 3) FOSTERING A STRONG VOLUNTEER CORPS WHO, THROUGH PLANNING, IMPLEMENTING, AND ATTENDING THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE, EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF VOLUNTEERISM IN BUILDING THEIR JEWISH IDENTITY, COMMUNITY AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS. JEWISH EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING IS THE SOLE ACTIVITY OF LIMMUD BAY AREA. THE ORGANIZATION'S WEBSITE IS WWW.LIMMUDBAYAREA.ORG.