2,000 attend annual Limmud FSU conference in Eilat

Many of those in attendance have grown with Limmud FSU, now in its 10th year, and have made the annual gathering a family event.

By SARAH LEVI
Updated: DECEMBER 24, 2017 01:39
Family in Limmud Eilat (photo credit: LIMMUD FSU)
Family in Limmud Eilat
(photo credit: LIMMUD FSU)
Some 2,000 Russian speakers of all ages attended the annual Limmud FSU conference in Eilat that started Thursday and ended Saturday night.
The conference included interviews on a wide range of topics with Labor Party head Avi Gabbay, Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid and Likud MK Gila Gamliel and, as well as lively performances by musicians Shlomi Saban and Marina Maximilian.
The rest of the weekend was devoted to the mission of Limmud FSU: fostering life-long learning among Jews from the former Soviet Union.
Participants stayed busy from 8 a.m. Friday until 2 a.m. Saturday, taking their choice of literally hundreds of seminars and activities centered on Jewish culture. Most of the events were conducted in Russian, with a few in Hebrew and English.
The seminars included “Bitcoin and the international stock market,” “Perspectives on antisemitism in Europe and practical tools to combat its online global spread,” and “Moral, ethical and halachic [according to Jewish law] challenges in the face of new technology.”
Many of those in attendance have grown with Limmud FSU, now in its 10th year, and have made the annual gathering a family event, as was evidenced by numerous small children and older participants seen at the conference.
Activities included stand-up comedy shows, dance workshops and cooking classes, which were open to all, regardless of age.
Over the past decade, some 50,000 Russian speakers have attended Limmud FSU conferences in the former Soviet Union, the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and Israel, according to event organizers.
The conferences, they said, allow participants the chance to connect or reconnect with fellow Russian speakers, building bonds and strengthening their communities as a result.
Limmud FSU chairman and founder Chaim Chessler said the organization takes pride in providing a combination of learning and socializing at the conferences.
“We truly have made a huge impact in Russian- Jewish community in Israel, which is one of the biggest communities in the country,” he said.


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