Limmud in the UK 2007 - From Abby Fifer

I've been volunteering with LimmudLA for months now, but I didn't
completely get it until now. Not having attended a Limmud conference,
I was attracted to being part of LimmudLA because of its values in the
abstract: pluralism, a committment to non-synagogue learning, and its
immersive educational quality. Now, seing all of those values play
out in realtime, I am so extremely anxious and eager for our first
conference, in just a few weeks.

Others have written on this blog about the sessions they attended. I
went to some wonderful sessions, but it is more the atmosphere,
outside of sessions, that strikes me. First, people are friendly!
And not just Brits-are-polite friendly. Kevin, the conference chair,
knows everyone here by name, it seems -- all 2,300 people. Why?
Because he has empowered most everyone to be a volunteer, and he
actualizes the Limmud belief that the volunteers ARE the conference.
Presenters attend each others sessions, and no one has a title on
his/her namebadge. I had a lengthy, meaningful conversation with
someone for a few hours last night, and only after Googling him (I
admit it!) did I discover he is a rabbi. Why is that significant? At
Limmud, everyone -- not just the most text-educated -- owns the
learning.

Last night, after attending Clive Lawton's session on "Jewish Ideas
that Have Changed the World" and recording an interview for a
documentary by a Quaker called "What Happens When We Pray?" I had
"the" Limmud experience I'd heard so much about. Ruthie, Shira, Todd,
and I hung out at the bar for hours, meeting new people and
connecting. People were genuinely interested in learning about me --
about Los Angeles, about what sessions I'd attended that day, about my
thoughts on what I learned at those sessions, I hadn't had one of
those-stay-up-all-night-discussing-really-intense-things-and-falling-in-love-with-the-beauty-and-agony-of-life
nights since college. And I'm doing it again tonight!

This morning, after getting two hours of sleep, I woke up to go
volunteer at a homeless shelter for Christmas day. After another full
day of sessions, and brainstorming with Todd how to make LimmudLA
work, I went to a concert put on by Craig Taubman, Josh Nelson, and
the drummer from Reva L'sheva. What started out as a room full of
quite English people turns into a full-on rave, with Craig sweating
and screaming and inspiring.

I feel so comfortable and strangely at home here, and so glad I came.
I can't wait until Feb. 15 in LA.