By Marina Lemlekh, who used an ROI Micro Grant to attend Limmud in the UK (2011)

Limmud is not new for me – for the first time I tried it four years ago at the same place the Conference 2011 took place – at the Warwick University Campus in the UK. I was lucky to start my Limmud experience in the home place of this amazing event. I guess that today I’ve got something that I would call “Limmud skills” – special skills that help me to find my own way, and each time my personal way, in picking those sessions from the biggest conference program handbook I’ve ever seen – more than 300 pages – that would boost my Jewish journey.

Just a few words of what kind of Conference Limmud is for those who’ve never attended. Look up here http://www.limmud.org/ to know more, but here is what is most important in my perception: volunticipation – the word I first time heard at the Conference 2011 and liked it very much, as it shows the unity of participation and volunteerism principles; freedom of choice (one can choose any session from myriad of alternatives); and exciting Jewish educators.

Coming to Limmud 2011 has been a very special thing for me, as in 2010 I joined Limmud Organizing Committee in my home city – St. Petersburg, Russia. The St. Petersburg event first time took place in September 2011, and, I hope, will be held again in the second half of the 2012 (the preparation work has already started). Several times I also participated and once was involved as a presenter at Limmud Moscow, Russia. So I hope that the things I learned at the Limmud Conference 2011 will contribute to success of my home city event. Learning is not just listening, particularly when it comes to sharing and collaborating within a group. At the Conference 2011 I became the part of the Limmud International Delegates Group, which enabled me to share experience of organizing the local event and learn from more experienced group members. The organizers (I’m particularly grateful to Dani Serlin, the Limmud International Project Coordinator) created a special program for all Limmud International members that was full of meaningful discussions concerning most challenging issues faced by Limmud organizers at preparation stage of Limmud and during Conference: programming, budgeting, fundraising, working with volunteers and others.

Limmud is a wonderful place not only to make new friends and acquaintances, but also to reunite with people you haven’t seen for a while. As the ROI Community is in constant growth, involving new Jewish innovators each year, I didn’t expect to meet at the Conference my fellow ROIers of 2007. It became a good surprise for me to see my ROI Summit 2007 roommate Eileen Levinson, who has recently started a very interesting project Haggadot.com, to which I promised to contribute a Haggada in Russian. Among new people I met there were also a lot of ROIers. We had a very interesting conversation with Seth Cohen, and I hope that this collaboration will go further and will develop into some mutual projects. It was also very interesting to meet Esther Kustanowitz, David Brown, Caylee Talpert and Ohad Sternberg.

Limmud is always atop of most innovative ways of creating educational conferences. The Conference 2011 had live streaming of the selected sessions. Also, the organizers implemented the TED format to so called J-DOV Talks – talks on Jewish dreams, observations and visions. But for me Limmud differs from other educational events first of all due to its value of freedom of choice in learning. And every time I’m facing the task of organizing any kind of event in my professional life, I always think – why just not do it like Limmud?