Limmud 2013

I first heard about Limmud--a 4 1/2 day conference on Jewish learning--in 2011, but I didn't attend.  In 2012 I attended one day, and this year I attended two days.  Clearly I'm working my way into it slowly.

To be fair, it is quite overwhelming--2600 attendees, 1100 different seminars, 450 presenters!  Everything from Jewish mysticism to Indian head massage.  You can talk about nothing but God for 4 1/2 days, or you can go and not talk about God at all for 4 1/2 days!  There are people from all around the world, from 8 to 80, from the most progressive to the most conservative.

That's not true--the ultra-orthodox are not represented at all, which makes it very hard to engage with them.  I am always forced to interpret them through the Amish people I met in Pennsylvania, who have taken a similar decision (although, in my opinion, a more intellectually honest one) about living a simple life according to old traditions.

Although this year the Haredi were represented in the form of an Israeli soap opera called Shtisel. Presented as simply a "day in the life" of a young rabbi in an Haredi community, it was really an interesting way to engage with that mindset, which really became relevant later that day during a panel session called, "We Have Reason To Believe."

The title was actually taken from a 1957 book by Rabbi Louis Jacobs which asked, if the Bible (Torah) was not actually given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai, why should we follow it?  (This is personally relevant because it was when I was posed the same question that I decided to convert.)  Of course, Rabbi Jacobs sets forth a number of persuasive reasons, but for even suggesting the Torah was not divinely authored he was effectively kicked out of the Orthodox community!

So the panel discussion was to revisit this question, 56 years on, with different streams of Judaism.  Listening to the Orthodox response, and reading between the lines, after having watched Shtisel, I realised what they were saying was: What does it matter?

Now, I have to qualify that because obviously it matters very much if they were willing to excommunicate a very senior and well-respected rabbi for even suggesting otherwise!  While challenging the Orthodox belief is still not allowed, the point is the answer is immaterial to the practice.  That is, whether you believe the Torah was written by man or God is irrelevant, provided you accept it for whatever reasons you choose.

So when Orthodoxy wraps itself into logical pretzels trying to explain why Genesis contains two separate and conflicting versions of the story of Noah (go read it, I'll wait) the point is not that they are being intellectually dishonest; they are just operating on a completely different plane than I am.  While I am trying to use these examples to attack them, they are not even in the same space.

Which, of course, is why I go to Limmud--to challenge my preconceptions, to appreciate new viewpoints and to gain new information.  Which is also why I was pretty annoyed after the first day--of the seven sessions I went to, I didn't get a single thing out of five of them!  (Had I the foresight to sit close to the door, I might have escaped and been able to go late to another session, but I failed to do that every single time!)

Seven, one-hour sessions in a day may seem crazy, but I was actually slacking--they start at 9:20am and finish around midnight, so I could have done twice as many.  Limmud takes over the University of Warwick -- classrooms, cafeterias, and dormitories -- during the winter break, and charges £375 ($613 USD) for the full program, including all meals and accommodation (with a shared bathroom).  Some people complain it's too expensive--pointing out they could have a four day beach holiday for about the same--but I get a lot more out of it than a beach holiday.  (Plus, only coming for two days saved me £150.)

I should mention that all of the staff and presenters are volunteers, and many people volunteer in exchange for a discount.

My only complaint about Limmud is that it appears to be completely unmoderated--anyone with an idea can do a presentation.  While that is perhaps part of its strength, I would like to see them provide more support and guidance, so that people who haven't presented before can at least learn from other people, rather than failing on their own.  Of course, now that I've suggested that, there's no reason I can't put myself forward to do a seminar on that next year!

I might even get a discount.