Who We Are

Limmud NY is a grassroots community that works year-round to create a festival of Jewish learning and culture for Jews of all ages and backgrounds. The annual conference is the Jewish expression of a dedicated corps of volunteers and reflects the diversity of ideas and thoughts of this community. The multi-media formats of sessions throughout the weekend include music, text study, film, lectures, and hands-on workshops, appealing to Jews of all ages and all backgrounds. With hundreds of Jews from around the world in attendance and as many as 300 sessions throughout the weekend, the event is a celebration of the vibrancy of modern Jewish life.

Limmud NY envisions a community in which Jews of all stripes come together to create and celebrate Jewish learning and living. Through the volunteer planning process and Limmud NY conference itself, we strive to build a community in which all individuals – no matter what their Jewish background, lifestyle, or economic status – take part in imagining and creating their own Jewish experience. This non-judgmental and virtually non-hierarchical community aims to embrace and empower its participants, inspiring them to delve deeper into our rich tradition. The weekend itself is fuel for the entire year, propelling a community of volunteers along with many conference participants to become further engaged in Jewish life, to model a new kind of leadership, and most importantly, to be empowered to take action in shaping the broader Jewish community.

Currently housed in Makom Hadash, a shared workspace for second stage Jewish non-profits, our organization successfully held its 8th annual celebration of Jewish life and learning in January of 2012. Since the first Limmud NY conference in 2004, more than 5,000 participants have attended our celebrations of Jewish learning, which have been planned by a rotating corps of approximately 500 volunteers. We are proud to be a leader in the growing international Limmud movement and continue to play a vital role in supporting the spread of Limmud throughout North America.

Board of Directors
Sivya Twersky, President
Lisa Sacks, Vice President
Steve Kay Kupietzky, Treasurer
Sissy Block, Secretary

Marla Alt

Penny Arons
Dasee Berkowitz
Rachel Bloom
Karen Radkowsky
Lisa Scharf
Marco Veissid
Katy Schwalbe, ex officio

Advisory Council
Lisa Capelouto
Martin Kaminer
Elie Kaunfer
Alisa Rubin Kurshan
Naomi Less
Deborah Lipstadt
Abigail Pogrebin
Gary Rosenblatt
Nigel Savage
Jeffrey Schwarz
Ella Shteingart
Elisheva Urbas

Staff
David Wolkin, Executive Director
Sam Kerbel, Program Associate