More than just a laugh, improvisation is about living life with an open mind, listening to your partner, and going for the opportunity. Got a problem that needs solving? Why not try improv instead of those pills or affirmations? Grab a couch and let’s listen, improvise, apply and breathe. Improve with improv.
How might the Biblical laws of shemittah (sabbatical year) bring meaning to our lives today? Join young Jewish farmers to delve into ancient texts that prescribe a year of rest for the land and for those who care for it. Learn about the Jewish Environmental movement's project to combat climate change while supporting sustainable communities. Presented through the Green Hevra: A New Coalition of Jewish Eco-Projects.
How did a small organization of Orthodox synagogues dominate the kosher food industry? And how did kashrut, to which only a minority of Jews in the US even adhered, become a multi-billion dollar business? The OU played an important role in shaping the new industry, beginning with placing its heksher on the first can of Heinz baked beans in 1923. This session explores how eating as a Jew in the US has radically changed from the turn of the 20th century to the turn of the 21st.
Shed your inhibitions, bond, reflect and laugh. This Improv workshop focuses on Israel with an honest and hilarious way to discuss all those hard to reach issues. You’ll be stimulated, transformed and laugh all the way through it. Learn about yourself, the rules of improv and Jewish Peoplehood.
This session will focus on using meditation as a tool for personal wellbeing and connecting or reconnecting Jewish educators with their own Jewish spiritual practice, which often (and ironically) gets lost while working in Jewish education. This session will also explore possibilities for adapting Jewish meditation exercises and practices for the classroom. Taught by leading Jewish meditation teacher, Alison Laichter, who loves teaching kids, tweens, and teens how to meditate, especially in a Jewish context, and whose favorite testimonial comes from Josh, a twelve-year-old hebrew school student: “This is a revolution!”
The loss of a loved one throws the world into chaos, for mourners and for the people who surround them. Whether you've been through a loss in your family, or you've recently tried to comfort someone who has, come for some open, honest talk about what may help, finding humor in unexpected places, and how today’s Jewish community (and you) can use technology and personal interactions to support those who grieve. (In memory of my mother, Shulamith z”l.)
As the relationship between Israel and America -- and between Israeli and American Jews -- has shown recent signs of strain, Eli Valley's comics have explored the conflicting goals, priorities and value systems of the two communities. In this session, we will read several of Eli's comics in hevruta style (in partnership) and discuss the issues they raise about Zionism, diaspora life, Jewish values and the meaning of Jewish pride and Jewish sovereignty today. Note: we’re using the term “hevruta” very loosely.
Although Yiddish has been designated an endangered language by UNESCO, Orthodox Yiddish-speaking communities have multiplied at unprecedented rates, and Yiddish classes have spread world-wide. In recent years, the media has painted Yiddish as a language breathing its last, but also notes its current revival. This session will give a brief history of the Yiddish language since World War II, an overview of who is using Yiddish today, and ideas for keeping it vibrant well into the future.
Judaism has a long history of meditation and contemplative practice as a way to cultivate compassion, personal transformation, and connection. We will cover the basics of Jewish meditation with instruction, exercises & discussion. The session is open to people with all levels of experience, and is designed to offer a broad introduction to Jewish meditation, teachings, & contemplative practice. Come if you are interested in deepening your practice, Jew-ing it up, or finally learning how to sit still.
This session will review some of the foundations of successful innovation and connect aspiring innovators with one another and peer mentors developing their own and joint initiatives. In this workshop, we will discuss how to leverage Jewish innovation and social entrepreneurship in your work. We will explore how your values and vision relate to the global landscape of Jewish innovation today, and then use them to clarify your mission, outcomes, and strategies, both individually and collectively.
Using his 'Trial' comic as springboard, Eli will share the inspiration for much of his work: a romanticizing of pre-war European Jewish culture as embodied in the fantasies of Franz Kafka. Eli will provide commentary on several of his comics in light of those idealized eras: the absurdist hallucinations, the wellsprings of noir, and the recurring urge to capture an authentic Jewish cultural tradition.
Moving to a new country is not just different scenery or people: it means starting over. From La La Land LA to Holyland Jerusalem, a new immigrant explores her trials and tribulations through storytelling, comedy sketches and improvisation. The path not taken is just the beginning. Learning how to step out of line, fake an accent, and grab bureaucracy by the balls is where this story continues.
Pickling and fermenting is at the heart of Old World Jewish food, whether through the wine we drink on Shabbat, the pickles we eat with our pastrami sandwiches or the borscht we enjoy. Come learn about vegetable preservation’s critical role in Eastern European Judaism and why continuing the tradition is so important. You’ll learn how to make your own pickles and will take away a jar of soon-to-be sour dills. DIY pickling is not just practical; it can be a radical act of cultural reclamation.
Through a short text study of Yehuda Amichai's poem "The Jews," we will look at the ideas that are central to the Peoplehood concept. We will then try to create a future picture for the Jewish People as we want and hope to see it, reflecting the diversity of ideas that will be represented in the room, and also taking into consideration the Israeli perspective, which I have been studying and am interested to receive feedback on.
It's all about you - for 15 minutes anyway! This session will provide a dedicated space for participants in small groups to present a challenge they are experiencing and for the Limmud NY support network of peers to offer advice. As seen at ROI Community events, each person present will have a chance to focus on his/her challenge and to offer advice to others.
In this unique improvisation comedy workshop with an Israeli twist, participants will learn the rules of improv through dynamic games and acting methods. The workshop will foster creativity and boost confidence while allowing students to discuss Israel, Judaism and everything in-between in an honest and hilarious way.
Do not just talk about it! Join an open exploration of profoundly radical Kabalistic and Chasidic texts on this week's Torah reading, Terumah. We will discuss how the texts impact us as individuals, and as members of our many communities. We will then quiet our minds and meditate to internalize these profound teachings. The meditation will be sufficiently guided so that no previous meditation experience is necessary. Those with such experience will be free to practice as they like.
Personal storytelling is a powerful tool for understanding one's place in Jewish history. Writing is the traditional approach, but drawing maps often liberates the storyteller to think more creatively, especially when the plot is not linear. We will begin by looking at creative artist maps, both Jewish and non-Jewish, and draw our own Jewish journey maps. Afterward, we will come together for discussion, and combine individual maps into a larger, collective narrative of our shared Jewish history.
In an interactive slide show smorgasbord, the Jewish Daily Forward's Artist in Residence will lead an evening of neurotic superheroes, xenophobic Jedi, paranoid turtles, memories and mayhem. Eli will recount the influences and inspiration for his satirical fantasies, interweaving personal history, American culture and contemporary Jewish life in an exploration of the limits of communal self-criticism and the meaning of Jewish pride. Probably not appropriate for children. Alcohol recommended.
Yes, you can do it! No, you don't need any previous experience or "talent", just curiosity for finding out what lies within yourself. The presenter will expertly guide you through the process of finding inspiration and channeling it to create your very own masterpiece of verse, prose or music (folk, hip hop, gospel, soul, funk...). You creation can be based on existing prayers or completely original, in any language and format. The presenter facilitates, you create.
A staple protein for a majority of the world, pork is frustratingly taboo for the Jews. Why is pork the most well-known and adhered-to Jewish food prohibition? The meat has played a central role in American and European cuisine, alienating Jews for centuries. Yet recently, Jewish chefs have found bacon to be an object of culinary inspiration. This session explores the relationship between Jews and pork, and the fixation among contemporary Jewish gourmands and thinkers on the “other white meat.”
What’s funny in Israel? What makes an Israeli laugh and why? Do you think it’s funny too? Explore the world of present-day Israeli comedy through videos of top Israeli comic writers, Israeli citizens, and comedy sketches from the Israeli English-speaking comedy troupe, Hahafuch.
Rabbi Ila'i said: “If a person senses themselves overpowered by their urges, they should go to a city where they are not known, dress in black clothes, cover their head in black, and do what their heart desires, but let them not desecrate God’s name in public” (B. Talmud Moed Katan 17a). With reference to artists and writers from Michelangelo and Bernini to Bakhtin and Bataille, we will explore the religious struggle with transgression through the lens of several Talmudic texts.
As seen at ROI Community events, Open Space Learning is an “unconference within a conference,” a place where anyone can host a Jewish conversation of their choice. Unlike the rest of Limmud, Open Space Learning has no pre-set agenda -- all of the content is generated by you, and you can participate in as many conversations as you want. If there are ideas that have been brewing in your mind that you need to share in a challenging community, then bring them here. This is your place for unrestricted discussion, reflection, and exploration.
The session will explore three activities for personalizing the Passover story. We will start with tips for writing your own Haggadah, using examples of text and artwork from Haggadot.com. Next, we will imagine possibilities for an alternate seder plate, replacing traditional items on the seder plate with objects or symbols that represent Passover in our current lives. Finally, we’ll tell our own stories by drawing "maps" (or timelines, diagrams, illustrations) of our personal Passover journeys.
With so many problems in our world, how can we most effectively promote justice? We'll start with text study on our obligation as Jews to pursue justice. Then we'll explore opportunities to put these principals to use through our actions as consumers, citizens, philanthropists and global travelers. Be ready to leave this session with your personalized action plan for increasing the justice quotient in the world.
