JERUSALEM (Press Release)– Already active in six countries worldwide, Limmud FSU will now expand into Australia and Canada, thanks to cooperation with the International Fellowship of Christian and Jews headed by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, said the organization’s Founders Chaim Chesler and Sandra Cahn.
Limmud FSU will hold its first Canada conference in Toronto this October 24-26, followed by its first Australia conference in Sydney and Melbourne in March 2015, Chesler and Cahn said. In addition to Australia and Canada, Limmud FSU is already active in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Israel and the United States.
The announcement on the expansion came at the Limmud FSU Global Leadership Summit this weekend, June 14-15, in Jerusalem. The event, which convened 80 Limmud FSU leaders from Russian-speaking Jewish communities worldwide, was sponsored by UJA-Federation of New York.
Russian-speaking Jews comprise almost 25 percent of the 120,000 member Jewish community in Australia. The largest communities are in Melbourne, with between 15-18,000 members, while 12-15,000 Jews of Russian origin live in Sydney.
“At Limmud we can be as Jewish as we want and help others connect to their Jewish selves and provide the opportunity to follow their passion while following our own,” said Tania Borodach, Melbourne, member of Limmud FSU Australia.
Since the 1970s, Canada has experienced three waves of Russian-Jewish immigration. Between the 1970s and1980s there was Russian Jewish immigration from the Soviet Union, from 1990-2001 there was immigration from the FSU and from Israel, and since 2001 there has been another wave of immigration from Israel. It is estimated that between 60,000-70,000 Russian Jews live in Canada and of those, 70 percent live in the greater Toronto area.
The Co-Chair of Limmud FSU Canada, Leon Martynenko, said there were a few factors behind the organization’s decision to also branch out to Canada
“The first is for the cultural and spiritual revival of Soviet Jewry. Limmud FSU is also a great opportunity to get to know people from the local community while contributing to this very community. Finally, it’s all about Limmud. The format, the atmosphere and the diversity of topics that are being covered at every single Limmud conference form an invaluable experience,” said Martynenko.
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Preceding provided by Limmud FSU