This year from 3pm on 7 August to 5:30pm on 9 August, Limmud Cape Town hosted its 9th Conference, and it was the most successful yet. With over 550 Limmudniks passing through the gates of the Protea Hotel Technopark in the beautiful surrounds of Stellenbosch, Limmud maintained its reputation of being the premier Jewish learning event in Cape Town.
Our 86 presenters, of which 72 were local, presented world-class sessions, from Joel Hoffman’s “The Mystery and Majesty of the Dead Sea Scrolls” to Philip Krawitz’s “The Glass is half-full: Why I am still living in South Africa”, Max Price’s “Dilemmas from Campus Conflicts” and Samuel Heilman’s look at contemporary Orthodoxy in his session “Orthodoxy, Sliding to the Right”. 130 stimulating sessions later, all the delegates left feeling exhilarated, albeit exhausted, after they took one step further on their Jewish journeys.
However, it wasn’t only thinking that took place at Conference. There was, of course, a lot of eating, thanks to the generous portions from Norries’s (what else can you expect at a Jewish function?) and much fun had at the bar, too. Our young adult contingent certainly gave their best, boogying to Samuel Green’s Kol Cambridge Disco until the wee hours of Sunday morning.
For 50 hours, Limmud Cape Town 2015 once again raised the standard, and our delegates thought so too. Sheryl Sckholne wrote, “Thank you all for facilitating such a wonderful Limmud! From the food, to the sessions, to the people attending and everything in between l cannot think of one complaint. The wave of good feelings after such a fabulous weekend was palpable.” Naftali Brawer, a modern Orthodox Rabbi from the UK wrote, “You should take pride in the fact that you brought hundreds of Jews together to celebrate Shabbat, their Judaism and to study Torah. Yasher Koach!” and finally Aron Turest-Swartz said, “It was a refreshing, inspring and engaging experience from beginning to end. It would be really great to see more young adults and young families there. They don’t know what they are missing.”
And so after the success of this year’s Limmud, we look forward to Limmud Cape Town 2016. You too can experience the energy and communal warmth next year from 19-21 August. Leshana Haba’ah Be’Stellenbosch!
