"Let My People Go!" Exhibition was Shown at JPOST Conference and Limmud FSU Toronto

    TORONTO, ON, November 24, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As with all Limmud events worldwide, the conference was organized and administered by volunteers. It was held in cooperation with the UJA - Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto and other local partners and the participants came from across Canada.

Among prominent speakers was Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich, the noted "Prisoner of Zion". He pointed out that the struggle of the Jews of the USSR for freedom was a crucial part of the eventual collapse of Communism and that every young Jew should realize the significance of the struggle.

The philanthropist Shoel Silver, speaking at the event on behalf of the Toronto Jewish Federation, said that the Jews of Canada stand steadfastly united with Israel, and will continue to do so in the future. "There is critical importance to unity: and I can state with total confidence that that Canadian Jews are united in helping one another at any time."

In addressing the audience at the gala closing ceremony, the Joint Co-founder of Limmud FSU, philanthropist Sandra F. Cahn said, "The spirit of Limmud is something very special and our ability to bring people together is even more important. The Limmud framework reaches out to all, and the hundreds of young people who are here for the second time is proof of the atmosphere of meaningfulness which marks all our programs."

During the event, a special photographic exhibit, "Let My People Go!" marking 25 years since the opening of the gates of the Soviet Union to free Jewish emigration, curated by Limmud English editor, Asher Weill, was shown. The over 50 historic photographs included several depicting the role played by Canadians in that epic struggle.

The exhibit has already been shown in the Knesset, and this weekend was also shown to speakers and participants at JPOST diplomatic conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem.

Chaim Chesler, founder of Limmud FSU showed the guests including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu round the exhibit (Netanyahu saw a photograph of himself as ambassador to the United Nations in New York, in 1987 with mothers and children of Refuseniks and Prisoners of Zion. Chesler also welcomed to the exhibit all the other key speakers at the Conference.

Limmud - the volunteer-driven Jewish learning experience started in Great Britain 30 years ago. Since 1990, Limmud has spread to Jewish communities across the world.

The first Limmud Conference took place in the UK in 1980, awakening inspiration in hundreds of activists who returned home full of enthusiasm. This resulted in the idea of organizing local Limmud events. The Jerusalem Post reported in 2000 that "Every place that has Jews should have its own Limmud."

Limmud is a dynamic, pluralistic gathering of Jewish learning. For 30 years, Limmud seminars and conferences around the globe, from Canada to Australia, Switzerland and Turkey, as well as Israel, have been attracting Jews of all ages and backgrounds, including those who have studied Jewish topics intensively and others who have very little practical knowledge.

Seminars, lectures, workshops, and discussions focus on an enormous range of topics, from social and political trends within Jewish communities and around the world, to Israeli politics; from Jewish cooking; from traditional texts, Yiddish theater, dance and music.

# # #