One of the newest and most exciting Arava-Australia Partnership 2000 projects is Limmud Arava. This innovative project was suggested by one of the original members of the ALG (Arava Leadership Group) in Melbourne, Tamara Bruce. After participating in Limmud Oz, Tamara thought that it could be a wonderful initiative for the Arava.

Limmud Galil has been running in the Galilee for the past five years, initiated by delegates who returned from Limmud UK, and Tamara made several contacts. In her own words:
"I must confess that that the original idea for Limmud Arava came from a meeting between Ron Finkel (ALG Co-chair) and Andrew Gilbert who is the Chair of Limmud International. Ron then emailed him for the contact people re Limmud Galil and I got in touch with Melvin Berwald, chair of Limmud UK. 

I am very keen to pursue this idea as I have been attending Limmud Oz for a number of years. It alternates between Sydney and Melbourne. I love being there and can sit and listen to lectures all day. Limmud encompasses a huge range of Jewish thought ranging from Jewish history, Middle East politics, psychology, liturgy, Jewish texts, music, art, architecture, medical science, etc. It is incredibly enriching and I believe it's grown in attendance every year, as has Limmud UK and Galil.

I remember when we first joined the ALG, a recurring theme was the sense of isolation that is sometimes felt living in the Arava, not just geographically within Israel, but in relation to the Jewish world. This feeling struck a chord with me and is one of the reasons I became committed to P2K. From my personal experience, I feel that a Limmud Arava/Eilot-Eilat/Arad-Tamar project could help mitigate this feeling and could satisfy a need for those who wish to feel more connected with what is happening in the Jewish world and benefit from the work of an amazing array of Jewish thinkers, teachers, writers and artists."

Tamara forwarded her findings to regional Partnership director, Rina Peretz Gal, who contacted the directors of the adjoining partnerships, Arad-Tamar and Eilat-Eilot. They expressed interest in the project and it has since been approved by the Steering Committee for funding from the 2008 budget.

The main objectives of the Limmud program are:

•  To engage in Jewish education by learning about our Jewish identity
• To provide opportunities for personal growth and development and to enhance Jewish consciousness
• To encourage a better understanding of Judaism and its sources
• To reduce the gap between the extremes in Israeli society
• To create a living bridge with Jewish communities in the Diaspora
• To create a new volunteer culture in the area
• To search for ways to integrate and bring together different communities in Israel and worldwide

The project is an ambitious one, and the first to include cooperation with two other Partnership regions. There are high hopes for the project - look for updates on these pages!