Every year, Limmud participants old and new come together for an enriching Shabbat to kick off Festival. This year, Shabbat will be bigger and better than ever and will take place from Friday 21 – Saturday 22 December.
Shabbat at Limmud Festival is always a more intimate and relaxed affair. It’s a great chance to get settled in, meet people and get familiar with our Festival site before the influx of participants on Sunday.
Sounds fabulous!
So what actually happens on Shabbat at Limmud Festival?
This year we will be exploring identity through our Shabbat theme ‘My Tribe, Your Tribe, Our Tribe’. We encourage you to express your identity, experience something different and connect with the people around you!
All programming on Shabbat will take place inside the Hilton Metropole Hotel, which we have exclusive use of for our stay. From the moment you arrive there’ll be plenty to do, whether you want to go to sessions, get to know the site, find a quiet corner, catch up with friends or make new ones.
Shabbat meals are a wonderful and rare opportunity for our whole community to come together. Delicious food will be available for all dietary requirements and it’s the perfect chance to talk to someone new.
For those who want to participate in prayer, there will be prayer services organised by participants from a range of religious denominations. This will include Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday evening and Shacharit (morning service), Mincha (afternoon service), and Maariv (evening service) on Saturday.
On Friday night, many people engage in a celebration called Oneg Shabbat, meaning the ‘joy of Shabbat’. There’ll be several options including some singing, some storytelling, almost certainly chatting and quite possibly a Shabbat tipple.
What about Shabbat Observance?
People who attend Shabbat at Limmud come from a variety of backgrounds and observe Shabbat in different ways. We ask you to be respectful of how each participant chooses to observe Shabbat.
Please be aware that all bedrooms at the hotel require the use of electronic keycards. Whilst manual keys are not be available, each room is be equipped with a safe to store high value items, and facilities will be available to store larger items safely if necessary.
Those who do not use lifts on Shabbat will be able to access their rooms via the stairs. If you have indicated on your application form that you do not use electricity on Shabbat we will endeavour to put you in rooms on the lower floors. If you are unable to use stairs on Shabbat, provisions will be made to ensure you can access your room.
There will not be an Eruv (ritual boundary) installed outside as all accommodation and programming for Shabbat will be inside the Hilton.
I’d love to come. Can I bring the kids too?
We love welcoming families on Shabbat at Limmud Festival, and we’re very excited to see more young Limmud participants join us this year. There will be programming to suit all ages and interests throughout shabbat before Young and Teen Limmud and other childcare provisions start on Sunday afternoon.
That all sounds great, but I still have questions! Who do I get in touch with?
If you have any questions about Shabbat at Festival, please contact our Shabbat Chairs, Gabi Markham and Joe Hyman by clicking here.
Donate your books to the Limmud Festival Shabbat!
Over Shabbat this year you will find book corners so please bring along any books you would like to donate. At the end of the week you will be able to purchase any of the books that interest you.