Afifon, a local youth center in Kazan, Russia worked in partnership with Limmud FSU to implement a pilot region-wide Limmud conference in September 2015 in the Volga and Urals (the major cities in the region include Kazan, Nizniy Novgorod, Saratov, Samara, Ekaterinburg and Cheliabinsk).  The target audience for Limmud FSU conferences are Jews of all ages, with a focus on unaffiliated young Russian-Jewish adults ages 23-40.

The volunteer-driven, pilot region-wide conference required intensive preparatory activities in order to train local volunteers. A regional organizational committee was formed and traveled to take part in other Limmud conferences and met with their organizing committees in order to discuss and learn about implementation.

The conference in Kazan gathered over 400 participants and close to 80 presenters offering talks, performances and classes on a range of diverse topics of Jewish interest.  Following the success of this initial Volga/Urals regional Limmud conference, the local volunteer leadership is in the process of creating a follow-up development plan which will include the ongoing engagement of the volunteer team, with the intention of holding future Limmud conferences in this region on a regular basis – either annually or biennially – depending on available resources.