Limmud Conference 2016

Limmud Conference 2016 – Monday 12:00

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Adaptive Leadership: a Harvard model of effecting change

Tamas Buchler  Hannah Gaventa 

Red 7

Adaptive Leadership is a practical leadership framework helping individuals and organisations adapt and thrive in challenging environments. We will explore some of the tools we need to begin a process of change in our communities and learn how to diagnose, interrupt and innovate in order to bring about a change to the status quo.

An Israeli vision for fighting climate change

Yosef Abramowitz 

Blue 34

There are five actions that can enable humanity to win the climate challenge facing the world. Come hear from the winner of Israel's "Green Globe" - Israel's highest environmental and climate award - on how to turn the tide and be part of the revolution.

A Talmud Shiur: Bavli Shabbat 54b-55a, When Remaining Silent is Equivalent to Perpetrating Evil

Judith Hauptman 

Yellow 24

The rabbis of the Talmud issued powerful statements on the need to protest injustice, a topic relevant to this very day. We will study a gripping text on this subject, reading it closely, together with the commentary of Rashi and Tosafot. Text handouts in Hebrew and English.

Being a Zionist Druze – the story of MK Hamad Amar

Hamad Amar 

Yellow 21

We will take a deep look into the Druze minority as an active participant in Israeli society. We will also learn about a variety of minorities in the State of Israel.

Chair yoga (1 of 2)

Estelle Eugene 

Purple 31

A seated yoga sequence incorporating a brief mindfulness meditation to prepare, postures, breathing techniques and relaxation. No previous experience necessary. A lovely opportunity for slightly more senior people to enjoy the benefits of yoga.

Change your plough shares into tennis racquets

Baruch Velleman 

Red 5

Shlomit Guy, lecturer in Social Anthropology specialising in sport and Baruch Velleman, is director of the Freddie Krivine tennis 'shared society' charity. Guy will discuss whether sport can contribute to the removal of inequalities between Arab and Jew in Israeli society and the promotion of peace with the Arabs of Palestine and further afield?

Experience the prayers: how can we make the ritual more spontaneous and exciting?

Ronen Neuwirth z"l 

Red 1

One of the most challenging areas in Jewish practice is the prayers. One often finds the prayer ritual non-spontaneous and irrelevant. This session will try to provide with tools and ideas for making the prayer experience actual, lively and emotional.

From Lenin to King Arthur: devising a strategy to defeat BDS

Michael Freeman 

Red 2

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) uses the language of human rights and peace, but in reality are committed to the destruction of the only Jewish state in the world. In this session we will examine the organisation and present a strategy to defeat it.

How to change Israeli government policy

Sarah Sackman  Thabet Abu Ras  Amnon Be'eri-Sulitzeanu 

Yellow 23

Over the last decade, the Abraham Fund Initiatives has utilised its “advocacy through action” approach to offer the Israeli government implementable models for far-reaching change in Israel. This session will discuss this theory of change and its effectiveness in Israel.

Is Arab-Jewish coexistence in Israel still possible?

Ronald Kronish 

Green 25

What is the role of the Jewish majority towards the Arab minority in the state of Israel? What are the critical issues that prevent or advance Arab-Jewish coexistence in Israeli society? Why is this one of the most important issues facing Israel today? Come and discuss and learn.

Is it possible to create a peaceful future in Israel/Palestine without acknowledging the past?

Wejdan Abd  Raghad Bahar  Rutie Atsmon 

Marquee 2

Following an overview of the past as seen by both sides, Windows' team will show how courageous education programs that expose youth to untold stories, can lead to development of the wider perspective and emotional strength needed to make sense of the present situation. Includes time for Q&A.

Is political correctness choking honest dialogue?

Sohail Raza  Raheel Raza 

Red 3

Today honest conversation is a rarity, and everyone is told to be politically correct. It is like walking on egg shells, and this stops conversation and dialogue. Is it healthy for future generations?

Is the IDF an ethical army?

Peter Lerner 

Green 26

Israel's military is vilified throughout the world as acting disproportionately and conducting illegal targeted assassinations. Its defenders insist it's among the most moral armies in the world, imposing strict rules of engagement, undertaking thorough investigations of alleged misdeeds, and acting within the laws of war. So what's the truth?

Is there life after death?

Danny Bermant 

Green 27

Death is a depressingly inevitable stage of life. We're all familiar with the caricatures of heaven and hell, except the Torah has very little to say about it. So what is the Jewish view of the afterlife? During this session, we'll explore key sources in the Torah, the Prophets, the Mishnah and Gemarah to discover some answers.

Monsters in the margins: race, ethnicity and otherness in Jewish art

Marc Epstein 

Orange 10

Jews are marked with bestial features in medieval Christian art, making them as less or other than human. But less well-known is the fact that monstrous figures, bestialized humans, and strange hybrids are found in art made for Jews themselves in the same period. What do these strange images mean? Who are they meant to represent and why?

Mourning Under Glass

Naftali Moses 

Yellow 22

Nothing can prepare a father for the heartrending pain that burying his firstborn brings. On March 6, 2008, my sixteen-year-old son, Avraham David, was shot and killed while studying in a Jerusalem library. This session explores the tensions between memory and mourning; between public memorial and private pain in a world wracked by terror.

Reflections of a rabbinical Mathematics teacher

Garry Wayland 

Green 28

Wearing 'two hats', we'll look at common threads in the two worlds I inhabit - that of Torah and Jewish education and Maths and Mathematical education.

Tell me text: the text that I first fell in love with

Oliver Joseph  Deborah Kahn-Harris  Ethan Tucker 

Orange 11

Do you remember the first time you stumbled on a text that pulled at your heart strings? We will each share the text that was our first love.

The Chief Rabbi's Desert Island Picks

Raphael Zarum  Ephraim Mirvis 

Orange 15

A twist on the classic format. The Chief Rabbi is cast away on a desert island. Find out what he'll take with him for inspiration. Moderated by Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum.

The Israelite house and the Israelite mind: the four room house as an embodiment of Israelite society

Avraham Faust 

Orange 13

"Four room houses" dominated the architectural landscape of Iron Age Israel, influencing plans of palaces and tombs. The session will review this enigmatic house, how it reflected Israelite social structure, social values (ideology), and even how it fitted Israelite codes of behaviours (e.g. concerning privacy/purity) as expressed in the Bible.

The refugee crisis as an opportunity to build bridges

Yotam Politzer 

Red 4

We will showcase the work of IsraAID, Israel's biggest humanitarian NGO to support Syrian and Yazidi refugees in Iraq, Greece and Germany. We will also explore case studies from IsraAID programs that bring together Arabs and Jews to support refugees and provide relief, education and psychological support.

Understanding language and privilege for LGBT inclusion

Neil Levitan  Dalia Fleming 

Blue 32 (Millers)

This session will explore the role that language and privilege play in excluding Jewish LGBT+ people in schools, youth settings, synagogues and communal organisations.

What does being 'Second and Third Generation' mean to you? (1 of 2)

Leah Burman  Barbara Dresner 

Blue 33

Two opportunities for the children and grandchildren of survivors of and refugees from Nazi persecution to reflect on their family history and what this has meant to them.

What we don't know about British Jewry

Keith Kahn-Harris 

Orange 14

With surveys and statistics about British Jews, not to mention constant discussion of British Jews in newspapers, books and online, it sometimes seems as if we live under a microscope. Yet there are still many aspects of British Jewry that are barely researched. This session invites participants to explore this mysterious terra incognita

You Want It Darker: wrestling with God and Leonard Cohen

Naftali Brawer 

Orange 12

In September, Leonard Cohen released "You Want It Darker", one of his most disturbing and thought-provoking songs. The lyrics are brimming with meaning and challenges. In this session we will try to deconstruct this masterpiece with the help of Jewish sources on both God and the nature of evil and suffering.

What's wrong with the peace process?

Haviv Gur 

Red 6

Have you ever asked yourself, "What are Israelis thinking? Don't they understand the danger of one state, the immorality of occupation?" We'll try to answer that question, taking a deeper look at the experiences of Israelis in this conflict. This session isn't meant to prove anyone right or wrong, but to think seriously about Israel's predicament.

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