Limmud Festival 2017

Limmud Festival 2017 – Monday 12:10

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Archiving Jewish China - personal project

Yael Farjun 

Blue 33

Yael started a project of collecting and archiving the history of Jewish China that lead her to so many interesting discoveries regarding life, history and Jewish collective. She'll be happy to share her insights with the participants of Limmud, to grow awareness for the project and maybe reach out to more former China-based Jews

Desert Island Discs: Anthony Mordechai Tsvi Russell

Anthony Mordechai Tsvi Russell  Laura Janner-Klausner 

Yellow 23

Imagine being stuck on a desert island - what tunes would you bring to see you through the hard times? What does your selection say about you? Laura Janner-Klausner interviews Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell, who will tell his fascinating life story through some of his favourite songs.

Fighting for your rights

Vital Zinger 

Orange 10

At the age of 18 and after years of fighting for accessibility, Vital got an automatic exemption from the IDF because of her wheelchair. So, she began fighting once again – this time for the right to serve her country. In this session, she’ll tell you about this fight and her amazing army service that opened many doors for those in wheelchairs to enlist as soldiers.

Great artists paint the Bible

Gideon Sylvester 

Orange 13

Can great art help us to understand the beauty and the agonies of our Biblical narratives? What can Michelangelo teach us about the creation of the world or Rembrandt teach us about the Akeda? Comparing the paintings to the rabbinic commentaries, we will get a deeper understanding of both. This is a taster of a course taught in Jerusalem.

How a guide dog gave me back my independence

Dennis Allon  Lili Goldwein 

Orange 14

Lili Goldwein describes how she lost her sight and how a guide dog restored her independence.

How one font changed the (Jewish) world

Aryeh Grossman 

Blue 34

How and, more importantly, why did one font enthusiast create a Hebrew typeface that started a revolution in Jewish publishing and learning? Over 50 years on, we will be looking at the life, work and legacy of Eliyahu Koren. Comic Sans users need not attend.

Human nature – lofty or lowly? The debate in the Lithuanian Musar movement

Benjamin Brown 

Red 3

If human nature is good and lofty, then you only need to realise its potential, and not to shatter it. If it is bad and beastly, then you need radical means in order to improve it. Two Lithuanian Musar schools (Slobodka and Novardok) took different standpoints on human nature and, consequently, different methods of character improvement.

Human rights under fire: maintaining our commitments under hostile governments

Simone Zimmerman  Frima Bubis  Jill Jacobs 

Red 1

The current Israeli and American administrations have launched unprecedented attacks on democracy and human rights, including attempts to delegitimise the free press, to cast aspersions on protesters, and in Israel even to ban a human rights organisation. Talk with human rights leaders from both countries about strategies for thriving in this moment.

In vitro fertilisation, intrauterine insemination, egg donation and surrogacy – a halachic view

Joanne Greenaway 

Red 5

What can the Torah teach us about contemporary fertility treatments? We will explore the issues they raise and the Jewish legal parameters for using them. What does it mean to “be fruitful and multiply” and can one fulfil this mitzvah through artificial means? What is the impact upon the status of the child?

Is life impossible?

Joel Peck 

Green 25

Scientists have come a long way towards understanding the origin of life. However, a persistent problem has been to figure out how complex life could evolve, despite the high mutation rates associated with the organisms that first appeared on Earth. This talk presents a surprising solution to this baffling conundrum.

Israel and the UK media - does Israel get a fair hearing?

Michael Freeman 

Yellow 24

Does Israel get a fair hearing in the media? This is one of the questions that divides UK opinion. In this session we will look at key examples of how Israel has been portrayed in the UK media and the role of the Embassy’s spokesperson.

Living on a knife edge; the significant impact of recent changes in disability benefits

Jessica Saffer 

Red 6

Recent changes to disability benefits have left people struggling to feed their families. Yet, benefits are increasingly viewed as a lifestyle choice. Learn about the impact of changes in the benefits system and in society on the health and well-being of people with physical health conditions, and think together about what we can do to help.

Lunch and learn

Social Programming Team 

Blue 32

Get yourself a Grab and Go lunch, head on down to Millers cafe and have a lively and informative discussion over your lunch! A great chance to meet new people! This first session will explore various themes with the help of Limmud chavruta books and resources old and new.

Man plans and G-d laughs: when plan D is the new plan A

Chari Pere 

Green 27

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. But what happens if nobody wants lemonade either? Sometimes achieving success is as simple as changing your goals. Chari Pere shares her path from aspiring comic strip artist to Red Bull cartoonist, failing her way to her dream job. A discussion on Divine intervention, determination, and drawings.

Others and otherness in rabbinic literature: was idolatry a source of ritual defilement? (2 of 2)

Yarden Raber 

Red 4

Traditions which consider idolatry as a source of impurity can be traced back to the Second Temple period. A thorough analysis of the laws connected to impurity issues in the tractate of Avodah Zarah may shed light on how the sages draw on ancient traditions in order to regulate the interaction with the Other, his rituals and symbols.

Sacred chant and higher consciousness

Michelle Citrin 

Red 7

With so many words of prayer on a page, it’s easy to go on 'autopilot' through worship services and miss the magic hidden within the text. With chant, we focus our awareness and intention on one sacred phrase to absorb the depth of what we’re saying. We will engage the mind, body and spirit to lift words of prayer off the page and into our hearts.

The Charedi media as a reflection of religious challenges in a modern world

Tali Farkash 

Orange 15

This lecture will introduce the “Charedi media” and its internal differences, meeting methods of dealing with the journalistic and religious roles through various topics: from criminal reports to gender equality. We will see strategies to address controversial issues and reveal how Charedi society/media are far more diverse than meets the eye.

The development of the concept of secular Judaism in the last century

Eyal Yashfe 

Orange 11

Monitoring changes in the perception of secular Jewish identity through studies in the teachings of the writers Yosef Haim Brenner, Justice Haim Cohen and Prof. Menachem Brinker.

The last Jew in the tower

Ian Bloom 

Orange 12

The Tower of London was largely built with taxes extracted from the Jews of medieval England. For 200 years, until the expulsion in 1290, it was also the site of their imprisonment and death. After the Stuarts, the Tower largely ceased to be a prison. But one twentieth century Jew was jailed there. Ian tells the story of what he did and who he was.

When religion and law collide

Naomi Webber  Adam Wagner 

Green 26

Segregated schooling, gay cake, trans children... A series of recent court decisions have touched on key areas of religious belief and practice. This session will explore the cases and prompt a lively discussion about ethics, human rights and the boundaries of the law.

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