Limmud Festival 2022

Limmud Festival 2022 – Sunday 20:40

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Conceptualizing community

Ezra Margulies 

Red 4

Many of us belong to a Jewish community, some people even belong to several. Each community has its history and its raison d'être. Can we conceptualize, however, how Jewish communities come into being? Under what impulses do they get established, when do they thrive, or die? And is it time for you to establish your own?

From Auschwitz to Accra: exploring the reinvention of high-profile Nazis in post-colonial Africa

Sonti R Ramirez 

Orange 10

Sonti Ramirez traces the murderous trail of an Auschwitz medic, a top Nazi female pilot and a euthanasia specialist, from the death camps of Poland to the jungles of the Volta, and explores the intimate relationship all three developed with revolutionary politician Kwame Nkrumah at the height of the Cold War.

Iranian Jewish piyutim

Jeanette Rotstain 

Yellow 22

We will look at the singing of piyutim (Jewish liturgical poems), the stories behind the songs, when they used to be sang, and who wrote the lyrics and music. We'll explain the meaning of the lyrics and discuss why the poet wrote those phrases.

Jewish responses to the loneliness epidemic

Denise Handlarski 

Purple 31

How are emerging Jewish programmes and communities working to combat loneliness and foster a sense of belonging for and amongst Jews? Come learn about how the loneliness epidemic is impacting Jews and how clergy, researchers, Jewish organizers and disrupters are thinking about the important issue of loneliness and how Judaism can help address it.

Sacrae: singing 'a cappella' Christian settings of Jewish texts

Sarah Bronzite  John Dunston 

Blue 34

A chamber choir for Limmud! If you love singing 'a cappella settings' by the likes of Tallis, Brahms and Howells, and if you've got good sight-singing skills, then Sacrae is for you. We'll sing a Jewish-texts-only selection of sacred choral works. For more info and music links, join ‘Sacrae - Limmud UK’ Facebook group or email sacraelimmud@gmail.com

The heretic in the house

Naomi Seidman 

Orange 14

This session will explore what people get wrong about the experience of leaving Orthodoxy, including the myths the secular world has about Orthodox families and 'shunning', the ways the Orthodox community explains the phenomenon of leaving Orthodoxy, and the secular triumphalism that drives some of these narratives.

The thickness of a prison wall: what is the Jewish view on tax planning?

Russell Cohen 

Red 2

Using a light-hearted case study, we will consider the ethics of tax planning. We will draw out distinctions between the secular and halakhic approach and identify how both perspectives have changed over time. Come to the fiscal event of the year.

The story of an antisemitically named houseplant

Daniel Heller 

Orange 12

Tradescantia zebrina, spiderwort, inch plant, wandering dude... or wandering Jew! How did this common houseplant get its name? And is it a complimentary comparison between the resilience of this plant and of the Jewish people, or is it something more sinister, and what does King Achashverosh from the Purim story have to do with it?

What is neo-hasidism and why is it coming to your synagogue?

Michael Shire 

Red 5

Using niggunim (tunes), clapping while davening (praying), looking for spiritual meaning through kavanah (spiritual concentration)? Jews are being drawn to neo-hasidism, a contemporary Jewish movement that affirms egalitarianism, pluralism, universalism and yet draws much of its teachings from early 18th century hasidic teachers. Come and hear what it's about and why it's coming to your synagogue!

‘All existence whispers to me its secret’: the illuminated poetry of Abraham Isaac Kook

Itzchak Evan-Shayish (Marmorstein) 

Red 3

'It’s the good that I desire/It’s broad expanses entrance me.' Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine, expressed his greatest illuminations in poetry. Itzchak will perform a selection of these in Hebrew/English with musical accompaniment. Itzchak has presented these creatively in Israel and North America. 'A generation will awaken/And sing to beauty and to life.'

L'haim for European Jewish professionals

David Levin-Kruss 

Main Bar

Limmud participants who who live in continental Europe and work professionally for a Jewish organization or community are invited for an informal get-together - to chat, to network, to learning from each other.

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