Presenters: S

Sarah Sackman

Sarah is the Labour MP for Finchley & Golders Green. Formerly a barrister specialising in public law, she was appointed Solicitor General after her election in July and has since been promoted to Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services. Until this year, Sarah had served as Vice-Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement for almost a decade.

Eve Sacks

Eve grew up in Glasgow, and wondered what sort of education the children who went to school in the shul cloakroom got. She works in London as an accountant. Along with Yehudis Fletcher she set up Nahamu to raise awareness and lobby on the systemic harms in the Charedi community. She is married to Josh and has three children.

Robin Samson

Actor-singer, synagogue song leader, peer listening teacher, Robin has worked in theatres all over the country and is an active member of Kehillah North London. After 7 October he led many listening circles, offering space for a wide range of participants’ feelings. He’s at an early stage of making a one-man show about the composer Marc Blitzstein.

Leah Sarna

Leah Sarna is a rabbanit and an Orthodox feminist and award-winning Jewish educator from the United States. She is the spiritual leader of Kehillat Sha'arei Orah, an Orthodox synagogue outside of Philadelphia. She also serves as Director of Public Education and Media for the International Beit Din and is a member of the faculty at the Drisha Institute.

Gideon Sassoon

Gideon Sassoon is a professional in the tech industry, passionate about advocating for neurodivergent inclusion. Diagnosed with Autism and ADHD early in life, Gideon brings personal insight and professional expertise to discussions about navigating work and life as a neurodivergent adult.

David Saunders

David is based in London and enjoys sports, learning languages, and expanding his knowledge of Judaism, while also helping others discover the history of London. You can usually find him either at the talk with the most intriguing name or at a quiz, but make sure to say hello, especially if that's in a language that isn't English!

Vivian Schmitt

Vivian Birn is a certified Menopause & Nutrition Consultant and President of the German Menopause Consulting Association. She supports individuals and organizations through tailored menopause programs, combining a scientific approach with her passion for the subject. Her focus: empowering others and advocating for equal access to menopause support.

Amos Schonfield

Amos is the Deputy Director of HIAS+JCORE, the Jewish voice on refugees and racial justice. He also founded, and is CEO, of Our Second Home, a refugee-led youth movement. He is a determined shul-hopper and has volunteered across the Jewish community for nearing half his life. Ask him about his hot sauce recipes.

Janine Shalev

Nonviolent Communication conflict transformation trainer/coach, Janine has supported some of the UK’s most vulnerable adults for over 30 years. She will demonstrate how NVC uses language and empathy to transform conflict and talk about interfaith/cross community NVC training and support for young Jewish adults facing unforeseen marginalisation.

Ciara Shalome

Ciara Shalome is the founder of the Instagram page ‘The Mizrahi Story’ which seeks to shed much-needed light onto the stories of the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa. Ciara interviews Jewish people who once lived in the Arab world about various aspects of their identities, including food, culture, persecution, exile, traditions & language.

Carole Shaw

From a family of serial joke-tellers, Carole started performing as a child. Presenting solo musical comedy shows since 1992 at festivals in the UK, Antipodes, USA & S Africa, Limmud 2020-2, and in Yiddish. Soberly, a linguist with published research into the survival of Yiddish & a keen amateur genealogist with origins in Poland, Latvia & Ukraine.

Dave Shaw

Dave is a marketeer founding boutique consultancy Bashert Communications in 2015 after working with some of the biggest high street brands. Through Bashert, he has delivered projects for fashion, retail, destinations and several Jewish charities. He was a founding trustee of KeshetUK and has sat on the board of All Aboard Charity Shops since 2019.

Marvin Shaw

Marvin is a poet and author of seven books including Modern Day Psalms, Poetry For Health and Seize The Day! - A Poem To Enhance Every Day Of The Jewish Year. A graduate of the Central School of Speech and Drama, Marvin's mission is to illuminate how the reading, writing and reciting of poetry can bring transformation and well-being to all our lives.

Sybil Sheridan

Sybil Sheridan is Rabbi of Newcastle Reform Synagogue, and runs a distance learning conversion programme for the UK Reform Beit Din. She devotes her spare time to her grandchildren, and to charitable work for Meketa in Ethiopia, supporting many causes at home and abroad in social justice and interfaith.

Miri Shiradski

Miri is an analytical scientist from Borehamwood who now lives and works in Cambridge. She enjoys food-based experiments and learning about Jewish culture, so has combined the two into an exciting feast!

Michael Shire

Michael Shire is a Professor at the Hebrew College Rabbinical School in Boston and Rabbi at Central Reform Temple in Boston

Anya Shire-Plumb

Born and raised in London, and now living in Boston, Anya Shire-Plumb has been a life-long Limmudnik. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at William James College. When she’s not working shifts as a Mental Health Specialist at McLean Hospital, Anya paints in her studio and exhibits her work in the Boston area.

Alan Silman

Alan is a professor in Health Science at Oxford University and author of 800 articles and several textbooks. Outside his major research areas, aside being a Limmud Trustee, he has a long-standing interest as an epidemiologist in the genetic, historical, cultural influences of Judaism on health and diseases. He also directed his first play in 2024!

Paul Silver-Myer

Paul is an accountant in general practice as well as having a small psychotherapy practice. He publishes articles about our relationship with money and also handles the tax affairs of counsellors and psychotherapists.

Zoe Silverman

Zoe is an award winning architect with over 20 years’ experience in residential, education and commercial sectors. Zoe is also Chair of Governors at Sacks Morasha Jewish Primary School and has designed the school building.

Claire Silverstone-Bright

Claire Silverstone-Bright is a PhD candidate at the University of Sunderland, with an academic interest those who define as innocent but inculpate. Having been exposed to the criminal justice system, she considers it from both an academic and practitioner stance. She founded and managed an accommodation centre for those released homeless from prison.

Ali Simmons

Ali Simmons is an artist and art teacher based in South London. Ali co-created the Limmud Art Shop. She was one this years Limmud Micrograntees, co-curating an exhibition ‘People of the Body: Contemporary artist explorations of Jewish embodiment’ bringing together ten artists’ diverse responses to the theme.

Philip Simon

Co-host of Jew Talkin' To Me? Philip is an award-winning comedian and actor. His children’s show School's Out Comedy Club was a Lockdown favourite, from which he published a joke book that has raised thousands of pounds for FareShare. He worked on Mock the Week and Taskmaster, and his crowd work clips have been a hit on social media -@PhilipsComedy

Raymond Simonson

Raymond is CEO of JW3, the UK's home for Jewish culture & conversation. He was Limmud’s first full time Executive Director and has a BA in Jewish History and an MA in Applied Anthropology & Community & Youth Work. In a voluntary capacity he sits on various advisory, synagogue and trustee boards, manages a youth football team and mentors community leaders

Etan Smallman

Etan is a London-based freelance journalist, whose work has featured in publications on four continents, including The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, FT, Daily Mail, New Statesman, The Forward, The New York Times, LA Times and The Australian.

Anna Smoliar

Anna has a Russian-Israeli background and currently lives in the UK. She works for NHS specialising in mental health and relationship therapy. She is a proud dyslexic thinker and is passionate about neurodiversity and inclusion. Inspired by the National Autistic Trainer Programme she now offers neuroaffirming coaching to singles and couples.

Shira Solomons

A lifelong feminist, a rebbetzin, and mother, Shira works as a religious education consultant, runs the Jewish Community of Berkshire in Reading, and authors the Heterodox Jewish Woman Substack and podcast. She is passionate about practical spirituality, and Jewish education that enables us all to expand our intellectual and spiritual horizons.

Szilvi Somlai

Szilvi Somlai was born in Budapest and has lived in Hungary, Ethiopia, Spain and Israel. She is a graduate of several Paideia programs. Szilvi (nearly) holds an MA in sociology. She lives in Stockholm, and heads the department of Jewish Identity & Belonging at the Jewish community. In her free time, she loves reading, Israeli music and zumba.

Carole Spiers

Carole Spiers, motivational speaker and CEO of a stress management consultancy, is recognised for her expertise in resilience, health, and wellbeing. A BBC guest broadcaster and author of "Show Stress Who's Boss!", she is also the founder of International Stress Awareness Week and a regular contributor to national media.

Chlo Spinks

Chlo Spinks is a long-time Limmudnik and music expert, writing for Gigwise, The Skinny, and a variety of other publications. She is also a question writer for TV shows such as Only Connect.

Verity Steele

Previously a classical musician, Verity Steele gained her PhD in 2023 on the Jewish pioneering movement, Bachad (Brit Chalutzim Dati’im – the Alliance of Religious Pioneers). Whilst working in an Israeli orchestra (1987), she discovered that Bachad had owned and ran a hachsharah farm at Thaxted, Essex – a crow’s flight from her childhood home!

Janine Stein

Janine Stein is a graduate of Limmud's Presenter Bootcamp programme for new presenters. She is a copywriter, a perpetual Talmud student and has recently written a book about her grandfather's family from Latvia. She goes to New North London Synagogue and works for Masorti Judaism as a writer and content editor.

Shoshana Stern

Shoshana Stern, MA in Art Psychotherapy, is a London-based art psychotherapist registered with the Health and Care Professional Council (HCPC) and the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT). Since qualifying in 2019, she has worked with individuals of all ages, helping them address concerns and foster growth through the power of art therapy.

Helen Stone

Helen Stone is a founder member of the Holocaust education charity Generation 2 Generation. She is a retired secondary teacher and is one of G2G's 36 presenters. She has presented her mother, Emmy Golding's, story to countless schools and other organisations and also teaches English to refugees and asylum seekers.

Maurice Stone

Maurice is chairman of the Israeli Dance Institute (IDI). He has been teaching dance for many years at Limmud in the UK, Russia & Ukraine. He believes that Israeli dance is a fundamental educational tool promoting Jewish identity and a connection with Israel. So, let’s dance!

Robert Stone

Robert Stone is a historian and political economist who has worked on reconstruction following genocides in Bosnia and Rwanda, and other ethnic conflicts. By contrast, he has also studied how Jews, Muslims and Christians lived in harmony in medieval Andalusia, the setting for his novel, The Golden Bell.

Sheldon Stone

A retired Teaching Hospital doctor, Sheldon Stone's main claim to fame is ensuring alcohol handrub at the end of every patient’s bed in NHS. Now an advisor and co-founder of Stop Uyghur Genocide, he is also a trustee of Rene Cassin. Enthusiastically Orthodox and a Tottenham Season ticket Holder (there’s faith for you!) Proud husband and father of three.

Yoni Stone

Hobbies: football, reading, and spreadsheets Favourite book: the Haggadah Favourite food: pasta Favourite Jewish festival: Limmud

Talia Supran

Talia has worked for over a decade as a fundraiser in the Jewish charity sector and is now at Jewish Blind & Disabled. She manages the JBD Schools Programme which has educated thousands of young people about living with a disability. In her spare time she volunteers at the Food Bank and drinks too much coffee!

Sydney Switzer

Sydney Switzer is a Jewish educator and artist who blends Jewish ritual and exploration of the natural world. Making use of experiential processes and land-based practices, she uses tradition and material as tools for community building and growth. She recently became a Forest School Practitioner, and loves knitting, coffee and a loch swim.

Elazar Symon

Elazar Symon is a rabbi and faculty member of Hadar Israel. Born in Jerusalem, he studied and completed semichah in Otniel Yeshiva. He served as the University Jewish Chaplain for Cambridge University, before returning to Israel and picking up his current position at Hadar. Elazar is particularly interested in postmodern and neo-chasidic Jewish thought.

Abi Symons

Abi is a long time Limmud volunteer who has worked in the Jewish community, in the world of live comedy and has spent the last 5 years retraining to work as a psychotherapist and unpacking the first two career choices.