#andfriends

An unprecedented musical collaboration of upcoming musical superstars from North America, the members of #andfriends are composers, educators, and musicians whose work is changing the face of Jewish music. #andfriends includes: Chava Mirel, Jacob Spike Kraus, Eliana Light, Jackson Mercer, Charlie Kramer, Lucy Greenbaum, and Rabbi Noah Diamondstein.

David Aaronovitch

An award-winning journalist who has worked in radio, television and newspapers since the early 1980s. David lives in Hampstead with his wife, three daughters and Kerry Blue the terrier. His first book, "Paddling to Jerusalem", won the Madoc prize for travel literature in 2001 and his second, "Voodoo Histories", was a Sunday Times top 10 bestseller.

Nathan Abrams

Nathan teaches film studies at Bangor University in north Wales where he lives. He researches, writes, and broadcasts regularly (in both Welsh and English) on transatlantic Jewish culture and history. He has written two books and loads of articles on Stanley Kubrick.

Simon Albert

Simon Albert is a lawyer based in London practising competition law. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, to 'second generation' expat British parents, he is a dual British / Czech national, having spent two years from 2017 restoring his late grandparents' former Czechoslovak citizenship.

Robert Alter

Robert Alter has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, since 1967. He has written on the novel, modern Hebrew literature, and the Bible and has translated the entire Hebrew Bible.

Ian Austin

Ian Austin is the chair of Mainstream UK, a campaign against extremism in British politics. He was the MP for Dudley North between 2005 and 2019, representing Labour until his resignation in February 2019 over antisemitism and intolerance. He was appointed the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Israel in 2019.

Leanne Baker

Leanne is the International Development, Volunteer and Education Manager at Tzedek. After several years in education, she spent six months in Ghana leading volunteers working to promote girls’ education in rural communities. Before Tzedek, she completed a Masters in Education, Gender and International Development.

Nadine Batchelor-Hunt

Nadine Batchelor-Hunt is a journalist, writer, podcaster, and former president of the Cambridge University Black and Minority Ethnic campaign. She is a Masorti Jew, and has bylines at the Guardian, the Huffington Post, Metro, the Mirror, Glamour Magazine, +972 Mag, and Alma.

Eli Beer

Eli Beer is the father of five children, a social entrepreneur and president and founder of United Hatzalah of Israel – an independent, non-profit, fully volunteer Emergency Medical Services organisation that provides fast and free emergency first response throughout Israel.

Peter Beinart

Peter Beinart is Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York, Editor-at-Large of Jewish Currents, a Contributor to the Atlantic and CNN, and a Fellow at the Foundation of Middle East Peace.

Jonny Benjamin

Jonny Benjamin MBE is a mental health campaigner, film producer, writer and vlogger. At the age of 20 he was diagnosed with a form of schizophrenia and began making films on YouTube about it that have been watched by millions. He has produced and presented documentaries on the BBC and Channel 4 on the subjects of mental health and suicide.

David Benkof

David Benkof is a Jerusalem-based teacher whose online classes (tinyurl.com/BenkofClasses) help students find meaning in cultural products like literature, musicals, art, music, and TV/film. His Jewish culture videos can be found at youtube.com/user/DavidBenkof. He has presented at more than 30 Limmuds in 12 countries.

Luciana Berger

Luciana is Managing Director of Public Affairs and Advocacy at Edelman. Before joining Edelman, Luciana served as the Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree for almost a decade. Luciana featured in the 2019 Vogue 25 – a list compiled by British Vogue of 25 'high-powered and visionary women whose work is shaping Britain’s future'.

Miriam Berger

Miriam Berger has been rabbi of Finchley Reform Synagogue since 2006. She studied Theology at the University of Bristol and went on to rabbinical training at Leo Baeck College. She founded the Mikveh Project UK, a centre of wellbeing with a mikveh at its heart, which will support people, using this ancient ritual to heal and celebrate.

Alexander Bodin Saphir

Alex Bodin Saphir is a filmmaker and playwright. He wrote the critically acclaimed stage play "Rosenbaum's Rescue" which premiered at the Park Theatre, London in 2019, and co-directed and produced the award winning Israeli/British documentary "Who's Gonna Love Me Now". Additionally he has been a trustee of both the New Israel Fund UK and Yachad.

Daniel Boyarin

Daniel Boyarin, Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture and Rhetoric at UC Berkeley, has written extensively on talmudic and midrashic studies. His work has focused on cultural studies in rabbinic Judaism, including issues of gender and sexuality as well as research on the Jews as a colonised people.

Jonathan Braun

Jonathan Braun is the President of WUJS – World Union of Jewish Students and former Vice President of EUJS – European Union of Jewish Students. Founder of the Geneva Union of Jewish Students which was awarded Best Developing Local Jewish Student Association and Best Local Jewish Student Association under his presidency. He is Swiss, Israeli, French – probably the best mix of respect and chutzpa you will get.

Stephen Bush

Stephen Bush is the political editor of the New Statesman. He is a journalist, political commentator and podcaster, who has also written for the Guardian, the Financial Times and the i, and is the chair of the Board of Deputies' Commission on Racial Inclusivity in the Jewish Community.

Stephanie Cantor

Stephanie Cantor helped start Dare to Care Packages, an initiative providing care packages to vulnerable people and PPE to the NHS. She recently completed her MSc in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at LSE, during which she founded a social enterprise creating employment in Kenya. Previously, she worked as an Consultant at PwC and at KAHAL.

Graham Carpenter

Graham is the UK Community Manager for OLAM & JDC Entwine, focusing on engagement in global Jewish responsibility. He has previously worked for Tzedek and the New Israel Fund, and is a board member for Liberal Judaism and the World Union of Progressive Judaism.

Justin Cohen

Justin Cohen is news editor and co-publisher of Jewish News. He's interviewed the last four prime ministers as well as the likes of Sir Tom Jones and Simon Cowell. He led on several of the paper's innovations including the Duchess of Cambridge's Holocaust survivor photography project, and regularly appears in national media on Jewish issues.

Anna Colton

Dr Anna Colton is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist & Executive Coach. She has particular expertise in performance anxiety, stage fright and public speaking in high performers, working closely with the Bar, the West End stage, musicians and eating disorders. She is often on the TV or radio as a leading expert on mental health and wellbeing issues.

Noah Colton

Noah has been a cheder teaching assistant for two years and loves passing on Judaism to future generations, enjoys making learning Judaism fun, and is passionate about making learning engaging for everyone.

Aviva Dautch

Aviva Dautch is the new Executive Director of Jewish Renaissance, the UK's Jewish arts magazine. She is a published poet, has a PhD in literature and lectures on modern Jewish culture at the London School of Jewish Studies and JW3. She is a regular contributor to courses and programmes for the British Library, British Museum and BBC Radio 4.

Ruth Deech

Crossbench member of the House of Lords since 2005 and Jewish activist. Taught law at Oxford, former Principal of St Anne's College, chair of Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority, Rhodes Scholarships Trustee, Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, chair Bar Standards Board. Trustee of the Roth Institute for the Study of Antisemitism.

Alan Dein

Alan Dein is an oral historian and broadcaster. He currently presents "Don't Log Off" on the BBC World Service. He is the curator of "Music is the Most Beautiful Language in the World", a compilation of Anglo-Yiddisher jazz 78rpm recordings, which was voted one of the Top Ten jazz re-issues of 2019 by Jazzwise Magazine.

William Echikson

Bill Echikson is the Director of the Brussels office of the European Union of Progressive Judaism. He previously worked with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and at Google, having started his career as a foreign correspondent in Europe for various US publications including the WSJ, Fortune and BusinessWeek. He has written, directed and produced television documentaries and is the author of four books.

Adam Eli

Adam Eli is a community organiser and author based in New York City. His first book "The New Queer Conscience" was published on June 2, 2020 by Penguin Teen. He is the founder of international activist group Voices4 and the editor-in-chief of a zine about global gender equality produced by Gucci and Chime for Change.

Tal Feingold

A 22 year old graduate of Law and Politics at the University of Liverpool. The Editor of an online magazine called The Eyewitness, which focuses on giving a platform to young voices on a variety of topics that they are passionate about. A regular campaigner against Antisemitism online who hopes to pursue a career in journalism.

Jamie Fleishman

Jamie Fleishman, son of Gene and Judy, is a student/teacher in the art of living. His soul centers around Jewish spirituality, intergenerational healing, and sacred community. After five years of studying, working, eating(!), and organising Limmud events in China, he stands for a nuanced, non-dualistic relationship between China and the world community.

Laura Fox

Laura has worked in Marketing & Advertising for 19 years specialising in employer brand, personal brand and recruitment marketing. Having worked for LinkedIn for 7 years she has deep knowledge of the platform and set up her own LinkedIn Consultancy in 2018. She advises her clients on how to leverage LinkedIn to support jobseeking, hiring, marketing and sales.

Jonathan Freedland

Jonathan Freedland is an award-winning journalist, novelist and broadcaster. Columnist for the Guardian since 1997, previously the paper's Washington correspondent. Presenter of BBC Radio 4’s "The Long View". 2014 winner of the Orwell Special Prize for journalism. Author of eleven books, nine of them bestselling thrillers under the name Sam Bourne.

Eliyahu Freedman

Eliyahu Freedman founded the Facebook Group “Jewish Response to COVID-19”. He lives in Jaffa, Israel where he is a graduate student in Talmud at Tel Aviv University.

Edie Friedman

Dr. Edie Friedman was born in Chicago and moved to the UK more than 40 years ago. Concerned to strengthen the link between social justice and Jewishness, in 1976 she founded the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE) of which she is now the executive director. She is a regular speaker and writer on race and asylum issues.

Dean Furman

Dean Furman's career began at Chelsea before moving to Glasgow Rangers. He has also played for Bradford, Oldham, Doncaster Rovers, and Supersport United in South Africa. Dean's accolades include promotion to the Championship in 2013, The Football League’s ‘Goal of the Season’, and four South African domestic titles. Dean has 56 caps for the SA national team.

Daniel Geey

Daniel is a sports and entertainment lawyer advising clients particularly in the football industry. He's also the author of football book "Done Deal". He is the founder of cancer research fashion brand ((Thirteen.)), Chairman of football charity Football Aid, and a supporter of children's hospice Noah's Ark.

Ossie Goldhill

Ossie is a trained Chef with a passion for mentoring keen cooks with all levels of ability. He aims to build up your confidence in the kitchen and get you making and eating delicious grub.

Kate Green

Kate Green was elected MP for Stretford and Urmston, representing Labour, in 2010. Kate joined Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Education in June 2020. Prior to her election, Kate was CEO of the Child Poverty Action Group, and before that Director of the National Council for One Parent Families (now Gingerbread).

Sahaf Hardouf

Sahaf is the founder of Kolot HaKeshet, a project empowering LGBTI+ Jews to create more inclusive Jewish communities. Besides their work with Kolot HaKeshet, Sahaf works at Gendered Intelligence, is a member of Beit Klal Yisrael, and is also a keen cook!

Mia Hasenson-Gross

Mia joined René Cassin as its executive director in June 2015, bringing with her an in-depth knowledge of international human rights work and experience in human rights education, campaigning and organisational development, acquired over 15 years while working for Amnesty International.

Sharren Haskel

Sharren Haskel has been a Member of Knesset representing Likud since 2015. Born in Canada, she is a Deputy Speaker of the Knesset and a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee. Prior to this, she served in the Border Patrol and trained as a vet in Australia.

Judith Hauptman

Rabbi Judith Hauptman is the E. Billi Ivry Professor Emerita of Talmud and Rabbinic Culture at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. She is the author of three books and numerous articles. Her volume, "Rereading the Rabbis, A Woman's Voice" (1998), has been called a founding work of the new Jewish feminism.

Joe Hyman

Joe Hyman is Young Programmer at JW3 and co-founder of Davar, the Jewish Art Immersive. Joe is also an LGBTQ+ activist working to create a more inclusive Jewish community.

Nicholas Hytner

English theatre and film director and producer. Previously Artistic Director of the Royal National Theatre. Founded London Theatre Company, which runs the Bridge Theatre. Producer and lead Director of BBC’s production of Talking Heads.

Aliza Inbal

Dr. Aliza Inbal is the founding director of the Pears Program for Global Development, which harnesses Israeli innovation to address developing country challenges. In 2013, she was named by Ma’ariv one of the 100 most influential Jews globally for her work to support Israeli innovation targeting critical barriers to international development.

Zöe Jacobs

A long time fan of Limmud, Cantor Zöe Jacobs was the first ordained cantor in the Reform Movement. She was ordained in 2009 from HUC-JIR and is a product of great youth movements! Zöe is passionate about singing with others, so spends a lot of time online with her community, FRS, and is thrilled for any opportunity to make music with friends!

Howard Jacobson

Novelist, essayist and broadcaster. He has written 16 novels and 5 works of non-fiction. Man Booker Prize Winner for The Finkler Question. Columnist for Tablet Magazine, USA. Themes include: what it means to be Jewish today and challenging anti-Israel boycotts. Table tennis aficionado.

Alex Jakubowski

Alex is the founder and executive director of KAHAL: Your Jewish Home Abroad which creates transformative Jewish experiences for students studying abroad. Alex served as the Director of Mission Measurement's Jewish Impact Genome, a landmark project to build a common language of impact across the Jewish nonprofit sector. During the COVID-19 pandemic Alex led an effort to procure and distribute more than $9m of PPE to 200 nursing homes and frontline medical care agencies.

Leah Jones

Leah Jones is the founder of Natiiv Facilitation in Chicago, Illinois. She opened the company in March 2018 after twelve years in consumer social media at public relations agencies. She is President of Emanuel Congregation, co-founder of TBD Minyan, an active member of ROI Community and completed the Wexner Heritage Fellowship in 2019.

Melinda Jones

Melinda Jones is a scholar, radical feminist human rights lawyer, disability advocate, Jewish educator and Modox. She knows a lot about racism, freedom of speech and racial hatred, disability, the rights of the child, inclusive education, the health rights for children, cancel culture, and the relationship between Judaism and disability.

Gabriel Kanter-Webber

Gabriel is about to start his forth year of rabbinical training at Leo Baeck College. He works with the York Liberal Jewish Community and in his spare time he crochets and contests parking tickets.

Misha Kapustin

Misha Kapustin is a Liberal rabbi from Simferopol, Ukraine. He now works for the Liberal community in Brataslava, Slovakia. He is known for speaking out about antisemitism in Eastern Europe and in particular for his criticism of Russian interference in Ukraine.

Elliott Karstadt

Elliott was ordained at Leo Baeck College in July 2020 and is now rabbi at Alyth. He enjoys bringing Jewish texts to life with adults and teens in community settings.

Will Kintish

For the last 20 years Will Kintish has shown thousands in business, professional and financial communities how to become more effective and confident networkers. He now shares his deep knowledge of networking by explaining how you can become just as proficient online networker as you can be face-to-face.

Phil Korklin

Co-owner of Football agency Momentum Sports Management. Studied a Sports Studies degree with a dissertation on racial stacking. Recently graduated with merit in Masters in Sport Directorship with a dissertation titled "Hurdles encountered in English football by BAME participants that block pathway to first team management and coaching".

Rivky Krestt

Rivky Krestt is a seasoned Jewish educator living in Efrat, Israel. Prior to moving to Israel, she held department chair positions in Jewish studies at Jewish schools in the United States. In addition to being a classroom teacher she teaches online and writes curriculum. Rivky holds a Master’s Degree from The University of Maryland.

Clive Lawton

Co-founder of Limmud, CEO of the Commonwealth Jewish Council, magistrate, NHS Tribunal Chair, lecturer and writer. He has four degrees in widely differing subjects and is a calendrical expert. Formerly a founding trustee of JW3 and Tzedek's first Chair, Head of a high school, Chair of a hospital board and a governor of the Metropolitan Police.

Ania Lichtarowicz

Ania is a Senior Broadcast Journalist at the BBC and produces "Digital Planet" for the World Service. Other roles have included Editor, BBC Ebola Regional Response Project and World Service Health Reporter. Ania speaks publicly about her grandparents efforts to save Jewish lives and the award of the Yad Vashem Medal to her grandfather Dr. Ludwik Zurowski.

Rahima Mahmut

Rahima is an Uyghur singer, human rights activist, and award-winning translator of the poignant prison memoir "The Land Drenched in Tears" by Soyungul Chanisheff. Currently she is the UK representative for the World Uyghur Congress, and has worked as a consultant and translator for documentaries for the BBC and ITV.

Kim Maidment

Kim is Resource’s Professional Consultant, a role she undertakes within a portfolio of work as a freelance HR and Outplacement consultant in the not for profit and commercial sectors.

Peter Mason

As the national secretary of JLM and a member of the Labour Party’s highest disciplinary committee, Peter has had a front row seat to Labour’s longstanding antisemitism crisis. A councillor in Southall, West London, his other passion is urban planning and fixing London’s broken housing market.

Cassie Matus

Cassie is the CEO of March of the Living UK. She has been taking groups to Poland for nine years. Her background is in experiential travel and events management. Her previous roles include Head of Israel Programmes at UJIA Israel Experience and Head of Community Fundraising for UJIA. She is a graduate of Habonim Dror youth movement and is now a trustee.

Yavilah McCoy

The CEO of the Diversity consulting group DIMENSIONS Inc, Yavilah services an international portfolio of clients in the areas of education, philanthropy, and social justice. As an anti-racist activist with an international platform, Yavilah provides training and consulting to social justice projects that span multiple identities and communities.

Yifat Meir

Yifat is the daughter of Thomas Geve, a 90-year old Holocaust survivor, living in Israel, bearing witness to life in Germany and three concentration camp during WW2. Thomas' unique testimony and drawings will be presented at Limmud by Yifat. "The boy who drew Auschwitz" is the new edition of his book, to be published in January 2021 by HarperCollins.

Samantha Miller

Samantha Miller is a football presenter, content creator and co-commentator on BBC Sport for the Barclays FA Women's Super League. She has previously played for West Ham and Spurs and is a huge advocate for women's sport.

Lionel Mitelpunkt

Co-founder of Merachok, strategist, educator, and artist, using technology as a way to create, nurture and advance authenticity, empathy, change, and innovation. Lionel works with individuals, startups, NGO's and corporations in creating clear channels of communication and framing their narratives using new world tools and accessible wisdom.

Shula Mola

Shula was chair of the Association for Ethiopian Jews for ten years and previously its Executive Director. She is an educator (PhD, Ben-Gurion; BA,MA Hebrew University; Mandel School) and curriculum developer. Shula co-founded 'Mothers on Guard' – mothers protesting police brutality against Ethiopian-Israeli youth. She sits on the Israel board of the New Israel Fund.

Lara Monroe

Lara is a 40-something Black Jewish mother and writer from Inner London. In her spare time, she shares the best, worst and often complex simplicity of being a Blewish (Black and Jewish) woman in the UK.

Robin Moss

Robin Moss is Director of Strategy at UJIA, the UK Jewish community's leading Israel charity. He grew up in LJY-Netzer and has worked in informal Jewish and Israel education professionally for over a decade. He first came to a Limmud event in 2009 and has been a volunticipant ever since. He is currently the editor of Limmud On One Leg

Alec Nacamuli

Alec Nacamuli was born in Alexandria. He chairs Sephardi Voices UK – an oral history project preserving the memories of Jews who left Arab countries and settled in the UK – and is a council member of the Nebi Daniel International Association striving to protect the Jewish heritage in Egypt. He is a volunteer guide on Egyptology at the British Museum.

Lindsey Newman

Lindsey Newman is the Director of Community Engagement at Be’chol Lashon. Lindsey has over ten years experience advocating for diversity and inclusion in the Jewish community. She received her BSc in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and was a 2018 Fellow of the Ruskay Institute for Jewish Professional Leadership.

Dan Nichols

Dan Nichols is a singular talent in the world of Jewish music. He is one of the most dynamic, influential and beloved contemporary Jewish musicians. You may know his melodies without even realising it, as they have become an integral part of the spiritual and liturgical experience of countless Jewish communities.

Tamir Oren

Tamir is an IDF officer in the Paratrooper’s Brigade. Tamir participated in Operation ‘’Cast Lead’’ in 2009 in Gaza, leading his soldiers to neutralise missile launchers aimed at Israel. Tamir recently served in the IDF spokesperson unit as Head of Public Diplomacy and is an MBA graduate from Imperial College London and a father to twin boys.

Elisabeth Perlman

Elisabeth Perlman is a journalist and commissioning editor at The Times.

Pnina Pfeuffer

Pnina Pfeuffer is a prominent Haredi social activist, self-described feminist and advocate for Jewish-Arab shared society. A Jerusalemite and mother of two, she is the CEO of New Haredim and is committed to advancing the cause of Ultra-Orthodox women. Pnina founded a Beit Midrash serving Ultra-Orthodox women, a groundbreaking effort.

Eric Pickles

Lord Pickles was appointed Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust issues in 2015, working with a wide range of Holocaust academics, survivors and educational organisations, and is also co-chair of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation. He was Conservative MP for Brentwood & Ongar from 1992 until he stood down in June 2017, and was formerly Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. He was made a Life Peer in 2018.

Scott Piczenik

Scott is a member of Beit Klal Yisrael Synagogue and co-founder of Kolot HaKeshet, which works to empower and train LGBTI+ Jews to effect change in their communities. He is excited for his first Limmud.

Yotam Politzer

Yotam Polizer is the global CEO of IsraAID, an Israeli-based humanitarian aid agency that responds to emergency crises and engages in international development in over 50 countries around the world so far. Yotam oversees IsraAID's global operations, strategy and partnerships.

Alicia Jo Rabins

Alicia Jo Rabins is a writer, musician, performer and Torah teacher. She is the author of two award-winning poetry books and the creator/performer of Girls in Trouble, a three-album indie-folk song cycle about women in Torah. Rabins tours internationally from her home base in Portland, Oregon, USA.

Dave Rich

Dave Rich is director of policy for CST. He is an associate research fellow at the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism. He is author of the book "The Left's Jewish Problem" and writes regularly about antisemitism and extremism for newspapers and journals in the UK and abroad.

Rachel Riley

Rachel is C4 Countdown's numbers expert. She graduated from Oxford, with a Masters in Maths and has campaigned against antisemitism after being targeted on social media. She won The Algemeiner's Warrior for Truth award 2019, and is patron of The Center for Countering Digital Hate, targeting fake news sites' ad revenues and lobbying social media companies.

Mira Rivera

Rabbi Mira Rivera serves Romemu in New York City as Rabbi/Board Certified Chaplain and Ammud: the Jews of Color Torah Academy. https://www.romemu.org/about/staff/. Prior to Rabbinical School at the Jewish Theological Seminary, she danced for the Martha Graham Dance Company and Ensemble with mentor Yuriko Kikuchi.

Assael Romanelli

Assael Romanelli PhD is a licensed Couples & Family Therapist and an international trainer and facilitator. He is the founder and director of The Potential State Institute For Enriching Relationships, which incorporates therapy, art, and education to create safe spaces for people to connect to themselves and others.

Aviva Rosman

Aviva Rosman is the COO and co-founder of BallotReady, an award-winning voter guide to every race and referendum on the ballot. Aviva grew up working on campaigns, including her own successful run for local office. She has a BA and Masters from the University of Chicago, both in public policy.

Jason Rubenstein

Jason serves Yale's Jewish community as the Howard M. Holtzmann Jewish Chaplain. He grew up at Temple Micah, and spent wonderful years at Ma’ale Gilboa, JTS, and Yeshivat Hadar. His dream is for Jewish philosophy to help us do the hard work of being humans – navigating love and loss, mortality, fear and hope, caring and betrayal.

Eric Salamon

After graduating with a degree in chemistry Eric had a career in corporate management working for among others Mars, CBS, Storehouse and H.J.Heinz. Following early retirement he built a portfolio of non-exec roles helping companies to develop and restructure to maximise value. Eric volunteers at Resource assisting in facilitation and conducting mock interviews.

Mich Sampson

Mich Sampson is Director of Music at Finchley Reform Synagogue, where she conducts the choirs and co-leads services. She also works with various Liberal and Reform communities, from Edinburgh to Wessex, to develop their confidence in using music to support and create prayer. She especially delights in working with new and nervous singers.

Aaron Samuels

Aaron Samuels is the co-founder of Blavity Inc, a digital community for Black Millennials, reaching 100+ million people per month. He is the author of poetry collection, "Yarmulkes & Fitted Caps", co-founded the first Moishe House for Jews of Color, and sits on the Board of Bend the Arc. Aaron Samuels is Black and Jewish.

Sassy

Sassy is a longstanding Limmud volunteer who is mostly here to run his famous pub quiz. In his spare time, when not busy with Limmud, the Board of Deputies or running bridge tournaments up and down the country, he works in the Medical School at King's College London, but struggles to explain to anyone what he actually does there.

Anne Sebba

Award winning biographer and author, including biographies of Jennie Churchill, Mother Teresa, William Bankes, Wallis Simpson and Laura Ashley. Her latest is "Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died in the 1940s". A former Reuters foreign correspondent, she is currently working on a biography of Ethel Rosenberg.

Shared Paths

Shared Paths social tourism forges closer ties between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel. Their guide, Jiryis Ballan, is a 32 year old composer living in Nazareth. He is the co-founder of the Tijwal bi-national ensemble, comprising Arab and Jewish musicians who play music traditions from the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Noah Shufuntinsky

Noah Shufutinsky, AKA Westside Gravy, is a student and musician from San Diego, California. At The George Washington University he is majoring in Judaic Studies and goes by Westside Gravy as a rapper/producer. His 2019 song "Diaspora", which expresses pride in Jewish identity and the importance of homeland, has gained significant attention.

Judith Silver

Judith is a familiar face and voice at Limmud as a composer and performer, holding space facilitating the singing of others, sometimes solo and sometimes with dear friends and colleagues. She's always especially delighted to have the opportunity to co-present with Mich Sampson and Cantor Zöe Jacobs. www.judithsilver.com www.companionvoices.org

Melinda Simmons

Melinda Simmons is British Ambassador to Ukraine, a post she has held since autumn 2019. Melinda represents both Her Majesty The Queen and the UK government, and is responsible for the direction and work of the Embassy including political work, trade and investment, press and cultural relations, as well as visa and consular services.

Raymond Simonson

Raymond is CEO of JW3 (London's JCC) and was Limmud’s first full time executive director. He is on the Limmud FSU International Steering Committee and the advisory boards of Mitzvah Day and Amal (a Muslim cultural organisation). He has a BA Jewish History, MA Applied Anthropology and Community & Youth Work (and he’s also a massive Spurs fan).

Tema Smith

Tema Smith is a diversity advocate, writer, educator and Jewish community builder. She is currently the Director of Professional Development for 18Doors, formerly known as InterfaithFamily, and a contributing columnist for The Forward. Tema is mixed race, Black and Jewish, and lives in her hometown of Toronto, Canada.

Jon Sopel

Jon Sopel has been the BBC North America Editor since 2014. He has interviewed Barack Obama, clashed at numerous news conferences with Donald Trump, and has flown on Air Force One around the world. His first book on the US, "If Only They Didn’t Speak English" was a bestseller and his latest, "A Year At The Circus" is coming out in paperback.

Victoria Sterman

Victoria joined Resource as its first Chief Executive, having spent the majority of her career in leadership positions within a pharmaceutical marketing consultancy. Victoria has a depth of expertise in recruitment, on-boarding, resource management, people development, and training.

Mila Stojanovic

Mila Stojanovic is from Serbia, currently living in Belgium and is the Executive director of European Union of Jewish Students, the umbrella organization that supports Jewish student unions throughout Europe and represents its members in international institutions and organizations.

Danny Stone

Danny is the Chief Executive of the Antisemitism Policy Trust, an award-winning organisation which he has led for a decade. He has two degrees and a diploma in Public Relations. Danny was awarded an MBE in 2017 for services to Combating Hate Crime. In his spare time, Danny enjoys watching and writing about professional wrestling.

Rachel Sumekh

Founder & CEO of Swipe Out Hunger, the leading NGO addressing hunger amongst college students, operating on 120 universities with 2 million meals served. She has been recognized by Forbes' 30 under 30, Forward 50 and President Obama. Rachel grew up in LA and was raised by Iranian Jewish immigrants and serves on the board of her synagouge, IKAR.

Larry Tabick

Larry Tabick is emeritus rabbi of Mekor Hayim (formerly Shir Hayim), Hampstead, and was lecturer in Kabbalah and Hasidism at Leo Baeck College. He is the author of a book of poems called "Growing into Your Soul" (Hylas, 2005) and "The Aura of Torah" (JPS, 2014) on the weekly Torah readings. He is working on "A Higher Light on the Chagim" (expected soon).

Avi Tawil

Avi Tawil was born in Argentina and lives in Brussels with his wife and four children. He is currently the Director of the European Jewish Community Centre a Brussels based NGO that promotes Jewish Culture in Europe highlighting the roots of Jewish culture in the European family for over millennia and its contribution to Europe.

Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz

Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz completed a PhD in anthropology and Jewish studies at UCL. She is a Teaching Fellow at the London School of Jewish Studies, lectures at King’s College London, and recently founded the Pop-Up Beit Midrash. Her first book, "Challenge and Conformity: The Religious Lives of Orthodox Jewish Women", will be published in 2021.

Jonathan Tebble

Jonathan is a member of New North London Synagogue and Ohel Mo’ed. He is interested in the intersection of Jewish and LGBTQ and spent time studying queer Talmud at Svara, the radical Yeshiva, last year.

Ned Temko

Ned Temko, author and journalist, is former editor of the Jewish Chronicle. As a foreign correspondent he was based in Beirut, Jerusalem, Lisbon, Brussels, Moscow and Johannesburg. He was Chief Political Correspondent of The Observer, has helped leading politicians write their memoirs, and wrote a biography of Israel's Menachem Begin.

Yael Tischler

Yael Tischler is a ritual-weaver, Jewish educator and song leader. She is the co-founder of Yelala, a constellation of work that celebrates Earth-centred, feminist Jewish spirituality and reclaims the practices of our women/femme and folk ancestors. She will begin her Rabbinical studies at Leo Baeck College in September 2020.

Arun Viswanath

Arun Schaechter Viswanath grew up in Teaneck, NJ in a Yiddish- and Tamil-speaking home. Harry Potter is his first foray into literary Yiddish translation, previously having translated letters and historical documents. Arun enjoys bouldering, learning new languages, and making music. He resides with his wife Tali in NYC, where he works in analytics.

John Ware

John Ware is a BAFTA nominated Broadcaster & Writer. He and seven former Labour party staffers (aka The Panorama Whistleblowers) have just won a libel action against the Labour party for defamatory comments made by the Party when under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.

Janine Webber

Janine was born in Poland in 1932. From a happy home, her life changed forever in 1939. Over the following years Janine lost her home, was hidden, moved about from attic to stable to convent, concealed her identity, and lost most of her family. She has been sharing her experiences for many years with the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Chaim Weiner

Founder and director of the Masorti Bet Din, Chaim Weiner was ordained at the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem, and a graduate of Jerusalem Fellows. He is known for his inspiring trips to destinations across Europe, his work developing European Jewish communities, and his work teaching classic Jewish sources to broad audiences.

Julia Weiner

Julia Weiner teaches Art History at Regent's University London and at New York University London. She has worked for a number of museums and galleries including the Ben Uri, the Jewish Museum, the British Museum, the Courtauld, and the V&A. She writes regularly for the JC and other publications about Jewish artists and designers.

Akiva Weingarten

Rabbi Akiva Weingarten serves as the rabbi of Dresden, Germany and the Liberal Jewish community "Migwan" in Basel, Switzerland. He is the founder of the Haichal Besht synagogue in Berlin and the Besht Yeshiva in Dresden. Weingarten grew up in the Hasidic Satmar community in New York. He describes his approach to Judaism as liberal Hasidic.

Joey Weisenberg

Virtuosic multi-instrumental musician, composer and teacher, Joey Weisenberg is the founder and co-director of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, cultivating grassroots musical-spiritual creativity in the Jewish community. He has released seven albums with the Hadar Ensemble and is author of The Torah of Music (2017 winner of the National Jewish Book Award).

Arthur Weiss

Arthur is a researcher/trainer who helps clients find intelligence they thought couldn’t be found. Previous Limmud talks include: “Great Jewish Spies”, “Pimps & Prostitutes: the Jewish white slave trade”, and ”Defending Israel: using the Internet to find the truth behind anti-Israel propaganda”

A B Yehoshua

Born in Jerusalem in 1936, author of twelve novels, a collection of short stories, several plays and volumes of essays. He has won prizes world-wide; his works have been translated into 28 languages and adapted for film and opera. He continues to speak about and search for solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He has just released his latest novel "The Tunnel".

Tzemah Yoreh

Tzemah Yoreh is one the intellectual leaders of Jewish humanism and the head of the City Congregation in New York city. He attended the Hebrew University, where he obtained his PhD in biblical criticism in record time. He earned a second PhD in Ancient Wisdom Literature from the University of Toronto for the joy of studying ancient text. .

Madeline R Young

Madeline is a university lecturer in business ethics and international relations, as well as director and trustee for several UK Jewish organisations. In parallel, she is a performer, dancer and instructor, actress, and singer. She founded and directed Latin dance companies in the USA, France and UK.

Erin Zaikis

Erin is a serial nonprofit entrepreneur and founder of Sundara, an organisation that recycles hotel soap in India, Uganda and Myanmar. Erin recently founded RISE, a grant making entity designed to support female entrepreneurs working in water, sanitation and hygiene. Erin lives in NYC and spends her free time looking for the best Thai restaurants.

Ruvi Ziegler

Associate Professor in International Refugee Law (Reading); Research Associate (Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford); Senior Research Associate (Refugee Law Initiative, SAS, London); Associate Academic Fellow (Inner Temple); Chair, New Europeans UK; Chair, Oxford European Association; Advisory Council, René Cassin; Author, "Voting Rights of Refugees" (Cambridge)