Presenters - B

Organisation: LJY-Netzer
Website: http://www.ljynetzer.org/

Ben is a movement worker for LJY-Netzer, the youth movement of Liberal Judaism.

Sessions:

• When will Israel learn? LJY-Netzer, Reform Zionism and Israel today

Organisation: Leo Baeck College

Lisa´s background is in education and healing. She is currently a fourth year rabbinical student at Leo Baeck College, where she transferred after completing the first three years of her training at Hebrew College in Boston.

Sessions:

• Soul Food for Singles
• Learn to Leyn (1 of 4)
• Learn to Leyn (2 of 4)
• Learn to Leyn (3 of 4)
• Learn to Leyn (4 of 4)

Organisation: IPCRI - Israel/Palestine Center for Research & Inf
Website: http://www.ipcri.org/

Gershon Baskin is the Founder and Co-CEO of IPCRI, the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information – a Jerusalem based joint Israeli-Palestinian public policy think-tank advancing the two-state solution. Gershon is also an elected member of the leadership of Israel’s Green Movement political party.

Sessions:

• What Should the 614th Commandment Be?
• Through the eye of political cartoons: Update on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, internal politics, society and culture.
• Everything you always wanted to know about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but thought was too stupid to ask
• Obama one year on - is he good for the Jews?
• Living and (almost) Dying in the Backwaters of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
• What if the two-state solution can’t work?
• Jerusalem in the Permanent Status negotiations – what can be done with the Old City and the Holy Places?

Organisation: Tzedek
Website: http://www.tzedek.org.uk/

Kevin is a recent history graduate from the University of York who is interning with Tzedek this year. Currently working in their London office, he will fly out to Ghana in March for six months to support Tzedek's partner projects in the developing world.

Sessions:

• Jews in the Wilderness: Volunteering Abroad

Organisation: UCL

Michael Baum is Professor Emeritus of Surgery and visiting Professor of Medical Humanities, University College London. He was previously Professor of Surgery at Kings College London 1980-1990, and then at the Institute of Cancer Research 1990- 1995. He is a past president of the British Oncology Association.

Sessions:

• Medical Ethics Panel
• The Academic Boycott of Israeli Doctors: Are the Jews Amongst the Worst Anti-Semites?
• Genetics of Jewish inherited disorders

Organisation: PresenTense Group
Website: http://www.presentense.org/

Ariel Beery is the co-director of the PresenTense Group, a grassroots organization upgrading the Jewish Operating system by training and equipping social entrepreneurs - modern day halutzim (pioneers). Living in Tel Aviv, Ariel specializes in start-up development, and writes and lectures on entrepreneurship, Zionism, the digital age, and the Jewish people.

Sessions:

• Humans, Organisations and Strategies in the Digital Age
• Dine 'n' Discuss: Towards an Israeli Understanding of the Diaspora
• Limmud Town Hall: 2020 Vision – What Next for the Jewish People?
• Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship in the Jewish Tradition
• Creative Zionism: Israel and Purpose

Organisation: Senior Pears Fellow for International Development,
Website: http://spirit.tau.ac.il/government/publicationst.asp

Aliza Belman Inbal is the Senior Pears Fellow in International Development at the School of Government and Policy, Tel Aviv University. Her academic position was preceded by a long career in the Prime Minister's Office (under the late PM Yitzhak Rabin), the Israeli diplomatic service and the World Bank.

Sessions:

• Aliyah 2009: time to move on?
• International Aid: Does It Actually Aid Anyone?
• Whose Poor Come First? Jewish Ethics in a Modern World
• Can Israel Redeem Africa?

Organisation: Reut Institute
Website: http://www.calevinthelandofmilkandhoney.blogspot.com/

After completing his studies and working at the Israeli Embassy, Calev Ben Dor moved to Israel four years ago. He currently works as an analyst in the political-security team of the Reut Institute, a non-profit apolitical policy group that provides decision support to government agencies. He also blogs at www.calevinthelandofmilkandhoney.blogspot.com

Sessions:

• When Reality and Tradition Clash
• The Israeli-Palestinian Political Process - What's Next?
• Modern ‘Midrashim’ on the Akeida
• Israel's legitimacy - under threat in the UK?
• The 'ISRAEL 15' Vision and Israel's Arab Sector

Organisation: Embassy of Israel
Website: http://london.mfa.gov.il/

Born in Israel in 1950, Shmuel Ben-Tovim is the Minister for Economic Affairs, Embassy of Israel (since 2005). He holds an MBA from the Hebrew University, and was a Major in the Israel Defence Forces. He then went into banking and private businesses, and has served as a non-executive director in major public companies. He was formerly Israel’s Trade Commissioner to the USA, and mayor and leader of Kfar Shmaryahu Council.

Sessions:

• The Israeli Economic Miracle

Organisation: The Westbury Group
Website: http://www.compasseurope.org

Miriam coordinates the Westbury Group, a network of more than 20 international foundations with a shared interest in enhancing Jewish life in Europe. Previously she was chief executive of the Rothschild Foundation (Europe), and worked for SHATIL and the Minerva Centre for Human Rights at the Hebrew University in Israel.

Sessions:

• Compass – where can it guide you?
• Passionate about Social and Economic Justice? Put Your Cause on the National Agenda
• Taking Limmud Back Home - Fund Raising in a Global Economic Crisis

Organisation: The Board of Deputies of British Jews
Website: http://www.bod.org.uk/

Chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews since 2005, Jon practiced as a litigation solicitor before taking up communal posts with the UJIA and then as chief executive of British ORT. At the Board he oversees all aspects of the organisation’s diverse work representing the community to government, the media and beyond.

Sessions:

• Behind the Scenes
• The Impact of the JFS Case

Organisation: Love Music Hate Racism

Weyman Bennett, from Love Music Hate Racism is also a member of the National Assembly Against Racism, joint chair of Unite Against Fascism and a longstanding anti-racist activist. Love Music Hate Racism was set up in 2002 in response to rising levels of racism and electoral success for the BNP.

Sessions:

• After Question Time: The BNP, The Election and Us

Organisation: Tzedek
Website: http://www.tzedek.org.uk/

Dan Berelowitz is the Director of Tzedek, a charity that is the UK Jewish community’s response to extreme poverty. With a management degree, Dan has previously worked for NGOs in the fields of environmental protection, international development and HIV and AIDS awareness. Dan has travelled extensively, including volunteering in Africa.

Sessions:

• Should Jews stop flying to Israel?
• Blood on your clothes?

Organisation: Montefiore Kollel

Jeff Berger is a graduate of the Judith Lady Montefiore College Semicha Programme. For 16 years he has been a member of the Spanish & Portuguese Jew’s Congregation in New York City and in London. Originally from the United States, Jeff has lived in Israel, Japan and the UK.

Sessions:

• Rabbi David Nieto of Bevis Marks: 18th-Century Controversialist
• The History of Jewish Settlement in Japan

Organisation: Finchley Reform Synagogue
Website: http://www.frsonline.org/

Miriam Berger is the principal rabbi at Finchley Reform Synagogue. This vibrant, growing, innovative community has become an even more exciting place since the arrival of our wonderful cantor, Zoe Jacobs, our director of spiritual development, Rabbi Howard Cooper and since the opening of our new education programme, Kochavim.

Sessions:

• God: Beyond Translation

Organisation: Limmud
Website: http://www.thestandmusic.co.uk/

Joel, 15, is and has been our youngest team member for some time now. He has helped in major roles over the last few Limmud events. It's great to have him presenting a session on Airfix Model Building here at Limmud Conference '09!

Sessions:

• Airfix Model Building @ Limmud Conference '09 (1 of 2)
• Airfix Model Building @ Limmud Conference '09 (2 of 2)

Organisation: UK Jewish Film Festival (UKJFF)

Linda is a Board Member of the UK Jewish Film Festival (UKJFF). A former teacher of film studies, she has been associated with the UKJFF since its beginning 13 years ago. She currently works in training for the pharmaceutical industry. Married to Nick Werner, she is Asher and Jessye’s mum.

Sessions:

• Defamation
• I am Ruthie Segal, Hear me Roar and Schlimazeltov!
• The Gift to Stalin
• Live and Become

Organisation: University College London
Website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/

Michael Berkowitz is Professor of Modern Jewish History in the Department of Hebrew & Jewish Studies, University College London. His most recent book is The Crime of My Very Existence: Nazism and the Myth of Jewish Criminality (University of California Press, 2007). His current research is on Jews and photography.

Sessions:

• The Men (and Women) Behind the Camera: Jews and Studio Photography
• 'We Are Here': New Research on Jewish DPs (Displaced Persons) in Post-War Europe

Organisation: Limmud

Uri has been a Limmud volunteer for over ten years. During that time he has been able to learn about programming, signage, team work, Shabbat, people management, community, timetabling and the powers of caffeine. He is currently a volunteer for Limmud International. Professionally, Uri is a graphic designer.

Sessions:

• Taking Limmud Back Home - Should Limmud be Mainstream or Alternative?
• Taking Limmud Back Home: Building a Team – Who Should You Look For?

A researcher and analyst, Azriel is writing a PhD thesis at UCL on the Thatcher Government’s policy towards the Arab-Israeli Conflict . He writes for diverse publications such as The Economist and International Affairs and worked for many years as a writer at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Sessions:

• Chaim Bermant Returns to Limmud
• Mrs Thatcher and Israel: Myths and Realities

Organisation: UJIA
Website: http://www.ujia.org/

Zoe Bermant is marketing manager at UJIA. Born in South Africa, raised in Australia, educated in Israel and now living in London, bringing a ‘world’ of experiences of the various international Jewish communities she has lived in. With a degree in graphic design she prefers to work in marketing and communications.

Sessions:

• Chaim Bermant Returns to Limmud
• Communitycation in a Digital Age

Rachel Berner holds an Honors Masters degree in economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Now researching Happiness Economics in the well-being department in the London School of Economics under Prof. Lord Richard Layard. Alumnus of the pluralistic Hillel Beit Midrash in Israel.

Sessions:

• Happiness Economics - a new science meets an ancient debate

Website: http://www.blechner.com/

I was given a shoebox of personal letters, postcards and photographs. Together with volunteer students at Munich University I managed to unravel the fate of our family during the Holocaust, culminating in an exhibition at the Munich Jewish Museum. It has also travelled to schools around Munich.

Sessions:

• Ich lebe! Das ist ein Wunder Gottes (I am alive! It is a miracle from God)

Website: http://www.Rexentertainment.co.uk/

Rex Bloomstein has produced and directed television documentaries on the Holocaust, amongst them Auschwitz and the Allies, The Longest Hatred and KZ .He has pioneered Human Rights appeals such as the BBC series, Prisoners of Conscience and studies of the English prison system including the Bafta award winning series Strangeways.

Sessions:

• An Independent Mind

Ruthie is a former features editor, senior columnist and interviewer on The Jerusalem Post; author of Dear Ruthie: A to Z Answers to Life's Nagging Problems, and The People of Israel.

Sessions:

• Challenges facing the State of Israel (1 of 3)
• My people Israel
• Israel 'behind the bombs'
• Challenges facing Israeli Society (2 of 3)
• Has Israel Lost its Way? (3 of 3)

Organisation: Hillel Israel and LSE

Inbar Bluzer Shalem is the founder and former director of Haifa Hillel and the alumnus of 6 Pluralistic Batei Midrash in Israel. Holding a BA in economics and MA in humanitarian affairs, a mutual program of Israelis and Palestinians in Italy, Inbar was the first Hillel shlicha to Massachusetts, USA.

Sessions:

• Happiness Economics - a new science meets an ancient debate

Alexander Bodin Saphir is a filmmaker, photographer and children's book writer who, as a young child growing up on a farm in Kent, befriended a rather rumbunctious talking rabbit. His first children’s book is a direct result of this encounter.

Sessions:

• The Effect of the Middle East Conflict on Faith Relations in the UK: A Muslim and Jewish Response
• Broadening the ‘pro-Israel’ conversation

Organisation: Leo Baeck College
Website: http://www.lbc.ac.uk/

Annette is librarian and lecturer for Bible and Liturgy at Leo Back College in London, and she wrote about God as father in the Bible, and an Introduction into the Jewish Service. Works as sheliach zibbur (service leader) in Masorti and Progressive congregations. Translated and edited Forms of Prayer and the Plaut Chumash into German.

Sessions:

• We have sinned
• Miriam's Cup

Organisation: Author of the Israeli blog 'Treppenwitz'
Website: http://www.treppenwitz.com/

David Bogner lives in Efrat with his wife Zahava and their children Ariella, Gilad and Yonah. Since moving to Israel in 2003, David has been working in Israel's defense/aerospace industry. In his free time David keeps a blog (http://www.treppenwitz.com) and is an amateur beekeeper.

Sessions:

• [almost] Everything you didn't know about Aliyah
• So you want to be a Jewish blogger...
• Settlers and Settlements: 101 (1 of 2)
• Settlers and Settlements: 202 (2 of 2)

Carolyn is the new incoming chair of Limmud, and in the past has been Limmud conference co-chair, a member of the Limmud executive, responsible for volunteer development and has been a member of previous conference teams. She is a chartered occupational psychologist and works in management and organisational development, team building and leadership. She has enjoyed putting this into practice in helping to facilitate the Limmud Leadership Development Programme.

Sessions:

• Taking Limmud Back Home: Building a Team – Who Should You Look For?

Organisation: Booba Schwartz

Moishe Grunfeld Promotions present 'DJ Booba Schwartz', born 'DJ Booba Schartz' the 15th of 14 children to celebrated Whitechapel impresario and fishmonger Cyril Schwartz. Flown in from Miami celebrating her 85th year in the business and second Limmud Conference with a typically irreverant upbeat nostalgic homecoming DJ set!

Sessions:

• DJ Booba Schwartz: Not Guilty (85th Year in Showbiz Tour)

Organisation: Movement for Reform Judaism
Website: http://www.jeneration.org/

Shoshana Boyd Gelfand was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1993 and served as Vice-President of the Wexner Heritage Foundation for 10 years. She is now the Executive Director of the Movement for Reform Judaism in the UK where she maintains her passion for pluralistic Judaism by supporting Jeneration.

Sessions:

• When is a Jew Not a Jew?
• Leading without Authority: Minor Talmudic Characters, Major Leadership Lessons (1 of 3)
• Leading without Authority: Minor Talmudic Characters, Major Leadership Lessons (2 of 3)
• Leading without Authority: Minor Talmudic Characters, Major Leadership Lessons (3 of 3)

Organisation: Institute for Jewish Policy Research
Website: http://www.jpr.org.uk/

Jonathan Boyd is the acting director of JPR, the Institute for Jewish Policy Research in London. A former Jerusalem Fellow at the Mandel Institute in Jerusalem, he is the editor of The Sovereign and the Situated Self: Jewish Identity and Community in the 21st Century.

Sessions:

• Your People Shall Be My People – What is the Big Theory of Jewish Peoplehood?
• What exactly is the Jewish community today?
• Chavruta (3 of 4)
• 10 Challenges Facing the Jewish People

Organisation: Faith in Leadership
Website: http://www.faithinleadership.org/

Working in training and development I enjoy plentiful opportunities to experience a range of learning, develop myself, and observe others. I spent my adolescence living in and encountering the people and cultures of Asia; where I developed a passion for anthropology, and the foods, customs, and religions of the world.

Sessions:

• Faith in Leadership

Sam started making things up as a child and never learnt when to stop. He has worked with many of the current performers on the London comedy improvisation circuit, including multiple performances with his most recent group, Laugh or Die, and has given comedy sessions at both Conference 08, and Fest 09.

Sessions:

• Comedy Improvisation Workshop (1 of 3)
• Comedy Improvisation Storytelling (2 of 3)
• Comedy Improvisation - Teamwork (3 of 3)

Organisation: OneVoice Europe
Website: http://www.onevoicemovement.org/

Joel Braunold coordinates the media and government outreach for OneVoice Europe. He was on the National Executive of the National Union of Students and spent two years living in yeshiva in Israel. He is a Legacy Heritage Fellow 2009/2010.

Sessions:

• Beyond the slogans – OneVoice presents the real view of the Israeli and Palestinian street

Organisation: Jewish Care/ Borehamwood & Elstree United Synagogu

Dina Brawer, born in Milan, Italy holds a BA in Jewish Studies, an MA in education and psychology and is a graduate of the London School of Jewish Studies Susi Bradfield Women Educators’ programme. She trains volunteers for Jewish Care, teaches the Kolot Batmitzvah Programme and is active in her Borehamwood & Elstree community.

Sessions:

• Give Us Your Time Not Just Your Money

Naftali Brawer is the Rabbi at Borehamwood & Elstree United Synagogue, one of the largest orthodox synagogues in the UK. He is a broadcaster, columnist and author. In 2008 the Jewish Chronicle listed Rabbi Brawer amongst the 100 most influential people shaping the Jewish community in Britain.

Sessions:

• Torture in Jewish Law.
• A Soul on Fire: The life and thought of the great Hasidic Master Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev.

Margaret was educated at Oxford, Muenster and Cambridge. She has lectured in: German mediaeval and Renaissance literature at Birmingham University; Jewish-Christian relations at Selly Oak Colleges. A former Research Fellow, at the Institute of Jewish Affairs, London. Currently Margaret is an Honorary Research Fellow at UCL. She has lectured throughout Britain, USA, Germany, Finland and Israel, and also published numerous articles and book chapters in USA and Britain.

Sessions:

• Nazism and Nature; an anti-Judaic ecology and Jews

Organisation: Just Journalism
Website: http://www.justjournalism.com/

Rafael works for Just Journalism, an independent research organisation focused on how Israel and Middle East issues are reported in the UK media. Just Journalism produces analysis of print, broadcast and online media and regularly publishes research on trends in the media’s coverage.

Sessions:

• A year of Israel in the UK media

Website: http://www.ohelavraham.org.uk/

Stewart lectures in medieval literature at University College London. When he's not getting medieval, he teaches Midrash, Hebrew manuscript art, and Tanakh with as much passion as he devours Coco Pops. In the spare time that he wishes he had, Stewart is co-chair of programming for a Jewish festival called Limmud Conference 09 (enjoy!), and is chair of Ohel Avraham (an independent, open-minded Orthodox minyan in Hendon). In response to popular demand, his edition of Ælfric's "Sermo Excerptus De Libro Regum" isn't available in the Conference bookshop.

Sessions:

• Sacrifice Your Love: Revisiting the Drama of Abraham and Isaac
• Abraham, the Early Years: Making Work for Idol Hands

Organisation: eJewish Philanthropy
Website: http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/

Founder of eJewish Philanthropy, an on-line publication providing news and information about Jewish philanthropy, communal innovation and useful resources for how non-profits can function in a Web 2.0 world.

Sessions:

• The Jewish World and the Global Economic Crisis
• Blogging your non-profit organisation
• Taking Limmud Back Home - Fund Raising in a Global Economic Crisis
• How a Facebook event transformed an organisation
• The Jewish world and the global economic crisis

Organisation: UJIA

Currently Jewish social responsibility manager at UJIA after spending two years training & supporting informal educators in UJIA Jewish Life Education Centre, David was a movement worker with Hanoar Hatzioni and completed a BA in Youth Studies.

Sessions:

• Around the Jewish World in 80 days of Social Action

Michael J. Broyde is a law professor at Emory University, the founding Rabbi of the Young Israel Synagogue in Atlanta and Dayan in the Beth Din of America, the largest rabbinical court in the United States. He has written 5 books and 75 articles on matters of Jewish law.

Sessions:

• Medical Ethics Panel
• Battlefield Ethics and Jewish Law
• Married Woman and Hair Covering: Understanding Halacha
• Innovation and Jewish Law
• Assisted Reproduction and Jewish Law

Organisation: Machon L'Madrichim

Colin is currently the director of the Machon L'Madrichim based in Jerusalem. H is an informal educator who grew up in London and made aliya in 1992. He is a graduate of the Jerusalem Fellows programme and from 2004-07 was back in Britain as a shaliach, heading up the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI)'s Education Department.

Sessions:

• Staff development and supervision is a Jewish value
• Israel in the daily life of a Jewish Communal organisation

Organisation: West London Synagogue
Website: http://www.wls.org.uk/

Danny is one of the rabbis at West London Synagogue, having returned to England after completing his rabbinical studies at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. At WLS Danny is focusing on adult education, alternative services and social action. He is excited to be back at Limmud Conference as a local.

Sessions:

• Different Views of the Akedah
• Chavruta With a Twist
• Midrash and the Lockerbie Bomber

Organisation: Leo Baeck College

Irit is lecturer and head of students' services at the Leo Baeck College. Professionally, passionate about the Hebrew language, modern Hebrew poetry, interfaith dialogue and the progressive movement. Privately, passionate about her family: Robert, Libby, Danny & Micol.

Sessions:

• Rabbinical School: A Day In An Hour
• The geography of Israel through poetry
• The 'other' in modern Hebrew poetry

Libby creates education resources and teachers’ courses at the Science Museum. She also manages to keep busy in her spare time; having co-chaired Limmud Conference 2008 she is now involved in Faith in Leadership, a leadership programme for different faiths. Previously she worked at RSY-Netzer and the Jewish Community Centre for London.

Sessions:

• Taking Limmud Back Home - Interactions with the Wider Community
• Faith in Leadership

Organisation: West London Synagogue
Website: http://www.wls.org.uk/

Micol Burkeman is the senior educator at West London Synagogue. She has a Masters in Jewish education from Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles and has previously worked at synagogues and camps across the USA. She is passionate about teen, young adult and informal youth edcucation

Sessions:

• Different Views of the Akedah
• The Wisdom of the Simpsons: Learning Jewish Values from our Favourite Animated Family