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Sessions for Wednesday, 14:00 - 15:10 (Afternoon Intensive)
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Jump to a session:
- Addictive Melodies (1 of 2)
- Animating Joshua (2 of 2)
- Archaeology in Israel: a Personal Perspective (4 of 4)
- Baskin-Robbins Has 31 Flavours - How About American Judaism?
- Crafternoon Tea: Make Do and Mend
- El Rachum V'chanun - the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy
- Escaping the Prison of Halacha (4 of 4)
- Four Jewish Spiritual Revolutions that Changed the World - and Me (4 of 4)
- Hot AND Bothered: the Life-Changing Chemistry of Kashrut (4 of 4)
- I Am Taking Off My Kippah!
- Improve Your Photographic Skills! (3 of 3)
- In Conversation with Olympian Ben Helfgott - Champion Athlete and Holocaust Survivor
- Innovative Jews
- Intermediate Hebrew (3 of 3)
- Jews in Italy: From Tacitus to Berlusconi
- Josephus Flavius and His Source - Nicolaus of Damascus - on Royal Hasmonean and Herodian Women
- Limmud 'Training the Trainers' Session 2 - Organisation and Planning (2 of 2)
- Limmud Book Club: Philip Roth's the Human Stain
- Limmud International Surgery (4 of 5)
- Love Your Neighbour As Yourself?
- Musicians' Intensive (4 of 4)
- Out of the Closet But Still in the Community: Facilitating Inclusion for LGBT Jews
- Rabbi Shlomo Goren: the Revolutionary Chief Rabbi (3 of 3)
- Shlichim on Israel: Talking the Tough Stuff (3 of 4)
- Slur Your Speech More Effectively: Why Whisky Is Kosher
- Stories From the She-Bible - Locked Away, Gone (4 of 4)
- Stretch and Kvetch: Pilates for Intermediate
- The Hare with Amber Eyes
- The Paradoxical Prophet: Moses the Redeemer
- The Synagogues of Britain and Ireland: Some Architectural History
- Will the UN's Support of a Palestinian State Diminish the US's Position in the Middle East?
- YAD Track: Why Be Jewish? the Confession of a Shul-Going Atheist
Addictive Melodies (1 of 2)
Gabby Dagan
Location: Soc 5
Tracks: Israel, Music Workshops, Spirituality
Type: Workshop / Practical, Performance
You'll learn inspiring melodies that blend modern Israeli music with addictive tefillot (prayers). We'll sing together these beautiful tefillot and you'll remain intoxicated by them for the rest of conference and beyond.
Animating Joshua (2 of 2)
Sarah Lefton
Location: Hum 2
Tracks: Film/Theatre, Midrash, Tanach/Text
Type: Text Study, Performance
Dive into the Book of Joshua by participating in a workshopped reading of G-dcast's new screenplay adaptation. We will cast you as an actor or audience member. Critique our adaptation and offer improvements. Plus take part in a discussion about the challenges inherent in making theatrical decisions about Biblical texts. No background at all is necessary. Those who attended Part 1 of this series will enjoy a deeper understanding of the screenplay.
Archaeology in Israel: a Personal Perspective (4 of 4)
Steve Rosen
Location: Soc 7
Tracks: Archeology, Israel
Type: Lecture
Secrets of the Negev: Archaeology in the Negev begins more than a million years ago and continues through recent times. It includes campsites left by small bands of hunter-gatherers, base camps of tribal pastoralists, villages from the earliest periods of the use of metals, Israelite-period forts, Roman/Byzantine-Islamic cities and towns, and remains from recent times. It reflects human genius in its adaptation to the harsh desert environment.
Baskin-Robbins Has 31 Flavours - How About American Judaism?
Shuly Schwartz
Location: Sci 2
Tracks: Communities, Halacha, Modernity
Type: Discussion, Text Study
Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist: the favourite 'flavours' of American Jews. How did these denominations develop in the United States? We'll explore their evolution and unique contributions to American Judaism. We will also look at ways each denomination both strengthened and challenged the others. Finally, we'll reflect on 'exotic' flavours and the future of denominationalism in American Judaism.
Crafternoon Tea: Make Do and Mend
Limmud Conference Social Events Team
Location: SU Pool Room
Tracks: Arts and Crafts
Type: Creative, Social / Informal
Celebrate the joys of crafting with plenty of opportunity for socialising and tea drinking. Today we say no to fast fashion by making do and mending. Bring an item of clothing you've fallen out of love with or come along for brooch making, ribbon and embroidery techniques which will inspire you to rethink your current wardrobe. Suitable for all ages and skill levels. Remember, if it's worth wearing, it's worth repairing!
El Rachum V'chanun - the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy
Yuval Keren
Location: Ram 5
Tracks: Literature, Tanach/Text
Type: Discussion, Text Study
The thirteen attributes of mercy are a central theme in our High Holyday liturgy. In this session we will explore the context, underlying theology and use of the text, from Biblical times to our days.
Escaping the Prison of Halacha (4 of 4)
Matt Plen
Location: Soc 2
Tracks: Halacha, Modernity, Philosophy
Type: Discussion, Text Study
Is it possible to be an observant Jew in the modern world without abandoning either the Jewish ideal of obedience to God or the modern value of personal autonomy? We'll explore creative responses to this question by three orthodox (or not so orthodox) thinkers. This time, we'll go back to the text for a Talmudic reading by postmodern French philosopher, Emmanuel Levinas, who argues that rabbinic Judaism is an antidote to the evils of modernity.
Four Jewish Spiritual Revolutions that Changed the World - and Me (4 of 4)
Tzvia Greenfield
Location: Hum 1
Tracks: Modernity, Philosophy, Politics
Type: Lecture, Discussion
Are there universal values? (or: What is the Connection Between the One God and the Possibility of Universal Values?) - The crisis of modern Western culture is epitomised best perhaps by the phenomenon of multiculturalism and the celebration of plurality. Yet the Jewish monotheistic idea of the One God leads directly to the idea of Universality. Can Jewish thought contribute to the re-conciliation between multiculturalism and universality? What makes me, a devout Orthodox Jewish woman living in Israel, an enthusiastic citizen of the world?
Hot AND Bothered: the Life-Changing Chemistry of Kashrut (4 of 4)
Raphael Zarum
Location: Sci 3
Tracks: Halacha, Philosophy, Tanach/Text
Type: Lecture, Text Study
This four-part series brings some much-needed meaning to the practical intricacies of dividing meat and milk. Why is everything separate in a Jewish kitchen? Can all these laws really inspire us rather than obsess us? The Shulchan Aruch comes to life as we analyse cold collusion, hot interaction, liquid submersion and gaseous exchange. You will see how basic chemistry can unpack the living logic of Jewish law. Each session stands alone, together they are salivating.
I Am Taking Off My Kippah!
Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Location: Arts - Conference
Tracks: Education, Modernity, Philosophy
Type: Creative, Lecture
THIS IS A DOUBLE LENGTH SESSION I no longer want to be observant. Judaism has become passé. There is not only no longer any future to Judaism, there is also no need for it. To be religious is to doubt and wage war. Contemplations on how to start Judaism from scratch.
Improve Your Photographic Skills! (3 of 3)
Chaim Bacon
Location: Soc 4
Tracks: Arts and Crafts, Visual Arts
Type: Creative, Workshop / Practical
Learn to take better photographs (portraits, landscape, architecture, abstract, anything). Chaim's an ex-professional photographer and will share many skills including exposure, lighting, framing your subject, the 'rule of thirds' and much more. Session 1 was be theory. Session 2 was out on site practising & honing those skills together. This session 3 will be a review of pictures you took with more Q&A. Session may run over time.
In Conversation with Olympian Ben Helfgott - Champion Athlete and Holocaust Survivor
Adrian Cohen,
Ben Helfgott
Location: Ram 4
Tracks: History, Holocaust
Type: Discussion
Ben Helfgott is both a Holocaust survivor and a Jewish Olympian. An Ambassador for the Jewish Committee for the London Games, join Ben to learn more about his unique and moving personal story spanning his survival of Buchenwald and Theresienstadt, winning medals as a champion Weightlifter at the Maccabiah and Commonwealth Games, Captain of the Weightlifting Team at the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games, to the Munich disaster and beyond.
Innovative Jews
Ruth Soetendorp
Location: Soc 6
Tracks: Business, Current affairs, Halacha
Type: Lecture, Discussion
Since biblical times innovative Jews have brought disputes about their inventions and creations to the rabbis. Rabbinic decisions shed light on how intellectual property rights are dealt with in Jewish law up to today. No prior knowledge of rip offs, counterfeits or pirating required.
Intermediate Hebrew (3 of 3)
Etty Someck
Location: Lib 1
Tracks:
Type: Discussion, Text Study
Study Hebrew through songs emphasizing places in Israel, including Naomi Shemer songs. We will listen to CDs and sing in Hebrew. No singing skills are required. Most of the songs will be familiar to many. A fun session!
Jews in Italy: From Tacitus to Berlusconi
Sergio DellaPergola
Location: Sci 8
Tracks: Communities, Diaspora
Type: Lecture
This sesion examines over 2,000 years of the Jewish presence in Italy, with its ups and downs and extraordinary resilience. Geographical and identificational changes, cultural assimilation and creativity, legal status, the different strands of antisemitism, and the more recent adjustment to national politics.
Josephus Flavius and His Source - Nicolaus of Damascus - on Royal Hasmonean and Herodian Women
Tal Ilan
Location: Soc 8
Tracks: Age/Gender Issue, Drama, Psychology
Type: Lecture, Text Study
Josephus is the most important source for royal Jewish women in the two dynasties of the Second Temple period - the Hasmoneans and the Herodians. However this session will content - and prove - that for his descriptions he is dependent on Herod's court historian Nicolaus of Damascus, who had a very stereotypical and negative view of women while according them great influence.
Limmud 'Training the Trainers' Session 2 - Organisation and Planning (2 of 2)
Limmud International Team,
Steve Miller,
Raymond Simonson
Location: Lib 2
Tracks: Education, Leadership
Type: Workshop / Practical
This session will focus on aims and objectives and how to get a balanced programme - whether it is a half hour or a full weekend. This is the second of two sessions for anyone around the world who is involved in Limmud and who has responsibility for planning and running training sessions.
Limmud Book Club: Philip Roth's the Human Stain
Shoshi Ish-Horowicz,
Limmud Conference Social Events Team
Location: Rootes Sutherland
Tracks: Literature
Type: Creative, Discussion
This stand alone session is a chance for all book lovers to meet, chat and share insights. Dealing with one novel a day, we will discuss our favourite extracts, characters and theories - for those who've already read the book and those who haven't but would like to find out more. In today's subversive and shocking novel, Roth takes on post-Vietnam American academia with his inimitable style and darkly sardonic edge.
Limmud International Surgery (4 of 5)
Limmud International Team
Location: SU Terrace Bar
Tracks:
Type:
Limmud volunteer team members from throughout the world are welcome to join this small group discussion on a topic of the day e.g. Young Limmud, family provision, organisational structure and development, or Shabbat at Limmud. Look out for postings on the Limmud International stand in Rootes. Bring along your questions and challenges and find out what your peers have done in a similar situation or work out a solution together.
Love Your Neighbour As Yourself?
Eli Amir,
Lorna Fitzsimons,
Summer Jaber-Massarwa,
Anshel Pfeffer,
James Sevitt
Location: Ram 1
Tracks: Current affairs, Israel, Politics
Type: Panel Debate
Can Israel ever become a friend of her neighbours? What would it take? Has the recent release of Gilad Shalit helped or hindered? The panel will examine the signs.
Musicians' Intensive (4 of 4)
Jess Gold,
David Hoffman
Location: Arts - Studio
Tracks: Music Workshops
Type: Creative, Workshop / Practical
The final session of rehearsing for the Limmud musicians' intensive, taking Jewish texts as our inspiration, building to an open performance. A chance to compose, rehearse and perform with other musicians, professional and amateur. This session is intended for those who have been to at least two of the previous sessions.
Out of the Closet But Still in the Community: Facilitating Inclusion for LGBT Jews
Natalie Grazin,
Laura Janner-Klausner,
Atira Winchester,
Jonathan Wittenberg
Location: Sci 5
Tracks: Communities, Social Justice
Type:
Once upon a time, coming out as gay or lesbian automatically meant leaving the Jewish community. But increasingly, this isn't true. So how do our institutions - schools, synagogues, the JCC - demonstrate their welcome? Join a discussion in which we will share ideas and experiences, together with leaders of some of the key organisations in Anglo-Jewry.
Rabbi Shlomo Goren: the Revolutionary Chief Rabbi (3 of 3)
Marc Shapiro
Location: Arts - Ensemble
Tracks: Halacha, Israel, Modernity
Type: Lecture
We will focus on the life and thought of Rabbi Shlomo Goren. A towering figure in his lifetime, Rabbi Goren was pretty much forgotten in the years after his death. This session will examine this tragic figure and leave us wondering if it is time to revive interest in Rabbi Goren's legacy.
Shlichim on Israel: Talking the Tough Stuff (3 of 4)
Eyal Goldman,
Ilan Goldman,
Jacky Levy,
Avigail Shapira,
Hagai Shoham,
Daniel Zweig
Location: Sci 4
Tracks: Israel
Type: Panel Debate
The Jewish Agency representatives ('shlichim') in the UK, along with a guest from Israel, will debate issues on the minds of Israelis. Come hear what Israelis from different backgrounds think about what is going on in our homeland. Today we will be discussing religion and state, with religious and secular Shlichim and Jacky Levy, a prominent social commentator in Israel.
Slur Your Speech More Effectively: Why Whisky Is Kosher
Zvi Solomons
Location: Sci 7
Tracks: Food, Halacha, Tanach/Text
Type: Workshop / Practical, Text Study
Brewed by hairy kilted heathen Scots (they make it best) and stored in sherry, madiera, port or red wine barrels, with additives like glycerine, how come we see this stuff at a frum kiddush? Come, bring us a bottle of your best single malt and we'll mull over the conundrum of why this divine nectar is still considered acceptable by most Orthodox rabbis.
Stories From the She-Bible - Locked Away, Gone (4 of 4)
Maureen Kendler
Location: Soc 1
Tracks: Literature, Tanach/Text
Type: Lecture, Text Study
Where are the places that women go? Where lies safety, where is danger? These sessions explore the key places where women in Tanach are found, where they decide their fate, or where their fate is decided for them.
Stretch and Kvetch: Pilates for Intermediate
Natasha Steinberg
Location: SU Copper Rooms 1
Tracks: Dance, Meditation
Type: Workshop / Practical
Are you missing your weekly workout over the holidays? Join this booster session as a beginner to intermediate Pilates enthusiast (or someone who has some knowledge of Pilates principles) and follow a flowing and dynamic class. Bring a yoga/Pilates mat if you have one.
The Hare with Amber Eyes
Aviva Dautch,
Irene Wise
Location: Rootes Chancellors 1
Tracks: Literature
Type: Creative, Discussion
Edmund De Waal's memoir of his family's netsuke, and their journey through 19th and 20th century Paris and Vienna, was a surprise bestseller and won this year's Costa Prize for Biography. In this session we will explore the artistic, literary and historical influences on De Waal's writing, and discuss the image 'The Hare With Amber Eyes' presents of European Jewish identity.
The Paradoxical Prophet: Moses the Redeemer
Leah Malamet
Location: Ram 3
Tracks: Psychology, Tanach/Text
Type: Lecture, Text Study
Moses was a paradox. He was both 'of' and 'not of'; born of Hebrew parents, yet raised in the palace of Pharaoh. He was the 'humblest of men', yet also 'God's friend'; resistant to leadership- being 'heavy of tongue'- yet the 'Great Communicator' who demands that Pharaoh free the Hebrew slaves. We will explore- from a psychological perspective- how the puzzling paradoxes of Moses' identity are the key to understanding his leadership.
The Synagogues of Britain and Ireland: Some Architectural History
Sharman Kadish
Location: Soc 3
Tracks: Anglo Jewish Politics, Communities, Visual Arts
Type: Lecture
An illustrated lecture highlighting a selection of the best buildings from different periods and in different architectural styles and exploring what they tell us about the position of Jews in British society at the time. We will look at the The Georgian Synagogue, The Victorian Synagogue, The Twentieth Century Synagogue and The Contemporary Synagogue.
Will the UN's Support of a Palestinian State Diminish the US's Position in the Middle East?
Uri Dromi,
Daniel Johnson,
Jonathan Rynhold,
Hagai Segal,
Ned Temko
Location: Ram 2
Tracks: Current affairs, Israel, Politics
Type: Panel Debate
What will the effect of a new Palestinian state have on US-Israeli relations? How will the US's veto affect its relations with other countries in the Middle East? What are the other implications of the Palestinian vote?
YAD Track: Why Be Jewish? the Confession of a Shul-Going Atheist
Steve Israel
Location: Ram 6
Tracks:
Type:
Many of us ask (ourselves or others) the 'why be Jewish' question every so often. For those with faith in the Jewish concept of God or a concept of Divine chosen-ness, the answer is usually clear, but what about the rest of us. For many Jews today, as we all know, God is at the very least a question mark and that doesn't necessarily help us to give a good hard answer to the question. Guilt is another answer but it tends to be less convincing for many in the post-modern world. Peoplehood? Israel? Also not so simple. This is a (personal) attempt to give an answer. It took me years to get there. Now, the results!
