This is now the sixth year I've been at the Limmud Conference in Nottingham over Christmas, and it's the first year I haven't been there for at least the 5 days of the full Conference. On Monday, I attended the following sessions:
- Ethics and Aesthetics - Photos in Media - a panel consisting of one photojournalist, one writer and two editors, all Israeli
- A Voice from the End of the World - a study of a Rabbinic poem, presented by an Israeli student and teacher of Biblical and Rabbinic literature
On Tuesday, I attended:
- Skipped the early morning (8am) slot...
- Ango-Jewry: the Pre-Expulsion Community - presented by "Director of the Office for Small Communities, former President of the United Synagogue"
- Demography in Israel and Palestine: Trends and Policy Implications - presented by the Hebrew University demographer who has been at the centre of the demography furor this year
- Beyond Belief: Doctrine in Contemporary Jewish Thought - presented by the same teacher as the Buber session above
- The Academic Boycott - presented by the President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews
- Genocide and Denial in the 21st Century: What Have We Learnt from the Past? - a small workshop presented by a former teacher and phsychologist who is now a "Freelance Racism and genocide Educator", helped by a friend of hers who is a black policeman in Leicester
- Heeb and the New Jew - presented by the editor and publisher of this modern Jewish culture magazine, which describes itself as, amongst other things, "a sweaty prizefight between hip hop and sushi in this corner and klezmer and kugel in the other"
- Speed Chavruta - a series of short 1-on-1 discussions about various Biblical texts dealing with love, moderated by a young community activist who is part of a family of 4 presenters at this year's Conference
- History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving - presented by Deborah Lipstadt, who was sued by the notorious racist, anti-Semite and Holocaust denier for libel, and not only won, but destroyed him professionally and financially in the process, with quiet determination, honest intelligence and astounding humility. The only time I've ever seen someone get a standing ovation at Limmud.
- The Israeli Media and the Occupation - presented by the same writer who sat on the panel at the first session above
- Again, I skipped the midnight slot...
For those who don't know Limmud, note that this was 2 days of a 4.5 (or 6 if you include the pre-Conference Shabbat) day conference. In any one of these slots, I could have attended other sessions of different types on very different subjects - at the peak of the day, there can be 30 or more organised sessions, as well as an open library and study area, a marketplace and expo, a bookshop, and hundreds of people just relaxing, sharing a coffee and socialing in an open atmosphere. There are special programmes for younger people, sessions aimed at parents and families, and a lot more creative and arts-related stuff (particularly dance, music and other performance) which I tend to avoid, simply because I prefer more intellectual sessions, and the choice is there.
While it certainly wasn't the only reason, attending Limmud, and seeing the friends I'm made and see there every year was one of the major factors in my flying approximately 20,000km (12,500 miles) to be in the UK at the end of 2005. If you have the chance to attend future Conference or local One-day events, run - don't walk.