Remembering not to forget: What I did at Limmud

I just thought I'd write down the titles of all the educational seminars and lectures I went to on Limmud.

You see, when I came back I had grand plans. Firstly, I would lay out the grand highlights and lowlights of Limmud. Second, I would utilise what I had learnt by teaching it, explaining it and criticising it. Thirdly, I thought I'd have time to incorporate the material into other philosophical discussions I have and with other reading. Fourth, I thought I'd be able to use my experience at Limmud to discuss how Jewish education should be taught.

Whilst these plans are still there, time is a limiting factor! And I have such a bad memory that if I leave it any longer, then I will forget completely. Plus, it would just be good to keep a record of this week of my life. Given that I don't keep a diary (or more accuratly start but never continue to keep a diary), most parts of my life have been consigned to memoryless oblivion. So any testimony to the fact that the time of my life did indeed exist is welcome!

Hopefully, at the very least, I will update the sessions below with at least a short summary of what the session is about, while I still remember.

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Self, Other, Text, G-d: Rosenzweig to Levinas- Dr. Tamra Wright
1. Rosenzweig
2. Buber
3. Fackenheim
4. Levinas

Radical Medieval Poetry- Jeremy Schonfield

Conversion in Jewish Law- Diana Villa
1. From the sources
2. Current situation in Israel

Does Truth Matter When it Comes to Religion?- Jonathan Wittenberg

The Truth Behind Four Great Talmudic Stories- Rabbi Dr. Raphael Zarum
1. Defrosting Hillel
2. The defence of Akavyah ben Mehalalel
3. Some Rabbis Do: Rabbi Yehosua versus the Athenians
4. Jewish caveman: R. Shimon bar Yocha’s escapade

Love, Learning and Laundry: Gender roles in Jewish Marriage- Tamra Wright and Rabbi Dr. Michael Harris

Where to Look for Miracles- Jacob Joshua Ross

Letters from an Unknown Woman: Joseph’s Dream- Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg

Trembling Before G-d

Where and Why Israel has Gone Wrong and What We Can Do About It- R’ Shlomo Riskin

The Expulsion of the Arab- R’ Gideon Sylvester
3. Expulsion
4. Reconcilliation?

Nehama Leibowitz: The Grande Dame of Bible Teaching- Yael Unterman, Chaim Weiner, Tamar Ross

Heresy, is it Jewish?- Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

History on Trial: Reflections on Irving v. Lipstadt- Deborah Lipstadt

Futuristic Judaism: Contra ‘Halacha’, Pro Mitzvah and Spiritual Authenticity- Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

What Happens When Educators Find Solutions to Problems Children Don’t Have: The Case of Integrated Bilingual Palestinian-Jewish Education in Israel- Zvi Bekerman

I am going to faint

I’m here in University of Warwick for Limmud’s Winter conference and I have a smile as wide as my face and I haven’t even done anything yet. Just the atmosphere. You can breathe it; sense it; live it. Already in 10 minutes, I have seen old grannies, long bearded rabbis, secular women, young families, knitted kippot galore, lots of people I know, hundred I don’t, Muslims, doughnuts, a 10 year old volunteer, a massive chanukiah, people helping out, everyone smiling, everyone ready to learn. Breathe Neil, Breathe

I have just put my stuff down in some university Halls of Residence and this is what it should have felt like to be at university. A culture of everyone together, everyone different, everyone wanting to learn.

My problem will be in deciding what to do. There are 5 days with about 10 time-slots per day. Some timeslots have over 30 things happening at once to choose from. In half an hours time- in just one slot- there are the following to choose from:

· Elijah, the Wandering Jew
· Homeopathy-Jewish Roots
· The State of the Nation- Israel Politics and Diplomacy: What’s on the agenda for 2009?
· Next year where? Thinking about Jewish Future
· Eros and the Jews
· A Tour of Tehillim
· Traditional Jewish Paper Cuts
· Gender and Religious Identity in Orthodox Popular Music
· Limmud South Africa: Democratising a community?
· The First Timers Guide to Limmud
· Introduction to Young Limmud
· How to change the world in three easy steps
· Self, Other Text, G-d: Dialogical Philosophy from Rosenzweig to Levinas
· Can Halacha make sense? Beyond formalism, postmodernism, historicism and sociologism
· The Psychological Significance of Mezuzah: Symbol or Superstition?
· Mass Communication and the Transformation of Contemporary Democracies
· Songwriting and Music Sharing Workshop
· Jewish Magic, Magical Judaism
· Write Reaction to Limmud
· How does a Jew say ‘I’m sorry’?
· A Jewish Lobby in the UK?

All in one session, and most happening only once, and more than one I want to do. Really, I should go to the intro session to Limmud so that I know what the hell is going on. But I can’t, and won’t. Too much to do! I have 25 minutes to choose and get there. Stressful and exciting all in once.