Board hosts packed sessions at Limmud

The Board had its biggest ever presence at Limmud 2015 with a huge range of sessions discussing everything from climate change to devolution.

One of the highlights was a debate on whether climate change should be a Jewish problem – an intense and lively discussion between Professor Geoffrey Alderman and the Board’s Social Action Officer Rabbi Natan Levy. A large audience was treated to an erudite and largely good natured discussion on whether climate change was man-made and if so what should be done to correct it – and  how our response should be guided by our own religion and culture.

The Board lent its expertise to a panel discussing whether devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland meant for the Jewish community, while social policy expert Dilwar Hussein spoke to two packed session about radical extremism and his own Muslim perspective on Zionism.

Vasiliki Scurfield, the mother of the first Briton to be killed fighting ISIS alongside Kurdish fighters spoke movingly to Board Chief Executive Gillian Merron  about how her son was motivated by a sense of justice and human rights..

Other well attended sessions included a talk by a British female army officer about her experience of being Jewish in the military and another on the “kosher chicken index” by Anthony Tricot on the real price of living Jewishly. There was also a discussion about how Jews and Christians can promote an honest and productive dialogue about the Israel-Palestine conflict through the Holy Land Letter – a blueprint for thoughtful dialogue between the two faiths.

The Board was represented at Limmud by President Jonathan Arkush, Senior Vice President Richard Verber and Vice Presidents Marie van der Zyl and Sheila Gewolb as well as staff members.