9:30am AEST
Get centred with effortless meditation
Speakers
Nikki is the co-founder of Centred Meditation, a corporate meditation business with a drop-in meditation studio in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. She stumbled upon meditation online while studying psychology at university and was astounded by its immediate effects on all aspects of...
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9:30am AEST
Who do you think you are? Jewish Australian stories
Moderators
Jacqui Wasilewsky is Manager of Community Stories at the Sydney Jewish Museum. Her department has recorded more than 150 interviews and published 76 biographies. Jacqui completed her BA/LLB in 1987 and MA (History) in 1998 at UNSW and Certificate of Interactive Multimedia in 2004...
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Speakers
As National Coordinator of the Centenary of Anzac Jewish Program, Peter organised the publication of Jewish Anzacs by Mark Dapin, facilitated projects in every State from 2014 to 2018 and attended centenaries of the Battles of Fromelles and Beersheba. One of Peter's ancestors was...
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Shelley Einfeld is a Jewish Australian with a strong family history of communal contribution. Her grandfather Sydney Einfeld was named for the city, being born just 3 weeks after his parents’ 1909 arrival for his father to become chazan at The Great Synagogue. Syd became an icon...
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Jono is a devotee of the Sydney and Israeli startup scenes and descendant of Jewish convict Abraham Rheuben and his uncle, Charles Dickens’s Fagin. His early Jewish life was traditional—a Bar Mitzvah, Friday nights, synagogue 3x a year—and communal involvement over the years...
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Eli is a law and politics graduate of the University of Sydney and last year completed a Jewish text-study fellowship in New York. She comes from a long line of Jewish Australians and is passionate about contributing to the Jewish community — working for the ECAJ and volunteering...
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9:30am AEST
Between the head and the heart: rationalism and mysticism in Judaism and Islam
Speakers
Raphael is a native of Sydney, currently residing in Melbourne. After studying at the University of Sydney and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he completed his PhD at the University of Chicago, focusing on medieval Jewish history and philosophy. He has studied at Yeshivat Hakibbutz...
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Fellow in Jewish-Muslim Relations at Shalom Hartman Institute of N.A.
Haroon Moghul is a writer, commentator and educator. He's the Fellow in Jewish—Muslim Relations at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and teaches at the Columbia University School of Journalism. His most recent book is How to be a Muslim: An American Story.
Sunday June 17, 2018 9:30am - 10:30am AEST
HAIFA ROOM
10:45am AEST
Feldenkrais: awareness through movement
Speakers
Margaret Kaye has been teaching the practice of Feldenkrais for over 20 years and is an Assistant Trainer and member of the Australian Feldenkrais Guild. Due to an occupational overuse injury Margaret was unable to work for several years. This is now a speciality area, amongst others...
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10:45am AEST
Refugees and foreign workers in Israel
Moderators
Yair Miller OAM is CEO of the UIA and Immediate Past President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies. He serves as a director of the Council for Jewish Community Security and the NSW Jewish War Memorial. Yair is also a Board Member of the NSW Judicial Commission.
Speakers
Liam is the Executive Director of the New Israel Fund Australia. He is a former national chair of the Australian Zionist Youth Council (AZYC) and the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS), a graduate of Bialik College and Habonim Dror, and was a founding director of the New...
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Journalist at Haaretz
Allison has been a journalist at Haaretz since 2012. She is the former Washington DC bureau chief for the Jerusalem Post and has written for New Republic, Politico, and others. She won a 2016 B’nei B’rith Journalism Award for Excellence in Diaspora Reportage and the 2017 Simon...
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Ron served for 10 years as Zionist Federation of Australia President and is now a life member. He is Hon. Life President of the Zionist Council of NSW, a Member of the Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors, and founding director of both the Y2i Year 10 Israel project and the Online...
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10:45am AEST
Coffee bean and tea leaf: exploring the Jewish world one mug at a time
Speakers DB
Daniel is a barista and managing director of Cap Away. Not only will he be supplying you with your morning Limmud coffee but he will also share his skills and expertise — at our first-ever coffee workshop.
Yaron Finkelstein is a political and campaigns consultant who regularly swaps the knifings and bloody world of politics for, well, the knifings and bloody world of the kitchen. A former amateur food/restaurant reviewer with a professional appetite for great food, Yaron has amassed...
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Sunday June 17, 2018 10:45am - 11:45am AEST
AKKO ROOM
10:45am AEST
One of Us: a journey away from the Hasidic world
Moderators
Simon is a drug and alcohol counsellor during the week, Jewish marriage celebrant on the weekend, and loving father and husband in any other spare minutes. If he wasn't doing that, he would be on a Limmud tour around the world, as long as it corresponded with the cricket seasons...
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Speakers
Raised in New York in an ultra-orthodox Hasidic community, Ari questioned that life from a young age. Now an atheist, he has built a life outside his insular beginnings and has publicly shared the joys and struggle of that journey via social media and in the acclaimed Netflix documentary...
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Sunday June 17, 2018 10:45am - 11:45am AEST
EILAT ROOM
10:45am AEST
12:00pm AEST
Homecoming: history and hope in the art of Ella Dreyfus
Speakers
Dr Ella Dreyfus is a visual artist and Head of Public Programs at the National Art School, Sydney. Her exhibition 'Walking in Wiesbaden' was shown at the Aktives Museum Spiegelgasse for German-Jewish History in Germany, and at the Darlinghurst Theatre with Kindertransport in 2017...
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Sunday June 17, 2018 12:00pm - 1:00pm AEST
HAIFA ROOM
12:00pm AEST
Your midday news bulletin: Israel in the now
Speakers
Journalist at Haaretz
Allison has been a journalist at Haaretz since 2012. She is the former Washington DC bureau chief for the Jerusalem Post and has written for New Republic, Politico, and others. She won a 2016 B’nei B’rith Journalism Award for Excellence in Diaspora Reportage and the 2017 Simon...
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Sunday June 17, 2018 12:00pm - 1:00pm AEST
ARAD ROOM
12:00pm AEST
Tools for change
Speakers
Stephanie has worked for a number of progressive organisations including trade unions, environmental organisations and Sydney Alliance. She has spent years working to develop individuals and groups who are committed to building a stronger and fairer democracy — as a mentor, educator...
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12:00pm AEST
Modesty stripped bare: body image, dress codes, and Jewish law
Moderators
Shirli is a consultant providing strategy and dispute resolution services. She is a Director of Resolve Advisors. She has won a number of awards for dispute resolution, and is listed in Who’s Who International for commercial mediation. Shirli is a Senior Visiting Fellow at UNSW...
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Speakers
Sharon is the program manager for the New Israel Fund Australia. She is a proud feminist, member of the Masorti community at Emanuel Synagogue and mother of two at Emanuel School. She has attended and organised many Limmuds. A former journalist who currently writes a monthly column...
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Miriam grew up in Bondi and now studies Engineering/Arts at UNSW. She has spent time in multiple Jewish educational contexts, all with religiously motivated dress codes: she attended Kesser Torah and Moriah College, studied Jewish texts at Midreshet Lindenbaum in Jerusalem and, having...
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Ariana is a clinical psychologist specialising in body image and eating disorders. In 2014 Ariana developed the prevention program ‘Raising Body-Confident Kids’ to educate and empower parents to help protect their children from developing body dissatisfaction. Ariana has shared...
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Originally from Melbourne, Chaya attended Beth Rivkah and furthered her studies at Machon Shoshanat Yerushalayim. With a passion for educating youth and empowering young Jewish women, Chaya has worked and volunteered in Jewish schools and youth groups around Australia and overseas...
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Sunday June 17, 2018 12:00pm - 1:00pm AEST
EILAT ROOM
12:00pm AEST
Forgotten refugees of the Middle East conflict: Jews from Arab lands and Iran
Moderators
Lynda is the Community Relations and Policy Manager of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, managing strategic relationships in NSW’s NGO sector, with the aims of combating racism, including antisemitism, and building social cohesion generally. Lynda spearheaded the local Jewish community's...
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Speakers
Racheline grew up in Alexandria, Egypt, but like most of the Jewish community was forced to leave in the wake of the 1956 Suez Crisis. She and her husband came to Australia as refugees. After raising three children, Racheline obtained a BA (Hons) and MPhil in French literature, and...
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Helene was born in Tehran, where her paternal family had lived for generations. The Shah’s reign has been referred to as ‘The Golden Age’ for the Iranian Jewish community: they enjoyed business, professional and cultural freedoms. Despite this, Helene’s father could foresee...
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Alfred was born in Baghdad in 1934. He completed his education at the Alliance School and in 1951, at the age of 17, left for Israel with his family as part of the mass migration that year. Alfred served in the Israeli Defence Forces and in 1957 moved to Sydney. He is currently the...
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12:00pm AEST
1:15pm AEST
Vitch: surviving under the spotlight
Speakers
Lisa is an IT specialist and still lives in Adelaide where her father, Eddie Vitch, spent his last years. She grew up hearing her father’s stories about Paris in the 1920s, the Hollywood years and what happened to him during the Holocaust. She is proud to have been the narrator...
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1:45pm AEST
Bobbie's sauerkraut revamped: ferments and pickles
Speakers
From science researcher to business consultant to fermented food maker — Carla produces and sells fermented foods and other nutritious snacks and runs workshops on incorporating these products into everyday life. Trained in molecular genetics and biochemistry, she has always had...
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Sunday June 17, 2018 1:45pm - 2:45pm AEST
AKKO ROOM
1:45pm AEST
70 years of demography and the shaping of Israel's borders
Speakers
As JNF Education Shaliach, Yigal uses education and outreach programs in Jewish day schools and holiday camps to demonstrate the tangible contributions made by JNF to improving life in Israel. He is passionate about developing educational content and values that strengthen our children's...
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Sunday June 17, 2018 1:45pm - 2:45pm AEST
EILAT ROOM
1:45pm AEST
Developing a Jewish response to people seeking asylum
Speakers
Shoshana has 30 years' experience in conflict resolution and facilitation. She is co-author of the best selling book Everyone Can Win—Responding to Conflict Constructively. Her deep concern for the current refugee and asylum seeker situation has led to her active involvement in...
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1:45pm AEST
A chavruta with the Fuhrer: Nazi readings of the Talmud
Speakers
Simon has a PhD in Classical Hebrew and Biblical Studies, for which he researched the use of metaphors in the Hebrew Bible. He currently works as an Education Officer at the Sydney Jewish Museum, running seminars on Nazi racial science and the Holocaust, but his research concerns...
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Sunday June 17, 2018 1:45pm - 2:45pm AEST
HAIFA ROOM
2:45pm AEST
3:00pm AEST
Pen of the soul: composing the niggun
Speakers
Cantor Ted Labow has served congregations in Singapore, Canada and the United States. As a baritone, he has appeared on opera stages in Italy, the US and Canada. As a composer, he has had works performed at cantorial conventions, synagogues and in film and TV. Recent works include...
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Sunday June 17, 2018 3:00pm - 4:00pm AEST
HAIFA ROOM
3:00pm AEST
Ars Poetica: culture, politics and poetry
Speakers
Poet & Founder of Ars Poetica
Adi is an Israeli poet of Yemenite descent and the founder of the popular Ars Poetica, a project which initiated a new wave of Mizrahi poetry in the form of readings combined with Middle Eastern music and dancing. Adi received the Bernstein Literary Award for her first book Black...
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3:00pm AEST
3:00pm AEST
Facing forward: future-proofing the Australian Jewish community
Moderators
Jake has been in the young adult Jewish communal space since 2009. Now the Executive Director of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS), Jake was a student leader at AUJS from 2009 until 2013, becoming National Development Convener, where he led AUJS's campaigns, conferences...
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Speakers
Donny is a politically progressive Jew from Sydney. He has a background in Habonim Dror as a madrich and chairperson, and works in informal education at Emanuel School and Emanuel Synagogue. Donny is passionate about engaging young Jews through new channels for participation, expression...
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Tamara has been the CEO of Shalom since November 2016. Tamara has led strategy and management teams at the Boston Consulting Group, Commonwealth Bank, Qantas, Jurlique skincare and NARS cosmetics. Prior to Shalom, she was on the JCA strategic planning committee. She was involved in...
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Claire has been CEO of JewishCare since 2007. She trained as a social worker in the 1970s and then spent over 10 years as a front-line caseworker, which informed her work in developing and implementing government policy and programs in diverse areas such as women's health, crime prevention...
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3:00pm AEST
The meaning of biblical violence: wrestling with the Bible's worst texts
Speakers
Chair and Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies at Earlham College
Emily is Chair and Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies at Earlham College, Indiana, where she teaches modern philosophy and ethics alongside Jewish text. A PhD from the University of Virginia, she is particularly interested in the possibility that ‘troubling texts’ — violent...
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Sunday June 17, 2018 3:00pm - 4:00pm AEST
ARAD ROOM
4:15pm AEST
The Man in the Attic: experimentation in the rehearsal room
Speakers
Moira has produced and directed mainstream professional theatre internationally since 1988. Locally she has worked with the Seymour Centre, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Opera House, with productions that have included Australian premieres of Via Dolorosa, From Door to...
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Colleen’s theatre credits include Fräulein Schneider in Cabaret (New Theatre), Belle of the Cross (Old Fitz), King Lear (Harlos), 42nd Street (Her Majesty’s Theatre). TV work includes Rake, Love My Way and Water Rats. Colleen directed and designed Sylph (Old 505, Depot Theatre...
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Playwright
Timothy Daly is one of Australia’s most internationally-produced playwrights, with a string of national and international productions and awards to his credit. Actors such as Academy-Award winners Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush have appeared in his plays. His play, Derrida In...
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Barry has a BA (Dramatic Art) majoring in Design and Acting and most recently did Cyrano de Bergerac and The Taming of the Shrew, for Sport for Jove, and The Chosen, for Moira Blumenthal Productions. He recently directed Marat/Sade at the New Theatre. In July, Barry will be performing...
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4:15pm AEST
The people's army — for which people?
Speakers
Mitch has spent the past seven years educating youth from Habonim Dror in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK and Israel. After living in Israel in a socialist commune, serving in the IDF, and working for HaNo'ar HaOved VeHalomed (Federation of Working & Studying Youth...
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Sunday June 17, 2018 4:15pm - 5:15pm AEST
HAIFA ROOM
4:15pm AEST
Jewish pirates of the Caribbean
Speakers
Tommy is a long-time Limmudnik who loves to ask questions and explore the origin of all things Jewish. His Jewish passion spans the traditional to the academic, presented in an engaging manner with his uniquely humorous and irreverent approach. His other passion includes the Beatles...
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4:15pm AEST
Everyone needs a Muslim friend (to ask those awkward questions)
Moderators
Yoav is the AUJS NSW Shaliach. During his teenage years in Israel, Yoav was a youth counsellor and activist and participated in Jewish Agency for Israel summer programs in the USA. He served in the IDF for six years, in the Strategic & International Divisions, where he gained vast...
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Speakers
Fellow in Jewish-Muslim Relations at Shalom Hartman Institute of N.A.
Haroon Moghul is a writer, commentator and educator. He's the Fellow in Jewish—Muslim Relations at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and teaches at the Columbia University School of Journalism. His most recent book is How to be a Muslim: An American Story.
4:15pm AEST
Colour my midrash
Speakers
Alon is a Rabbi, community developer, sociologist, historian, chef and dabbling painter. He has MAs in sociology and medieval Jewish history. Alon loves to brew beer, cook, drink wine, camp and explore the world. He has a passion for connecting with people and looking at our texts...
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5:30pm AEST
Kosher Theatresports
Speakers
Geoff swapped a high-profile journalist and consumer advocate kippah for one as a full-time performer and arts publicist. Countless stage and screen roles include iconic Jewish ones such as The Laden Table, The Diary of Anne Frank, Fiddler on the Roof, The Merchant of Venice, Merchants...
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5:30pm AEST
5:30pm AEST
Six Australian synagogues: the architecture of faith
Speakers
Benjamin Elton is the Chief Minister of The Great Synagogue. He is from Manchester, studied at Cambridge and London Universities and worked for seven years in the British Civil Service. He received semicha from YCT Rabbinical School in New York and from Rabbi Chaim Rapoport in London...
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Sunday June 17, 2018 5:30pm - 6:30pm AEST
HAIFA ROOM
5:30pm AEST
From communal authenticity to personal truth
Speakers
Raised in New York in an ultra-orthodox Hasidic community, Ari questioned that life from a young age. Now an atheist, he has built a life outside his insular beginnings and has publicly shared the joys and struggle of that journey via social media and in the acclaimed Netflix documentary...
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5:30pm AEST
Out loud: LGBTQI+ experiences in the Jewish community
Moderators
Zehava is a fourth-year law student at UTS and an openly gay Jewish woman. She has been actively involved with AUJS for the past two years and is now serving as AUJS president at UTS. As part of her engagement with the student community/politics, Zehava was president of Out2Party...
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Speakers
Roz is a writer, researcher and educator whose writing has appeared in The Big Issue, Daily Life, Huffington Post, Junkee and SBS. Roz's work was shortlisted for the Scribe Nonfiction Prize in 2014 and won the Stonnington Prize for Poetry in 2016.
Nemi Lobel is a year 12 student and current school captain at Kesser Torah College. She has always been involved in school leadership and extracurriculars and strives for positivity and enthusiasm in whatever she does. Nemi is passionate about animal welfare and plans to study veterinary...
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David is an Israeli-born Australian who grew up in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. A lawyer with a background in industrial design and engineering, he has been very active in the Jewish community across a range of initiatives and organisations, most recently in collaboration with Emanuel...
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Sunday June 17, 2018 5:30pm - 6:30pm AEST
EILAT ROOM
6:00pm AEST
7:00pm AEST
Between the Dome of the Rock and a hard place
Speakers
Zalman Kastel grew up a white, male Chabadnik in a racially divided Brooklyn, and was transformed by encounters with Christians and Muslims. He is now National Director of the Together for Humanity Foundation — a multifaith not-for-profit organisation that is helping schools and...
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Fellow in Jewish-Muslim Relations at Shalom Hartman Institute of N.A.
Haroon Moghul is a writer, commentator and educator. He's the Fellow in Jewish—Muslim Relations at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and teaches at the Columbia University School of Journalism. His most recent book is How to be a Muslim: An American Story.
7:00pm AEST
Biggest F*Ups
Moderators
Jonathan is an entrepreneur and brand strategist who has helped grow some of Australia's most recognisable brands. Once one of the most watched Australians in the world on YouTube, he was named Employer of Year for a dating startup he grew during his time at university. He also has...
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Speakers
Daniella Menachemson is the founder of 'Furniture and Me' and the bespoke commercial furniture business 'B Seated Global'. With over 10 years' experience in the furniture industry, Daniella is passionate and focused about design and delivering custom furniture at affordable price...
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Ashleigh has been involved in high level sport since the age of 4, testing the waters with swimming (pun originally not intended), track and field, netball (representing Australia at Maccabiah Games, winning gold in both), touch football, rugby union, rugby 7s and currently rugby...
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Adam began his career in the kitchens of celebrated restaurants Est and Marque, before travelling abroad. Honing his focus towards Ételek (‘food’ in Hungarian), he has initiated a series of pop-ups serving modern Jewish food, held at the likes of Ester, Bar Brosé, Lee Ho Fook...
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7:00pm AEST
Transformation on the page: Jewish texts that changed me
Moderators
Aviva works in social media for the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and has a BA (Hons) in Jewish Studies and English Literature. She is married with children, has a cavoodle, loves going for bushwalks, watching movies and having time to read a great book!
Speakers
Raphael is a native of Sydney, currently residing in Melbourne. After studying at the University of Sydney and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he completed his PhD at the University of Chicago, focusing on medieval Jewish history and philosophy. He has studied at Yeshivat Hakibbutz...
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Chair and Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies at Earlham College
Emily is Chair and Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies at Earlham College, Indiana, where she teaches modern philosophy and ethics alongside Jewish text. A PhD from the University of Virginia, she is particularly interested in the possibility that ‘troubling texts’ — violent...
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Goldie has learned and taught Torah in Sydney, Israel, and the US. She has a passion for philanthropy and learning, with a deep interest in classic Jewish text and Hasidic philosophy. Although she works in the finance world, she has taught Jewish Studies in Sydney and was a Summer...
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Yoav is the AUJS NSW Shaliach. During his teenage years in Israel, Yoav was a youth counsellor and activist and participated in Jewish Agency for Israel summer programs in the USA. He served in the IDF for six years, in the Strategic & International Divisions, where he gained vast...
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Sunday June 17, 2018 7:00pm - 8:00pm AEST
EILAT ROOM
8:00pm AEST
No place like home: words + music
Moderators
Miriam Hechtman is a journalist, creative producer and poet. She is passionate about women’s rights, rituals and community, and feels particularly alive when meeting new people, listening to their stories and connecting with them. Miriam founded and hosts POETICA, a monthly open...
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Speakers
Yuval Ashkar is a composer, oud player and vocalist. His unique style of oud playing has evolved through a synthesis of Turkish, Iraqi, Egyptian and North African influences and techniques. Yuval has worked with a large range of musicians from different musical backgrounds, including...
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Ruth studies Arts/Law at the University of Sydney and works in the not-for-profit sector. She has volunteered extensively — promoting cultural awareness and advocating on issues such as female genital mutilation. She participated in the 2017 NSW Jewish Board of Deputies 'We Are...
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Poet & Founder of Ars Poetica
Adi is an Israeli poet of Yemenite descent and the founder of the popular Ars Poetica, a project which initiated a new wave of Mizrahi poetry in the form of readings combined with Middle Eastern music and dancing. Adi received the Bernstein Literary Award for her first book Black...
Read More →
One part sound adventurer, two parts musical monk, Simon Starr has compulsively taken the road less travelled. After a childhood immersed in his parent's record collection, Starr graduated from the VCA in 1993 and since then has performed, recorded, produced, arranged and composed...
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