Warwick hosts annual Jewish conference

For five days, from December 28 to January 2, a Jewish Limmud conference was held at the university.

Thousands of ‘Limmudniks’ attended the event, at which more than 500 presenters from around the world gave lectures and chaired discussions on topics such as Jewish history and politics, religion and philosophy, arts and culture and social action.

Speakers included the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, Simon Rocker, who discussed the cost of Jewish life in Britain, and Holocaust expert Deborah Lipstadt who considered the question of whether Jews spend too much time focussing on the Shoah (Hebrew for Holocaust).

Also in attendance was Josh Runyan, editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times, and American Orthodox rabbi and author, Alan Brill. The relationship between Judaism and football was also on the agenda, with questions raised about what Jewish law states about playing the game on Shabbat.

Limmud is a British-Jewish educational charity, taking its name from the Hebrew word meaning “to learn”. It organises a conference, held every year in the last week of December, and several other events throughout the year on the theme of Jewish learning.

It is a world-wide community open to anyone who is interested in learning about the Jewish faith, and the annual winter conference typically attracts more than 2,000 participants. A standard day usually holds around 200 sessions discussing the religious, cultural and political aspects of Jewish life.

With the conference focussing on a volunteer ethos, by not paying presenters or using titles, the volunteers, or ‘volunticipants’, take part as equals alongside experts in the events. The largest group of volunteers at Limmud are in their 20s and 30s.

The conference has been held annually at Warwick since 2007, but 2015 will see the event move to Birmingham.