Brighton rocks to the beat of Limmud

For children, there was puppetry, Israeli dancing, challah baking and a session with TV vet Marc Abraham.

Brighton's own Polina Shepherd showcased improvised Chasidic tunes and her klezmer musician husband Merlin gave a talk on his involvement in Yiddish and British theatre. They joined the Chutzpah Choir and other musicians in the Limmud finale.

Jewish Council for Racial Equality executive director Dr Edie Friedman used the event to unveil Jcore's No Way to Live charter, calling on the government to introduce a single asylum support system to provide cash assistance to those who would otherwise be destitute while they are in the UK.

Lord Beecham was among signatories of the charter, also urging the government to grant asylum seekers the right to work after they have been here for six months and to restore their eligibility for secondary healthcare. He said that "as the grandson of people who found refuge in Britain from the pogroms of Eastern Europe, I endorse the campaign to combat destitution".

Dr Friedman added: "Who better than the Jewish community to speak up for vulnerable refugees? Most of them have fled horrors we can hardly imagine, only to be forced into misery and marginalisation here. These concessions would, at a stroke, end their destitution and restore their human dignity."