'Powerhouse of Anglo-Jewry’ captivates online festival-goers from 40 countries - The Jewish Chronicle

An “online festival” may appear to be a contradiction in terms.

But this year’s Limmud, compromised by the pandemic for a second year in a row, not only proved that suspicion wrong but used its supposed disadvantage to spectacular effect, attracting participation from 40 countries — including five in Africa.

Viewers from Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa joined others from Taiwan, China, Australia, Barbados and elsewhere for the threeday programme this week, along with pre-and post-Shabbat activities.

“So worth waking up for at 3.30am,” said a participant from Jamaica. Festival chairman Ben Combe said the event had proven that “it is the powerhouse of Anglo-Jewry.

Limmud is at the heart of our national conversation. We have ended a long, difficult year as a community, with the festival providing a burst of energy and optimism to get us through to 2022.”

While the 1,600 bookings were less than half those of last year’s festival when digital Jewish events were still a novelty, participant numbers would have been considerably higher than ticket sales with people sharing screens.

The 300 sessions in particular showcased an emerging generation of women educators, such as Rabbanit Shira Marili Mirvis, the first female spiritual leader of an Orthodox Israeli community.

In one panel discussion, Dr Harris Bor, author of a new book on Judaism and artificial intelligence, predicted a women’s Talmud would be written in 50 years.

At any one time of the day, 500 to 600 computers were locked into a programme that traversed Jewish history and geography. Its eclectic span encompassed more than one session on Feldenkrais, the mindful movement system developed by Israeli-Ukrainian engineer Moshe Feldenkrais.

Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party in the UK, took part in one of several talks about the climate emergency, while guest speakers on social awareness included Sherrie Smith, a Romany Gypsy activist in London.

Israeli voices ranged from Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai and Efrat Perri, who manages the London embassy’s relations with the Jewish community — who was in conversation with JC editor Jake Wallis Simons — to Lior Amihai, executive director of the human rights group Yesh Din, who spoke on settler violence.

A late-afternoon slot on Monday would have given you a choice of charity giving, Holocaust memory, youth mental health, a Sephardi family journey, mindfulness education, a radio play on Adam and Eve recast as millennials, or JC editor-at-large Stephen Pollard fielding questions.

Organisers hoped the new platform Hopin would make it easier for participants to connect irtually. But the technology was not to everyone’s liking. Deborah Freeman from London, author of a forthcoming short story collection, Tell It Not, found it “very challenging. I’m very good with Zoom but I needed a lot of guidance to getting into sessions.”

London singer Minouche Kaftel, who has attended several Limmud festivals, said she had a “great time”.

Going online during the pandemic, she added, was “a great idea — I don’t have to worry about missing a session when I’m making dinner”.