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Tel Aviv inspired to launch its own event

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One guest from abroad will be taking a particular interest in events at Warwick this year.

Israeli Tal Grunspan is chairman of the inaugural Limmud Tel Aviv, which is scheduled to take place over two days at a college in Jaffa next May.

Israel’s biggest city will finally join the more than 85 Limmud venues around the world — including Jerusalem, the Galilee and the Negev — which have been inspired by the British prototype.

Mr Grunspan said: “We have an incredible group of volunteers already working to make this event happen, but there’s still a long road ahead of us.

“Limmud is a completely new idea for Tel Aviv — a Jewish movement that isn’t affiliated with any particular stream or organisation or agenda, but rather seeks to create opportunities for exploration, to encourage people to ask questions and explore new ideas.”

One volunteer at the conference will be 35-year-old Richard Clayton, originally from Manchester, who made aliyah seven years ago and now works in online marketing.

He said: “It will follow the same principles as Limmud England — volunteering, community, everyone learning from everyone else, but the messaging is different.

“There will be much less content about Israel, and much more on culture, history, arts, music and technology.”

Organisers are hoping particularly to capitalise on Israel’s high-tech prowess. “We are trying to include a lot of the start-ups and some big companies like Google,” Mr Clayton said.

On the musical front, some “quite famous bands” are being lined up to play.

The main challenge will be trying to attract people who would not normally go to a Jewish event. Mr Clayton said. “There are so many non-religious people who have lost touch with their Jewish identity because religion is so mixed up with politics that the attitude of many Israelis towards Judaism is quite negative.”

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched online to raise funding.

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