麻豆约拍

From Julia Neuberger, Senior Rabbi at the west London Synagogue:

I鈥檓 off to Birmingham after this, going to an event called Limmud- literally, learning. It鈥檚 a five day conference, with thousands of Jews, plus some Christians and Muslims, giving talks, seminars, performances, and debates on subjects loosely described as Jewish. It always happens over Christmas, solving for some of us Jews the eternal question of what to do over Christmas, when it isn鈥檛 our festival, but general life shuts down.

Limmud combines a fair bit of social life with a large amount of study and learning- it is huge fun. But what it also does, which is why other countries, and other faith traditions, are examining it so closely, is enhance people鈥檚 sense of being Jewish. So some Christian groups have been exploring doing something similar, as have some Muslim groups. It plays to the idea that you can dig deeper into your faith tradition, study and learn more- AND have fun.

It encourages us to study our own faith tradition, whilst we invite others- Muslims and Christians in our case- to shine a light on some issues from outside. You can learn about such obscure things as traditional Greek Jewish music of the 19th century- as I did a few years ago, with a woman in her 80s singing the songs of her childhood, in Ladino, the language of Jews from Spain, Portugal and Greece. It was incredibly moving and she held the audience in rapt attention despite being in an overcrowded and overheated seminar room- you could have heard a pin drop.

Another year I learned about traditional Jewish embroidery, the work of skilled needlewomen who make ritual objects using patterns and techniques from a thousand years old or more! Or you can study the Bible, or rabbinic literature. There is no limit to what one can learn there- and that鈥檚 the point. We can keep our brains active, still learning, all our lives. I believe that as we keep learning, we grow. And that鈥檚 as true when we鈥檙e 95 as when we鈥檙e 5 or 55- the greatest joy of this wonderful event is to meet people of all ages there- all convinced they can continue to learn and grow until their dying day. Amen to that.

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