Since relaunching in October 2020, the Lyons Learning Project has gone from strength to strength…
When the State of Israel was declared in 1948, its founders agonised over the wording of the Declaration of Independence, which would be a statement of intent for the fledgling federation. While specific reference to God was kept out, references to non-Jewish inhabitants of Israel were included – the country tasked itself with ensuring complete equality of social and political rights to all who live there. Speakers from the Israeli organisation Rabbis for Human Rights will explore how Jewish law influenced the writing of this document – and the uncodified Constitution that followed it – and ask whether the modern state has lived up to the Jewish values of its founders. This event originally took place 22 February 2023, hosted in association with Jewish Renaissance. To watch the full recording, click on the picture above.
While the Irgun and Haganah have become legendary in the story of the Jewish struggle against the British Mandate, there is no denying their controversial tactics – with the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem being the most famous example. So are they heroes or terrorists? In this session, writer Julia Pascal, whose new play 12:37 explores this episode, will offer her perspective on the struggle for independence. This talk was originally held on 15th February 2023 in conjunction with Jewish Renaissance. To watch the full recording, click on the picture above.
In the second instalment of our series about Jewish life and culture in pre-state Israel, we welcome Ester Namdar Tamam, the creator of hit Netflix series The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem. Based on the bestselling novel by Sarit Yishai-Levi, the show portrays four generations of a Sephardi family, set against a backdrop of the Ottoman Empire, British Mandate and the War of Independence. Namdar Tamam tells us what it was like to bring the Yishuv to life for a modern audience. This event originally took place 1 February 2023, hosted in association with Jewish Renaissance. To watch the full recording, click on the picture above.
Exploring the Yishuv: Jewish Art in the 1930s - From the very first steps of artistic activity in Jewish Palestine in the first quarter of the 20th century, there were attempts to establish a “local, genuine” art. The idea was that the art made in Eretz Yisrael – often called Hebrew Art, to distinguish it from Jewish art – was significantly different from art created in the diaspora. Dr Dalia Manor explores the developments in art in Jewish Palestine during this period and the ideology behind this new style of art. This talk was originally held on 25th January with Jewish Renaissance. To watch the full recording, click on the picture above.
Exploring the Yishuv: A Historial Overview - What was Jewish life like under the British Mandate? What did the Jewish community look like before Israeli independence? How did the different waves of immigration change the nature of the Yishuv? And how did the Yishuv shape the modern state of Israel? Professor Aviva Halamish, historian at the Open University of Israel and editor-in-chief of the Open University of Israel Press, examines this dynamic period of Israeli history. This talk was originally held on Wednesday 18th January in conjunction with Jewish Renaissance. Click on the picture to watch the full recording.
100 Years of the BBC: A Life in News with Mark Damazer - Having spent 30 years at the BBC, variously as Newsnight editor, head of political progammes, director of BBC News and controller of BBC Radio 4, Mark Damazer has been firmly at the heart of some of the biggest stories and controversies of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Here he reflects on his time at the leading broadcaster and on the BBC’s news and political output: past, present and future. This event originally took place 12 December 2022, hosted in association with Jewish Renaissance and Insiders/Outsiders. Click on the picture above to watch the full recording.
100 Years of the BBC: Jewish Voices in a Christian Country - The BBC is a national institution and, as such, its religious programming has a duty to reflect the Anglican majority – as witnessed in Songs of Praise’s 60-year Sunday morning slot on BBC One. But in an increasingly multicultural society, how is the BBC making space for Jewish leaders and ideas? Join Rabbis Pete Tobias and Jonathan Wittenberg, alongside religion and ethics radio producer Alex Strangwayes-Booth, to find out. This event originally took place 5 December 2022, hosted in association with Jewish Renaissance and Insiders/Outsiders. Click on the picture above to watch the full recording.
100 Years of the BBC: Insiders Outsiders - From music to fine art to architecture, for a century the BBC has been at the forefront of promoting arts and culture in the UK. Monica Bohm-Duchen, founding director of Insiders/Outsiders, explores the remarkable lives and careers of three creative Jewish émigrés, who played key roles in the early years of the BBC: musician Hans Keller, art and architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner and artist Milein Cosman. She’ll be joined in discussion by Dr Stephen Games, founder of Booklaunch and EnvelopeBooks and author of four books on Sir Nikolaus Pevsner; Alison Garnham, cultural historian in the social history of music in Britain in the mid-20th century and founder of the Hans Keller Archive at Cambridge University Library; and art historian Ines Schlenker, who specialises in National Socialist, degenerate and émigré art, and recently published books on Cosman and Chagall. This event took place on 28th November 2023 and was held in conjunction with Jewish Renaissance and Insiders Outsiders. Click on the picture to watch the full recording.
100 Years of the BBC: Dramatic Jewish Voices - Jack Rosenthal brought authentic Jewish stories to British TV in pieces such as Bar Mitzvah Boy, for the Play for Today series; Martin Esslin, as head of radio drama at the BBC, nurtured a generation of British writing talent; and TV personality Jonathan Miller’s (pictured above) career spanned theatre, comedy and documentaries. In this session, their children – playwright Amy Rosenthal, musician Monica Esslin-Peard and writer William Miller – come together to discuss the impact of their fathers’ work. This event was held with Jewish Renaissance and Insiders Outsiders. Click on the picture to watch the full recording.
100 Years of the BBC: A Conversation with Alan Yentob - As a former BBC creative director and the presenter of Imagine on BBC One, Alan Yentob has interviewed a wide variety of fascinating figures over nearly two decades. In this session, we turn the tables and speak to Yentob about his life, career and how his Jewish upbringing has influenced his work at the BBC. This event originally took place 14 November 2022, hosted in association with Jewish Renaissance and Insiders/Outsiders. Click on the picture to watch the full recording.
100 Years of the BBC: The Emigre Contribution - To kick off our series marking the BBC's 100th anniversary, we chart the broad sweep of the organisation's history, with special focus on the contribution of European Jewish émigrés during and after World War II. Guest speakers are David Hendy, historian and author of The BBC: A People’s History, plus Daniel Snowman, former senior producer on BBC Radio features and documentaries. Chaired by journalist David Herman. This event originally took place 7 November 2022, hosted in association with Jewish Renaissance and Insiders/Outsiders. Click on the picture to watch the full recording.
Art historian and Insiders/Outsiders’ founding director Monica Bohm-Duchen presents the final instalment of our series celebrating the centenary of artist Lucian Freud. She discusses the National Gallery's major Freud retrospective, setting the artworks featured in the wider context of the artist's life and career. This event originally took place 3 November 2022, hosted in association with Jewish Renaissance and Insiders/Outsiders. Click on the picture to watch the full recording.
Elizabeth Lamle, a doctoral student in the field of art history and migration, examines key works from the National Portrait Gallery’s unexplored archive of Lucian Freud’s early drawings and correspondence. With material ranging from 1928 to 1951, she shares new insights into the development of Freud’s language, cultural identity and artistic practice. This event originally took place 20 October 2022, hosted in association with Jewish Renaissance and Insiders/Outsiders. Click on the picture to watch the full recording.
The Sea House - Inspired by the letters of her grandfather, the architect Ernst Freud, Esther Freud’s novel The Sea House depicts postwar Britain as experienced by a group of German Jewish émigrés. She joins us to discuss the book and the real family history behind her fiction. We were proud to host this event in association with the Jewish Renaissance. Click on the picture above to watch the recording in full.
Sacred and Profane: Émigré Art Dealers - Our final lunchtime lecture on Jewish art through the ages looked to the émigrés who, having fled Nazi Europe, embraced the future and introduced avant-garde artists to the British public. These pioneering dealers, three of them fearless women, transformed the London gallery scene. Discover how profound an impact the artists’ work made, then and now, with Sue Grayson Ford, who founded and ran the Serpentine Gallery for its first 13 years and is a qualified Blue Badge Guide, plus art advisor and art historian Cherith Summers who, together with Grayson Ford, co-curated Brave New Visions: The Émigrés who Transformed the British Art World at Sotheby's in 2019. This event originally took place 28 June 2022 and was held in association with Jewish Renaissance. To view the full recording, click on the image above.
Sacred and Profane: The Whitechapel Boys (and Girl) - We continued the lunchtime lectures on Jewish art through the ages with Irene Wise, the first art director of JR magazine and honorary fellow in Media and Culture at the University of Roehampton. She looks at artists and intellectuals from the Jewish East End and how they contributed enormously to the culture of Britain during the early decades of the 20th century. Wise pays particular attention to four artists living in Whitechapel, who trained at the Slade School of Art: Isaac Rosenberg, Mark Gertler, David Bomberg and Clara Winston (née Birnberg). This event originally took place 14 June 2022 and was held in association with Jewish Renaissance. To watch the full recording, click on the image above.
Sacred and Profane: The Artist Siblings - Our series on Jewish art through the ages continues with guest lecturer Julia Weiner, associate professor of Art History and director of content for Liberal Arts at Regent's University London. She introduces three Victorian Jewish painters from the same family: Abraham Solomon was well known and popular, while his sister Rebecca worked for the famed Pre-Raphaelite Millais and their brother Simeon was associated with The Brotherhood until a sex scandal resulted in him being sent to the workhouse. This event originally took place 17 May 2022 and was held in association with our partners at Jewish Renaissance. To view the full recording, click on the image above.
Sacred and Profane: Women in Biblical Art - As part of our series, Sacred and Profane: Jewish Art Through the Ages, well known feminist art historian and cultural analyst Professor Griselda Pollock discusses depictions of biblical women in paintings from the Renaissance to the present day. Since 1977, Pollock has been one of the most influential scholars of visual culture in the UK. She is a major influence in feminist theory, feminist art history and gender studies, renowned for her innovative feminist approaches to art history, which aim to deconstruct the lack of appreciation and importance of women in art as more than objects for the male gaze. This event originally took place 3 May 2022 and was held in conjunction with our partners at Jewish Renaissance. To view the full recording, click on the image above.
Jewish Medical Ethics: Assisted Dying - Should the choice to die be our own? The proposed Assisted Dying Bill has thrown up a flurry of ethical questions, but how should Jews be responding to it? We were joined at the final instalment of our Jewish Medical Ethics series by a panel of experts to explore the reality of euthanasia in relation to Jewish beliefs surrounding the preservation of life, end of life, burial and mourning. Guest speakers: Rabbi Danny Rich, the former chief executive of Liberal Judaism; Dr Harrie Cedar, healthcare chaplain at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital; and Rabbi Dr Michael Harris, author of Divine Command Ethics and a communal rabbi of an Orthodox synagogue. This event originally took place 21 February 2022 with our partners at Jewish Renaissance. To watch the full recording, click on the image above.
Jewish Medical Ethics: Reading Minds - In recent years there’s been a heightened awareness of mental health issues, but resources to treat them have become increasingly scarce. In this session we examined the impact of developments in presentation, diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues on patient rights and communal responsibilities and, based on Rabbi Hillel's key question over 2,000 years ago, asks: Who will be for me? Guest speakers: psychotherapist, psychoanalyst, writer and social critic Dr Susie Orbach; patient advocate David Gilbert; consultant psychiatrist and JAMI adviser Dr Louise Morganstein; and Rabbi Howard Cooper, author of Soul Searching: Studies in Judaism and Psychotherapy. This event originally took place 14 February 2022 with our partners at Jewish Renaissance. To watch the full recording (which contains reference to suicide), click on the image above.
Jewish Medical Ethics: Recycled Parts - Can a religious Jew accept a pig’s organs to save their life? And where does it leave God if we can replace body parts with artificial ones designed by humans? In this session, we were joined by Professor Anthony Warrens, a consultant transplant physician who is both dean for education at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry as well as a former chair of the London School of Jewish Studies. He discussed new possibilities in organ transplantation – human, animal and artificial – and considered the ethical implications in relationship to halacha (Jewish law). This event originally took place 7 February 2022 with our partners at Jewish Renaissance. To watch the full recording, click on the picture above.
Jewish Medical Ethics: Reproducing Jews - IVF, surrogacy, three-parent embryos using mitochondrial DNA, uterine transplants… None of these treatments had been conceived of when the Talmudic rabbis were debating and creating halacha (Jewish law) about the womb. So how does Jewish culture and tradition deal with the ethical ramifications raised by such advances in reproductive technology? To find out, we were joined by Professor Susan Martha Kahn, director of the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University, and Guila Vas Mouyal, Jnetics’ outreach, research and development manager. This event originally took place 31 January 2022 with our partners at Jewish Renaissance. To watch the full recording, click on the picture above.
Jewish Medical Ethics: Designer Babies - In part two of our Jewish Medical Ethics series we discussed studies in gene editing with Dr Juliette Harris, specialist genetic counsellor at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, and Dr Daniel Eisenberg, a noted lecturer in the area of Jewish medical ethics, radiologist and assistant professor of diagnostic imaging at Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine. This event was hosted in association with Jnetics and Jewish Renaissance and originally took place 24 January 2022. To watch the full recording, click on the picture above.
Jewish Medical Ethics: Just because we can, should we? How do religious Jews handle new scientific breakthroughs that aren’t obviously covered by Jewish ethics and law? Find out in the first instalment of our six-part series on Jewish Medical Ethics, with Professor Paul Root Wolpe, who directs the Center for Ethics at Emory University and was the chief bioethicist at NASA, and Rabbi Joseph Dweck, Senior Rabbi of the S&P Sephardi Community. This event originally took place 17 January 2022 with our partners at Jewish Renaissance. To watch the full recording, click on the picture above.
Taking Centre Stage: Award-winning director and the National Theatre’s former artistic director, Sir Nicholas Hytner, plus award-winning West End theatre producer and founder of Aria Entertainment, Katy Lipson, shared stories of their experiences within the industry and thoughts on what the future holds for Jewish theatre. This talk was held with Jewish Renaissance. Click on the picture to watch the full recording.
Spies, Lies and Secret Missions: The Portuguese Schindler - Members of the US-based de Sousa Mendes Foundation joined us in honouring the Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes, who helped save thousands of Jews during World War II. This event was held with Jewish Renaissance. Click on the picture to watch the recording.
Spies, Lies and Secret Missions: Elizabeth - Discover the story of one of history’s most intriguing typographers, Elizabeth Friedlander, in Katharine Meynell’s short film Elizabeth. It tells of an accomplished designer, who was born into an affluent Jewish family in Berlin, 1903, but had to flee Nazi persecution, taking only her mother’s 18th-century Klotz violin and her portfolio. The screening is followed by a discussion between the director and Julia Weiner, director of content for Liberal Arts and associate professor of Art History at Regents University. This event was held with Jewish Renaissance. Click on the picture to watch the recording.
Spies, Lies and Secret Missions: The Story of Wilfrid Israel - Wilfrid Israel, owner of the largest department store in Berlin in the 1930s and a major art collector, played an important role in the rescue of thousands of Jews from Nazi Germany, yet remains almost a complete enigma. Why is so little known of this figure? Yonatan Nir, director of The Essential Link: The Story of Wilfrid Israel, uncovered Israel's remarkable story and the reason it has disappeared from history. He was also joined by Jonathan Oppenheimer, who appears in the documentary and whose family were rescued by Israel. This event was held with Jewish Renaissance. Click on the picture to watch the recording.
Spies, Lies and Secret Missions: Operation Mincemeat - In 1943, a secret British operation gambled on the careful positioning of a corpse and a briefcase full of forged documents. Retold first by journalist Ben Macintyre, then as a West End musical by SpitLip Theatre – and soon to be released as a film starring Colin Firth – this tale of deception is the subject of our lively discussion. Formulated by Jewish judge and Royal Navy intelligence officer Ewen Montagu, Operation Mincemeat changed the course of World War II. We are delighted to be joined by members of the Montagu family for an inside look at this all-important mission, as well as writer, actor, comedian, singer and SpitLip member Natasha Hodgson. This event was held with Jewish Renaissance. Click on the picture to watch the full recording.
Spies, Lies and Secret Missions: Working for the War Effort - German-speaking refugees were involved in every aspect of British propaganda during WWII: for the Ministry of Information, the BBC and for intelligence organisations such as Electra House, Special Ops and Political Warfare Executives. Professor Charmian Brinson explores the paradoxical importance of ‘enemy aliens’ to the war effort, particularly how the foreign civil servants engaged with covert materials about their countries of origin, now designated enemy territory. This event was held with Jewish Renaissance. To watch the recording, click on the picture.
Spies, Lies and Secret Missions: X Troop - Forget Inglourious Basterds, Leah Garrett reveals the true story behind the real-life Jewish commandos who wreaked havoc against the Nazis during WWII. As detailed in her latest book, X Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos of World War II, Churchill arranged to have the clandestine X Troop unit (also known as a suicide squad), formed of Jewish refugees, trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat to aid the British war effort. This event was held with Jewish Renaissance. Click on the picture to watch the recording.
The Ugandan Abayudaya owe their origins to Semei Kakungulu, who in the early years of the 20th century renounced Christianity and circumcised himself and his followers. They followed biblical practice until visiting Jews taught them about rabbinic Judaism. In 2002 they formally converted to Judaism through the American Conservative movement and some have subsequently undergone Orthodox conversions. In this session, we were joined by Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, the first native African to receive Semicha (rabbinic ordination). He is chief rabbi to the Abayudaya and the first Jewish member of Ugandan Parliament. Click on the picture to view the talk in full.
At an estimated 50 million people, the Igbo are one of Nigeria’s largest ethnic groups. Like the Lemba of Zimbabwe, many Igbo believe their ancestors came from Israel. They claim to be from the lost tribes of Israel and their practice is far closer to that of the Hebrew Bible than anything we do. On Sunday 18th July, we were joined by Remy Ilona and Malka Shabtay for an insight into the Igbo connection to ancient Hebrew religious practice, and the community that still exists today. Click on the picture to view the talk in full.
In the last 30 years, the persecuted Jews of Ethiopia have been making a gradual escape to Israel. However, there is another Jewish community in Ethiopia, one that has only become known in recent years. We were joined by Michael Moges and Belayne Tezabku, leaders of Kechene synagogue in Addis Abbaba, showed viewers round their synagogue and offered fascinating insights into this 'secret' Jewish community, plus Israeli anthropologist Malka Shabtay. Click on the picture to view the talk in full.
We were pleased to be joined by Avraham Neguise, who was born in Gondar and emigrated to Israel in 1985. He campaigns for the return to Israel of those left in Ethiopia. Click on the picture to view the session in full.
It has now been a year since the Jewish community began to grapple in earnest with issues of race and inclusivity within our community. In the second part of our Black Jewish Lives series, we considered the Significant Presence of Black British Jews with Kenneth Awele Okafor. Kenneth is a Black British Jew with Nigerian Igbo, Maghreb and Sephardi heritage, who promotes awareness for African Judaism in the UK. Click on the picture above to view the talk in full.
In the past year, Jews have grappled with ideas around race, diversity and inclusion like never before. The Bush Report on racial inclusivity in the Jewish community, published by the Board of Deputies in April 2021, highlighted the false assumption that all Jews are essentially white and European and sought to investigate discrimination against Jews of colour within the Jewish community. In the first session of our Black Jewish Lives series with Jewish Renaissance, we spoke to Marie van der Zyl and Stephen Bush about the report. Click on the picture above to view the talk in full.
You may know them from their popular JC column of the same name, and for one night only, Rabbi Naftali Brawer and Rabbi Jonathan Romain answered the audience's quibbles, questions and queries, live on Zoom. At this interactive online event, our two guest speakers answered questions from their respective Orthodox and Progressive points of view. To watch the talk in full, click on the picture above.
Falling in love is delicious. Nurturing love over the long haul is more challenging. This Valentine's Day Dr Mona Fishbane shared insights into what makes for great long-term love, based on the latest research in relationships, neurobiology and enduring values from the Jewish tradition. This talk was held in conjunction with Jewish Renaissance. To watch the talk in full, click on the picture above.
Simon Schama - The War on Knowledge: As part of our launch event on January 10th, we were joined by Simon Schama, who fascinated us with his thoughts on "crippled epistemology", conspiracy theories and the use of social media for disseminating alternative facts. He offered his fresh perspective on the events in Washington on the 6th of January, as well as going into detail about the dangers of specific conspiracies such as QAnon. You can watch the full talk by clicking on the image above.
Rabbi Julia Neuberger - 'Eminent Victorians': The 19th century saw an explosion of literary creativity by women. Many of the most popular women authors of the time were Jewish, and their work is steeped in Jewish themes and symbolism. On 12th December 2020, Rabbi Julia Neuberger introduced us to the works of some her favourite writers. You can view the full talk by clicking on the image above.
Jonathan Freedland - 'A Voyage Round My Father': On 30th November 2020, Jonathan Freedland, well-known British journalist and broadcaster, spoke about his late father, journalist, biographer and broadcaster, Michael Freedland. You can view the full talk by clicking on the image above.
Cholera Weddings (in partnership with Jewish Renaissance): In the 19th century, a peculiar ritual emerged among East European Jews to stop the spread of an epidemic. Communities married off their marginalised members – orphans, beggars, those with disabilities – in a cemetery. We were joined by Professor Natan Meir, a scholar of Jewish social, cultural and religious history, who examined the historical and literary sources that illuminate this hidden corner of Jewish life. You can view the full talk by clicking on the image above.