5773 / 2012-13 Programme

Below, we give a preview of the upcoming Lit season. Eight events in total are planned.  To join the Lit early and avoid queuing at the first meeting, please send your membership form and cheque to the Treasurer.

Unless stated otherwise, all meetings start at 8.00pm with tea served at the end of the meeting.  The venue is the Marian Oppenheim Hall, Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation, 4 Salisbury Road.

November 04^th 2012:  David Neville:  “Who do I think I am?” 

Playwright, BBC Scotland Radio Drama Producer and well-known member of the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation, David will read from and show excerpts of his work, focusing on the presentation of Jewish themes in modern drama.

December 02^nd 2012:  Film Evening: “Aviva Ahuvati” (Aviva My Love) 

Shemi Zarhin’s family drama about a hotel cook who dreams of becoming a writer.

December 16^th 2012, 2.30 – 5.00pm: End of Chanukah event – Desert Chanukia Discs to be presented by Lord Julian Goodman

Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation member, Lord Goodman, is well known as a compère and entertainer. This afternoon he will introduce a number of local luminaries to describe some music which has a special place for them in their Jewish lives.

January 06^th 2013: Dr Shirli Gilbert:  “Forgotten Letters: A Refugee from Nazism in Apartheid South Africa”

Shirli is a historian at the University of Southampton. Her research interests include modern Jewish history, the Holocaust, music and resistance and apartheid South Africa.

January 13^th 2013:  Lord Beecham: film, “Strangers No More”

Lord (Jeremy) Beecham, who spoke to us a few years ago on the treatment of minorities in Israel, will introduce this award winning documentary.  Strangers No More tells the tale of children from 48 different countries who attend the Bialik-Rogozin School in south Tel Aviv. Many of the students have escaped genocide, war and hunger to arrive in Israel at a school where “no child is a stranger.” The documentary focuses on a number of students as they acclimatize to their new lives and attempt to put the hardships and horrors of the past behind them. It highlights the bond between teacher and student, and amongst the students themselves, enabling them to create new lives in this exceptional community.

February 03^rd 2013:  Norman Crane:  “The Book of Judith: A Tale of Gender, Sex and Politics”

Norman is a pillar of Sukkat Shalom. He has an MA in Jewish studies from Manchester and a passionate interest in all things Jewish. With the title above, we are looking forward to something a bit spicey!

March 10^th 2013:  Dr Daniel Davies:  “Why is everyone a Maimonidean?”

Daniel teaches at Leo Baeck College, and is part of the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit. Some texts that are basic to the Jewish tradition seem to be subject to constant struggle. Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed is one of those texts. This talk will consider some of the reasons.

April 28^th 2013: Dr Alex Guilherme: “Martin Buber and Gandhi – a polemical exchange of letters on the Jewish Problem”

Alex is a lecturer in Education Studies at Liverpool Hope University and previously held a post-doctoral fellowship in the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at Edinburgh University. He will speak on Buber’s philosophy of dialogue with its implications for how one group of people respects, or perhaps more significantly, fails to respect the rights of another.

AGM: (Date to be announced)

We will start planning an extra large Lit season next year to celebrate the Lit’s 125^th anniversary. Please bring your favourite speaker suggestions!