LimmudVan'20: Full Schedule

Please Note: Registration for Limmud is for the day’s activities.
There is no prior selection of individual sessions.
All sessions are open to all registered participants until all seats are filled.
Review the schedule and plan your day.

9:30am PST

Sephardic Tradition: The Judaism of the Future

Based upon the teachings of an array of Sephardic sages, we will examine the features that distinguished their philosophy, method of Biblical interpretation, and approach to Jewish law from those of their Ashkenazic counterparts, and how these differences continue to impact the character and evolution of their respective congregations and communities to this day. As part of our study, we will consider whether Maimonides was correct in his estimation that classical Sephardic Judaism was years ahead of its time.

Speakers

Joshua Maroof

Rabbi Joshua Maroof received his rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva Bnei Torah in Far Rockaway, NY. He has been a member of the rabbinic staff of the United Mashadi Jewish Community (UMJCA) for the past five years, helping meet the needs of its approximately 6500 congregants on a daily... Read More →

Sunday March 1, 2020 9:30am - 10:30am PST
Room F

History

9:30am PST

The Socialist Kabbalist You Didn't Know We Needed

Yehudah Ashlag was a brilliant Kabbalist with a stunning vision of Jewish practice. His thought, influenced both by socialism and Darwinian theory, offers a Judaism at home in the world and an essential part of the evolution of humanity.

Speakers

Matthew Gindin

Matthew Gindin is the Master Teacher at Or Shalom Synagogue in Vancouver. He is also a journalist, writer, and meditation instructor.

Sunday March 1, 2020 9:30am - 10:30am PST
Room G

History

10:50am PST

Rich and Poor among the Portuguese Jews of Amsterdam's Golden Age

Although little understood, many poor Sephardic Jews settled in early modern Amsterdam. They were drawn by Amsterdam's relative tolerance and the reputation of its Jewish community for wealth and benevolence. In this lecture, will discuss: the various motives behind philanthropy: the organization of a complex network of charity; as well as aspects of daily life of the poor, including the interactions between rich and poor.

Speakers

Tirtsah Levie Bernfeld

Tirtsah Levie Bernfeld was born and bred in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and studied Modern History at the University of Amsterdam and Jewish Studies at Brandeis University (USA) and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she finished her Ph.D. She is an independent scholar in... Read More →

Sunday March 1, 2020 10:50am - 11:50am PST
Room F

History

12:10pm PST

Jewish Women's Travel Writing in the 19th Century

This session explores how the travel experiences of two English-born Jewish authors – Judith Montefiore and Grace Aguilar – sit alongside their sense of England as the "home" from which they, or their characters, set out and to which they can return.

Speakers

Richa Dwor

Richa Dwor is an Instructor in the English Department at Douglas College. She has written several books and articles on Victorian Anglo-Jewish literature and culture.

Sunday March 1, 2020 12:10pm - 1:10pm PST
Room D

History

12:10pm PST

Kissing An Old Dream Goodbye- A Presentation

A memoir of my time lived in Israel, 1950-1959. A story of the painful and poignant journey of a young family trying to integrate into Israeli society in the 50's.My life intersected with a critical time in Jewish history. It is complex and multilayered. It is the seldom told story of a young North American idealistic family full of hope and sense of adventure confronted by the realities of pettiness, doubt, and drudgery of daily life. Our experiences foreshadowed the complex challenges that would grow for the young country. It is written with insight, humour, honesty and passion and leaves the reader smelling and feeling the land of Israel of the 1950's, with all its brilliance and troubles.

Speakers

Gloria Levi

Retired gerontologist with 30 years experience as a recreation worker, social worker, trainer and consultant. Political activist, environmentalist, founder of Integrated Care Advocacy and Municipal Councillor on City Council of Coquitlam. Founder of Habitat for Humanity of Greater... Read More →

Sunday March 1, 2020 12:10pm - 1:10pm PST
Room H

History

12:10pm PST

The “Othering” of Germany’s Jews and Canadian First Nations

A look at the ways the Jews of Germany during the Holocaust and First Nation peoples during the settler colonial period were “othered.” The role education played within these two populations as a tool for propaganda and its contribution to the othering process will be discussed.

Speakers

Anna-Mae Wiesenthal

Anna-Mae teaches at King David High School. She holds a Masters and is currently doing a PhD in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. In 2017, Anna-Mae was the recipient of the Kron Sigal Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education from the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.

Sunday March 1, 2020 12:10pm - 1:10pm PST
Room E

History

2:00pm PST

Chiune Sugihara Sempo--A Shining Light in the Depths of Darkness

Against government orders, Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara issued Japanese transit visas for about 2500 of the 20,000 Jews who fled Poland for Vilna in 1939/40. About 2000 of these Jews survived, including George Bluman's parents Nathan and Susan as well as his Uncle Lolek and Lolek's wife. They travelled to Moscow, Vladivostok, Tsuruga and Kobe, Japan. More than 10% of those saved by Sugihara ended up in Canada, including many in Vancouver.

This talk will focus on what Sugihara did, what motivated him and his legacy. George will also talk about his family's connections with the Sugihara family, which continues to this day.

Speakers

George Bluman

George Bluman is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, UBC. He is a past chair of the Vancouver Kristallnacht Commemoration Committee. His parents were saved by the heroic Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara; he has given many public talks on Sugihara in Vancouver and Japan. In March... Read More →

Sunday March 1, 2020 2:00pm - 3:00pm PST
Room D

History

2:00pm PST

The Heretic, the Cleric and the Maverick: Unlikely Neighbours in Old Amsterdam

Before the Lower East Side of New York, before the Marais district in Paris, even before London's East End, there was Vlooeinberg -- the heart of Amsterdam's Jewish world. And in that quarter, three figures: Menasseh Ben Israel, Baruch Spinoza and Rembrandt Van Rijn. This is the story of how their lives, interwoven by chance, changed the tide of cultural and intellectual history.

Speakers

Samuel Klein

Rabbi Samuel Klein is Director of Jewish Engagement for the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. A lecturer and writer on religion and the arts, Samuel holds Masters degrees in Theology from Cambridge University and History of Art from University College London and trained as a... Read More →

Sunday March 1, 2020 2:00pm - 3:00pm PST
Room F

History

3:15pm PST

Sephardi Women and Family Life in Early Modern Amsterdam

Although neglected, the study of gender is indispensable for an understanding of the society and culture of Dutch Sephardim in early modern Amsterdam. In this presentation, we will explore the attitude of the communal officials towards women, but the emphasis will be on the the roles of Sephardic women of all classes in the family and economy. We will also describe and analyze their education and cultural identities.

Speakers

Tirtsah Levie Bernfeld

Sunday March 1, 2020 3:15pm - 4:15pm PST
Room A

History

3:15pm PST

The Hidden Joys of Researching a Holocaust Legacy

It began as a book project about my husband’s parents, Sam and Esther Goldberg, who escaped the Holocaust and arrived, penniless, on the shores of this country. Their stories of survival against all odds, both before and after they met in Poland in 1943, had always fascinated and inspired me: Sam was one of about 65 people to survive Treblinka; Esther evaded Nazi death squads twice. What I never expected was the people, the relationships and, indeed, the joys my family and I would discover in traveling back to uncover what really happened in those dark days. Come and be inspired by Sam and Esther’s story and how, with a bit of chutzpa, we can discover new things about our families and ourselves.

Speakers

Karen Treiger

After years of practicing law in Seattle, Karen Treiger felt an unmistakable call to explore the story of her in-laws, Sam and Esther Goldberg. Treiger made the momentous decision to retire from her law practice and pull together the threads of her husband’s family story. The... Read More →

Sunday March 1, 2020 3:15pm - 4:15pm PST
Room D

History