Source: The Jewish Chronicle
This year’s digital version of the Limmud Festival attracted record participation as the cross-communal event celebrated its 40th anniversary. More than 3,800 people bought tickets but organisers calculate that once multiple viewers on screened sessions were factored in, the number of participants reached 5,000.
The combination of Torah study, lectures on literature, history and Jewish thought, comedy, music and political debate drew audiences from 46 countries including Iceland, Madagascar and the United Arab Emirates.
While Dame Maureen Lipman charmed younger viewers with her reading of an old Yiddish folktale, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis revealed during a talk on resilience in times of adversity his favourite Leonard Cohen song, Anthem. The Chief Rabbi said his favourite lines from the song were: “Ring the bells that still can ring/ Forget your perfect offering/There is a crack in everything/ That’s how the light gets in". “Just marvellous words", Rabbi Mirvis said. “Let’s make music with what is left. Let’s remember those desperate times behind us but at the same time count our blessings and make our blessings count”.
An average of eight Zoom sessions an hour ran over three days from nine in the morning till nine at night from Sunday to Tuesday, as well as a pre- and post-Shabbat programme, with participants able to exchange views using the Slack messenger platform.
Read more at the Jewish Chronicle.