Michael Freund speaks at Limmud on two continents
Michael Freund presenting at Limmud U.K.
Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund has become a Limmud groupie.
Well, not quite. But he is participating in a double header of eclectic Jewish learning retreats.
The first was last week in the U.K., where Michael spoke at the main Limmud conference in Birmingham. 3,000 people attended the conference as a whole and Michael’s presentation,“’Like the stars in the sky’ – Jewish demography and destiny,” was standing room only. The talk is inspired by Shavei Israel’s work with “lost” and “hidden” Jewish communities in some of the most far-flung spots on the globe.
Michael will be continuing his tour of Limmuds around the world at the end of January with an appearance at Limmud Helsinki, Finland’s largest Jewish learning event.
Michael will be giving two talks. The first is called “The Quest for the Lost Tribes of Israel: From India to Nigeria,” and is described in the Limmud program like this:
2700 years ago, 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel were exiled by the Assyrian empire. Ever since, mystics, historians and explorers have sought them out. Michael Freund has spent the past 15 years doing just that. Is one of Jewish history’s greatest mysteries on the verge of being solved? The answer may surprise you….
The second talk is “Out of the Shadows: The Return of the Bnei Anousim.”
500 years after their Spanish and Portuguese ancestors were forced to convert to Catholicism, a growing number of their descendants (known as Bnei Anousim or by the derogatory term “Marranos”) are returning to Judaism. Michael Freund has spent the past 15 years working with Bnei Anousim around the world, and will discuss the wave of return
If you’ll be in Scandinavia January 28-29, please consider adding Limmud to your agenda.
Limmud now takes place in 40 communities worldwide, from Melbourne to Moscow.
The full list of speakers from the U.K. event is here.
The list of speakers for the upcoming Helsinki Limmud is here.
Did you know that Shavei Israel has an active speaker’s bureau and can arrange your own presentation on “Jewish demography and destiny” or any number of other dynamic topics on the future of Israel and the Jewish people? If you’d be interested in having Shavei Israel come to your organization, please contact Laura Ben-David at laura@shavei.org.