Could this be the best dinner party conversation?
Imagine a dinner party with an acclaimed novelist and playwright, a film maker whose paternal grandparents were killed in the Holocaust but whose maternal grandfather was director of an infamous Nazi propaganda film plus one of the most influential people on Jewish Twitter with her finger on the pulse of Israeli politics. And that’s just some of the people at one end of the table!
Lahav Harkov
The good news is that you are invited. All you have to do to pull up a chair at the party is purchase your ticket for Limmud-Oz, the festival of Jewish ideas and learning, which takes place at Sydney’s UNSW over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.
You can join the spirited conversation involving international and Australian presenters, all outstanding achievers in their fields and all with an interesting perspective on Jewish life. It will be insightful, thought-provoking, and inspiring – no matter where you take your seat.
Among the guests is Lahav Harkhov, a senior political reporter with the Jerusalem Post. Lahav also co-authors the ‘Kafe Knesset’ segment of Jewish Insider’s daily newsletter, a round-up of serious items on the government’s agenda, as well as a healthy dose of humorous insider gossip.
Sigal Samuel
Readers of the Kafe’s page can expect to learn about everything from cabinet debates on humanitarian aid for Syria and settlement talks with the American White House, to Bibi Netanyahu’s bad hair day (with suggestions that he give the black hair dye a rest) and ministerial Facebook posts for Passover.
Lahav will touch on a mix of issues including Zionism and feminism, defending Israel on social media, and US-Israel relations in the Trump era.
Canadian journalist and author, Sigal Samuel, will talk about the media portrayal of Jews of colour. Sigal is the Religious Affairs editor of The Atlantic, with a particular interest in Mizrachi Jews and her own Indian Jewish origins. Her 2015 debut novel, ‘The Mystics of Mile End’, won the fiction prize at the Canadian Jewish Literary Awards. Set in the half-Hasidic, half-hipster Montreal suburb, the book tells the story of a dysfunctional Jewish family obsessed with climbing the Kabbalah’s Tree of Life.
Sigal’s six plays have been produced in theatres from New York to Vancouver, and she has appeared on the BBC and Huffington Post Live.
German film journalist and exhibition curator, Jessica Jacoby, has a surprising and unique family history. Her Jewish father survived the Holocaust while her maternal grandfather was the high-profile Nazi filmmaker, Veit Harlan. Jessica uses her family history to explore the devastation of the Holocaust through the documentary, ROADS.
Other international guests include Yahli Sobol, the lead singer of popular Israeli rock band ‘Monica Sex’, Nerya Meir, lawyer and Head of World Betar, Israel Zohar, clarinetist with the Israeli Philarmonic, and Tom Franz, Israel Master Chef winner.
Don’t miss your chance to take part. Limmud-Oz Sydney is a bi-annual event and you won’t have the opportunity to join in again until 2019!
Find out more at http://www.shalom.edu.au/event/limmud-oz-2017/
