Limmud Oz Melbourne 2025

Join Michael Gawenda in conversation about where his writing takes him these days and about the new readership that has found him.

Antisemitism – anti-Jewish animosity, rhetoric, and violence – has increased dramatically in recent years. At the same time, confusion over its definition has led to misunderstandings and, in some cases, cynical political exploitation of the charge. In this lecture, Joshua Shanes will review the history of antisemitism, the myths and lies that lay at its heart, with a particular focus on its contemporary political exploitation in the United States.

How do Jewish therapists navigate the emotional, ethical and political dilemmas that have surfaced in therapy rooms since October 7th? In this intimate conversation, three therapists reflect upon the profound personal and professional impacts of that fateful day and what has followed. They explore shifting client dynamics, evolving therapeutic boundaries, and the complex emotional terrain they now face; offering insight into what it means to hold space for others while grappling with their own experiences.

Cultivating an intention of a ‘conscious way of being‘ within our very earthly life is at the heart of Jewish mindfulness. This was the Neo-Hasidic Zadeket Yemima Avital's understanding of our Tikkun. Yemima’s concept of Midah has a lot in common with the Buddhist term of equanimity. We will draw on the wisdom of the heart from this special woman through poetry and selected readings, and contemplate how this is helpful in painful times.

The Jewish Museum of NY called Leonard Cohen the novelist, poet and singer-songwriter who inspired generations of writers, musicians and artists. He was an extraordinary poet of the imperfection of the human condition, offering means to be fully alert to the complexities and desires of both body and soul. He supplied melancholy observations on the state of the human heart, in songs like Chelsea Hotel, Suzanne, Bird on a Wire and Hallelujah.

In this session, I will perform well known songs - Jewish and secular and I am happy to play (if possible ) requests of your favourite songs from my large repertoire.I will intersperse the playing with anecdotes about a lifetime of music performing - particularly in the aged care sector.

A detailed description of what it was like to collaborate with Hannah Pick-Goslar on her memoir in the final months of her life. Hannah grew up next door to Anne Frank and was one of her closest friends, their families and lives in Amsterdam closely interwoven. It was Hannah who first discovered the Frank family had vanished from their home in July 1942 and the two girls had a chance, short-lived reunion in Bergen-Belsen.