Limmud Oz Melbourne 2025

Many rabbinic stories appear in multiple versions in different rabbinic compilations, sometimes with significant variations. Comparing parallel versions in the two Talmuds reveals differences in the values, cultures, and beliefs of the two rabbinic centers. In this session we will study stories from the Jerusalem Talmud that have little to do with shame and dignity and explore how the Babylonian Talmudic storytellers reworked them to emphasise this value.

Nearly twenty years ago, over thirty prominent Jewish Australians were asked to contribute an essay to a volume entitled New Under the Sun: Jewish Australians on Religion, Politics and Culture. The questions, themes and concerns explored around belonging, politics, seeking, memory and responsibility are as compelling now as they were then. Perhaps more so. Join a few of the original contributors as they look back, reflect on the present moment and project into the future.

While living in Egypt, Maimonides received two letters: one from a disgruntled husband who wanted his wife to give up her job, and the other from his wife, who wanted Maimonides to understand how she became a Bible teacher and why the job meant so much to her. We will discuss what these letters tell us about Jewish daily life, including women and children’s experiences, and changing ideas about marriage and divorce.

Israel is conducting another post-October 7 warfront in the West Bank with military operations in refugee camps, cutting electricity and water lines, and launching air strikes, part of its “Iron Wall” campaign which has displaced some 40,000 people. Largely unchecked, settler violence has become routine against Palestinians. And for the first time, far-right settler figures hold powerful positions in the Cabinet, driving decision making that is impacting all Israelis, their security, and the country’s reputation around the world.

Join Jillian Segal, the Special Envoy on Antisemitism, in conversation with Jacquie Seemann.

Israel has been a nation in an almost constant state of mass protest for over two years. It began with the unprecedented wave of street demonstrations in wake of Netanyahu’s government plan to overhaul the country’s courts and after the October 7 attack, transitioned into emotional vigils and rage-filled marches demanding the return of the hostages in Gaza. After the second cease-fire collapsed, anti-war protests gained steam. What do these protests look and feel like from the ground? What have they accomplished and where are they going?