Limmud Oz Melbourne 2025: Full Schedule

Welcome to the program for Limmud Oz Melbourne 2025!

Join us for an immersive weekend festival of Jewish ideas and culture, with >100 presenters and sessions to choose from.
From Ben-Gurion to bagels, Yentl to yoga, we always have something for everyone. Limmud is an opportunity for you to cultivate a personal Jewish experience and learn from presenters you might never come across otherwise.

Tickets are available here

7:45pm AEST

Gala Concert: Me + 1 - Jewish songwriters

Saturday June 7, 2025 7:45pm - 9:00pm AEST

RG Hall - Room 12

Ari Wenig, Anita Lester, Rita Satch, Adam Starr, Jonathan Skovron and Shira Etzion will each sing an original song, and will also interpret a favourite song written by a Jewish composer.

Speakers

Ari Jacob

Ari Jacob is a writer and musician. He made Aliyah at the age of 22 and moved back to Melbourne 8 years later, where he now lives with his wife and step-son. Ari has released 6 albums and an original Kabbalah inspired musical, "Son Called Moon".

Shira Etzion

Shira is an 18 year old singer based in Melbourne. She has been singing and loving all music since she can remember. She has recently been writing some original music as she begins a new chapter of her music career.

Anita Lester

Rita Satch

Jonothan Skovron

Adam Starr

The MKS was created in 2024 to expand the knowledge and enjoyment of Klezmer music in the Melbourne community and Australia, and to make a global contribution to the Klezmer world.

Saturday June 7, 2025 7:45pm - 9:00pm AEST
RG Hall - Room 12

Arts and culture

10:45am AEST

School band rocks

Sunday June 8, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am AEST

RG Hall - Room 12

Speakers

Adam Starr

The MKS was created in 2024 to expand the knowledge and enjoyment of Klezmer music in the Melbourne community and Australia, and to make a global contribution to the Klezmer world.

Sunday June 8, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am AEST
RG Hall - Room 12

Arts and culture

10:45am AEST

Sitting on the couch with Lenny Bruce and the Kotsk Rebbe; Jewish humour and the thirst for truth

Sunday June 8, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am AEST

RG1.17 (ensemble room) - Room 9

Join storyteller, humorist and Neuro Diverse advocate Tal Spinrad as we sprint through the forest of Jewish Humor in search of that most elusive of creatures….truth. Explore how for nearly 4,000 years we Jews have been bending reality until it looks back upon itself revealing hidden truths. Language and subject warnings….not for the faint of heart.

Speakers

Tal Spinrad

Tal Spinrad, educator/storyteller, is the Kulanu Project, Inclusion Advocacy Manager for The United Jewish Education Board. A Jewish Educator with close to four decades of international experience, Tal combines the passion of Ezekiel with the humour of Mel Brooks.

Sunday June 8, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am AEST
RG1.17 (ensemble room) - Room 9

Arts and culture

10:45am AEST

Yiddish theatre and American popular music

Sunday June 8, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am AEST

SG.10 - Room 4

This talk will present the influence of Jews in American Theatre in the 1930s and then show how Jewish topics are part of Broadway from Fiddler on the Roof to Falsettos. I will show a three-step process: first, Jews created musical with utopian ideals to express their desire to be American Jews, without Jewish content; second, showcasing Jewish life in that despite the challenges Jewish tradition remains; third, American Jewish life is full of challenges

Speakers

Mark Kligman

Mark Kligman is the Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. He is Professor of Ethnomusicology, Musicology and Humanities. In 2020l he was appointed Director of the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience.

Sunday June 8, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am AEST
SG.10 - Room 4

Arts and culture

12:00pm AEST

The Jewish genre book challenge

Sunday June 8, 2025 12:00pm - 1:00pm AEST

SG.08 - Room 8

Do you love reading? Is Jewish important to you? What does it mean for a book to be Jewish? Reading challenges have become a way of spicing up your regular reading, and a Jewish book challenge is a very exciting possibility. If you like to read and talk about books this session is for you. Please bring along a book that you are prepared to swap so everyone will come away with a new book

Speakers

Danielle Jones-Resnik

A professional public speaker having given over 350 speeches and run numerous speech training programs over a prodigious decade with Toastmasters International. Daniellee has been involved with the Jewish community and been a passionate reader of Jewish books her whole life.A psychologist... Read More →

Sunday June 8, 2025 12:00pm - 1:00pm AEST
SG.08 - Room 8

Arts and culture

1:30pm AEST

Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan - Torah, Kabbalah, the Holocaust, Sholem Aleichem: themes and connections

Sunday June 8, 2025 1:30pm - 3:30pm AEST

SG.10 - Room 4

Many words and lyrics by Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan are drawn from Jewish religious and Jewish historical sources, in particular, the Holocaust and the Tanach. By examining selective words and lyrics, plus relevant quotes from both ‘artists’ and analysts of their work, we will see how their Jewish backgrounds contributed essential elements to some of their most famous works. We will hear some Yiddish from Leonard and a bit of Hebrew from Bob.

Speakers

Myer Bloom

Myer Bloom is a former teacher, university tutor and interviewer of Holocaust survivors. He has published two books, occasional short articles and has delivered papers on Jewish themes at four academic conferences. His Jewish research includes visits to Jewish historic sites in Eastern... Read More →

Sunday June 8, 2025 1:30pm - 3:30pm AEST
SG.10 - Room 4

Arts and culture

2:45pm AEST

Learn some Klezmer with the Melbourne Klezmer School

Sunday June 8, 2025 2:45pm - 3:45pm AEST

RG1.17 (ensemble room) - Room 9

Learn some Klezmer repertoire, style and tradition in a warm and inclusive workshop environment. You will learn material and concepts aurally, by singing along with the founders of the Melbourne Klezmer School, Amy Zakar Banner and Adam Starr. Instruments welcome, but not required!

Speakers

Adam Starr

The MKS was created in 2024 to expand the knowledge and enjoyment of Klezmer music in the Melbourne community and Australia, and to make a global contribution to the Klezmer world.

Amy Zakar Banner

Amy Zakar (violin) is a second-generation musician and educator of Hungarian/Transylvanian/Jewish descent. Born in New York, Amy played her first Catskills-Yiddish revue at age 8, and has taught instrumental music at KlezKamp, Klezkanada, and Yiddish New York. Amy performed with... Read More →

Sunday June 8, 2025 2:45pm - 3:45pm AEST
RG1.17 (ensemble room) - Room 9

Arts and culture

4:00pm AEST

Leonard Cohen: the greatest Jewish modern poet, singer and writer

Sunday June 8, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm AEST

RG.03 (theatrette) - Room 10

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.

Speakers

Helen Webberley

Helen lectured in history and art history (1625-1925) at a TAFE until retirement when Covid started. She still writes a history blog twice weekly and still helps history students (including the grandchildren) with their essays.Art and Architecture, mainly

Sunday June 8, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm AEST
RG.03 (theatrette) - Room 10

Arts and culture

4:00pm AEST

The four sons and their stories

Sunday June 8, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm AEST

RG.04 - Room 11

Join Gabrielle on a journey through Jewish storytelling using multiple haggadot from different times to explore how each generation has built upon the structures of previous generations to create a uniquely Jewish intergenerational, multi sensory educational experience.

Speakers

Gabrielle Shroot

Gabrielle is a long-standing collector of books, ideas and arguments. She has strong opinions about what makes a great Seder, what makes a great story, and how to deliver both to engage the audience and build identity.

Sunday June 8, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm AEST
RG.04 - Room 11

Arts and culture

4:00pm AEST

Yiddish revolutionary and resistance songs

Sunday June 8, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm AEST

MG.04 - Room 7 (MPR)

Each Yiddish protest-revolutionary-resistance song we have is a rich sociological and historical document, an “ear-witness” to struggles long forgotten but nonetheless important to our cultural heritage.

Speakers

Tomi Kalinski

Yurele Tomi Kalinski is a Melbourne-born pianist, performer and teacher conducting a life-long love affair with mameloshn.

Mir Kumen On Choir

Reyzl Zylberman, a member of Mir Kumen On Yiddish choir since its inception, is Principal of Sholem Aleichem College.

Sunday June 8, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm AEST
MG.04 - Room 7 (MPR)

Arts and culture

5:15pm AEST

'Any requests for your favourite song?' David Rothberg - singer/keyboard player of Jewish and popular music

Sunday June 8, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm AEST

RG.03 (theatrette) - Room 10

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.

Speakers

David Rothberg

I am a keyboardist/singer of Jewish and Secular music with over 30 years experience playing in bands, duos and solo. My sister Laiya and I are frequent performers in our duo “Sibling Revelry”. I regularly play in aged care facilities and other venues with all styles from contemporary... Read More →

Sunday June 8, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm AEST
RG.03 (theatrette) - Room 10

Arts and culture

5:15pm AEST

The life and liturgical music of Syrian Jews

Sunday June 8, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm AEST

RG.04 - Room 11

Syrian Jews in Brooklyn number 70,000 constituting the largest group of Syrian Jews in the world. This tight knit community defies American narratives of Jewish success. With through financial success they build a stronger more cohesive community with the religious institutions and organizations. This session, based on Kligman’s doctoral research, will highlight the life of Syrian Jews in their traditions and liturgical music. Visual, audio and video examples will show their unique customs and traditions.

Speakers

Mark Kligman

Sunday June 8, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm AEST
RG.04 - Room 11

Arts and culture

6:30pm AEST

Sunday concert: Me + 1 - Jewish instrumental music

Sunday June 8, 2025 6:30pm - 7:30pm AEST

RG Hall - Room 12

Instrumentalists Josh Moshe, Yuval Eshcar, Rachel Moshel, Simon Starr, Adam Starr, Daniel Mougerman and Amy Zakar Banner will each perform an original composition as well as an interpretation of a favourite piece of Jewish music. Different combinations of musicians will be heard throughout the evening.

Speakers

Simon Starr

Simon Starr is a Melbourne musician who is passionate about Jewish music.

Amy Zakar Banner

Rachel Moshel

Josh Moshe

Joshua Moshe is an award-winning saxophonist and composer based in Melbourne, known for his deeply expressive sound and genre-crossing sensibility. Raised in a Jewish family in South Africa and New Zealand, Joshua grew up immersed in both synagogue melodies and the jazz and rhythm-driven... Read More →

Yuval Ashkar

Yuval Ashkar’s music is a testament to his multicultural heritage, blending influences from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Europe. His profound connection to Middle Eastern traditions is reflected in his soulful compositions and performances.

Daniel Mougerman

Pianist/keyboardist and producer, Daniel Mougerman is one of Melbourne’s most in-demand musicians. He is the keyboardist for Melbourne favourites, The Bamboos, co-leads the 11 piece Afro-Cuban band, La Influencia and plays keyboards for a number of Melbourne arKsts including: Rita... Read More →

Adam Starr

The MKS was created in 2024 to expand the knowledge and enjoyment of Klezmer music in the Melbourne community and Australia, and to make a global contribution to the Klezmer world.

Sunday June 8, 2025 6:30pm - 7:30pm AEST
RG Hall - Room 12

Arts and culture

10:45am AEST

Dreaming of Jerusalem

Monday June 9, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am AEST

SG.08 - Room 8

Jerusalem has always been much more than the holiest site for Jews. It has a place in our imagination and our unspoken longing for home. With this in mind, join Gabrielle in a discussion of the depiction of Jerusalem in Adolescent and Children's English language literature. Join her to discuss the different ways that Jerusalem has been portrayed.

Speakers

Gabrielle Shroot

Monday June 9, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am AEST
SG.08 - Room 8

Arts and culture

12:00pm AEST

A collective voice: Ha`Lev`s musical response

Monday June 9, 2025 12:00pm - 1:00pm AEST

RG Hall - Room 12

Join us for a moving one-hour session exploring the Ha’lev Choir’s formation and impact, especially in light of October 7. Through powerful visuals, personal reflections, live music, and a communal sing-along, we’ll celebrate resilience, hope, and the healing power of community. Featuring footage from Koolulam and the Ride to Bring Them Home rally, this heartfelt experience shows how music can unite and inspire.

Speakers

Tonia Plack Barolsky

Ha’Lev is a Melbourne community choir formed after the 7 October 2023 tragedy. It unites over 40 voices and hearts every Tuesday evening at Beth Weizmann. Led by Corey Fooks and Tonia Plack Barolsky, the choir blends music and healing. Ha’Lev performances include Federation Square... Read More →

Ha'Lev choir

Corey Fooks

Monday June 9, 2025 12:00pm - 1:00pm AEST
RG Hall - Room 12

Arts and culture

12:00pm AEST

Challenges and triumphs: boundaries, chesed and the practicalities of working with elders, students, and women on parole, in very remote Aboriginal communities

Monday June 9, 2025 12:00pm - 1:00pm AEST

RG1.17 (ensemble room) - Room 9

Esther's 'Challenges & Triumphs' (with some humour too) comes from recently returning to Melbourne for a break from seven years of working in Aboriginal communities. Partly inspired by Spiritgrow.

Speakers

Esther Oliver

Esther, a teacher and published writer of poetry, songs for community choirs, and a children's book, is currently back in Melbourne taking a break from being 'out bush', to upgrade her studies in special needs.

Monday June 9, 2025 12:00pm - 1:00pm AEST
RG1.17 (ensemble room) - Room 9

Arts and culture

12:00pm AEST

Different responses to crises- post Oct 7

Monday June 9, 2025 12:00pm - 1:00pm AEST

M1.02 - Room 1

Through examining a curated selection of artworks by Israeli artists post Oct 7 and a close reading of a selection of Classic Jewish Texts at key transition moments in Jewish history, we will explore a range of 'Jewish responses' to crises throughout the ages. Prepare to be both troubled and soothed.

Speakers

Amanda Castelan-Starr

Assistant Principal- Director of Jewish life at Bialik College. Amanda has taught Jewish Studies for 25 years and completed the Senior Educators Program at Hebrew University, focusing on integrating Art in the teaching of Tanach. She continues to be passionate about integrating the... Read More →

Monday June 9, 2025 12:00pm - 1:00pm AEST
M1.02 - Room 1

Arts and culture

1:15pm AEST

Jewish filmmakers: Jewish films

Monday June 9, 2025 1:15pm - 2:15pm AEST

M1.02 - Room 1

A session with three or four Jewish filmmakers exploring their motivations to make films on Jewish themes/topics and the way they go about making those films in terms of concept creation, development, financing, production, and distribution and marketing.

Speakers

Shaun Miller

Shaun Miller is a film and entertainment lawyer based in Melbourne. He is the principal of Shaun Miller Lawyers. Shaun has been the production lawyer on over 300 feature films, documentaries, animations web series.

Monday June 9, 2025 1:15pm - 2:15pm AEST
M1.02 - Room 1

Arts and culture

1:15pm AEST

Jews and musical theatre

Monday June 9, 2025 1:15pm - 2:15pm AEST

RG.03 (theatrette) - Room 10

Jews have been engaged with musical theatre in America for over 100 years. As creators, producers, presenters and artists, Jews have made many contributions. This session will present the early influence of Jews in American theatre with Show Boat and Oklahoma and then show how Jewish topics are part of Broadway from Fiddler on the Roof to Falsettos.

Speakers

Mark Kligman

Monday June 9, 2025 1:15pm - 2:15pm AEST
RG.03 (theatrette) - Room 10

Arts and culture

1:15pm AEST

The Jewish married life of a straight, religious homosexual

Monday June 9, 2025 1:15pm - 2:15pm AEST

RG1.17 (ensemble room) - Room 9

This is a session on Jewish continuity. But it’s not old-school. It’s a musical(ish) performance about how God made me gay, but Torah (sort of) made me straight (sort of). Not in a homophobic way. It’s about love, intimacy, and how I went from the Closet to the Chuppah. Not in a hippie way. Really, it’s a Kabbalistic journey through the divine masculine and feminine, and finding wholeness in contradiction. Or something like that.

Speakers

Ari Jacob

Monday June 9, 2025 1:15pm - 2:15pm AEST
RG1.17 (ensemble room) - Room 9

Arts and culture

2:45pm AEST

Shira b'tsibur

Monday June 9, 2025 2:45pm - 3:45pm AEST

RG1.17 (ensemble room) - Room 9

Enjoy the uplifting experience of singing beautiful songs together.

Speakers

Simon Starr

Simon Starr is a Melbourne musician who is passionate about Jewish music.

Adam Starr

The MKS was created in 2024 to expand the knowledge and enjoyment of Klezmer music in the Melbourne community and Australia, and to make a global contribution to the Klezmer world.

Monday June 9, 2025 2:45pm - 3:45pm AEST
RG1.17 (ensemble room) - Room 9

Arts and culture

4:00pm AEST

Golem girls of the 21st century

Monday June 9, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm AEST

RG.04 - Room 11

What is going on with the resurgence of the Golem legend, and why are so many young people utterly obsessed with it? Shoshana takes you on a deep dive through Golem literature, memes and theory.

Speakers

Shoshana Gottlieb

Shoshana is a writer and Jewish educator from Sydney who makes jokes on the internet. When not thinking of new ways to (lovingly) make fun of Judaism, she's watching romantic comedies. You can find her on Instagram @JewishMemesOnly and Twitter @TheTonightSho. Her mother thinks she... Read More →

Monday June 9, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm AEST
RG.04 - Room 11

Arts and culture

4:00pm AEST

Popular Jewish music

Monday June 9, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm AEST

RG.03 (theatrette) - Room 10

Since the 1970s Jewish music has changed significantly. Cantorial, klezmer and Yiddish songs were no longer the music for American-born Jews. Throughout the Jewish community, music developed creating an American sound to Jewish music. Orthodox, Reform (Debbie Friedman), Conservative (Safam) Jews created music expressing their Jewish experiences. The Klezmer revival of the 1970s covered new terrain with artists recording with a blend of styles. This session will show the creation of American popular Jewish music.

Speakers

Mark Kligman

Monday June 9, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm AEST
RG.03 (theatrette) - Room 10

Arts and culture

5:15pm AEST

Tryptich I: next generation musicians

Monday June 9, 2025 5:15pm - 5:45pm AEST

RG Hall - Room 12

Vocal students doing VCE Music at Bialik, King David, Mount Scopus and Yavneh will each be performing a song from their VCE repertoire, supported by a band consisting of Harley Kaufman (saxophone), Leo Sachs (guitar), Adam Sachs (bass), Osha Rubenstein Slesenger (keybaords) and Zach Banner (drums) led by Adam Starr (Music Director).

Speakers

Anouchka Starr

Anouchka Starr is in her final year at Mount Scopus. She has been singing and dancing for many years, loving performing in school musicals, concerts and community events.

Reuben Goldfarb

Reuben Goldfarb is a grade 11 student at the King David School, as well as an enthusiastic musician in over five musical ensembles. He also is lead singer in his own band, 'Funky Sediment'.

Shira Vorcheimer

Shira Vorcheimer is 18 years old, and a VCE Music student at Yavneh College. She has enjoyed singing since a young age and has had lessons for the past 5 years. Shira has a soulful style, finding her voice in R&B and Jazz genres.

Adam Starr

The MKS was created in 2024 to expand the knowledge and enjoyment of Klezmer music in the Melbourne community and Australia, and to make a global contribution to the Klezmer world.

Monday June 9, 2025 5:15pm - 5:45pm AEST
RG Hall - Room 12

Arts and culture

5:45pm AEST

Tryptich II: Tisch!

Monday June 9, 2025 5:45pm - 6:15pm AEST

RG Hall - Room 12

Join Noam Sendor and Adam Starr for a powerful, participatory Tisch where everyone is invited to sing together. Traditional niggunim come alive with the backing of an extraordinary jazz band, creating a shared musical experience that blends soul, rhythm, and community in perfect harmony.

Speakers

Adam Starr

Noam Sendor

Noam Sendor is a rabbi at Blake Street Hebrew Congregation, high school teacher at Leibler Yavneh College, jazz singer and novelist.

Monday June 9, 2025 5:45pm - 6:15pm AEST
RG Hall - Room 12

Arts and culture

6:15pm AEST

Tryptich III: Fifth of Nisan

Monday June 9, 2025 6:15pm - 6:45pm AEST

RG Hall - Room 12

Adam Starr to organise - playing as part of the concert

Speakers

Rachel Moshel

Fifth of Nisan

Step into the world of Fifth of Nisan, where klezmer collides with jazz inan electrifying fusion of old and new. Led by Rachel Moshel and featuring some of Melbourne’s finest musicians, Fifth of Nisan channels the spirit of Eastern European folk traditions while infusing them with... Read More →

Monday June 9, 2025 6:15pm - 6:45pm AEST
RG Hall - Room 12

Arts and culture