<strong>29 May 2017<strong>

There is just a fortnight to go until the Day of Celebration, our movement’s flagship event of 2017, which this year has the theme ‘Is Liberal Judaism Political Judaism?’

For the first time ever we will be having a whole weekend of celebration, starting off on Friday June 9 with Kabbalat Shabbat Britannia at our newest community – East London & Essex Liberal Synagogue.

We then continue our musical journey across town for the Day of Liberal Jewish Music on Saturday June 10 at Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue (NPLS).

When Sunday June 11 finally arrives, so does the main event – the Liberal Judaism Day of Celebration 2017 at NPLS. With more than 150 people already signed up, a multi-format programme with fantastic presenters and a theme so topical the government decided to arrange an election around it, the Day of Celebration is shaping up to be a great day.

There will also be youth programmes on the day catering for all ages staffed by our outgoing and experienced youth department, LJY-Netzer. For the littlest Liberal Jews, we will also have a professionally run crèche.

Tickets are selling fast so make sure you click here to buy yours TODAY.

The event’s first keynote speaker is Lord (Alf) Dubs, who will be presenting on The Power of Empathy. Lord Dubs arrived in the UK in 1939 as one of the 669 children who fled the persecution of the Jews in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia on the Kindertransport.

In the 1970s he joined the Labour Party and became MP for Battersea South in 1979. From 1988 to 1995 he was director of the Refugee Council. He has also been involved with the Fabian Society and Liberty. In 1994 he became a Peer, serving as chair of Labour peers from 2000-05.

In 2016, Lord Dubs proposed an amendment to the Immigration Bill, which said the government should arrange to relocate and support 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children from other countries in Europe and is still fighting to make sure it is implement.

Our second keynote speaker is The Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin, who will deliver a lecture on The Role of Faith in Leading Opinion and Action.

The Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and moved to England to train with the Church Army.

She was appointed as the Chaplain to the Queen in 2007 and the first female to be appointed to the position of Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons in 2010.

She is passionate about the need for faith to be at the heart of the public arena.

Other speakers will include:

Lord (Danny) Finkelstein, the Liberal Judaism favourite will be in conversation with Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein, talking about how the snap election, along with the other tumultuous political events of the past two years, affect us as Liberal Jews.

Emily Holzhausen, the recipient of an OBE for services to carers, will run a session with Rabbi Aaron Goldstein on the important role synagogues can play as carers in the community, while cultural and social historian Vivi Lachs will explore ‘Resistance through song’ via the East End Yiddish music of the late 19th century

You’ll also hear from James Sorene, CEO of BICOM and former Head of Communications for Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, author and sociologist David Hirsh and Gillian Merron, the chief executive of the Board of Deputies – as well as Liberal rabbis including Rabbi Danny Rich and Rabbi Charley Baginsky.

These are just some of the many sessions we have lined up for the day. The rest of our presenters are taken from our rabbis, our LJ board members, our youth movement and you, our dedicated members.

We can’t wait to see you all there!

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