26 April 2018

Gillian Merron, the chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, will be one of two keynote speakers at the upcoming Liberal Judaism Biennial Weekend.

Gillian will be tackling contemporary issues facing Jews in Britain, including the disturbing rise in antisemitism and the recent #EnoughIsEnough campaign.

Gillian, a member of Lincolnshire (Liberal) Jewish Community and Finchley Progressive Synagogue, said: “It’s an honour to be a keynote speaker at this year’s Liberal Judaism Biennial Weekend, and I’m especially looking forward to catching up with old friends and making new ones.

“The relationship between The Board of Deputies and Liberal Judaism is stronger than ever and the Biennial will also provide a great opportunity for me to get direct feedback from Liberal Jews around the UK on what they would like to see from the Board of Deputies over the year ahead.”

The Biennial’s other keynote speaker will be Rabbi Danny Freelander, the president of the World Union of Progressive Judaism (WUPJ), as well as the co-composer of staple synagogue music such as Adonai Oz and Shalom Rav.

Danny will challenge us to continually innovate as a movement and embrace those whose children will otherwise turn away from Judaism.

Danny said: “I look forward to meeting hundreds of British Liberal Jews at the Biennial and discussing how our Progressive congregations must lead the whole of the Jewish people, not merely ourselves.

“We must open our doors as widely as possible. That way anyone who enters will want to help us further our powerful and impactful vision of a meaningful Jewish life in today’s world.”

The Liberal Judaism Biennial Weekend takes place from Friday 29 June to Sunday 1 July at the St Johns Hotel in Solihull, just outside Birmingham.

As well as the keynote speeches, delegates will get to choose from 40 different sessions – with tracks including music, liturgy, theology, social action, technology and Israel – led by Progressive Jewish leaders such as Liberal Rabbis Andrew Goldstein, David Goldberg, Elli Tikvah Sarah, Charley Baginsky and Danny Rich.

To book your place, please visit www.liberaljudaism.org/calendar/biennial.

Liberal Judaism offers assistance so that financial constraints do not prevent anyone from taking part in the Biennial Weekend. For more information on this, please email Tom on t.rich@liberaljudaism.org.