This Hanukkah is not one I will soon forget. Sitting three rows in front of us was a woman wearing a kippah in the shape of a sufgania [Hanukkah jelly doughnut]. She crossed her legs, and everyone could see the cheery Hanukkah menorahs printed on her tights. The lady's ears, there was no mistaking it from where we sat, were festooned with two wooden dreidels. Real dreidels. Nun, gimmel, heh, shin. This was the first time I had ever seen a Diaspora dreidel, one that declares, in a heavy accent, that "a great miracle happened there," and on someone's ear for that matter. In fact, this was my first-ever Hanukkah abroad. I asked myself whether I was laughing at this woman. The answer, of course, was yes. I mean, a little. She was obviously a British Jew with a healthy sense of humor. But that's not the point. Ever since I started traveling abroad, I have taken off my kippah somewhere between passport control and customs. My parents said I should, and, besides, there have been security alerts. Why stick out, why invite trouble? And suddenly I see this woman in England who looks like the entire set decoration of an educational religious program on Israel's Channel 1. Next thing you know the Tzemed Reim [an old-time Israeli music group that specializes in modern Orthodox music] band is going to pop out of her sleeve. Get the Israel Hayom newsletter sent to your mailbox! I am going to have to meet this woman on Sukkot. We are on the campus of Warwick University, a little over an hour from London. The event, known as Limmud, has been taking place for 31 years, so that the word "limmud" -- Hebrew for "learning" -- has already become part of the English language. The idea is amazingly simple. As university campuses empty out for the winter holidays, thousands of Jews converge on a selected campus, and for a week, the place undergoes a religious conversion and turns into a giant beit midrash [Jewish study hall]. All the social studies auditoriums and science lecture halls undergo a strange metamorphosis. Jewish History. Jewish Philosophy. Jewish Cuisine and the Jewish Mother. There are performances as well: live music and stand-up comedy. Above all, there is the social aspect, people coming together over fine beer and crappy coffee. Oh, and one more thing, that is possibly a bit less Jewish: It is all done on a volunteer basis. The campus is totally British. Ducks saunter across the painfully green lawn. On the paths and in the learning groups English is spoken exclusively, although nearly every sentence is sprinkled with words like "havruta," [study group/partner] "mahloket," [argument] and "tikkun." There is something very correct about Limmud, and there is nothing today's Jewish world needs more than tikkun, or correction. We in Israel should only be so lucky. It is hard to believe this event was conceived and carried out in England of all places. British Jewry is regarded, even in its own eyes, as rather pallid. Conservative. Not outstanding in any way, not much more than "okay." Amy Winehouse was a British Jew. So were Peter Sellers, Harold Pinter, and, may they live long and healthy lives, Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) and Mike Myers (Austin Powers). But somehow these people are not really representative of Anglo Jewry. And yet, against all expectations, Limmud was conceived in England, not Brooklyn or Jerusalem. Every year it grows and branches out to all corners of the Jewish world, and even includes an Israeli component, which is why I was there. This year my colleague Ruth Calderon, as well as journalists Nadav Eyal and Anshel Pfeffer, spoke there, as did former MK Dr. Tzvia Greenfield (Meretz), along with Daphni Leef and her partners in leading this summer's tent protests. A large audience showed up for our events, taking an interest and asking questions. But a single clear-cut thought forced itself into my consciousness: They do not need us. What can you do? They do not really need us. Of course, they care about Israel. Some more, and some less so. They are certainly not indifferent to what goes on here. But beyond that, they get along very well without us. For a long time Israel has been telling itself all kinds of stories. We Israelis are dying to have world Jewry need us like they need air to breathe. We wanted to think that at least from the point of view of Judaism, we are the center and they are backwater provincials who cannot pronounce the words. But as our sages say, it isn't so! The truth is we do not get Anglo-Saxon Jews or have a clue as to what their world is like. We mainly do not have a clue as to how independent and proud they are in their Judaism. For instance, I took part in a panel entitled "Religion and State in Israel," that focused on the exclusion of women and increasing Haredi [ultra-Orthodox] claims to public space. Seeing the looks on the faces of the audience, which ranged from bemused concern to total ridicule, it seemed to me that in their view, we Israelis are the backward ones. On our way home we passed through London, where celebrations were underway. Approximately 2,012 years ago, a little boy was born in the land of Israel to a young couple from the Center named Yosef and Miriam, and half the world's population is celebrating his birth to this day. In the area around Oxford Street you get the impression that everyone is reveling, in the only way they know how -- an endless shopping spree through the jungle of sales between Selfridges and Marks & Spencer. At the entrance to one of the stores there is a stand belonging to Muslim activists with beards and microphones. "Democracy is your disaster!" they cry. On the eve of a Christian holiday Muslim activists exercise their democratic right to urge people to take shelter in Muhammad's warm embrace. Almost no one gives them so much as a glance. Or a remark. Passers-by do not even stop to wonder what would happen if the roles were reversed: Ramadan, the entrance to a mosque, and a highly vocal stall declaring, "Muhammad is your disaster," etc. The overall message conveyed by the street is: Go in good health. Over the years, Limmud has earned a number of affectionate nicknames: the Jewish Woodstock, the Jewish Edinburgh Festival. What is most significant is the fact that during this week thousands of Jews meet and occupy themselves with a Judaism that is lively, self-confident, creative and co-exists harmoniously with the various streams within it (at least of those who are willing to come -- Oops, I forgot to mention that Britain's Haredi community boycotts Limmud), as well as with the surrounding world. They spend less time picking at anxieties and more time in constructive activity: Building bridges and building new worlds, weaving new possibilities, and a future. Not another fence, another wall or another Halachic stringency. Since I am a proud Israeli after all, I tried to say to some of the enthused participants. "You see how exciting and significant it is when you gather all the Jews in one place-" But those British are not patsies, and they fixed me with a look and replied: Just for a week, one week out of the year!
A great miracle happened there
מערכת ישראל היום
מערכת "ישראל היום“ מפיקה ומעדכנת תכנים חדשותיים, מבזקים ופרשנויות לאורך כל שעות היממה. התוכן נערך בקפדנות, נבדק עובדתית ומוגש לציבור מתוך האמונה שהקוראים ראויים לעיתונות טובה יותר - אמינה, אובייקטיבית ועניינית.
