

Our
Speakers

Simo Muir
Simo Muir on tällä hetkellä jiddishin kielen vanhempi lehtori Lundin yliopistossa ja vanhempi tutkija University College Londonissa. Hänen viimeisin tutkimushankkeensa tarkasteli juutalaista musiikkia Suomessa, niin jiddishinkielistä revyytä, juutalaisten jazzmuusikoiden vaiheita kuin jiddishinkielistä levytuotantoa Suomessa.

Ivana Koutníková
Ivana Koutníková has studied in four different countries (the Czech Republic, Austria, Israel and Sweden) and holds academic degrees in Jewish studies, German studies, and History. Her research focus is on the 20th century, especially on the Holocaust and World War II in Central Europe. She has worked in educational organizations such as Centropa (a historical institute dedicated to preserving 20th century Jewish family stories and photos from Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans) and CET Academic Programs in Prague (as a resident director for Jewish and Central European studies). She also has been involved in the creation and organization of a film section for the festival The Days of Jewish Culture in Olomouc, Czech Republic. In 2019–2020 she was an executive board member of the Limmud Stockholm. She has been working with cultural management connected to Jewish culture for more than 8 years. She is one of the editors to publication Sweden's World War II Dilemmas. Case Study: Czechoslovakia. Currently, she works at Paideia as responsible for courses within the Jewish profile, cultural programs and as a project manager.
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Noa Israeli
JPPI research fellow. Noa is the coordinator of the academic course “Israeli Identity: Divided We Stand.” She is a PhD student at the School of Jewish Studies at Tel Aviv University, a graduate of the Israel Democracy Institute’s Human Rights and Judaism Program and lecturer in the "Regev" program at the Kibbutzim Seminar. She lives in Tel Aviv and is the mother of two daughters.

Martin Englund
Martin Englund is a PhD student in history at Södertörn University, Teacher Educator and a teacher in history and religion. He is conducting an oral history project about the historical experiences of the Jewish refugees that came to Sweden from Poland 1967-1972 due to the antisemitic campaign. Martin Englund is also one of the organizers in the Research Network for Holocaust Studies in Sweden.

Craig Judelman
Craig first made a name for himself in New York as an American ‘old time’ musician, where his band, The Dust Busters, released an album with their mentor John Cohen on the Smithsonian Folkways Label. He later joined the band Litvakus, one of the only contemporary bands devoted to the regional style of the Northern European, or Litvish Jews. In recent years he has devoted himself to intensive study of Jewish fiddlers recorded in the early part of the 20th century, as well as deepening his understanding of the Litvish style.
Craig began singing in the synagogue as a young boy and has learned Hassidic music around many tables from Brooklyn to Jerusalem, in addition to studying it with friends, rabbis and musicians. While not a Hasidic Jew himself, he continues to learn and teach the Hasidic music and ideas and integrates them into his own Jewish practice. He also loves sharing this rich tradition with people of all backgrounds from around the world.
Craig lives in Berlin, where he is a co-founder of Lebedik, together with Sasha Lurje, a band devoted to Yiddish song in its many forms. Craig has taught and performed at numerous festivals throughout Europe and the USA and is on the organizational team at the Shtetl Berlin festival and Seattle Yiddish Fest.

Mia Hasenson-Gross
Mia is a human rights activist based in London who has dedicated the last 20 years to promoting human rights and social justice. As the Executive Director or René Cassin, the Jewish voice for human rights, she is committed to mobilising and empowering the Jewish community on human rights issues drawing on our Jewish history and values. Mia has a BA in international relations and an MA in international law from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is a graduate fellow of the Minerva Centre for Human Rights at the Hebrew University and graduate fellow of Wizo’s Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Programme. Mia is also an alumnus of the first Dangoor Senior Leadership Programme for lay and professional leaders in the UK Jewish community, 2018-2019. Mia is a trustee of the Coalition for Genocide Response, founding trustee of Stop Uyghur Genocide UK and is on the Advisory Council of the World Uyghur Congress UK. Mia is the proud mother of Lyri, Yuval and Daniel and has lived in the UK since 2004 with her partner Amir.

Suomen Kirkko ja juutalaisuus –työryhmä
Suomen Kirkko ja juutalaisuus –työryhmä. Kirkko ja juutalaisuus työryhmän jäsenillä on laaja tausta. Mukana on paitsi juutalaisia asiantuntijoita myös Ev.lut kirkon työntekijöitä kuin juutalaisuuden tutkijoita niin Åbo Akademista kuin muistakin suomalaisista yliopistoista.

Sagit Yehoshua
Sagit is a criminologist, specializing in criminal and terrorist profiling, radicalisation and de-radicalisation processes and the application of risk assessments. Sagit was awarded her PhD, by Kings College in London, UK Sagit is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Counter-Terrorism (I.C.T.), Richman university, Herzliya, Israel, an Atkin Research Fellow at ICSR- International Centre for the Study of De-radicalization at King's College London, UK. Sagit is also a member of ‘Forum Devore’, that support women in national security and foreign policy. Currently, Sagit lectures at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the Richman University in Herzliya, Israel. Sagit has extensive experience as a consultant for official intelligence agencies, multi-national corporations and private sector risk management companies and is a recognized profiler and risk assessor of extremists in both Israel and internationally. Sagit is a qualified NLP therapist, specializing in trauma and difficult life circumstances and an author of the book “Terrorist Minds: From Social-Psychological Profiling to Assessing the Risk”

Samuel Beniard
Samuel Beniard was born in Helsinki, grew up in the community and attended its school. Having had a strong interest in Torah studies from a young age he decided after graduating from a local Finnish high school to pursue his Torah studies in Gateshead Yeshiva in England. Later on he also studied and completed a BA in history in King's College London. Samuel received his rabbinical semicha from Rabbi Shraga Feivel Zimmerman who is currently the Av Beis Din of the Federation of Synagogues in the UK. Samuel returned to in Finland with his wife and two children, now serving as the Rabbi of the Helsinki Jewish Community

Sanne Möricke
Sanne Möricke (*1971 Amsterdam) is a highly sought after klezmer accordionist. She first studied ethnomusicology and then took up accordion studies. She specialized in Yiddish instrumental music since 1992, and currently also explores music from south-eastern Europe.
In the course of time she played in several klezmerish ensembles with different line-ups and stiles; gained experience as a theatre and studio musician; and has been teaching and performing with numerous international artists at many international festivals and seminars. She lives in Berlin and currently plays with Lebedik and Ljuti Hora.
"Sanne's accordion is nothing to sneeze at..."
Ari Davidow, Klezmershack

Agnieszka Baraszko
Agnieszka Baraszko works as Project Manager and Recruitment Officer at Paideia – the European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden. She is running Hevruta training sessions and lectures on Jewish Folklore. She works with the One-Year Jewish Study Program, Paideia Mifgash Project and PR. She is Paideia alumna and an active member in Stockholm and Gdansk Jewish Communities. She graduated from University of Warsaw, Jewish Open University in Warsaw and Autonomous University of Madrid. She holds MA’s in French and Spanish literature and language and specializes in poetry translation.

Merci Czimbalmos
Mercédesz (Merci) Czimbalmos is a postdoctoral reseacher at Åbo Akademi University, and a senior researcher at the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare. Her interdisciplinary background is primarily in Jewish studies, the study of religions, and gender studies. Czimbalmos is currently the leader of the research project "Antisemitism Undermining Democracy." Czimbalmos' most recent research on Finnish Jewry was conducted in the "Minhag Finland" project, specifically focusing on intermarriages, conversions and Jewish identity.

Chaya & Zushe Abelsky
Zushe is following in the footsteps of his father who established Chabad Moldova at the fall of communism in 1989 and has been doing it from Brooklyn, NY, while flying back and forth to Moldova several times a year, since we got married 29 years ago. He spearheaded, and continues to lead, the successful massive efforts to provide food, shelter, transportation, medical and emotional support to the thousands of Ukrainian refugees who crossed the border into Moldova. For this invaluable work, he has been featured in many national news publications, and was recently on Chanukah 2022 featured in an interview on CBS 2 news. Chaya, has worked alongside Zushe for these many years, while also working in organizational and leadership development, now a leader at Charidy.com. Chaya is a sought after speaker, trainer, facilitator, the creator and Instructor of the coaching certificate program at the City University of New York’s Brooklyn College. With clients ranging from high profile public service professional and funders to people from all walks of life, her mission is the same: to help clients take on their lives with full joy, commitment and action.

Benji Elson
Benji Elson is a psychotherapist, rabbi, educator, adventurer, musician, meditation teacher, transformative experience facilitator, and storyteller living in Jerusalem! Benji is also the author of the widely popular book 'Dance of the Omer: A Step-by Step Guide to the Transformational Journey of Sefirat Haomer'. Benji has taught and led transformative experiences around the world including in cities across the US, Israel, Canada, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, and India. On a more personal level, Benji has had the privilege of living a rather colorful life which has included living on two different mini-mobile homes that ran on used vegetable oil, working as a shepherd in the Jerusalem hills, traveling through and living in ashrams in India, living on several Jewish farms, working on a kibbutz, working as a therapist in the gangs of South Central LA, and more! Benji has also spent the passed decade plus studying the blending of Torah, psychology, and environmentalism, a triad which he considers to be the "three pillars of his life's work". He is thrilled to be with you all at Limmud Helsinki and to have the opportunity of to share with us all some ideas from Jerusalem!

Sasha Lurje
Sasha Lurje is a Riga-born and Berlin-based Yiddish singer performing and teaching across the world. Her experience in traditional song, various vocal techniques and genres adds up to a wide range that creates great performances. Her work includes projects from various styles and facets of Yiddish music such as her band forshpil (forshpil.com) – dark Yiddish love songs in 70s rock arrangements songs, the Jewish cabaret from 1930s Berlin with Semer Ensemble, and multiple other other projects ranging from traditional to experimental. Sasha conducts her research in traditional voice techniques and voice production and has presented her work at various conferences. Sasha is a co-founder of Berlin Yiddish culture festival Shtetl Berlin and Seattle Yiddish Fest, and has performed and taught Yiddish singing throughout Europe and North and South America and has been a longstanding artist and faculty member at Yiddish Summer Weimar.