Past Speakers
Past Speakers at the Oxford University Chabad Society
(Former) Vice Chancellor of Oxford University
Chancellor of Oxford University, former Governor of Hong Kong and former EU Commisioner.
‘Anti-Semitism in Europe and Policy in the Middle East’
Former Israeli Ambassador to the Court of St James, London
Master of University College, Oxford University, Chair of the Butler Inquiry into the use of intelligence in the lead up to the 2003 Iraq war. He was Private Secretary to Prime Ministers Edward Heath (1972–74) and Harold Wilson (1974–75), and Principal Private Secretary to Margaret Thatcher (1982–85). He was also Cabinet Secretary during the premierships of Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair.
"Intelligence behind the war against Iraq"
Born in Hackney to Jewish immagrants, Sherman was a writer, journalist, political analyst and an adviser to Margaret Thatcher, whose sucess in becoming PM was attributed to him. Described by a long-time associate as "a brilliant polymath, a consummate homo politicus, and one of the last true witnesses to the 20th century"
Lord David Young of Graffham
Senior Civil Servant and former secretary of Margaret Thatcher
Senior Israeli Diplomat at the Israeli Embassy in London.
Mr. Shacham, who served four years military service in the IDF, is Former Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Israel in the Philippines, served in the Embassy in Bonn, Germany as head of the public relations division and worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem as the desk officer for Germany, the Netherlands and Austria.
The Hourable Mr. Justice Gavin Lightman
Noted High Court Judge sitting in London, Chairman of the Commonwealth Jewish Council
"Jewish Views From the Bench"
Author of The Book of Tells: How To Read People’s Minds From Their Actions; has been a resident psychologist for the UK Channel 4 series, Big Brother; Presented Body Talk on Channel 4, about power, love and sex; former member of Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University.
"What does Jewish Body Language say about the Jews?"
Famous Playwrite Sir Arnold Wesker
Arnold Wesker is onsidered one of the key figures in 20th Century drama, and the author of 42 plays, 4 volumes of short stories, 2 volumes of essays, a book on journalism, a children's book, extensive journalism, poetry and other assorted writings. His plays have been translated into 17 languages, and performed world-wide.
Gil Locks, Former Central Park New York Guru. Gil Locks has made an amazing spiritual journey from corporate America to the depths of South India to the holy city of Jerusalem. He has transformed himself from a successful businessman into a long-haired hippy, a mystical guru, a Christian healer, and finally an Old City Jew.
"How the Central Park Guru Became an Old City Jew: Coming Back to Earth"
Professor Sir Adam Roberts
Montague Burton Professor of International Relations and Fellow, Balliol College; author of United Nations, Divided World: The UN's Roles in International Relations and many other publications on international relations
"United Nations, Israel and the Palestinians"
New College, Oxford University
"The Dreyfus Affair & 19th Century French Anti-Semitism"
Professor of Psychology, at London University (Royal Holloway); editor of the journal Mental Health, Religion and Culture and the author of several books and many articles on the topic of mental health and religion.
"Is Judaism Patriarchal?"
Rare Bodleian Library Exhibition of Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) Manuscripts
Celebrating 900 years since his passing, 1105 CE
Manuscripts on Display : Pentateuch, Onklus and Rashi, early 13th century Germany or France, decorative; Rashi commentary on the Bible, 13th century; Rashi commentary on the Bible, written 1399, in Camereen, Italy in Sephardic script; Rashi commentary on the Bible 1461 in Italian script; Rashi commentary on the Bible late 13th century; super commentary, on Rashi, Oriental Ashkenazic 14th century; Rashi on Talmud without Tosfot; Rashi and Tosfot on Bava Kama
Convocation House, Old Bodleian Library, Broad Street, Oxford
Department of History and Politics, Oxford University
"Spanish Exodus: Interpreting the Conversion and Expulsion of Spanish Jewry"
Munich Olympic Survivor Dan Alon
Alon was a member of the Israeli fencing team at the 1972 Munich Olympics. During the Games, Palestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic Village with the intention of taking the entire Israeli delegation hostage. Alon was not captured by the terrorists, but eleven Israelis were killed in what has been termed the "Munich Massacre." One of the murdered Israelis was fencing coach (and referee) Andre Spitzer.
'My Experiences At Munich, 1972'
Holocaust Memorial Lecture
In conjunction with Oxford University Student Union (OUSU)
Nicholas Stargardt is the son of a German-Jewish father and Australian mother. Born in Melbourne, he has lived in Australia, Japan, England and Germany. He studied at King’s College, Cambridge, and is a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, where he teaches modern European history. Already hailed as “magnificent . . . some of the best historical writing about the aftermath of the war I have ever read . . . stunning” (The Guardian), his latest book Witnesses of War breaks new ground in its exploration of the lives and the fate of children of all nationalities under the Nazi regime.
"Child survivors of the holocaust"
‘Nothingness & narcissism’
Psychoanalyst Dr Joseph Berke
Dr. Joseph is author of Beyond Madness: Psychological interventions in Psychosis; Founder of Arbours Association and Arbours Crisis Centre, London.
Science & Religion Lecture
Professor at Bar Ilan University, Israel; World expert on science and religion and dynamic and entertaining speaker; acclaimed author of In the Beginning; Fossils and Faith
Expert on relationships; international speaker; principal of Lubavitch House senior girls school
Lecturer on Jewish Spirituality, University College London.
With a viewing of the books of the Zohar and original Hassidic manuscripts from the Gorman Collection First Time on Display
Reception * Presentation * Exhibition
Professor Alan Dershowitz
Felix Franfurter Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz is a world famous civil liberties lawyer, best selling author of Chutzpah; The Case for Israel; Shouting fire: civil liberties in a turbulent age; Why terrorism works: understanding the threat; The vanishing American Jew
"Is there a case for Israel?"
Magdalen College auditorium
World expert on the Russian Revolution, author of Lenin and the Russian Revolution (1967), Rasputin(1997), The Russian Revolution (1998), Stalin (1999); Emeritus Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford; His book on the conscription of Russian Jewish refugees in Britain in 1917, entitled War or Revolution,will be published in 2006.
"British Jews & the Russian Revolution"
Leone Ginsburg research fellow in Israel studies at the Oxford centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies and at the Middle East Centre of St Antony’s College, Oxford University, where he teaches Israeli politics and the history of the Israel – Arab conflict; regular writer for the Guardian newspaper.
In Celebration of 100 years since Einstein's revolutionary theory Oxford Chabad Society presents
One of the most exciting mathematicians of our age; Knighted in 1994 for his contribution to science, the extraordinaryscope of Sir Roger's work ranges from quantum physics and theories of human consciousness to relativity theory and observations on the structure of the universe. His primary interest is in a field of geometry called tesselation, the covering of surfaces with tiles of different shapes.
‘The Einsteinian perspective'
Professor Jonathan Goldstein
Professor Jonathan Goldstein is a Research Associate of Harvard Univeristy’s Fairbank Center for East Asian Research anda Professor of East Asian History at the University of West Georgia. His books include 'The Jews of China' & 'China and Israel.'
‘The Jews of Harbin, China: Ehud Ohlmert’s Ancestral Hometown’
Chief Rabbi of Israel Israel Meir Lau
Youngest survivor of buchenwald concentration camp
Rabbi Yisrael (Israel) Meir Lau is currently the Chief Rabbi of the city of Tel Aviv in Israel. He previously served as the Israeli Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi from 1993 to 2003. Rabbi Lau was born in 1937, in the Polish town of Piotrkow. His father, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lau, was the last Chief Rabbi of Piotrków and died in the Treblinka death camp. Lau was freed from the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945. There are reports that he was the youngest prisoner liberated from Buchenwald. His entire family was murdered, with the exception of one older brother, Naphtali Lau-Lavie, and an uncle already living in Israel. He and his brother immigrated in July 1945, and he was ordained a rabbi in 1971. He is married to the daughter of the former Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv.
‘Should Holocaust Denial be Illegal?’
Defamation Lawyer James Libson
James Libson was a senior memberof Deborah Lipstadt's defence team, together with Anthony Julius and Richard Evans; Partner and head of litigation for Mishcon de Reya law firm, London.
African cuisine Shabbat dinner
‘Changing the vision of one billion poor people in Africa’
Inventor of adaptive vision correction to help the one billion people in the world who need glasses but cannot get them; 2000 Grand Award Winner, Popular Science 'Best of What's New' Awards: Medical Technology; Professor of Experimental Physics, New college, Oxford University
Professor Hava Tirosh-Samuelson
Professor of History at Arizona State University in Tempe AZ; She was born in Kibbutz Afikim, Israel and holds a Ph.D. in Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem;
‘Judaism & Nature: Do They Conflict?’
Debate: Assisted Dying Bill For The Terminally Ill
Proposer of the "Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill", which would legalise physician-assited dying
Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon; former Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Health
Department of Oncology Royal Free and University College Medical School
Professor of Immunopathology, Royal Free and University College London Medical School. Hon Consultant Immunopathologist, UCL Hospitals.
Mrs. Nadia Cohen, Widow Of Israel's Most Famous Mosad Agent, Eli Cohen Z"L
‘After forty one years it is high time to let my husband go’
Eli Cohen was Israel's most famous Mosad agent, born in Egypt and penetrated the highest levels of the Syrian government before he was caught by the Syrians, brutally tortured and executed 41 years ago, on May 18, 1965.
Shabbat Dinner With Jon Ronson
Jon Ronson is a writer and documentary film maker. His first book, Them: Adventures With Extremists, was an international bestseller. His most recent book is The Men Who Stare At Goats. He has also written the popular "Human Zoo" and "Out of the Ordinary" columns for The Guardian, where he contributes features. He produced the BBC Radio 4 documentary Hotel Auschwitz and made the acclaimed five part series the Secret Rulers of the World.
‘Life As A City Solicitor - A Jewish Perspective’
Dinner with Sidney Myers, Partner of Allen & Overy LLP
Sidney Myers, a senior partner with International legal practice, Allen & Overy LLP, will join the Jewish students for dinner and talk about life at a major law firm and some of the issues faced by Jewish students thinking about a career in the law. Allen & Overy is an international legal practice with offices in 25 major cities worldwide.
‘The Ten Commandments Of Stress Management’
Leading Psychiatrist and founder of the Centre for Stress Related Illnesses at Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa. He is author of 'The Brief Exploration of Being Human' (2001) and 'What are the Colours of Apples?' (2006)
Moroccan Shabbat Dinner with
Chairman, Association of Moroccan Jews in Great Britain, expert on Moroccon Jewry, met personally on a number of occasions the King of Morocco.
Moroccan Kosher Cuisine Served
‘The Ethical Legacy of the Holocaust & the Nuremberg Medical Trial’
Former Director Of Nasa Life-Science Research Centre; Director Jakabovits Centre for Medical Ethics and Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology, Ben Gurion University.
‘Green Dinosaurs & Martin Microbes: Is the science and religion controversy still an issue?’
‘Rembrandt & The Jews: The Bible Through Dutch Eyes’
Queen’s University’s (Canada) most generous benefactor, Dr. Bader established the Bader collection of fine arts, which is the best Rembrandt collection in North America. Dr. Bader was among the first Jewish children to escape to Britain via the Kindertransport, became wrongfully imprisoned as an "enemy alien" and uprooted yet again to a prisoner-of-war camp in Canada. Rejected for admission at both U of T and McGill because their Jewish quotas were full , he found acceptance at Queen's University. His Biochemical company, The Aldrich Chemical Company, became the largest in the world.
Celebrating 400 years since the birth of Rembrandt, 1606
Muhammad's encounter with the Jews of Arabia and its consequences today
Lucien Gubbay was born in Buenos Aires and educated at Balliol College, Oxford, after which he served in the Royal Air Force. He is author of " Sunlight and Shadow - The Jewish Experience of Islam " with a foreword by the late Sheikh Badawi , one of the country’s most influential Muslim clerics, co-founder of the Three Faiths Forum and founder of the Muslim College in London.
Holocaust Memorial Lecture
The Lady Amelie Jakobovits
Holocaust Survivor; Wife of the late Lord Jakobovits, former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain; Founder and Life President of the Association of United Synagogue Women; President of the Jewish Marriage Council; Vice-President of the Federation of Women's Zionist Organisations of Great Britain.
Holocaust Survivor Mr. Ben Helfgott MBE
Born in Piotrkow, Poland, Survivor of Treblinka concentration camp. Ben Helfgott is the only known survivor of a Nazi concentration camp to compete in the Olympic Games. He became British middleweight weightlifting champion and record holder. He captained the British Olympic Weightlifting Teams of 1956 and 1960.
‘From Life in Pre-War Piotrkow, Poland, to British weightlifting champion’
Professor Deborah Lipstadt
Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University. Author of " Denying the Holocaust: The growing assault on the truth and memory" and "History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving ."
"History in Trial" is Lipstadt's account of her successful defense against Holocaust denier, David Irving, who sued her for libel for calling him a denier. Irving suffered a resounding loss.
‘My Encounter With David Irving’
Europe's Foremost Graphologist
'One of Europe's foremost graphologists' - Harvard Business Magazine - New York. 'Draws gasps of admiration' - The Times .
"Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Sign Your Name..."
Tu B'shvat Chocolate Fountain & Film
Former Vice President Al Gore fronts this award winning documentary on Global Warming. Using scientific facts, personal stories, quotes and animation to explain the threat that we now all face from Global Warming; you can’t help but be moved by Gore’s sincerity and the strength of his argument. This is one of the most important films that you are ever likely to see and an entertaining documentary to boot. This film has the power to change the world forever.
Father of Eldad Regev and mother of Ehud Goldwasser, who were captured by the Hizbollah, sparking the 2nd Lebanese war last summer.
Born in Ethiopia, 1973, he made Aliya to Israel at 9 years old without his parents on board a ship operated by the Mossad. He joined the Israeli army and became an officer in the infantry. He now lectures at Bar Ilan University on the unique lifestyle and history of the Ethiopian community.
‘Trials And Traditions: Ethiopian Jews & The Flasha-Mura’
Renowned expert on Eastern Meditation, Mysticism and Kabbalah
