The Executive Committee is the public-facing leadership of Limmud in the UK. The Executive Committee is responsible for planning and executing Limmud events in the UK, and the recruitment, training and support of volunteers who are involved with Limmud in the UK.
Abi Jacobi, Co-Chair of Executive Committee
Abi has been attending Limmud Conference (now Festival) since she was seven years old and started volunteering after ‘graduating’ from Young & Teen Limmud. Abi co-chaired the Inclusion & Accessibility, Programming and Families teams for Limmud Conference before going on to co-chair Festival in 2017. Since then, Abi has also been involved in Limmud’s fundraising efforts, particularly through producing the Limmud Festival Closing Gala. Abi is really excited to be co-chairing the Limmud UK Executive with Yszi, working on supporting event teams and growing Limmud’s year-round presence within the UK Jewish community. When Abi isn’t volunteering for Limmud, she is a social worker for a Children with Disabilities team in North London.
Yszi Hawkings, Co-Chair of Executive Committee
Ysabella (Yszi) has been involved with Limmud since 2010 when she first attended Limmud Conference as a participant. In 2011 she became a YAD and was then invited to join the Conference steering group in 2012. She has been involved in Limmud ever since. In addition to her many years of Conference/Festival experience, Yszi was a member of the inaugural Limmud Vancouver team in 2013/2014, co-chair of Limmud Toronto in 2015, and a member of the Limmud Global Board (2018-2020). She is very excited to work with Abi Jacobi, and as co-chairs of the Executive they bring many years of experience from both within and outside Limmud to work with our volunteers and help the organisation continue to develop and grow. When not volunteering with Limmud Yszi is a Public Health Strategist at the London Borough of Newham, where she currently works on their COVID-19 response.
Ben Lewis, Events Lead
Ben has taken a range of volunteer roles at Limmud Festival including Shabbat & Chanukah Chair and Marketing & Communications chair, culminating in being Event Chair in 2019. Outside Limmud, he is completing a PhD in Chemical Biology and works in the civil service.
Ezra Margulies, Programming and Jewish Content Lead
Ezra’s history of Limmud programming dates back to 2016, when he co-chaired the Torah & Philosophy track for Conference. His ambition since then has been to become Chief Programming Officer on Anglo-Jewry. He co-chaired the Programming team for Festival 2018; chaired the Programming team for Limmud Together UK in spring 2020; represented Limmud in partnership with JW3 for the online series “It Says What?!?”, and now leads the Programming & Jewish Content team on the Exec. He also chaired the programme for Open Talmud Project in 2019, and volunteers for Kol Rina Partnership Minyan and Central Square Minyan in various capacities. In his spare time, he works in sales for Student Beans.
Josh Coplee, Finance & Legal Lead
Josh first attended a Limmud event in 2010 and has been hooked ever since. He has had finance, logistics and family roles on Festival/Conference organising teams, and led Limmud’s large contract negotiations for a number of years too. He is passionate about Limmud’s values – particularly given the impact they have had on his own Jewish identity. We are excited for Josh to work with our new teams to transform how we manage our finances and legalities. Josh is a father of two young Limmudnik children. He is a Chartered Accountant working in financial modelling.
WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
There are lots of different roles available with Limmud in the UK