Oxford University Chabad Society
HILARY TERMCARD 2025
Welcome to Oxford University Chabad Society HILARY Termcard '25! This term promises to be an exciting programme at the OU Chabad Society, offering a wide variety of high profile and stimulating events, including world renowned speakers, delicious Friday night Shabbat dinners and lunch weekly, stimulating classes, seminars and plenty of opportunities to meet other students and make new friends. Whether you’re looking for challenging discussions, classes in Judaism or a warm environment to hang out with friends, the Oxford University Chabad Society has something to offer everyone. Looking forward to meeting you over the coming term!
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Weekly Friday Night SHABBAT DINNER & LUNCH
Oxford Chabad is delighted to offer Jewish students and community weekly delicious Shabbat Dinners and Lunch every Shabbat throughout the year:
Friday night Shabbat dinner, at 7pm (Kabbalat Shabbat, followed by dinner) at Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
Shabbat Lunch at 1.30pm at Chabad House, 75 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1HR
RSVP: [email protected]
All are welcome!
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Week 0
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Friday Night Shabbat Dinner
Prof. Lord (Lionel) Tarassenko CBE FREng FMedSci
Founding President of Reuben College, the University of Oxford’s newest (39th) college
Professor Lord (Lionel) Tarassenko CBE FREng FMedSci is the first president of Reuben College, the University of Oxford’s newest college, Theme Lead for the AI & Machine Learning research cluster and former Head of the Department of Engineering Science. Born in Paris in 1957, his maternal great-grand-parents are written on the wall of the Righteous amongst the Nations at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. He is a world-leading expert in the application of signal processing and machine learning to healthcare. Elected to the Chair of Electrical Engineering and a Professorial Fellowship at St John’s College, Professor Tarassenko is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Medical Sciences. In 1996, he was awarded the British Computer Society (BCS) Medal for development of neural network analysis of sleep disorders. Professor Tarassenko is the author of 320 journal papers, 280 conference papers, 3 books and 32 granted patents. He was made a CBE for services to engineering in the 2012 New Year’s Honours List and appointed as a non-party-political peer in the House of Lords in May 2024.
Friday, 17 January, 7.30pm
At the Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
RSVP: click here.
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Week 1
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Magdalen College Hebraica Viewing
Tuesday, 21 January, 12pm
At Magdalen College Old Library
All welcome!
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With gratitude to the Al-mighty Rabbi Eli & Freidy warmly invite you to join us for the
WEDDING
of our dear daughter
Chana and Mendel
Tuesday, 21 January
Pre-Chuppah reception and canapes: at 3.15pm at the Assembly Room, Oxford Town Hall, St Aldates, Oxford, OX1 1BX
Chuppah wedding ceremony: at 4.45pm at the Clarendon Quad of the Bodleian Library (behind the Sheldonian Theatre)
Dancing and Drinks (Open Bar) at Oxford Town Hall: 9.30pm
RSVP: [email protected]
We greatly look forward to welcoming you at our simchah.
All welcome!
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Post Wedding Celebration Friday Night Shabbat Dinner - Sheva Brachot
Friday, 24 January, 7.30pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
All are welcome!
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Week 2
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Holocaust Memorial Lecture
Hungarian Child Holocaust Survivor Dr. Michael Pinto-Duschinsky
'My Escape from the Munkacs Ghetto: past and present'
Tuesday, 28 January, 8pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
All are welcome!
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Friday Night Shabbat Dinner
Professor Benjamin Morgan
'Liberal Virtues and Liberal Zionism: Staying Positive about Negative Liberty'
Benjamin Morgan is a Professor of German and Comparative Literature, University of Oxford. His main research interests are in German intellectual history (medieval mysticism, Nietzsche, early psychoanalysis, Heidegger, the Frankfurt School); German film (Fritz Lang, Leni Riefenstahl, the ‘Heimat’ film) and comparative literature. He has also worked on contemporary writing (Jelinek, Trojanow, McEwan). His current book project engages critically with the work of the Frankfurt School during the 1930s and 1940s to elaborate a model of socially committed, reflexive interdisciplinarity for the 21st century. Benjamin is also the Modern Languages Coordinator for Oxford Comparative Criticism and Translation.
Friday, 31 January, 7.30pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
All are welcome!
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Week 3
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Professor Alan Silman
'Hunger and starvation in the Warsaw Ghetto: the recent emergence of a very moving story of scientific endeavour in the most challenging of conditions '
Alan is currently Professor of Musculoskeletal Health in the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedic and Senior Research Fellow at Green Templeton College, Oxford. He was formerly the Medical Director of Arthritis Research UK. He has published over 500 scientific papers and a number of books. Much of his research career was in dissecting the contribution of “nature vs nurture” in various diseases. He has a long standing interest in the origins of Jewish communities round the world.
Tues, 4 Feb, 8pm
Buffet reception 7pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George Street, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
All are welcome!
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Shawarma and drinks evening
We're delighted to invite you to join us for a welcome back shawarma and drinks
Wed, 5 Feb, 7pm-9pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
All are welcome!
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Week 4
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Challah Bake
Monday, 10 February, 7pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
All are welcome!
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Tu B'Shvat - Birthday of the Trees
Fruit and chocolate fondue
Wednesday, 12 February, 7pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
All are welcome!
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Week 5
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Jonathan Sacerdoti
Jonathan Sacerdoti is a journalist and commentator with a broad focus on global affairs, culture, and society. With over 15 years of experience reporting on Israel and the Middle East, he has covered wars, politics, and culture, including as the UK correspondent for Israeli TV channel i24news. He is a regular commentator on international news channels, and has contributed to a wide range of outlets, including Fox News, BBC, Sky News, Talk TV, Channel 4, i24news, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Daily Express, The Spectator, and the Jewish Chronicle, showing versatility across television, radio, digital, and print media worldwide. He was a lead contributor to several of Fox Nation’s biographical documentaries, including on Benjamin Netanyahu and King Charles III. As the son of a Holocaust survivor, Jonathan is passionate about tackling antisemitism and racism. He co-founded and led the UK’s foremost antisemitism charity, served as a trustee for the Simon Wiesenthal Center UK, and was part of the team to rescue the world’s oldest Jewish newspaper, the Jewish Chronicle, from bankruptcy. Jonathan’s expertise extends to UK politics, the Middle East, extremism, and coexistence. He speaks and debates at schools, universities, and public forums, as well as on a major podcasts. He also covers a variety of cultural topics including opera, travel, religion, ethics and theatre.
Tuesday, 18 February, 8pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
All are welcome!
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Week 6
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Professor Patrick Hayes
'Hannah Arendt: 50 years '
Official Fellow and Tutor in English, Fellow for Libraries and Keeper of the Archives, St John’s College, University of Oxford. His first two books focused on modern fiction, and considered questions about literary value in contrasting ways. The first, J.M. Coetzee and the Novel (2010), explored how literature can acquire public moral and political significance, and the second, Philip Roth: Fiction and Power (2014), asks how, and to what ends, literature can help us escape the unilluminating and entrapping forms of moral language which command such power in the modern world. His recent work is Beyond the Ancient Quarrel (2018)—a collection of essays by a range of contemporary philosophers and literary critics, which borrows its title from the claim Socrates makes in the Republic that ‘there is an ancient quarrel between poetry and philosophy’. My other recent project, is The Oxford History of Life-Writing: Postwar to Contemporary (2022).
Tuesday, 25 February, 8pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
All are welcome!
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Week 7
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Sir Stephen Fry
One of the pillars of British comedy, Stephen Fry is also a successful stage and screen actor, a hugely engaging presenter, a best-selling writer and an accomplished director. Alongside the quiz QI, his latest projects involve tracking down species facing extinction and travelling across America in his London taxi. Films include Sherlock Holmes 2 and Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. Stephen emerged as a major talent with supporting roles in The Young Ones and Blackadder, before becoming one half of Fry & Laurie with university friend Hugh. The two went on to film four series of PG Wodehouse’s Jeeves & Wooster. Stephen won critical acclaim as the beleaguered but brilliant Irish wit in the Hollywood biopic Wilde. Maintaining a literary connection he went on to appear in Tristram Shandy and direct Bright Young Things, adapted from Evelyn Waugh’s novel Vile Bodies. He has given his voice to the Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes stories, lifted a taboo with a series on depression and traced his roots in Who Do You Think You Are? He is also one of television’s most polished awards host and a favourite guest on countless panel shows. Stephen Fry’s writing credits include The Liar, Paperweight, The Tennis Stars’ Balls and the memoirs Moab is My Washpot and The Fry Chronicles. He has also written a series of books, Mythos, Heroes and Troy, retelling Greek Myths
Tuesday, 4 March, 8pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
All are welcome!
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Week 8
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Exploring Jewish philosophy, ethics and law in the work of Maimonides - one of Judaism's most prolific and influential thinkers
Programme:
1pm Buffet lunch
Dr. Israel Sandman, University College London
Israel Sandman is a Fellow at the Hebrew & Jewish Studies Department at University College London and an expert on medieval Jewish philosophy and manuscripts.
‘The commentary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe on Maimonides and Rashi: a common approach’
Dr Naftali Loewenthal, UCL
Naftali Loewenthal is a Lecturer (Teaching) at the Dept of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, UCL. He is author of Communicating the Infinite: the Emergence of the Habad School (Chicago, 1990) and his most recent book is Hasidism beyond Modernity, Studies in Habad Thought and History (Littmann Library).
Samuel Zahn
University of Oxford
The Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
Participants are welcome to attend all or any part of the programme.
RSVP for buffet lunch and/or handouts: info@oxfordchabad.
More speakers to be confirmed. If you wish to deliver a short talk on a subject of Jewish studies or the holiday of Purim / the Book of Esther, please email: [email protected]
All are welcome!
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Week 8
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Isaac Meyers memorial lecture
Dr. Kerstin Hoge
‘Flying the coop: On chickens and humans in Sholem Aleichem’s ‘Kapores’ and Salomea Perl’s ‘Tsipke’
Kerstin Hoge is the Yiddish Lector at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies and was appointed as University Lecturer in German Linguistics in 2008. She teaches German and General Linguistics to students across the university. Her research interests lie in the field of syntax, with a particular focus on the structure and acquisition of interrogative sentences in the Germanic languages. A further area of interest is Yiddish in both its linguistic and literary aspects, and recent publications have addressed the construction of social and personal identity in Yiddish children’s literature. Her current work focuses on the cross-linguistic properties of causal interrogatives. She is the review editor of the Journal of Linguistics.
Tuesday, 11 March, 8pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86560930359?pwd=Vb6HfuN8SmBmOaiSyB3dMIUvEdB3vX.1
Meeting ID: 865 6093 0359
Passcode: 390452
All are welcome!
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PURIM in the Jerusalem Shuk Party
Grand Purim party with f alafel and shawarma with a full Jerusalem grill, borekas stand, ice cream rolling bar with all the top[pings and filling the shuk has to offer.
Thursday, 13 March, 7pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
All are welcome!
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PURIM in Jerusalem Brunch & Bouncy Zone
Falafel bar, borekas, rugelach, and challah making, face painting and bouncy zone
Friday, 14 March, 11-2pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
All are welcome!
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Megillah - Scroll of Esther - readings:
Thursday, 13 March, 7pm, 9pm, 11pm
Friday, 14 March: 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm
At the Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
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Film viewing: "The Commandant's Shadow"
Q&A with Director ( Daniela Völker ) and the Exec Producers ( Gloria Abramoff and Wendy Robbins) together with Laura Jones
At St John's College
Thursday the 3rd of April 2025 ( exact time TBC)
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Future events
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The Rt Hon Lord Pickles
Special UK Government Envoy for Post-Holocaust issues and Co-Chair, UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation. Lord Pickles was appointed as the next Conservative Party nominee to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments in July 2019 and was subsequently appointed as Chair following an open competition, in line with the Cabinet Office Governance Code, taking up the role in April 2020. His appointment was approved following pre-appointment scrutiny by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee. Lord Pickles was appointed Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust issues in September 2015, replacing Sir Andrew Burns. Lord Pickles works closely with the wide range of Holocaust academics, survivors and educational and social organisations in the UK. Along with the former Labour Cabinet Minister, Ed Balls, he Co Chairs the United Kingdom’s Holocaust Memorial Foundation. He was made a Life Peer in 2018.
Thursday, 5 June, 8pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
All are welcome!
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Professor Irene Tracey CBE, FRS, FMedSci
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford
Professor Irene Tracey, CBE, FMedSci, became Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford on 1 January 2023. She was previously Warden of Merton College, Oxford, her alma mater. She is also Professor of Anaesthetic Neuroscience in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences. Irene did her undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Oxford in Biochemistry under the supervision of Professor Sir George Radda. In 1997, Irene returned to Oxford and was a founding member of the Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB – now the world-leading Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging); she was its director from 2005 until 2015. Irene was tenured in 2001 at what is now the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics with Studentship at Christ Church. From 2007 until 2019, Irene held the Nuffield Chair in Anaesthetic Sciences with Fellowship at Pembroke College, where she is an Honorary Fellow. In the 2022 New Year’s Honours list, she was appointed by HM The Queen to a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to Medical Research.
Friday, 13 June, 7.30pm
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CLASSES AND COURSES
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Oxford University Chabad Society invites you to join a new course for students and community
"The Quest for Meaning in Medieval Jewish Philosophy, Kabbalah, and Hasidism"
Taught by Dr Israel M. Sandman
New Oxford Chabad scholar in residence
Using primary texts in English translation, we shall explore several moments in the Jewish development of the intertwined conceptions of G‑d, the human, the world, and the purpose of our existence. We shall begin with various medieval synthesis of biblical and Greek philosophical conceptions, then consider their relation to Kabbalah and Hasidism.
Background texts include short selections from the Hebrew Bible (Genesis, Isaiah, Chronicles, Proverbs, and Job), Greek philosophical sources (including Plato's Timaeus, Aristotle's De Anima and Metaphysics, Plotinus' Enneads), and Persian / Arabic Islamic philosophers (Al-Farabi and Avicenna).
The Jewish philosophers upon whom we shall focus include, in addition to Moses Maimonides (Aristotelianism with Neoplatonism), Solomon Ibn Gabirol and Judah Ha-Levi (Neoplatonism), Levi Gersonides (Aristotelianism), and Hasdai Crescas (philosophical critique of philosophy).
The works of Kabbalah from which we shall examine short selections include the Zoharic literature, and the writings of Meir Ibn Gabbai, Moses Cordovero, and Isaac Luria (as recorded by disciples).
As far as Ḥasidic sources, in addition to select teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid of Mezritch, and ḤaBaD (= Chabad) works, we shall look at teachings of Rabbi Levi Isaac of Berditchev and Rabbi Naḥman of Breslov.
Dr Israel M. Sandman's research focuses on medieval Hebrew manuscripts and premodern Jewish thought. He is affiliated with University College London's Department of Hebrew & Jewish Studies.
Philosophy: 6 sessions; Kabbalah: 3 sessions; Ḥasidism: 3 sessions.
Running during Hilary term on following six dates at 5.30pm: 23 January, 30 January, 6 February, 13 February, 6 March, 11 March.
Students Free. Non-students: £35.
To sign up to the course: click here.
All are welcome!
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Sinai Scholars Course – ‘Think Jewish: Jewish Wisdom for Modern Life’
Explore the foundations of Judaism in 8 interactive sessions
Stipend offered by Sinai Scholars Society: $350 / £260
To apply: click here.
For more info, email [email protected]
The course covers the following topics: 1. Perspectives on Jewish Identity in the Modern World, 2. Foundational Elements of the Jewish Ethos, 3. Significance and Meaning of Jewish Observances, 4. An Oasis in Time: The Gift of Shabbat, 5. The Jewish secrets of Love and Marriage, 6. Jewish Ethics: Ancient System, Modern Applications, 7. An Overview of Jewish Mysticism, Kabbalah, and Chasidism, and 8. Forward Thinking: Examining Our Past to Forge Our Personal and Collective Future.
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CLASSES AND COURSES
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Talmud Class
Join us to study subjects in Judaism's all-important 6th century legal work of the Talmud that shapes Jewish law and thought up until today.
Every Sunday, 7pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George Street, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
All are welcome!
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Lunch 'n' Learn
Join us for a weekly delicious Lunch & Learn on a variety of contemporary stimulating topics in ethics and philosophy.
Every Monday, 1pm
Brasenose College, LRVII
RSVP for lunch: [email protected]
All are welcome!
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Lunch & Learn at Brookes University
Every Wednesday, 12pm
The Forum
RSVP: [email protected]
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Pizza and Parsha
Join us for an in-depth study of the weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Eli while enjoying some delicious fresh home-baked Pizza.
Wednesdays, 7pm
At Chabad House, 75 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1HR or on Zoom
All are welcome!
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Hebrew for Beginners Course
For 6 consecutive weeks
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
Course: £36 for the course / non students £40
Booking: [email protected]
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The Tajtelbaum Jewish Study Hall
The Tajtelbaum Jewish Study Hall is open daily for you to study with a fully stocked Judaica library, wireless internet and FREE coffee and refreshments on offer.
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
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Oxford Kosher Cafe
Enjoy a full menu of delicious Kosher food, which is situated in our spacious lounge with internet wireless connection, Wii, Jewish newspaper and satellite TV, in addition to our well stocked and diverse Judaica library with over 2000 interesting titles. Drop by for soups, deluxe sandwiches, bagels, salads, schnitzel, soft drinks and a range of delicious pastries.
OPEN daily: 12.30pm-2pm
At Slager Jewish student centre, 61 George St, Oxford, OX1 2BQ
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Sign Up
If you or a friend would like to sign up to the Chabad Society, please email:
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Oxford Chabad Society Committee 2024-5
Freddie Assor (Pembroke) - President, Jake Masters (St John's) - Secretary, Effi Dahlen (Keble) - Vice President/Treasurer, Aviad Sadeh (Brookes Chabad Society President), Marshall Gould (Genomics), Carli Cooperstein (Corpus), Alexandre Bismuth (St Annes), Hannah Brosh (St Annes), Emanuel Bor (St Peter's), Joelle Solowiejczyk (St Peter's), Zach Berkowitz, Jordan Rothschild, Max Pushkin (Trinity), Roy Rosman (St Hugh's), Luc Cazanave, Kyle Geinstein.
Senior Member: Dr. Nir Vulkan (Worcester)
To join the committee, email: [email protected].
Directors
Rabbi Eli & Freidy Brackman
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Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Www.oxfordchabad.org