Open house for scholars at top Jewish seminary

More than 60 people attended an open house event at Britain’s pre-eminent institution of Jewish scholarship and learning.

Leo Baeck College (LBC) trains rabbis and educators for the progressive Jewish community both here and abroad.

The day was designed to give members of Liberal, Masorti and Reform Judaism communities, as well as the wider public, a closer look at what LBC achieves and its plans for the future.

The event included tours of the college (a Grade II listed Manor House in Finchley built in 1723) as well as taster sessions delivered by faculty and students including LBC Dean, Rabbi Dr Charles Middleburgh.

The Open House was the College’s first event of 2023, as it looks forward to celebrating a number of important anniversaries ahead.

Principal Rabbi Dr Deborah Kahn-Harris said: “It was wonderful to open our doors and meet so many of our supporters, donors, potential students and those who just wanted to find out a bit more about the vital role that Leo Baeck College plays in Progressive Judaism today.

“This event marks the start of a period, over the next three years, where we will celebrate several foundational milestones; in 2023-24, the 35th anniversary of the ordination of the first openly LGBTQIA+ rabbis in Europe and, in 2024-25, 50 years since the ordination of the first European female rabbi. We will be hailing this generational shift that LBC has been foundational in establishing alongside the legacies of our alumni.

“These festivities will culminate in 2025-26 as we celebrate 70th anniversary of the founding of Leo Baeck College itself.”

Guests were welcomed by Rabbi Dr Kahn-Harris and the College’s acting chair Mimi Konigsberg, with taster sessions also delivered by LBC’s senior lecturer in rabbinic literature Dr Laliv Clenman, Professor Emerita Melissa Raphael and student Rabbi Martina Loreggian.

Guest Karen Newman, a member of The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, said: “I enjoyed a great work-out for mind and body. The tour around the listed building, including the exceptional library with its 60,000 volumes, was magnificent, as were the taster learning sessions which evidenced the academic and research rigour at the heart of the College’s work.”