The Purim story should speak to modern Jews in the diaspora more than any other festival story in our calendar or Bible. These were not heroic figures or inspiring leaders. Forget Judah the Maccabee from Chanukah or Moshe from Pesach. All we’ve got here is a couple of Jews keeping their heads above water in an unsympathetic world. At last, a story about us and our friends. In this session, Clive will re-examine the story in the book of Esther and explore what it tells us about ourselves. Maybe that’s why we get drunk! Interesting?

Honored by the Queen in 2016 for services to ‘Education and the Jewish community’, voted no 18 in the UK’s Jewish ‘Power 100’ list and awarded the Max Fisher International Prize for Jewish Education by the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem, and CSP’s 11^th Annual One Month Scholar in January 2012, Clive Lawton is CEO of the Commonwealth Jewish Council and scholar-in-residence at JW3, London’s flagship JCC (of which he wasa founding trustee) and an internationally active management and education consultant. He was co-founder of Limmud, the internationally renowned Jewish adult education movement and worked for it in senior roles from 1999 till 2016. He has been a High school principal, Director of Education for the City of Liverpool,  a governor of the Metropolitan Police, Chair of a Hospital Trust, a patron of the Jewish AIDS Trust, on the Editorial Board of Jewish Renaissance, President of the Shap Working Party on Education in World Religions and was for over a decade Chair of Tzedek, (a 3rd World development charity). He is currently a magistrate on the Bristol Bench, an independent Tribunal Chair for the National Health Service in the UK and lectures on the faculties of the European Centre for Leadership Training and the London School of Jewish Studies.  Clive grew up in West London and after a BA in English and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from York University, he became an Associate of the Drama Board in Education. He has an MA in Theatre and Film Studies, an MEd in Religious Studies (specialising in Hinduism and Islam), and an MSc in Educational Management. He has published over a dozen books and broadcasts widely in the fields of religion, moral education and religious education.

There is no fee, but please RSVP for planning purposes. This event is held virtually on Zoom. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the event. For more information, contact Program Director Ilene Tatro at itatro@cbisd.org.

CSP Partners: Beth Israel (San Diego, CA), Brotherhood Synagogue (Gramercy Park, NYC), Congregation Beth Shalom (Seattle, WA), Congregation B’nai Tzedek (Fountain Valley, CA), Congregation B’nai Israel (Tustin, CA), Jewish Collaborative of Orange County, CA, Shomrei Torah Synagogue (San Fernando Valley, CA), Temple Bat Yahm (Newport Beach, CA), Temple Beth El of South Orange County (Aliso Viejo, CA), Temple Beth Emet (Anaheim, CA), Temple Beth Ohr (La Mirada, CA), Temple Beth Tikvah (Fullerton, CA), Temple Beth Shalom (Needham, MA), Temple Beth Sholom (Santa Ana, CA), Temple Emanuel (Newton, MA), Town & Village Synagogue (NYC, NY), University Synagogue (Irvine, CA), Valley Beth Shalom (Encino, CA) & Walnut Street Synagogue (Chelsea, MA)