The graduates, who come from a range of professional backgrounds including teaching, business and science, spoke about what had inspired them on the course. Jane Tobin-Green, a congregant at South Hampstead United Synagogue, explained that she had no idea when she started out that she was going to have Torah presented in such a “new, mind boggling and cutting-edge way”. She explained: “this course brought out the intense authenticity of learning Torah. It really made me look at texts and think – what bugs me about this? What do I really want to know? The programme gave me, and all of us, the tools to lead and to teach with our own unique voices.”
The graduates had studied ‘Tefilat Chana – the Prayer of Chana’ (Shmuel Aleph 2:10) for the siyyum and created a learning booklet in which each graduate commented on one pasuk (verse). This learning was dedicated to the memory of Maureen Kendler z”l who taught the ‘Torah L’Am (Torah for Everyone) course as part of the Bradfield programme.
The guest of honour at the siyyum was Michael Bradfield, after whose mother the Susi Bradfield Programme is named. The programme was launched in her honour in 1999 to mark her 70th birthday. Originally intended to run for three years, it has continued for nearly two decades and has produced close to 200 graduates. Addressing this year’s graduates, Michael thanked Dr Tamra Wright, LSJS Director of Academic Studies, who created and runs the programme. He commented that his mother was a strong woman descended from a long line of strong women, and said “she would have been proud to have given so many women this opportunity to develop their skills and serve the Jewish community”.
Susi Bradfield z”l, was a child refugee from Nazi Germany who came to England on the Kindertransport. Reflecting on her fate in her autobiography “And Some Became Stars”, she wrote that having been spared the terrible fate of so many of her contemporaries had made her determined to live her life with purpose and to be of service to the community.
Applications are still being accepted for the 2018-19 Susi Bradfield Programme. If you are interested in applying, or have questions about the course, please contact Dr. Tamra Wright tamra.wright@lsjs.ac.uk
