May 25-30: Pesti Shul Shavuot Camp in Szarvas, with good lecturers, children programs, and a lot of fun!

On the program: Tikkun Leyl Shavuot and other lectures and discussions with, among others, Gábor Balázs, Zsolt Balla, Tamás Bárász, Tamás Bíró, Anna Dénes, Gergo Dénes, Gábor Deutsch, Ágnes Peresztegi and Andrea Sturovics.

The issues covered include: Jewish identity, giyur, the philosophy of Maimonides, modern orthodoxy, rabbinical authority, art history, the structure of the rabbinic literature, many text readings (Mishna, midrashim, Talmud, Rashi, etc.) and women issues (how to educate children on shabes? the Book of Ruth in a women-perspective; feminist issues and Judaism; women and Torah study; family vs. study; the laws of Sota on Shabbat Naso), etc.

Two Israeli films (Soldat by Shalom Hager, and True Grace by Shalom Hager), followed by discussion

Concert of the Gesher group

The detailed program in Hungarian

Pictures

May 21: Some of the participants of the General Assembly of ECJC (the European Council of Jewish Communities) visited our shabbat service, and / or the kiddush after that. Our guests included:

• David Ben-Naeh, Director General, the WZO World Center for Religious Affairs in the Diaspora
• Rabbi Aba Dunner, secretary general, Conference of European Rabbis
• Henry Grunwald QC (president, The Board of Deputies of British Jews)
• Rabbi Steven E. Langnas, chief rabbi of Munich
• Clive Lawton, co-founder and executive director of Limmud
• Artur Lokomet, from The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, Frankfurt center
• Peleg Reshef, chairperson, World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS)
• Rabbi Yechiel Wasserman, chairman, WZO Spiritual Services for the Diaspora unit
• Jonathan Webber, UNESCO Professor of Jewish and Interfaith Studies, University of Birmingham

Some of our guests gave a short lecture in our Shul:

Clive Lawton: How to speak Jewishly? - Reflections on Parashat Bamidbar
Jonathan Webber: Some Thoughts on the Book of Hoshea

Clive Lawton is part-time executive director of Limmud (which he co-founded in 1980), UJIA Fellow in Jewish education at SOAS, a faculty member of the European Centre for Jewish Leadership Development and chair of Tzedek, the Third World development charity. He is a magistrate, a London Jewish News columnist, and chair of North Middlesex University Hospital.

On May 20, Gábor Balázs presented the Pesti Shul at the ECJC workshop on "Innovation at JCCs -- How to promote creativity and 'out-of-the-box' programming at our Centers? Challenging the traditions through the eyes of the XXI Century".

May 9: Lag Ba-Omer party in the garden of the Lauder-Yavne kindergarten.

May 7-9: Shabbaton with ethnic dishes. The topic and the taste of the month is the Israeli Jewry. (Joint program with Marom). Lectures by Gábor Balázs, on religious vs. secular conflicts in Israel, as well as on Judaism and martyrdom.

Our regular programs for women, on Thursday nights:

May 13, 6 p.m.: Shmirat Shabbat, the laws of shabes, with Anna Dénes.
May 20, 7.30 p.m.: Rosh Chodes Club, with Ágnes Peresztegi.

Our regular programs:

Mishna Brura - halacha in practice: study group lead by Gergő Dénes, every Tuesday night at 7.30 p.m. in the Visegradi street synagogue. (Planned to be in Hungarian.)

Study group with Dov Levy: Introduction into the Talmud. Held every Tuesday night at 6 p.m., in the Visegradi street synagogue. We learn first Massechet Pesachim, then the laws of S'firat ha-Omer.