Vanessa Freedman
vrfreedman.bsky.social
Vanessa Freedman
@vrfreedman.bsky.social
Hebrew & Jewish Studies librarian at University College London. Co-convenor, Hebraica Libraries Group. Posts are my own views etc She/her
I’m excited to be presenting at Limmud Festival 2025 – a celebration of Jewish learning, culture, and creativity!
Join me (and about 2000 others!) for an unforgettable experience this December.
👉 You can book now at www.limmud.org/festival
November 13, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
London music fans! Zoe Aqua (fiddler, USA) will be performing a solo set of klezmer and Transylvanian music with some special guests this Sunday 16 Nov at DB Music (in Stoke Newington). 2:30 pm doors, 3pm concert. £8. @klezmershack.bsky.social

www.dbmusiclondon.com/product/zoe-...
November 12, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
'The University of Cambridge has announced it has acquired and for the first time unsealed Levy’s personal archive, including letters, draft manuscripts, photographs and diary entries. It is expected the material will inform a wealth of new scholarship on her life, work and mental health.' 1/2
‘A girl of genius’: archives unsealed of Amy Levy, queer Jewish writer admired by Oscar Wilde
Levy’s work was ‘ahead of her time’ and speaks to current debate around feminism, LGBTQ+ literature and Jewish identity, say researchers
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
Plus my Yiddish New York session, "Dancing with Stories," will be hybrid, so you don't need to be in New York to participate. Sunday Dec 21 at 9:30-10:45am ET (2:30 PM BT, 3:30 PM CET, 4:30 PM IT). yiddishnewyork2025.sched.com/event/299MN/...
Yiddish New York 2025: Dancing with Stories
View more about this event at Yiddish New York 2025
yiddishnewyork2025.sched.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
This December you can join me at Yiddish New York for my session "Dancing with Stories." We'll be doing two of my favorite things – close reading a literary dance scene (in translation) and learning the dance it describes–to the live accompaniment of the amazing Christina Crowder.
November 10, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
Prayer on the Signing of the Versailles Peace Treaty on June 28th 1919 ending World War Ⅰ (Liberal Jewish Synagogue of London, 5 July 1919) opensiddur.org?p=52643
Prayer on the Signing of the Versailles Peace Treaty on June 28th 1919 ending World War Ⅰ (Liberal Jewish Synagogue of London, 5 July 1919) • the Open Siddur Project ✍ פְּרוֺיֶקְט הַסִּדּוּר הַפָּתוּח...
A prayer upon the signing of the Versailles Peace Treaty on 28 June 1919, included in a special service by the Liberal Jewish Synagogue of London on the following Shabbat. . . .
opensiddur.org
November 11, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
Due to illness we have unfortunately had to cancel this event. We hope to reschedule for Spring 2026.
In 2025 UCL Special Collections celebrates 60 years of collecting small press. This year also marks 50 years of publishing by Coracle Press @coracle.bsky.social

Join us for a birthday bash!

12 November
17:00 - 20:00

Free & open to all / booking essential.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/we-continu...
We continue to wave a small handkerchief at the world: Coracle Press @ 50
Join us to celebrate 50 years of Coracle Press!
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
I am Shammai, a Jewish sage from the Second Temple period. I'm known for my strict view of Jewish law, arguing with Hillel, and for the time I hit a man with my builder's cubit for asking me to teach him Torah while he stood on one foot.

Here are my feeds, lists, threads, and other work. Enjoy.
April 23, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
😂 😂😂
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
November 5, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
UCL200 to launch with a spectacular sound and light experience! 💫

We can’t wait to welcome students, staff, alumni and our wider community and launching a year of celebrations for our 200th birthday!

📅11-13 February 2026.

Find out more: https://bit.ly/439g5Kk
UCL200 to launch with a spectacular sound and light experience: Save the date to celebrate together!
The countdown has officially begun! Save the date for UCL Illuminated – a spectacular sound and light experience that will kick off our bicentennial celebrations from 11-13 February 2026.
bit.ly
November 5, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
📆 Coming up on 18 Nov: UCL Lunch Hour Lecture, The Witch in the Bible and Beyond

Hear from Dr Alinda Damsma on her research about the impact of the Bible on the early modern witch-hunts. These lectures are free, open to all and online.

Book now: buff.ly/LupLYZS
@uclhjs.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
2025 marks the 60th anniversary of UCL's Small Press collections. UCL has collected widely in this area of independent radical publishing to preserve the outputs of these activities. The collections comprise 4,500 periodicals and 20,000 pamphlets. Watch a new celebratory video at lnkd.in/eAhT7M6t.
November 4, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
Join us in London in July!

CALL FOR PAPERS NOW LIVE

#BIAJS2026 “Space and place in Jewish studies” 13-15 July Birkbeck

bajsbulletin.wpcomstaging.com/2025/11/03/c...
Call for Papers: BIAJS Conference 2026 (13-15 July, Birkbeck, University of London)
CALL FOR PAPERS #BIAJS2026 Space and Place in Jewish Studies British and Irish Association of Jewish Studies Annual Conference 2026 Birkbeck, University of London | July 2026   “there is…
bajsbulletin.wpcomstaging.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
This post has been in draft a while but it feels particularly timely given the strike over pay that starts tomorrow (27th Oct) at the British Library. If you've ever despaired at the low salaries at the BL now is the time to act in solidarity www.pcs.org.uk/news-events/... #BritishLibraryOnStrike
Support the British Library strikers
More than 300 PCS members at the British Library in London are striking over their poverty wages for two weeks from Monday (27) to Sunday, 9 November and need your support in person and online.
www.pcs.org.uk
October 26, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
Are you a cataloguer or interested in cataloguing and have a view on whether LCSH is fit for purpose in a UK context? CILIP MDG @cilipmdg.bsky.social are hosting a Worldcafe event (a big meeting basically!) to discuss ideas at Wellcome Library in London Wed 26th Nov www.cilip.org.uk/events/Event...
CILIP: the library and information association
www.cilip.org.uk
October 30, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
"If AI will one day become the infrastructure of knowledge, then the role of educational institutions is to ensure that knowledge remains tethered to meaning". #AI #HEI #EduSky @drleatongray.bsky.social @ioe.bsky.social blogs.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/2025/10/...
The long slow turn: sapience, technology and the future of education
The promise of artificial intelligence (AI) has been narrated as a story of inevitability, implying that social institutions must simply keep up… (read more)
blogs.ucl.ac.uk
October 30, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
📣 We're hiring!

Join us for a fixed-term part time role at the Library as our Research and Engagement Officer.

We are seeking a highly motivated and knowledgeable individual with a postgraduate qualification in Holocaust Studies or a closely related field.

Find out more and apply: buff.ly/KuadEMU
Work With Us - The Wiener Holocaust Library
Find out about our employment opportunities
wienerholocaustlibrary.org
October 29, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
Solidarity to all staff at the British Library! 98% in favour with 75% turn out is an astounding strike ballot result, truly shows the strength of feeling. www.pcs.org.uk/news-events/...
October 23, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
Funding available for Full and Student Members of the European Association for Jewish Studies to pursue archival or library research in 2026/27 - do check out the details here:

www.eurojewishstudies.org/scholarships...

Application deadline 30 November 2025.
Call for Applications: Small Research Grant Programme 2025-26 (first round). Deadline for Applications: 30 November 2025 – European Association for Jewish Studies
www.eurojewishstudies.org
October 23, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
A big thank you to everyone who attended our curator-led tour of Spineless Wonders yesterday. Both in person and online. Spineless Wonders is still running until 29 November so there’s still plenty of time to see it!
October 23, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
For several years I’ve been collecting examples of Yiddish–language election material for teaching and possible future research. It is unusual to have Yiddish materials coming directly from the candidate, but not terribly surprising from Mamdani. Would be very curious who did the Yiddish text.
Mamdani published an open letter in Yiddish newspapers this week. And now I finally know how to spell "Zohran Mamdani" in Yiddish.
October 24, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
Scrolling through my 5,000 photos on my phone, trying to organise them into albums, and stumbled on this important piece of journalism from 2022 🤣🤣🤣
October 22, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
Unlocking a vital historical resource: the Schonfeld Archive Project phase two

On the strongroom shelves in Archives and Special Collections at the University of Southampton sit over a thousand boxes containing a single twentieth-century Anglo-Jewish collection: the Schonfeld Archive. This…
Unlocking a vital historical resource: the Schonfeld Archive Project phase two
On the strongroom shelves in Archives and Special Collections at the University of Southampton sit over a thousand boxes containing a single twentieth-century Anglo-Jewish collection: the Schonfeld Archive. This valuable collection of primary source material documents the life and work of Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld, an influential figure in twentieth-century Jewish history. Active from the 1930s until his death in 1984, Rabbi Schonfeld was instrumental in rescuing Jewish refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe and in advancing orthodox Jewish education in the UK.
specialcollectionsuniversityofsouthampton.wordpress.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Vanessa Freedman
In 2025 UCL Special Collections celebrates 60 years of collecting small press. This year also marks 50 years of publishing by Coracle Press @coracle.bsky.social

Join us for a birthday bash!

12 November
17:00 - 20:00

Free & open to all / booking essential.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/we-continu...
We continue to wave a small handkerchief at the world: Coracle Press @ 50
Join us to celebrate 50 years of Coracle Press!
www.eventbrite.co.uk
October 16, 2025 at 3:55 PM