Rabbi Andrew Shaw

The Weekend of Inspiration

Rabbi Andrew Shaw

Chief Executive, Mizrachi UK

WILL BE IN HGS AND KINLOSS FOR SHABBAT

It began in 2016, the vision of Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence of Kinloss. To create a day, during the three weeks between Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim where his community would learn from the best in the Religious Zionist world. With a mixture of local and international speakers (on skype) the idea of the Day of Inspiration was born. In 2017 Mizrachi UK were asked to help to grow the concept and we created the Weekend of Inspiration and made sure all international speakers were live. In that year we brought over thirteen speakers and supported twenty-one communities in London and Manchester. The actual Day of Inspiration attracted over 400 people at Kinloss. 2018 saw an expansion of the idea as more and more communities asked to be included. Seventeen speakers visited thirty-one communities and Leeds were added to cities that we impacted. The Day of Inspiration grew to over 500 people. By 2019 and our growth in Manchester led to the development of two separate Days of Inspiration in Kinloss, London and Stenecourt, Manchester as well as launches across the UK on Thursday night. Speakers travelled between the two venues on the Sunday and close to 1000 people attended in either London or Manchester. That year we brought our biggest contingent thus far from Israel – twenty-six outstanding educators who inspired forty-two communities across London, Leeds and Manchester.

We were fully underway planning 2020 when the pandemic struck. A decision was made in both 2020 and 2021 not to run the Day of Inspiration online, it was felt that the power of the weekend was almost impossible to replicate and that we would wait until we could return to in person learning. So here we are 2022 and our biggest and most ambitious Weekend of Inspiration ever attempted. Part of the reason for the expansion is the fact that this Shabbat is also Shabbat UK. The Chief Rabbi encouraged us to bring even more speakers to enhance even more communities for Shabbat UK.

We took his challenge to heart. This year we have brought over 32 speakers, our Mizrachi Fellows as well as seven outstanding female educators, part of World Mizrachi’s advanced leadership programme. They have been joined by our shlichim. Together they will be speaking in almost seventy communities across five different cities – London, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Birmingham – it is a remarkable achievement.

As well as our launches on Thursday night, we will for the first time be running a Yom Iyun on Friday morning in five secondary schools for over 2500 students. We also will be holding a special Rabbinic Conference for all Rabbis and Rebbetzins on Monday morning with HaRav Hershel Schachter at Mizrachi HQ.

The Day of Inspiration has now expanded to three locations – Kinloss, Stenecourt and now South Hampstead – a central London venue to hopefully attract even more people to the day of learning. With 67 shiurim, 13 Keynotes, 61 hours, 37 educators it is a day not to be missed. Inside this special Weekend of Inspiration/ Shabbat UK edition – you will find the full schedules of all three locations on Sunday. I very much hope you are inspired by the Mizrachi educators over Shabbat and I hope to see you on Sunday! It will be a day to remember! Shabbat Shalom

Day of Inspiration, 2019 Day of Inspiration, 2019