The University community are invited to events as part of the Heritage Series marking the 150th anniversary of Princes Road Synagogue.
Events have been taking place since September including ceremonies, concerts, lectures, meals, performances, talks, tours and walks to mark the milestone.
A full itinerary of forthcoming events is available to view on the Heritage Series website.
Coming this December, there will be a focus on Science and the Arts with University representatives Professor Simon Hands and Professor Emerita Eve Rosenhaft.
Education & Learning Science event
Professor Simon Hands
On Sunday, 29 September Professor Simon Hands will be appearing as part of the Education & Learning Science event, starting at 2.15pm at the Princes Road Synagogue.
Professor Hands will be presenting on Superconductivity as part of the event ‘What the Lubavitch Rabbi did not seem to know about but would have been very pleased to have been discovered’.
Commenting on the content of his talk, Professor Hands said: “Superconductivity, namely the flow of electric current in a material without resistance at low temperatures, is one of the most remarkable phenomena in science. Superconducting technology is essential for producing the high magnetic fields needed for today’s particle accelerators, MRI scanners and tokamak fusion reactors. Elucidating its origin was a major triumph of theoretical physics in the twentieth century, and the lessons learned inform the physics of the twenty-first.
“In this talk I will focus on the seminal contributions made in the 1950s by Herbert Fröhlich, the first Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Liverpool, and his remarkable student Mark Gurari, who pioneered the application of quantum field theory to the problem.”
Professor Simon Hands was educated at the Blue Coat School and Cambridge University, followed by a PhD in theoretical particle physics at the University of Edinburgh. After research positions at the Universities of Oxford, Illinois, Glasgow, then CERN, he taught and researched theoretical and computational physics at Swansea University for almost 30 years, moving to the University of Liverpool in 2021. He is also an elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.
Education & Learning Arts event
Professor Emerita Eve Rosenhaft
On Monday, 30 December Professor Rosenhaft will be appearing at an event on the Arts, starting at 2.15pm at the Princes Road Synagogue.
Professor Rosenhaft’s talk is entitled ‘The Many Lives of Dora Yates, Daughter of Liverpool Jewry’ and will appear alongside other talks including ‘Brian Epstein and the Beatles: A recurring historical pattern’ by Professor Les Lancaster; and ‘The Samuel Dynasty’ by Clive Lawton OBE.
Professor Rosenhaft said: “The daughter of an old established Liverpool Jewish family, Dora Yates (1879-1974) was the first Jewish woman to be awarded an MA in Britain. She worked all her life in the Liverpool University Library. I’m introducing her on a panel devoted to members of the Jewish community who reached out across cultural boundaries because, as Secretary of the Liverpool-based Gypsy Lore Society and editor of its journal, she made an important contribution to public and scholarly understanding of Romani culture both locally and globally.
“Like other members of the Society, Yates has been criticised for her patronising and even colonialist approach to the Romanies whom she befriended and studied, but she deserves acknowledgement not least for being one of the first people in Britain to gather and publish evidence for the Nazi persecution and genocide of the Roma.”
Professor Emerita Eve Rosenhaft is a historian of modern Germany. She grew up in New York, and studied in Montreal and at King’s College Cambridge before coming to Liverpool. She has held fellowships and visiting professorships in Britain (King’s College Cambridge), the United States (US Holocaust Memorial Museum Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies), Germany (Free University Berlin, Max-Planck-Institut für Geschichtswissenschaft Göttingen, University of Bochum, Herzog-August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel), and South Korea (Sogang University, Seoul). Eve retired from her post at the University of Liverpool in 2021, but remains active in personal research, funded projects and public engagement, and in supporting colleagues and PhD students.
Events taking place
An overview of events from December 2024 to February 2025 are available below:
| Date (Start time) | Description (Venue) |
| Sunday 29 December 2024
(Chanukah) (Start at 2.15pm) |
“Teaching, Scholarship and Research”
‘Jewish Education in Liverpool’ by Clive Lawton OBE ‘Tradition and innovation in Jewish Scholarship’ by Rabbi Herschel Gluck OBE ‘Professor Herbert Fröhlich and his remarkable student Mark Gurari (brother of Menachem Mendel Schneerson- the Lubavitcher Rebbe)’ by those at the Liverpool Blue Coat School in the 1970s ‘the teacher’ by Nick Cowan; ‘the student’ by Robin Makin; and ‘the researcher’ by Professor Simon Hands FLSW Chanukah Candle Lighting and Q&A/discussion (Princes Road Synagogue) |
| Monday 30 December 2024
(Start at 10.30am) |
Tour of Prince Road Synagogue (Princes Road Synagogue) |
| Monday 30 December 2024
(Chanukah) (Start at 2.15pm) |
‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ – finding friends and relationships (afternoon event)
An examination from four angles as to how Jews sought and seek relationships and try to overcome ‘outsiderness’ to the benefit of themselves and others. ‘A dynasty is built’ by Clive Lawton OBE –A brief introduction to the astonishing story of the Samuel family, major players for a century in both Jewish and general British life. ‘The many lives of Dora E Yates’ by Professor Eve Rosenhaft A scion of the Samuel family, Dora made it her business to study the Roma (widely known as gypsies) and take seriously their lives, history and culture. Her work was highly significant in the process of blunting or at least challenging hostility to this much misunderstood community. ‘Taking neighbours seriously’: by Rabbi Herschel Gluck OBE Herschel is the living exemplum of ‘holding hands’. Perhaps surprisingly to some, and certainly challenging stereotypes, Herschel’s work in inter-community links demands attention and, hopefully, emulation. ‘Brian Epstein and the Beatles – a recurring historical pattern’ by Professor Les Lancaster. Brian Epstein was an outsider twice over – both a Jew and because of his sexuality – he cultivated a unique relationship with the world-famous band he managed, relating to them in a way quite unlike any other manager worked with the bands in their ‘stable’. What was the nature of that relationship and how does it fit with other historical examples of Jews influencing cultural change? Chanukah Candle Lighting and Q&A/discussion (Princes Road Synagogue) |
The cost of all four of these events will be £9 plus 10% booking fee.
There will a discount for tickets to £6 using code UoL (for University of Liverpool staff, continuing education and alumni)
Holocaust Memorial Day
January will also see events commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day, with Eve Rosenhaft also participating:
| Monday 27 January 2025
(Start at 6.30pm) |
The Genocide of Europe’s Roma 1935-1945
Labelled for generations with the contemptuous term ‘Gypsies’, Romani people were subject to persecution all over Europe in the 1930s and during the Second World War. Under the Nazis, everyday discrimination spiralled into genocide in Germany and in the territories that Germany occupied and dominated: Roma suffered forced sterilisation, internment under deadly conditions, deportation and mass murder. This is a history that was long forgotten or denied. Professor Eve Rosenhaft offers a brief outline of the events (Princes Road Synagogue) |
| Monday 27 January 2025
(Start at 7.15pm) |
Between the Notes of Life – Testimony to the Romani Genocide
A reading by Manolito Steinbach with musical interludes by the Swing Trio Manouche (Manolito Steinbach and Donny Schwarz on guitar and Sorin Ferat on the violin). Among the victims of Nazi racism were hundreds of thousands of European Roma – interned, murdered, sterilised and driven from their homes. Manolito Steinbach is a German Sinto, born in Berlin, and a professional musician. He grew up hearing about the Nazi persecution of the Roma from his grandmother, who survived Ravensbrück concentration camp and Auschwitz. His life has been shaped by the Holocaust experiences and memories of his own family and friends. It has also been marked by the continuing prejudice and discrimination against Roma, which exists all over Europe. (Princes Road Synagogue) |
There will no charge for these events but a voluntary donation would be welcomed.
Further information
For the full programme of events and further information, please visit https://www.princesroad.org/lohc-heritage-season