Limmud UK goers fail to break dreidel record

A great miracle didn't happen at Limmud UK when gatherers attempted to break dreidel spinning record.

By GIL STERN STERN SHEFLER, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT
Limmud dreidle competition 311 (photo credit: Chaim Bacon)
Limmud dreidle competition 311
(photo credit: Chaim Bacon)
COVENTRY, UK – Nes gadol lo haya po.
A great miracle did not happen here at Limmud UK on Monday, when gatherers at the Jewish educational confab held at Warwick University attempted to break the simultaneous dreidel spinning record.
Over 300 children and adults turned up to twirl the spinning tops in tandem yet they fell far short of the intent of mobilizing 1,000 synchronized spinners that would have set a new record.
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The admittedly ambitious goal was dreamed up by the Union of Jewish Students – which represents over 8,000 Jewish students across the UK and Ireland – and Limmud UK.
After failing to conquer their goal, Raymond Simonson, the executive director of Limmud UK, went into spin mode portraying the dreidel debacle as a victory rather than a defeat.
“It’s good publicity and fun to break a record,” he said. “But the reason that with 2,300 people here we couldn’t break the record is because we won’t stop everybody from going to lectures and talks and force them to join in. There are too many interesting things going on.”
It isn’t entirely clear who the current dreidel record holders are, although 1,000 spinners would have certainly put Limmud over the top.
Organizers of the event here believed the record stood at 541 set by Temple Emanuel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey in 2005. Yet according to reports, the University of Maryland drew out 603 participants the same year and Indiana University boasted no less than 713 simultaneous dreidelers.
Simonson vowed to try again at Limmud UK next year and claim the title in the name of Albion from the US.