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.
RELATED:Limmud strong on identity, weak on romance Watch live: Limmud International conference 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.