Jewish Museum

Prince staying as museum patron

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:00:09 +0100

The Prince of Wales has agreed to renew his position as patron of the Jewish Museum in Camden. He has been patron since 2008 and officially reopened the museum in 2010 after its substantial redevelopment.

He said then: “It is a wonderful way of discovering just what an enormous contribution the Jewish community has made to this country right back to 1066. The fact that the contribution is still made in such a remarkable, effective and constructive way is something that deserves enormous celebration as well as immense gratitude.”

The museum houses one of the world’s finest collections of Judaica, and it has been awarded designated status in recognition of the importance of its collections as part of the national heritage.

Let's bring back Balkan glories

Juliette Gerstein — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:23:22 +0000

Climbing the steps of the old, poorly maintained building, I was unsure what to expect from Belgrade’s Jewish museum.

Inside, the exhibits, while fascinating, had been unchanged for decades; this was not a museum set up to attract international tourists.

A few days later, in Sarajevo, we experienced a very different trip to the Jewish museum. The exhibits were neatly laid out in display cases — no photos stuck on to the walls here! Although visitors would benefit from a little more information, this museum does cater for attract international tourists. Nonetheless, in one sense both museums were similar: in both places, we were the only tourists there.

Looking closely, we discovered other similarities — and fascinating contrasts.

In both museums, it was clear that the Jewish community was anxious to demonstrate its long-standing, valuable contribution to the region. Both displayed a number of very old photos and artefacts from local Jewish communities, evidence of the well-established presence of Jews in the Balkans.

However, the two establishments took different approaches to their material. The Sarajevo museum focused on notable individuals, looking both at significant members of the city’s Jewish community, and the large number of those declared as Righteous Amongst Nations by Yad Vashem for having acted to protect their Jewish friends and neighbours.

The Sarajevo Museum, too, emphasised the loss of individuals within the Jewish community — a type of remembrance that has become quite familiar in relation to the Holocaust.

The museum in Belgrade took a slightly different approach. In their concern to demonstrate the long-standing role of local Jewish people, the museum’s administrators emphasised the role and the loss of the whole community, rather than focusing on individuals.

In addition, and of particular interest, was the focus upon the Serbian Jewish Community in Tito’s Yugoslavia.
I have to admit that I didn’t know much about the history of the Jewish community throughout the Balkans although — thanks to Geraldine Brooks’s novel, People of the Book — I was particularly excited to see the Sarajevo Haggadah, which was so carefully protected for hundreds of years, including during the Holocaust and the conflict of the 1990s.

It was certainly fascinating to see the different ways that the two communities are celebrated in each city, to observe the museums in this part of the world, and to learn from them a little about the former, and remaining, Jewish communities. Sad to say, the Balkans has very few Jews remaining; these communities were devastated by the Holocaust.

Both museums were very keen to demonstrate the vital role of Jews in their cities, and to demonstrate that Jews properly belong in the region. These days, the Sephardi synagogue in Sarajevo is used only on High Holydays.
I wonder if these communities will ever be restored to something like their former glory. It seems unlikely, though the Sarajevo museum certainly appeared to have benefited from some financial backing. The building itself remained untouched during the siege 20 years ago, and international donations appear to have helped.

On the other hand, I wonder if the Belgrade museum gets many visitors, let alone donors and it seems very unlikely as things stand that anyone in these cities will be able to undertake the refurbishment of either of its Jewish establishments.

Is there nobody within international Jewry who can help these historic places rebuild and recapture something from their long, proud history? Having had the privilege of finding out something about this history, in the places where it took place, I believe a campaign to bring back something of Balkan Jewry’s past glories would be a very worthwhile cause

Burman leaves museum after long-running show

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:44:00 +0100

Jewish Museum director Rickie Burman leaves today after 28 years with the organisation to take up a post in the National Gallery’s development department.

A highlight of her tenure was a £10 million redevelopment, tripling the size of the Camden premises and creating new exhibition galleries. She was responsible for securing designated status for the museum, recognising the national and international importance of its collections.

Ms Burman’s election as a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts reflected her “influential directorship and valuable contributions to the cultural life of the UK”.

“It has been a real privilege to work with so many talented and dedicated staff, volunteers, friends and donors,” she said. “I look forward to watching the museum flourish.”

Chief executive Abigail Morris pledged to build on Ms Burman’s work — which extended to rescuing precious artefacts from East End skips — “to offer an inspirational programme for the future. It is always sad to say goodbye to someone who is such an integral part of an organisation but I know that Rickie will continue to support us.”

Alex Kingston discovers her Jewish background

Marcus Dysch — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 10:20:27 +0100

ER and Dr Who actress Alex Kingston has “embraced her inner Jew” after tracing her family’s Jewish heritage in the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? genealogy series, screened on Wednesday.

The experience included the revelation that her Jewish great-great-grandmother had run a brothel.

Viewers saw Ms Kingston visit the Jewish Museum in north London, to learn more about immigrants arriving in the East End.

The Los Angeles-based actress worked with Hull University historian Nicholas Evans, who specialises in Jewish migrant history and has regularly helped celebrities on the series discover the truth about their backgrounds.

Ms Kingston said: “It has been a roller-coaster of a journey emotionally, but fantastic.”

Dr Evans said: “Alex always wondered whether there was any Jewish heritage or origin in the family’s past. Her maternal grandmother had always suggested there might have been, and we could prove she was right.”

Using material from sources that included the JC archives, Dr Evans was able to trace Ms Kingston’s Ashkenazi relatives back to their arrival in the East End in Georgian times.

The Braham family were members of Duke’s Place Synagogue, built near Aldgate in the late 17th century. Ms Kingston’s great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth, worked in a number of jobs including peddling and running a brothel, before doing well enough to buy property overlooking the newly built London Zoo in north London.

London Jewish Museum wins Sandford Award

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 15:38:16 +0100

London’s Jewish Museum has received the Sandford Award for Education, run by the Heritage Education Trust and recognising excellence in educational services.

The trust said the Camden-based museum offered “a genuinely engaging and interactive learning experience Anyone who cares about the human condition and the diversity of our human family — whether they have a religious belief or none at all — will come away both reflective and enlightened.”

Formal and informal learning has reached a record high at the museum, with more than 14,000 children participating in workshops over the past year. Subject areas include discovering Judaism, history and citizenship and the Holocaust.

Head of learning Caroline Marcus highlighted “the tremendous commitment of the learning team.
“We will be busy throughout the summer with an imaginative family programme full of exciting things to do.”

Manchester leaders get royal date

Jonathan Kalmus — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:50:36 +0100

Manchester Jewish communal personalities were guests at a royal lunch during the Queen's visit to the city on her diamond jubilee tour.

In addition to Manchester City Council chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein, diners included Jeremy Myers, who has championed pride in the city since organising a major clean-up following last summer's riots.

Mr Myers, 34, who also works with the homeless, said it was a "a tremendous honour to be selected to dine with Her Majesty for anybody who does community or charity work, because they rarely get recognition for what they do".

Manchester Jewish Representative Council president Lucille Cohen also attended, as did curator Alexandra Grimes and Sandra O'Nions from Manchester's Jewish Museum, which is heavily involved in interfaith work.

The royal programme also included an indoor garden party at which Manchester Jewish Representative Council executive members Louis Rapaport and David Arnold were among the guests.

Museum suspends Shabbat opening

Jessica Elgot — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:20:23 +0000

The Jewish Museum has had a change of heart on Saturday opening and will be closed on Shabbat from this week.

In May, curator Rickie Burman said Saturday opening was geared to attracting non-Jewish visitors as part of the museum's brief to further interfaith understanding. No Jewish staff or volunteers were asked to work on Shabbat and the kosher café was closed.

This week, Ms Burman attributed the about-face to "economic reasons. We particularly wanted the museum to be open on Saturdays during our Entertaining the Nation exhibition about Jewish entertainers. But it is expensive to staff the museum on Saturdays when our regular volunteers aren't available. We will close it for 2012 on Saturdays, but it will be under review."

Writing to volunteers, front-of-house co-ordinator Leonie Warner partly put the decision down to "low visitor numbers".

After reporting the museum's plans for Saturday opening, the JC received a number of complaining letters, some from ex-volunteers at the museum.

In response, museum chairman Lord Young highlighted the "overriding objective to engage with people of all backgrounds and faiths to explore Jewish heritage.

"The museum is a secular institution, not a religious one."

TV film didn't get picture

Jennifer Lipman — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:10:17 +0000

A TV production company has apologised "unequivocally" to the Jewish Museum and television viewers over footage used in last Friday's Heir Hunters programme on BBC1.

Researchers for the programme, trying to track down the relatives of a man called David Bernstein, interviewed the director of the Jewish Museum, Rickie Burman, in September this year.

Mr Bernstein, a former ground traffic controller at Gatwick, died in 2010 in Brighton, aged 68. Because he left no will and had lost contact with his family, a search began for beneficiaries to his £300,000 estate.

Probate researchers Fraser & Fraser took up the search but found great difficulty in tracing Mr Bernstein's paternal relatives because of the large number of Jews with that surname in Whitechapel in the 19th and early 20th century.

The programme makers went to the Jewish Museum for background on early immigration to Britain. When Ms Burman told the presenter that many Jewish immigrants had worked as tailors, archive film showed men and women in a tailor's workshop, but clearly wearing the yellow star which Jews had to sew on their clothes during the Nazi era of the 1940s.

A spokesman for the museum said: "We were shocked at the inappropriate use of archive film in Friday evening's showing of Heir Hunters. While we were at pains to provide accurate information and create a fuller understanding of Jewish migration and its context, the films used to illustrate this period in history unfortunately had the opposite effect".

After a formal complaint to Flame TV and the BBC, the production company apologised "unequivocally for their ill-thought-out and inaccurate use of Nazi-era film footage to represent the mass migration of Eastern European Jews to Britain at the turn of the 20th century".

The Jewish Museum said it had been assured that the episode had been recalled from the BBC and would not be repeated in its current form.

Researchers eventually found records of seven Bernstein heirs, as well as more than 20 on the other side of the family, some of whom had little idea of Mr Bernstein’s existence.

Frances Taylor, the daughter of John's Bernstein's sister Sarah, had seen him regularly for many years, visiting the family in Brighton when he was young child.

But Mrs Taylor, who is now in her 80s, said that about 20 years ago, after Mr Bernstein's mother died, he stopped answering her phonecalls and messages.

"The investigators had a devil of a job tracking me down," she said. "I hadn't seen him in years. Families are all so spread out now - once upon a time we'd all have lived in the same road."

"I was one of the few first cousins who knew him. He was a nice young man and he would drive his mother up to London to visit me as an outing," she said. "We were in fairly close contact, in as much as I wrote to him and sent him Rosh Hashanah cards.

However when she stopped getting a response, Mrs Taylor said she assumed he wasn't interested in keeping in touch with the family. "So I didn't follow it up," she said. "I think he must have always been a loner, and he was very close to his mother and father.

"I was shocked and surprised, and very upset to hear that he had died," added Mrs Taylor. "It's nice to remember him now. And I'm pleased that his neighbours and colleagues remembered him as a smart young man and spoke very highly of him on the programme."

With Mr Bernstein's estate still in the hands of lawyers, Mrs Taylor said she wanted to focus on the fact that the hunt for his descendants had revealed parts of the family she did not know. "Other cousins have come to light and we're been in touch. This has bought us together."

Arsonist fails to shut museum

Jonathan Kalmus — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:34:37 +0000

An arson attack on a telephone pole has left Manchester Jewish Museum using Twitter and staff's personal mobile phones to tell visitors that it is open.

The vandalism, which happened last Wednesday, means that email and telephone communications are down until engineers can install a new pole next week. It comes during a period when 500 pupils are booked to visit the museum from nine schools as part of their religious education syllabus.

The Cheetham Hill museum launched its new website a month ago, but has been unable to update the site aside from a warning notice telling visitors about the communication difficulties.

Museum chief executive Max Dunbar said: "We are tweeting people and letting people know we are open. We are also using Facebook and our own mobile phones."

Mr Dunbar reported a 20 per cent rise in visitor numbers over the summer period compared with 2010, which saw a drop in visitors and financial turmoil which threatened the museum with closure.

Ukraine launches two museums

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:59:31 +0100

Two new Jewish museums are planned in Kiev, Ukraine. Jewish leaders in Ukraine announced last week that they hoped to begin construction in September next year, in addition to the several Jewish museums that already exist in the country.

According to Oleksandr Feldman, a Ukrainian MP and businessman, the first museum is planned as the most comprehensive history of Jews in the Ukraine, while the second museum will be built near the Babi Yar ravine, where almost 34,000 were murdered in one of the biggest massacres perpetrated by the Nazis, 70 years ago.

Speaking at a conference in Kiev, held to fight antisemitism and racism, Mr Feldman said he was ready to invest large sums of money in the project, and called on other private investors and governments to join him. Mr Feldman praised the co-operation of the local authorities. He said: "The mayor of Kiev is very supportive of the idea and the local municipality has already offered us land for the two museums. Now we would like to find an architect and start the construction work next September."

Rabbi Moshe Azman, one of three claimants to the title of chief rabbi of Ukraine, revealed that two of the country's wealthiest businessmen, Vadim Rabinovich and Igor Kolomoisky, have already expressed interest in the project.

"It will be a museum that will focus on the Holocaust and will tell the story of the Jews who were murdered by the Nazis. It will be very similar to Yad Vashem," said Rabbi Azman.