This year over 10,000 people, including tourists and non-Jewish visitors, took advantage of The Jewish Culture and Heritage Day on Sunday to visit synagogues and Jewish heritage sites all over the country.
Visitors flocked to the Victorian synagogues in London and in Brighton, while the Georgian synagogues in Cheltenham and Exeter enjoyed increased attendances.
The 19th century Reading Synagogue and newly-built Edgware and District Reform Synagogue took part for the first time.
Numerous opportunities
Coordinator Valerie Bello, told EJP: “The day has once more created the opportunity of building bridges across communities.
“Chatham Memorial Synagogue had a particularly busy day, including hosting a tour group which had also visited Canterbury, where some of the stained glass windows in the famous Cathedral had been designed by a Hungarian Jewish refugee.
Bello noted that At Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre in Nottingham, run by non-Jews, a mainly non-Jewish audience responded warmly to the experiences of a Holocaust survivor.
“As usual, our walks round York, Willesden Cemetery, the East End of London, the City of London and, new this year, London’s West End, proved very popular,” she said.
The 75th birthday of writer Bernard Kops was celebrated at East London Central Synagogue, with guest appearances from actor Warren Mitchell and poet Dave Burman.
Tasty theme
This year’s theme on Jewish Food inspired B’nai B’rith Past Presidents’ Association and First Lodge to organise a salt beef lunch followed by a cookery demonstration at Stepney Jewish Care Day Centre.
Various London synagogues ran food fairs, brunches, talks and demonstrations about traditional Jewish cookery and Kashrut as well as Jewish cookery book launches.
Art as well as food was celebrated as the London Museum of Jewish Art exhibited award winning paintings in the International Jewish Artists of the Year competition, while for the first time the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool mounted a special display of their Jacob Epstein sculptures.
And the celebrations have not stopped. Several B’nai B’rith Lodges and two high Victorian synagogues, Singers Hill in Birmingham and Princes Road in Liverpool are open for the national Heritage Open Days on 11 September.
For more information on the events taking place in Britain, visit http://www.bbuk.org/bb_heritage.htm