Jewish museum in London

There is Jewish Museum in Camden Town. I heard that we can learn Jewish history and life in london, so I went there alone today. It was amazing because display was very organized and understandable.

Entering a building of Museum, we can see a Mikveh on the ground floor.

A mikveh is a Jewish ritual bath, and this is dating from the mid-13th century.

According to a explanation in the museum, this was discovered in the City of London in 2001. It is considered that this was used by a family who were members of Jewish community during the medieval period. Mikvehs are used for the preparation for marriage or the other occations. By using the mikveh, people can get "spiritual purity."

On the first floor, I could learn about Jewish religious life. Small spaces for displays of passover, Hanukkah, Purim and Synagogue were there.

Thses are Sabbath lamps. In Jewish life, light such as candle and lamp is an important symbol.

These are Rimmonim which are ornaments to decorate the Torah.

Passover (Pesach) is a celebration for the Jew's journey from slavery to freedom. It lasts for 8 days, and begins with "Seder meal,"with the flat bread baked quickly. Foods which contains yeast are forbidden. I didn't take a picture of it, but it is interesting that Jewish people use a plate which has separated parts to put each food.

Purim is a festival which is held on 14th Adar (in the early spring).

Hanukah is the Jewish winter festival and celebrates the spiritual survival of the Jewish people under the Syrian Greeks in 165 BCE.

 

 These are Torah pointers. Torah scrolls are placed on the reading desk and the reader uses a pointer to show the place. It is used to avoid touching the scroll with the reader's finger. 'Torah" means "teaching" and refers to the five books of Moses.

Marriage in a Synagogue 

 Ark in a synagogie

On the second floor, we can learn about Jewish Immigrants in the UK. According to a display about medieval period, It was in 1066 that Jews came to England following the Norman invasion. Jewish people were not permitted to have land outside towns and to participate in the craft guilds. Many Jews lived as maneylenders.

In England, Jews could not live openly for more than 350 years.

During the government of Oliver Cromwell, a new community was built in England. Cromwell is known as a figure who permit Jewish people to live in England again.

 He is David Salomons, who engaged in the campaign to save equal rights for Jews in public life.

This is a wig for a married woman.

After World War II, Jewish community enriched because of new migrations from the world, like Iraq, Iran, Aden, Morocco and Egypt. 

One of great things was that some staffs standed by in order to answer any question by visitors and explain about the displays. For me, a kind old lady answered my questions.

Finally, I had a lunch in a cafe inside the museum. We can have various kinds of begles, drinks and sweets. I tried a tuna begle. It was good taste!

Yiddish culture

Today, I went to my Yiddish teacher's home to learn Yiddish language and songs.
She is a master student as well, but her school is not SOAS.
She studies Yiddish  literature for five years and came to London two years ago from Poland.
She is really nice and smart! She knows a lot about Yiddish songs and klezmer as well as language, novel and poem. She has many CDs and Cassette tapes of Yiddish music, so I could listen to them in her flat.
Thanks to her, I feel that learning Yiddish is fun! It is true that reading Hebrew letters is not easy,
but a dialogue in Yiddish seems to be a kind of word game!
I listened to some Yiddish songs, and I found these are accompanied by klezmer musicians, such as "Klezmatics." The lyrics of these are strongly related to the Jewish people's life (love, child, community...) So I think it is possible to understand Jewish culture by singing and playing Yiddish songs.
By the way, I plan to go to Yiddish workshop or summer school to learn Yiddish music and language.
In some countries, such workshop or class will be held. Now I have not much money, so I try to apply to a scholarship.

V&A Museum 2

V&A Museum

I attended to a  lecture on musical instruments, and I went to go to Victoria and Albert Museum to see musical minstuments. Going to museum and looking at musical instruments is very good way to collect the information on music in certain place before going to the field directly. 

However, we cannnot see any instrument now in this museum. I think this is because many rooms are closed now for the future plan... I was disappointed...but  I took pictures of something related to music. So enjoy looking theses pictures!! 

Old Spitalfields Market

I went to Spitalfields Market today with my friend. It is big and fashionable market.
There were many kinds of shops, and it was fan just to look around.
Some shops sold clothes or accessaries with unique designs.
We would like to stay there more but, this week it's too cold outside.

This market is located near Liverpool Street Station.

On every Sunday, a lot of shops open. (It opens on other days but on a smaller scale.)

 As usual, foods kept my eyes riveted. These looked really delicious. (but a little expensive...)

We had a lunch in a restaurant, Patisserie Valerie. I ordered Omelet. It was pretty large and delicious.

There are many custmers so we cannot stay there long. According to my friend, this restaurant (cafe?) is famous for cakes. I saw many wonderful-looking cakes in a showcase. I would like to eat them next time!

My friend ordered a grilled Croissan'wich. Inside the croissant, there were mashrooms and cheese. Looked great.

Japanese hip hop+

I wrote about hip hop music in Israel and other countries in one of my essays which I submitted in this week. The essay's theme was a message in Palestinian hip hop bands. When I dealt with hip hop in Palestine and the USA,all of a sudden I became curious about Japanese hip hop. I knew some rap songs in Japan, and I like them because the rhythm and sound are good. However, I've never concerned about the lyrics and messages in these songs.
I searched a rap song which has a strong message in lyricsby surfing the Internet. And I found it.
At the beginning, I thought that there must be a song related with The Japan Earthquake. So I started to search by keywords "The Japan Earthquake" and "hip hop." I could find a rap song soon.
I really recommend to hear this song "Apocalypse Now" by King Giddra. Listening to its lyrics, you can't help smiling. Actually, I am not sure about the current situation in Japan after the earthquake. I experienced the planned blackout and continuing aftershocks. But do people in Japan still feel a strong fear? I know there is the danger of a nuclear radiation. This is a long long-term problem.
Anyway, in the lyrics of this song, rappers express a fear and anger, and protest against the electric company and government.  I found rapping is a great tool to protest against the authorities because it represents people's emotion and opinion.
Also, I recommend a documentary film "Slingshop hip hop" on the Palestinian hip hop artists. I think it is difficult to watch it online, but you can buy it from its homepage. It tells us a severe situation surrounding the Palestinian within Israel, Gaza and West Bank, and rappers who wants to convey a message to tell about the situation in their homeland, and their anger, and hope.

Trip to Barcelona

In this X'mas holiday, I visited Barcelona with my husband. It was four days' trip. The morning we left London, an accident happened. It was Boxing Day, and we had to arrive at Gatwick Airport at 8:30. We planned to go there directly by train from King's cross station, but when we arrived at King's cross station, all train and underground services were closed. Bus service also seemed to be closed because we could not see a bus on the road. Looking around, we found there were some tourists who were under a same situation as us. It was around seven o'clock in the morning and still dark. A taxi driver talked to us. He asked to us where we were going to go, and he could gave us a ride for 95 pounds. He was persistent, so we thought he was a fraud. After that, we found there were a few buses, and managed to get on a bus to Victoria. At Victria Station, train services were not closed, so we  could go to the airport by the Gatwick Express.

Arrived at a airport in Barcelona, we got on an air bus, by which we could go to the centre of Barcelona, Catalonia Square.