The big green pickle tells us that Jewish culture month in the UK has started | Judaism

Londoners may have seen the big green pickle moving through the capital, arriving at iconic landmarks including the Tate Modern and the Southbank Centre, with a simple message: the UK’s first Jewish month has been launched.

The festival aims to bring “a little joy and happiness” after difficult years for the Jewish people.

From May 16, the festival, organized by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, will include more than 150 events in the UK, including food, music, comedy, architecture, fashion, film and literature. Participating institutions include the V&A Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, JW3 (London Jewish community centre), the British Library and the National Holocaust Museum.

Liat Rosenthal, director of the Council for culture, education and communities, said that the project was based on discussions with artists and cultural workers who see that Jewish life has become more marked by hatred, sadness and security since October 7, 2023 in Israel.

“For me, the response to antisemitism should be a bold, proud, public moment,” he said. “The history of British Jews is very rich, and the contribution of British Jews to the life of the UK is not limited to the arts and culture, but to science, technology, art, psychotherapy, medicine and politics.”

But he emphasized that the month was for all people, regardless of where they came from or religion. “Everyone should participate, learn something and eat more food.”

The invitation to eat goes through many parts of the program. In another event, London’s East Shedletsky company will host a dinner on Friday night.

“The Jewish communities that came from Eastern Europe were deeply rooted in the collection and preservation of traditions,” said James Cooper, co-founder. “There’s a big line from the old ways of preservation” to the “big explosion” in the modern food culture that pickles have been a good follow.

Co-founder, Natalie Preston, said the pair agreed with those who told them that “there can be no Jewish cultural month without participation”.

But food was also a way to open dialogue between people, he added. “I think this is one of the ways that we can overcome these obstacles that are being stopped at the moment.”

At JW3, in Hampstead, north London, one event, L’Chaim / L’Chaos: 50 Years of Jewish Punk, will explore the enduring relationship between Jewish youth culture and the British punk scene of the 1970s.

“There was something about this foreign youth culture that really appealed to Jewish youth in the 1970s,” said William Galinsky, director of programming for JW3. “Many of those young people were the first to go to university, or the first to decide that they didn’t want to do the family business.”

Other events at JW3, which is celebrating 13 years with a “B’Mitzvah” (birthday) celebration, include that of Miriam Elia. a satirical show and book, Moses and 613 Health and Safety Regulations.

“I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the playwright Jack Rosenthal,” Galinsky said: “He was one of the first writers to show non-Jewish British people that Jews were like them. They may have had slightly different holidays and eat different foods, but in fact this generation of Jewish immigrants who came before the immigrants from Southeast Asia and the West Indies, were similar to them.”

That message is as important now as it was in the 60s and 70s, he added.

Elsewhere, the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) will run tours exploring Jewish history outside of London, including Cardiff. Their director of next generations, Debra Barnes, said the month was an attempt to increase people’s understanding of Jewish life beyond frustration.

“When you mention Jews in Britain these days, you think of anti-Semitism and aggression. It’s a very depressing feeling at the moment,” he said. “But we don’t want to be seen as victims, and we don’t want to hide.”

The tour will end at Wally’s Delicatessen & Kaffeehaus, which was started by a Jewish immigrant and is now run by his grandson.

The National Holocaust Museum in Newark, Nottinghamshire, will host an event called What Does It Mean to Be Jewish? where visitors will hear the stories of young British Jews from across the country.

“This exhibit is about celebrating Jewish life,” said museum director Abi Levitt. It asks: “What are the meaningful things that sustain Jewish culture?”

One exhibit at the museum includes a Friday night dinner table set with Shabbat (Sabbath) candlesticks and challah bread; Also on display are mezuzahs – small scrolls attached to the doors of Jewish homes – that children can touch and ask questions about.

Levitt said: “It’s just about bringing the Jewish world to the people of this part of the country.