Pupils experience the Jewish Quarter in London

Pupils in Coedcae study Judaism at Key Stages 3 and 4. This November the Religious Studies Department ran a fieldwork visit to the London Jewish Museum and Golders Green Road. It was an early start, 5am, but the pupils were excited at the prospect of visiting London and experiencing the religion they had learned so much about.

The Jewish Museum London reopened on 17 March 2010 after a £10 million transformation creating a landmark Museum that celebrates Jewish life and cultural diversity. The education programmes and activities encourage a sense of discovery and creativity and tell the story of Jewish history, culture and religion in an innovative and compelling way and engage with people of all backgrounds and faiths to explore Jewish heritage and identity as part of the wider story of Britain.

The London Jewish Museum ran a work shop on Shabbat to enable pupils to discover why the celebration of Shabbat (the Sabbath) is so central to Judaism; experience how it is celebrated both religiously and culturally.

Pupils were given time to browse the many artefacts in the museum which included Four Four Jew which is a major new exhibition exploring the story of football and British Jews. It brings together memorabilia, rare objects, old and new film footage, and fun interactives to tell the story of the clubs, the players, the Chairmen and the fans.

Golders Green was our next stop, a bustling area of North London where many of the best Jewish restaurants and bakeries can be found. Pupils sampled Jewish pizza, chicken schnitzel and kosher chips! The area is noted especially for its largeJewish population. It is home for the largest Jewish Kosher shopping in Europe attracting Jews from all continents.

Oliver Williams 9EKR, “I particularly enjoyed hearing our lecturer recite in Hebrew as it made me realise how hard it is and how much it takes to learn it. Golders Green was a new experience for me as I had never tried kosher food.”

Abbi James 9EKR, “My highlight of the trip, was visiting the Jewish shop and being able to see first hand the Jewish community.”

Rachid Aboulachouaq 9JT, “I now know that the Torah scroll is made from kosher animals and that it is handwritten without any vowels.”

Tahnia Haque 9LJH, “It was great to experience first hand the Jewish community, see the people and try kosher food. We went into a variety of Jewish shops and the people there were very friendly and open to answer any questions.”