‘Shifra’: A Voice for Jewish Feminists 'Shifra' logo and subscription rates from back cover, issues no. 3 & 4. Image credit Leeds University Library. With permission of Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah. Leeds was something of a hot-bed of Jewish radicalism in the 1980s, hosting the Ruach ‘alternative’ conference and seeing the establishment of JONAH (Jews Organised for a Nuclear Arms Halt and the beginnings of JCORE (Jewish Council for Racial Equality). Jewish women’s issues were particularly at the fore with the formation of Jewish Women’s Aid to assist victims of domestic violence and the publication of the magazine Shifra, a voice for Jewish feminists. This image is of the back page of an early edition and shows the subscription prices. Karen Sayers from Leeds University Cultural Collections, examines Shifra further: Founded in 1984, ‘Shifra’ magazine gave a voice to Jewish Feminists. The editors aimed to create ‘a Feminist home in the Jewish community and a Jewish home in the Feminist community’. ‘Shifra’ challenged how people outside the Jewish community perceived Jews, particularly women. Four issues were published from 1984-1986. The editors of ‘Shifra’ encouraged their readers to contribute material about every aspect of their lives. The content included articles, biographies, poems, recipes and photographs and ranged over contemporary and historical material. While not rejecting women’s traditional role in the Jewish community the magazine discussed how it could be modernised and made more racially and sexually inclusive. Many articles concern women’s relationships with the Jewish religion. In ‘Knowing no bounds’ Elizabeth Sarah explores her experience as a Jew and lesbian and her attempts to reconcile her religion and sexuality. She writes about a feminism which is far from welcoming of diversity. This allows women to be Jewish in a cultural but not a religious sense. In ‘Why I am not a Jewish feminist’ Dena Attar describes the suffering of Jewish women who in the name of religion are confined to particular familial roles and whose rights within the family are restricted. Attar’s feminism supports women trying to gain freedom from religious oppression be it Jewish, Catholic or Islamic. Many writers challenge the male dominated history of the Jews. They describe the experiences of their foremothers to recover women’s voices. Hedi Argent examines the life of her mother, Liza, praising her strength and determination. In the 1930s, Liza persuaded the Nazis to release her husband from prison. Another author recalls ‘The Rebbe of Lodemaria’. Born in 1815 she is a rare, perhaps unique, example of a woman who was a rabbi in the 19th century. ‘Illustration for ‘The Rebbe of Lodemaria’ p.13, Issue No. 1. Image credit Leeds University Library. With permission of Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah. ‘Shifra’ contains recipes and articles about traditional food from different Jewish cultures. Food has always been an outlet for Jewish women’s creativity and a way of participating in the Jewish religion. The editors embrace this as part of their modern identity. Traditionally women were responsible for the health of the body, and men for that of the mind. Many women ran Jewish shops, bakeries and businesses before coming to the UK and some started again in their new home. After two issues ‘Shifra’ had not fulfilled the editors’ aims. In the editorial to Number 3 they comment that too many of the articles they receive are historical. They ask contributors and readers to analyse current events and take ‘a more active role than the passive consumers of the present’. It is possible their request was not successful as the 4th issue of the magazine was the last. Most of the ‘Shifra’ papers held at Leeds University Cultural Collections are in the Marilyn Fletcher Collection in the Feminist Archive North. The archives include copies of the magazine, typescript proofs of articles and letters to, and from, the editors. Discover more Hidden Treasures Hidden Treasures: Celebrating the documents, photos and artefacts in British archives that tell the story of Jews in Britain University of Leeds Cultural Collections Communal Records | Cultural | Historical Documents | Jewish Life | Local HistoryPartially online The University of Leeds Cultural Collections is housed in the Brotherton Library, Leeds, and is open to public access. It contains a […]
18th Century Shofar Engraved Shofar • Jewish Museum London This gorgeous shofar from the Jewish Museum London is engraved with a Hebrew inscription reading “Blow the horn on the new moon, at the beginning of the month for our day of festival; or it is a statute for Israel, a decree of the God of Jacob” in a frame of foliage. Dating from the 18 century and probably of Germanic origin, it was used in the Great Synagogue of London. The Great Synagogue was once the centre of Ashkenazi Jewish life in London. Built in about 1690 at Duke’s Place, north of Aldgate, it was the earliest Ashkenazi synagogue constructed in London after the return of Jews to England in the 17th century. It was destroyed during World War II, in the Blitz. Shofars are ancient musical horns traditionally made of ram’s horn. They are blown in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and at the very end of Yom Kippur, and are also blown every weekday morning in the month of Elul running up to Rosh Hashanah. We love this treasure for the beauty and elegance of the shape and engraving, and for the link it gives to the destroyed Great Synagogue. Discover more Hidden Treasures Hidden Treasures: Celebrating the documents, photos and artefacts in British archives that tell the story of Jews in Britain Jewish Museum London Cultural | Religion | SocialOnly online The Jewish Museum London is a public museum, with an archive collection of historic Jewish cultural, social and religious items. Archive Description […]
Sten Gun Menorah This powerful treasure is a menorah made from part of a Sten Gun, nine .303 cartridge cases and scrap metal, mounted on a long octagonal-shaped wood plinth. It comes from the collection of the Imperial War Museum. Extraordinarily, it was made by a soldier from the British Army’s Jewish Brigade with parts from his rifle so that the 83 child survivors in Bergen-Belsen could celebrate their first Hanukkah after Liberation. It was donated to the museum by a former member of the Jewish Relief Unit (affiliated with the British Army) who was in charge of the Children’s House in Bergen-Belsen after liberation. Hanukkah is Judaism’s festival of light, held in December to commemorate the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem and the relighting of the Menorah when the Maccabean Jews regained control of the city during their revolt against the Seleucid Empire. We love this treasure for its ingenuity, symbolism and practical use. Discover more Hidden Treasures Hidden Treasures: Celebrating the documents, photos and artefacts in British archives that tell the story of Jews in Britain
Juden Raus! Board Game Juden Raus! board game • The Wiener Holocaust Library The Wiener Holocaust Library holds two copies of what has been called “history’s most infamous board game.” Juden Raus! was a dice game produced by Rudolf Fabricius, Neusalza-Sprenberg and published by Günther & Co in Dresden during the Third Reich. Using crude antisemitic stereotypes and imagery, the game was very much in keeping with the fascist ideas of the time. The game’s themes reflect racial hatred, forced deportations, and confiscation of Jewish property. The board shows a walled town, through which players move to round up Jews and deposit them outside the city walls, where a slogan reads, ‘Auf nach Palastina!’ (English translation: ‘Off to Palestine!’) The winner is the first to remove six people. Described in promotional material as an ‘up to date and outstandingly jolly party game for grown-ups and children’, this game is a reflection of the ideals of the Nazi state. Instructions for Juden Raus! board game • The Wiener Holocaust Library The game was in fact not endorsed by the Nazis officially, as it was seen to trivialise Nazi policies, and create an easy target for criticism of the Third Reich in international press. A scathing review of the game in the SS publication ‘Das Schwarze Korps’ in December 1938 reads “the political slogan ‘Jews Out’ is exploited here as a bestseller for all toy shops and trivialised to an amusing pastime for little children…We are not slaving away towards the solution of the Jewish question to relieve able toymakers of their worries about a big seller or to help children with an amusing little game.” While Juden Raus is not a Nazi board game inasmuch as it was criticised by the SS, and contained no Nazi insignia, the fact of its existence reveals the extent to which antisemitism had permeated society. While the casual, cheery tone used in the text accompanying the game reveals how socially acceptable such bigotry was at the time. Discover more Hidden Treasures Hidden Treasures: Celebrating the documents, photos and artefacts in British archives that tell the story of Jews in Britain The Wiener Holocaust Library Family History | HolocaustPartially online The Wiener Holocaust Library is a London based private library and archive holding Holocaust records and donated family papers. Archive Description The […] Ludwig Neumann after Dachau Ludwig Neumann shortly after his release from Dachau • Wiener Holocaust Library