Manchester Jewish Museum

Activities

Songwriting & Poetry Group

In this session we will be working on the new songs we are developing, connected to Sephardi stories of the museum’s historic synagogue. These will be part of the growing collection of songs that celebrate the buildings 150th anniversary!

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Songwriting & Poetry Group

In this session we will be working on a new song, which will go inside our new time capsule to mark the 150th anniversary of our synagogue. We have created a new chorus and will be working out how to weave together verses written by the museum’s different communities. This song will go inside our new time capsule to mark the 150th anniversary of our synagogue. Exciting!
Join us this month as we welcome in the Year of the Dragon by making some delicious vegetable dumplings that are traditionally eaten to celebrate the Chinese New Year. We’ll also be looking at how the Jewish community like to celebrate the New Year, known as Rosh Hashanah. Come along to share your New Year traditions and make and eat some delicious food!
This month we’ll be joined by artist Laura Nathan, who is currently undertaking a residency at the museum. Laura will share with us some personal objects, including her grandmother’s needle case brought with her when she came to England in 1939 on the Kindertransport, as well as her own artworks, and explore how her heritage has informed her practice.
This month we will be learning about the incredible street photographer Fred Stein from his own son and Hollywood cinematographer, Peter Stein. Peter will share with us his father’s work and the story of his life, from fleeing Nazi Germany to photographing many of the great personalities of the 20th century in New York.

Songwriting & Poetry Group

In this session we will be working on a new song, which will go inside our new time capsule to mark the 150th anniversary of our synagogue. Using words written by our local communities, we will weave together a ‘Song for the Future’, exploring what people love about Cheetham Hill & Crumpsall and Manchester Jewish Museum.

Foodie Group: Inherited Recipes

Join us as we create a recipe book of our Foodie Group members’ special recipes – ones that have been passed down by family members, shared by friends or mastered and cooked for our nearest and dearest.

Songwriting & Poetry Group

In this session we will be working on a new song, which will go inside our new time capsule to mark the 150th anniversary of our synagogue. Using words written by our local communities, we will weave together a ‘Song for the Future’, exploring what people love about Cheetham Hill & Crumpsall and Manchester Jewish Museum.
Join us as we make some delicious cassola. These sweet ricotta cheese pancakes were traditionally made by Sephardi Jewish communities and many consider them to originate from the popular latkes. Come along to make and eat these tasty Chanukah treats. And try your hand at making some cheese!
This session will be co-hosted by our group member, Adele Markey, who has a passion for all things crafty – from crocheting to card making. Adele will be showing us some beautiful origami techniques to make cards and decorations for Hannukah. So join us for this festive workshop as we make our creations over a cup of hot tea. Everyone is welcome!

The Crafty Corner

In this session we will be continuing to create shoes, inspired by the story of Nathan Seaberg, who came to the UK from Riga, Latvia and worked as a shoemaker from his home in Hightown, Manchester in the 1910s. Don’t worry if this is the first time you are joining us, there is plenty of time to help grow and develop our shoes!
In this session we will be working on a new song, which will go inside our new time capsule to mark the 150th anniversary of our synagogue. Using words written by our local communities, we will weave together a ‘Song for the Future’, exploring what people love about Cheetham Hill & Crumpsall and Manchester Jewish Museum.
During this session we will be joined by Tommy Williams, Neighbourhood Community Development Officer in Cheetham Hill and Crumpsall and our museum's curator, Alex Cropper. Tommy will drop by to tell us about his role in the North Neighbourhood Team and give us an insight into the diversity in our local community. Alex will share Holocaust stories from our collection, prompting discussion and helping to shape the focus of next year’s events. 
This session will be led by Caroline and Hannah from the Northern Holocaust Education Group. During this session Hannah will share some of her personal memories of her grandfather, Martin Wertheim, who survived the Holocaust. We will also look at people's experiences during the Holocaust documented in the museum's collection. We will then work with Caroline to create artistic responses to these stories, and explore how art can help us express our thoughts in a sensitive and creative way.
This session will be co-hosted by Manchester Jewish Museum's curator, Alex Cropper. Alex will share Holocaust stories from our collection, encouraging discussion and creative reflection. We will also talk about best practice regarding exhibition creation and representation of Holocaust histories in museums, which will help us shape next year's events. 
Would you like to become a Museum Foodie? Join us for this very special October Foodie Group workshop, which will be co-hosted by performer, musician and singer James Nissen. James will be performing in our historic synagogue this autumn as part of Synagogue Nights. In this session he'll share with us some of his favourite aubergine recipes!

Creative Activists: Introduction!

We are incredibly excited to welcome you to the first meeting of the Creative Activists 2023-24 project! Join our Creative Activists and help us programme a museum open day for Holocaust Memorial Day 2024. It’s a great opportunity to meet new people, work with professional artists and develop creative skills.

Foodie Group: Mejedra with Filis!

Our September session will be co-hosted by Filis Rosenberg who will be showing us how to make a Sephardi dish called Mejedra. Our Foodie Group meet monthly to discuss, cook and eat food inspired by stories from our collection, artists and events we programme, as well as our own members’ heritage and backgrounds. Our workshops are informal, chatty and a chance to meet new people as well as learn about new recipes and cooking traditions.

The Crafty Corner: Shoemaking!

In this session we will be continuing to create shoes, inspired by the story of Nathan Seaberg. Don’t worry if this is the first time you are joining us, we are still in the early stages of making and all activities are collaborative so you can join up with some other members of the group to help design a pair of shoes!
This month we will be exploring Jewish stories from Scotland, inspired by a BBC documentary "Being Jewish in Scotland". From the busy Kosher delis at Chanukah, to the history of migration in Scotland and the opportunity to meet both reform and orthodox Rabbis of Glasgow, this portrait celebrates how Jewish and Scottish identities intersect.
This week we will be exploring musical collaborations, talking about how music shapes our identities and how it shares traditions and cultures. Our inspiration will be Jarak Qaribak, a new collaboration between Israeli musician and artist Dudu Tassa and Radiohead’s English guitarist Jonny Greenwood.
This session will be co-hosted by Kit Mo, who will show us how to make Lou Hei, a salad popular in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, eaten during Chinese New Year. We will be pairing this dish with another 'New Year recipe', a Syrian Spinach Salad with pomegranates and chopped walnuts, traditionally eaten on Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year. Join us and see how these two salads come together!

Arts Award: Discover In A Day

Come along to our Discover in A Day, a full day of creative activities, and explore beautiful art in our galleries and collection. Get artsy as we draw, make collages and work with ceramic. You will receive an Arts Award certificate and get to go home with your creations!

Song-writing Group (16 August)

In this session we will continue to grow and develop our song about Annie Conway and words inspired by stories connected to tea within our collection. From a spot of tea on Cheetham Hill Road, to tea breaks in hat shops and Tennis Clubs, these images have opened up discussions about what a warm cup of tea means to us and may have meant to individuals in the past.
In this session we will be visited by a textile designer and artist Emily Gubbay. She will be showing us how to create colourful patterns on fabric, using plants, flowers and a steaming technique called bundle dyeing. All the flowers Emily uses are UK grown and we will be looking at objects from our collection as colour inspiration! 

Make it! Stamps & Symbols

Join us to discover the incredible book of blue-inked stamps in our collection that belonged to the Btesh family, one of the earliest Syrian traders to arrive in Manchester. Inspired by the stamps in the Btesh book, you’ll get to design your very own stamp that reflects your interests – whether that’s football, food or animals!

The Crafty Corner: Shoemaking

This newly launched group is a friendly space where you will get to explore, experiment, and express your creative side. In every workshop we will explore a story from the museum’s collection about a trade or craft and create an artistic response to its themes, craft process or medium.

Song-writing Group (18 July)

Do you love to write? Or have an interest in exploring music? Join our Song-writing Group as we work on a new song about Annie Conway, who was a prominent member of the Portuguese and Spanish Sephardi synagogue in Cheetham Hill – now the Manchester Jewish Museum.
This month we will be looking at some famous Jewish comedians and discussing all things comedy. Is there such thing as solely ‘Jewish Humour’? And what is its influence on modern society? Come on down to our very own café, grab a drink, have a chat and hopefully a laugh as we discuss Jewish comedy. 
Rough Diamonds is Netflix’s latest drama centred on a Haredi Orthodox family that runs a business in Antwerps’s famed diamond district. But what is it about the Haredi community that has now become so fascinating in mainstream culture? Why are people hooked? Bring yourself and an open mind and join us at this month’s Culture Club as we discuss all this and more. 
Do you love to write? Or have an interest in exploring music? Join our Song-writing Group as we work on a new song about Annie Conway, who was a prominent member of the Portuguese and Spanish Sephardi synagogue in Cheetham Hill – now the Manchester Jewish Museum.

Foodie Group: Rugelach!

This month we invite you to join us for a special, Shavuot edition of our Foodie Group workshop. Join us as we play around with different sweet and dairy fillings and bake our own Rugelach together. You will get to go home with some delicious sweet treats!