findings to my questions

Why have Jews been disliked and persecuted?

Notes on usury, the charging of interest on loans, “the term is largely derived from abrahamic religious principles”

Forbidden by Christians, Jews were allowed to charge interest on monies lent to non-Jews

“The Torah regulates interest taking, one understanding is that Israelites were forbidden to charge interest on loans made to other Israelites, but allowed to charge interest on transactions with lesser non-Israelites”

The first Jewish families of significance were recorded as landing in England with William the conqueror, Jews were declared to be direct subjects of the king.
Jews filled the monetary void that was created by the church “forbidding the lending of money for profit”
“Peasants were forced to pay their taxes to the Jews, who were coerced to become the front men for the lords”
As a result the Jews became incredibly unpopular with both the church and the public

Jews in England

1218, England became the first state requiring Jews to wear a marking badge

1275 the ‘Statute of Jewry” outlawed usury (among other stipulations) and gave Jews 15 years to adjust (change professions) this was incredibly difficult as tradesmen belonged to guilds and they forbade members who were not Christian.
1287 Edward expelled all Jews, making any debts owed void
1655 formal return of Jews to England, (Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal in 1492/1497 and found refuge in England, Cromwell needed their financial assistance so they were allowed to stay)

1745 Jacobite Rising, Jews had shown loyalty to the government, the chief financier Sampson Gideon had strengthened the stock market, and younger members had defended London.

1753 Jewish Naturalization act, allowed Jews to be naturalized, faced very strong opposition and was repealed however left a legacy of religious toleration

Sampson Gideon determined to bring up his children as Christians and many important families followed suit, breaking their connections with the synagogues and integrating into the community.

Why Did the Jews settle in London?

Sephardic Jews, follow Rabbinical /authorities, from Spain, Portugal, returned to England in the Middle Ages when they were expelled from France. Set up communities in London as the centre of international commerce

Ashkenazi, 92% of the worlds Jews German and Polish Jews. Migrated to Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Russia, and Eastern Europe Settled in the south and southwest, seaport towns.
No clear definition, but one is that if your great grandmother was Jewish (i.e. 3 generations on the female side of your family)

Hi,

I have been doing some research into the history of jews as i had some questions that needed answering,

1, why have jews been persecuted?

2, when and why did the Jews settle in England?

3, why London ?

from my findings it has led me to question my take on Golders green, we have all noticed that it is a bit grey and dreary, as a culture Jews have a lot of reasons to not show off and display any trappings of wealth, I think we may have missed this. As a non Jew it is of course very hard to try and get into the mind of the Jewish community, but we will need to be aware of this when designing.

Pictures

Restlessness - as a symbol I picked a clock. This item should stand for our very stressful life, nobody has time, everything is busy.







For me, a place full of deep of thoughts is the cemetery, there you have time to commemorate your dear departed, think about life and death and the meaning of being.





I had chosen the "coincidentia oppositorum", which means that opposites can be joined in one thing. So, for me the rose is the best example: it combines beauty and pain, can be used as a presents for your true love or to say goodby at a funeral.

Jewish clothing

Jews dress in a manner that reflects a Torah-true life.

This means that it is possible to exhibit in public articles of clothing and a manner of wearing a beard which depict that the wearer seeks to follow the commands of the Torah respecting hair style and religious symbolism.

There is a book called Vayikro, which means “and he called”. These are the three words with which the book begins. Chapter 19:27 of that book may be translated: “Do not round the corner of your head, neither shall you destroy the corners of your beard.” There are other prohibitions concerning the shaving of hair so that an orthodox or Torah true Jew wears long sideburns known as Payot Harosh or, in Yiddish, Payes.

Shaving or trimming the beard is not permitted on Holy Days, particularly on Shabbat, which is the Holiest Day in Judaism. The use of a straight razor is also prohibited, so that in the past Jewish men used depilatory powder (Nair) while now electric razors may be used.

In addition to the influence of Torah on appearance, there are those Jews who wear a beard and sideburns because they want to appear Jewish.

Jews wear black clothes because the medieval church and state demanded that Jews wear black at all times. The European countries generally decreed so-called “sumptuary” laws. These laws required each social class in the feudal system to wear clothes appropriate to their rank. Hence, the upper class wore gaudy clothes of many colors and ornamented profusely. By law, Jews were non-persons and had to wear black clothes so they could be identified at once. The Jews also had to wear a yellow armband or star or other mark. This was abandoned in the eighteenth century but re-instituted by the European killers during the years 1933-1945.

Black clothes are also known to Jews as a symbolic expression divrai yirah shomayim, which means “fearing heaven”. To some Jews life is very serious and the Jew is always conscious of his relationship to G’d. Therefore black is worn so as to avoid frivolity and also place distance between the wearer and everyone else.

Orthodox Jews also wear a prayer belt called a g*rtel in German or Yiddish. This belt is to indicate that the wearer separates his upper body from his lower body as the head is the location of all that is inspired while our bottom serves lesser purposes.

Many orthodox Jewish men also wear a black hat and some wear a streimel , i.e. a fur lined hat. The hat style may vary according to the European origin of a Chassidic sect. Therefore, Lithuanians may wear a different head covering than Galicians, although all will wear a skull cap all day.

The wearing of the skull cap, also known as a kippa or yarmulka, shows respect for G’d, who is thought to live in heaven above us. Hence separate themselves from the divine presence by wearing a hat or cap at all times.

Jewish clothing has entered the non-Jewish world. This is particularly true of the garb worn by Christian priests. Tallit, or prayer shawl, is called a stolaby R.C. priests, using the Latin word. The entire Christian priestly garb is derived from the description of the clothes worn by the Jewish priests at the time the Temple stood in Yerushalayim.

I really like the community one,  community like in the picture is usually something quite vocal which shows a really apparent togetherness. In Golders Green I think there is a strong community but one which only scratches the surface of our perception. Its almost secretive, where you have to be invited in, a bit like the jewish faith.

Jewish symbols

Benedictive hands: point to descendants of a priest (hebr. Kohen)

Mug or pot: indicates that a Levit, a servant of temple, is buried there

Horn of a ram (hebr. Schofar): means that the decedent had blew the horn at High Holy Days in the synagogue

A knife: characterise the decedent as a "Mohel", which occupies an office as a circumcisor

Board of prayers: shows, that the decedent lived a Thora-faithful-life

An open book: stands for wisdom and knowledge

Kinked roses: stand for a child-tomb

Menorah, the seven-branched candelabrum stands for the eternal light

Crown: one of the oldest Jewish symbols; stand for glory, honour and joy

2 lowered torches: a symbol for death

Magen David: it is a talisman against bad spirits

A tree: is a symbol for the connection between earth and heaven

Olive branch: stands for benediction, mercy, wisdom and trust in God

Bay leaf and palm branch: as a plant, stands for immortality, victory, honour and piece

Ivy: is a symbol for eternal life, loyalty and friendship

Wreath and circle: a symbol for entity and perfection

Perceptions:

Lost

Twee

Surburbia

Archaic

Capsule

Inspirations:

Framed

Peephole

Motionless

White noise

Intransient/Solidity

Atmosphere:

Calm

Captured

Un-ambitious

Wasting

Fading

-Vita

perceptions

- people looking at you suspiciously

- people in groups (families, Jewish, men/women)

- religious

- bigots

- curious

inspirations

- cemetery

- culture

- Jewish clothes

- tradition

- way of living

atmosphere

- quite

- mysticism

- strict

- boring

- unapproachable

- Perceptions : conservative, isolation, untouchable, secret, distance
- Inspirations : architecture, Jew symbols, cemetery, people, weather
- Atmosphere,
G.G - haste, indifferent
Cemetery - quite, peaceful, serious

Ya Ju

Counting at Golders Green Rd (opposite costa)

Time: 12:45
- 39 people walking towards GG
- 34 people walking away from GG
- Comments: most of them walked alone

Time: 12:55
- 44 people walking away from GG
- 7 children under 10
- Comments: families with children

Time: 01:05
- 50 people walking away from GG
- 4 people, who wear Jewish clothing
- Comments: one wearing Jewish clothes and the other there just the Jewish hat

Time: 01:15
- 35 people walking away from GG
- 21 elderly people
- Comments: I counted all elder people, which going both two directions

Time: 01:25
- 39 people walking away from GG
- 18 men
- 21 women
- Comments: most of them walked alone

Ya Ju

mapping

Good to meet everyone, A busy day spent collecting data on Golders Green road, Strange place, doesn't feel like london, a very transient atmosphere, all of the women seen to be with their children or going about family business, the area feels like it is hanging onto a bygone era when it was grander.

Perceptions, community, busy, family, local, nostalgia

Inspirations, architecture, sound, texture, culture, food

Atmosphere, G.G, suburban, sleepy, transient

Cemetery, peaceful, forgotton

Inspiration:
Golders Green Road: equality of the buildings, red colour, different kind of people
Cemetery: historical, »coincidentia oppositorum« = coincidence of opposites


Atmosphere:
Golders Green Road: stressful, loud, busy
Cemetery: deep of thoughts, gritty

perceptions:
more people, which leave the place, than coming
secure place
more young people than elderly, but no pub or something for them (only coffeeshops)
Golders Green Road: everyone is busy all the day
history and modernity - connected in one place

Counting at Golders Green Train Station

Time: 12:45
- 113 people walking towards GG
- 100 people walking away from GG
- Comments: many policemen going in and out
Most people: families with children; young people (around 25 years)


Time: 12:55
- 70 people walking away from GG
- 4 children under 10
- Comments: fewer families with children


Time: 01:05
- 93 people walking away from GG
- 9 people, who wear Jewish clothing
- Comments: many businessmen, teenagers, people with luggage
More people going in than going out the station
Most of people wearing Jewish clothes have just the Jewish hat (young and olds)


Time: 01:15
- 85 people walking away from GG
- 29 elderly people
- Comments: I counted all elder people, which going in and out


Time: 01:25
- 94 people walking away from GG
- 46 men
- 48 women
- Comments: women often going out in groups
Most people: young people (around 25 years)

what i find interesting about this area is that in some things are like they stayed some decades ago. what i have notice about it is that young people are not living there or they are just a few. not many shops not many cafes. i believe that they just live with the basic things they need to survive. so what about young people? do they stay there or they just left from this place? in some years will be only the older people and the cemetery "dead people"? this is another side to the story. .

The contrary

I personally afraid of death.
However, it always reminds me to appreciate and value my life. To think about death may force people to recall their previous life, maybe a beautiful moment or just the thing they do regularly.

Also, life and death are so contrary but still can not be separated, and sometimes they just been together so peaceful that people are not aware of it.

Maybe this relationship between live and death just like the Jew people and Golders Green, their culture (e.g. the funeral) are so different, but they still live here with other people quietly and peacefully, so maybe it's a good thing to point out these contraries. I just try to record some images about this, and hope it can become a support of our work.

Ya Ju

My views on life ... "Life" is simply a reaction, a way to rationalise our existence beyond the physical purpose of living. We are born, we reproduce, we die. Religion is a way to comfort ourselves, to fill the void, a way to understand and to protect ourselves from the starkness of our own reality.

When Helen says 'movements, actions, rituals and habits' I think it is really important that we apply this when looking at seemingly unconnected things. For example we cannot just look at 'significant buildings' we need to ask what makes a building significant?

In order to understnad the actions and habits of the people of golders green and the area in itself we need to form a connection between people and their awareness of their own environment. For example how can we state a synagogue as a significant building but not a small bakery which attracts the community. A building exists as a physical man made structure which is intwined with our own perceptions of it, therefore any building can be significant.

Maybe by trying to discover which are the significant buildings of Golder green in this way we will be able to closer understand the 'movements, actions, rituals and habits' of the community.

In the same way, if we were to observe the geography of the two sites throughout their history, town plans etc, what might this tell us about the community.

Also, as designers, we work with texture and colour. They are the visual representation of our aims, they transform our ideas into a tactile product. So I think we should try to explore the textures and materials of the crematorium and road, maybe do some rubbings to get a visual interpretation of the materials that make the area.

- Vita

Me and Ya Yu have been at Golders Green on Wednesday, to get emotions and impressions on camera. For me, the video should just be an emotional part of the presentation, it should be played in the background (just with low music or so) while we are speaking, it´s just to rivet the public. It´s not the presentation, only a part.

So, what do you think about?
many greetings Co

Jewish funerals

Hi, hope this text can help a little bit to understand the process of Jewish funerals. I also sent this by email.
Many greetings, Co

Jewish funerals:
Because the Jewish religion is more concentrated on this life, the death is part of life, like night and day (Contrast theme!!!!!!!!) Who sees the death coming, prepares for with prayer and confessing his sins. In the moment when death occurs all attendants confess their faith in the inimitability of god (Hebr. "echad" - eng. "only, single, unique" = last word of Schma Israel should be the last word of a dying person).

If the death has come, the dead person must not be touched. The corpse will be laid to earth and a candle will be burned. Then the body will be washed and dressed up in a simple linen burial shroud. This burial is a present from bride to bridegroom on their wedding day; she is wearing it only at New Year´s day and at Day of Atonement. At all things, which have to do with death and funeral, members of the holy brother ship, named Chewra Kaddischa, were helping the relatives. Up to the funeral the dead will never be left alone, a Schomer (guard) is sitting next to the body and recites diverse psalms.
Traditional the funeral takes place at the day of death; outside of Israel a time of 48 hours will be demanded. The memorial ceremony takes place in a funeral parlour. A rabbi discourses the funeral oration, then the son of the dead person, respectively the next of kin speaks the Kaddisch, the requiescat, which praises god. Then the dead will be accompanied to the grave, this is a Mizwa, a religious duty and a good deed. At cemetery the relatives pull down their clothes as a sign of their mourning. Nowadays you strip off a tie or strip off a sliver, which will be fixed on the clothes.
The Jewish religion defeats the combustion of death bodies. It´s because the biblical imagination of the body, which turns back in his original form. It shall be deemed to be a hasty, unnatural way to shed the dead body of a person, who was a beloved member of the family. Because the biblical commandment “You should become earth” mortal apparels were wrapped round in linen sheets in older days.
Most Jewish people are desirous of being buried in Jerusalem. Because it´s not possible to burial all Jewish in Jerusalem, the decedent´s were put little bag with earth from the Holy Land inside, under their heads. You don´t use flower arrangements and a pompous tombs at a Jewish funeral, because it should be made clear that everyone is the same in death.
By leaving the cemetery everybody has to wash his hands, but not to dry them, so the memory of the decedent lasts longer. Then, all mourners come to the house of the decedent, to sit "Schiwa", which means 7 and stands for the seven-day misery period, which follows the funeral. The mourners have to stay at home and do no work. You have to sit on a small stool, wear no leather shoes and to relinquish bathing, shaving, make up, cut your hair and sex. Even reading in the Tora is forbidden.
After "Schiwa" is ending, the mourners walk around the block of houses for one time, to show the return in the society and the world. Then the 30 days of “Schloschim“begins, which will be countered from the funeral day. There the threnodical-rules are more relaxed. Is the dead person a mother or a father, the threnodical-time is one year. On the anniversary of death the mourners mark "Jahrzeit". On this day usually the tombstone will be arranged.

Jewish Cemeteries:
Above the entrance portal of Jewish cemeteries a sentence is written: "Bet ha-chajim", house of life. In the opinion of Jewish faith a tomb is forever and belongs to the dead. “If nobody can remember you, you are really dead”
The cemetery has a high rate for Jewish people; it is a place to remember the dead. As a “house of eternity” it cannot be eliminated, because to secure the eternal peace of the grave. You can often see little stones, placed on the graves; they were set aside at every visit to keep the memory of the beloved decedent. Jewish people will always be buried eastwards.
The early Jewish cemeteries were placed out of town. It is because that the living can´t stay together with the dead within the walls of town. Very often these cemeteries were located at places, which would be avoided by people. (Maybe it´s the reason for the contiguity to the crematory)
A typical Jewish tomb will not be nestled and the stone remains. At lack of space a shift of earth will be superimposed on the tomb und a dead body will be buried over another.