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Purim, 1946: London

Though not strictly speaking a religious thing, the Purimshpil, or Purim play, has been an integral part of Purim celebrations since at least the High Middle Ages. (The word Purimshpil is Yiddish, and it appears to be pretty much an Ashkenazic thing. That must tell us something about the global history of theater, but I must admit I'm not sure what.) Typically, a Purim play retells the Book of Esther — which you can read here if you're not familiar with it — while at the same time satirizing those in authority, at least within the Jewish community. It can get pretty raucous.

For the first Purim after World War II, London got a deluxe Purimshpil, as we can see from this advertisement in the Hampstead News for March 14th:

(Note the lack of a Friday performance; the Saturday matinee is surprising.)

Abraham Goldfaden (1840-1908) is widely regarded as the father of the modern Yiddish theater, and was probably his name that brought this production to the attention of The Stage, which took note of it in its own March 14th issue:

#post-war u.k.#purim 5706 #purim 5785 #begins at sundown

ACGaS, s6e2: a question about the U.K.'s educational system (at least as it existed in 1945)

(O.K., so yes, this is yet another Jenny question.)

Jenny now wants to go to nursing school. Good for Jenny! But that's higher education, and she left school at 14 — a perfectly legal and even normal thing to do in England at that time, I know, but given her limited formal education, can she really just go on to an undergraduate program like that? (This was well before the creation of the Open University, remember.) It would be impossible here in the U.S.; you'd need to have graduated from high school or, if you hadn't been able to do that in the normative time frame (i.e., at age 17 or 18), a graduate equivalency diploma.

So how realistic — how historically informed, I suppose — is this scenario?

#all creatures great and small #acgas 2020 #s6e2 #post-war u.k.#education

Hanukkah, 1946: London

Above from the Hampstead News, January 9th , 1947.

The emphasis on physical fitness that we see here is quite fascinating. It seems like an early attempt to refute the narrative that the Jews of Europe were passive victims during the Holocaust. Physical culture doesn't fit well with the ethos of Orthodox Judaism, what with all that display of flesh, not to mention time taken away from studying.

And trust me, Orthodoxy is what's being covered in that piece. It warmed the cockles of my heart to find the following in the Middlesex County Times for December 21st, 1946:

The congregation still exists!

#post-war u.k.#austerity britain #jewish life #hanukkah 5707 #hanukkah 5786 #and there's that “rev” thing again #i can only shake my head in bewilderment and amusement #few groups of people could be less revered

1946: In London, not much has changed for the first post-war Passover

Rationing is still in force:

(The Jewish Chronicle, January 11th, 1946)

There are still active-service troops whose needs must be met (The JC, March 8th, 1946) ...

... and some of them are from overseas (The JC, March 22nd):

Meanwhile, the Blitz and its aftermath, not to mention the influx of refugees, have created new problems, as The Jewish Chronicle noted on April 22nd:

#post-war u.k.#london #passover 5706 #passover 5785

In 1951, just six years after World War II, London threw itself a party. The Festival of Britain transformed the bomb-scarred South Bank int

#post-war u.k.#austerity britain #festival of britain

Hanukkah, 1945: In London, not all of the wartime visitors have gone home

From the West London Chronicle, December 7th, 1945:

Captain William B. Schwartz was born in Russia in 1896 and came to the U.S. ten years later. Like many another Reform rabbi of his generation, he graduated from the University of Cincinnati before receiving his ordination (in 1921) from Hebrew Union College. (The New West End Synagogue was, and remains, Orthodox, making this an example of how the war made everyone become more flexible in their religious practices.) Prior to his induction in 1943 he served Temple Israel, in Lawrence, N.Y. I've been unable to trace his activities after 1945, but I do know that a rabbi by the same name, born in 1896, died in 1959 and is buried in Helena, Arkansas.

#post-war u.k.#austerity britain #u.s. troops and allied troops in the u.k.#hanukkah 5706 #hanukkah 5785

The 1953 coronation was a carnival of celebration as millions rejoiced in the crowning of their Queen. Rich in religious significance, the h

#post-war u.k.#austerity britain #queen elizabeth ii #may her memory be for a blessing

By the start of the 40s, the United Kingdom was already two years into World War II and several months into the Blitz. Many of London’s mos

#world war ii #u.k. home front #london #post-war u.k.#austerity britain

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