The London Jewish museum reopened last week after a two-year, $15 million expansion. The museum has expanded from a Victorian house in London’s Camden Town to a former piano factory next door, tripling its floor space. Among the interactive displays: a chance to smell chicken soup cooking in a recreated East End immigrant’s kitchen.
A cavalcade of historical figures includes 19th century Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli; war poet Isaac Rosenberg; and Daniel Mendoza, an 18th century boxing champion of England.
Participants at the March 16 event learned that “fish and chips, which everyone thinks of as very English, is in fact Sephardic Jewish,” celebrity chef Nigella Lawson said at the relaunching.
Britain’s 300,000-strong Jewish community stretches back to 1066, when the first Jews arrived with William the Conqueror’s invading Norman army. One of the museum’s displays is a 13th century mikvah, uncovered in what is now the heart of London’s financial district. — ap