In March 2017, members of the OJH Committee Pam Manix, Victoria Bentata and Rebecca Abrahams organised a Jewish Heritage Day for the Volunteers from the London Jewish Museum.
Pam first gave an illustrated talk on the Medieval Jewish Quarter at Oxford City Museum explaining key events in the history and introducing the Volunteers to some of Oxford’s medieval Jewish personalities. She then showed them related exhibits in Oxford City Museum and took the Volunteers on a tour of the medieval cellar;
Victoria gave a guided tour through the Medieval Jewish Quarter and around the City, pointing out places of historical Jewish interest, explaining the contribution of Jews to the University of Oxford and in particular that of the Refugee Scholars of the 1930s. She also talked about Thomas Bodley and the Bodleian Library’s Hebrew collections.
Rebecca gave a guided tour of some of the Jewish-related objects in the Ashmolean Museum for which she has done extensive research for her forthcoming book: The Jewish Journey – 4000 Years in 22 Objects.
It seems a good time was had by all! Here is some of the feedback from the Volunteers:
Thank you again for such a wonderful day. The volunteers absolutely loved all of it. Many have picked up tips from you on how to engage people, have new fun facts, and many can’t wait for Rebecca’s book to come out. Quotes below from a few volunteers:
“Many thanks for a most enjoyable, interesting & informative day in Oxford. The tour guides were each a mine of information. It was my first visit to the Ashmolean, and I will certainly have to return there to explore many of the fabulous exhibits.”
“Be assured we will recycle our new knowledge for the benefit of our visitors.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed Oxford, and the various speakers we encountered throughout the day were all fantastic and so knowledgeable.”
“Victoria and Rebecca were outstanding and I have already recommended friends to contact them.”
