St Benedict’s hosts Jewish Living Experience Exhibition

St Benedict’s school has recently played host to the Jewish Living Experience Exhibition, which has been enjoyed by students and staff as well as some special guests.

The exhibition helps to educate non-Jews about the Jewish way of life and enables students to gain an insight into Judaism as a living faith. Designed by education experts, it covers areas including the Jewish calendar and festivals, lifecycle events and diversity within the community both ideologically and geographically.

There was a special preview evening on Monday 16^th September, which was attended by St Benedict’s staff and invited guests including the High Sheriff of Cumbria – Christopher Holmes,  Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner – David Allen, Mayor of Whitehaven – Cllr Graham Roberts, Imam Rashid – Carlisle Imam, Aftab Kham – AWAZ and Laura Goad – Director of Cumbria Development Education Centre.

Commissioner, David Allen commented:

“Community events, such as tonight’s Jewish Living Experience exhibition, that develop religious literacy and understanding, are vital.

“It is through knowledge and education that we develop a greater understanding of different faiths, cultures and ways of life.”

Leading the exhibition was Rabbi Adam Zagoria-Moffet, who introduced students to the various festival and holidays within the Jewish calendar, and also explained the diverse groups within the Jewish community. He commented:

“Community visits like this are very important. Many of these students will never had met a Jewish person, but they are studying it in their RE lessons. It is a way of bringing something they are studying to life, and helping them to understand more about different cultures.”

The students were also privileged to listen to a testimony of Holocaust survival from second-generation survivors; Peter and Moira Hart told students about the experiences of Peter’s mother, Kitty.

Hearing such testimony allowed the students the opportunity to put a human face to one of the darkest periods of world history.

Miss Coan, History teacher at St Benedict’s said:

“The students impressed Peter and Moira with their thoughtful and insightful questions, and they expressed their profound gratitude to our guests for coming to our school and telling Kitty’s story. I would like to thank all our guests for spending the time with our students and staff and we look forward to welcoming them back to St Benedict’s in the future.”

Moira & Peter Hart commented that:

“We believe that telling Kitty’s extraordinary story of survival, and educating young people is one of the most powerful ways to combat anti-semitism. Focussing on what happened to an individual when hatred got out of control is a compelling way to illustrate why we need to develop tolerance and empathy.”

“We were delighted to be welcomed into St Benedict’s school, and appreciate the dedications and commitment of all the staff. We have been so impressed by the quality of the students’ questions and their response to and interest in the Holocaust.”

Headteacher of St Benedict’s School, Emma Jackson, said:

“Developing an understanding and respect for all cultures within our school, community and beyond is a priority and we were honoured to host this event. Over 400 of our students visited the exhibition which offered them the opportunity to learn about Jewish beliefs, customs, and practices.” 

“Their interest and enthusiasm was evidenced by their engagement and their many questions.”

Abigail Mann, who organised the exhibition, said:

“The importance of this exhibition feels more poignant these days than ever before, as we find ourselves in a world where we are increasingly seeing the lessons of the past being forgotten, in an environment where hate, intolerance and mistrust are once again on the rise.

“It has never been more important that as many young people as possible have the opportunity to partake in the Jewish Living Experience Exhibition, which shows them that Jewish people, of whom many pupils would never have met before in Cumbria, are ordinary people just like them.

“By taking this exhibition into a school, we are able to provide staff and pupils the opportunity to learn about Judaism from a Rabbi and to hear first and second-hand accounts of Holocaust survivors which has a far greater impact on young people than reading about them in a book.”