Description:Image: Jenny Lind
Historical sources show that in the Birmingham Jewish community, drama, literature, music and the arts have always been integral. As well as an important form of self expression, the arts were also needed for practical purposes- both to celebrate Judiasm and often raise funds for worship, education and charity.
For example, after the Hebrew School opened, a concert was staged by the Jewish community in Birmingham Town Hall on September 9th, 1847 in order to raise funds. The world famous ‘Swedish Nightingale’ Jenny Lind appeared in a night that proved an overwhelming success. The event brought Jew and Christian together, linking the Town Hall yet again to a context of international performance that joined the themes of migration and settlement and social justice in a symbolic setting of civic culture.
Over the nineteenth century, a network of Jewish charities began to emerge in Birmingham as the community expanded. The following list of organisations (including dates in which they started) shows the strong sense of jewish self-reliance and reflects primary concerns with education, basic clothing and housing for the aged:
The Birmingham Hebrew Philanthropic Society (1828)
The Birmingham Hebrew Educational Society (1851)
The Hebrew Ladies' Benevolent Society (1857)
The Birmingham Hebrew Board of Guardians (1870)
The Birmingham Jewish Clothing Guild (1897)
The Birmingham Hebrew Ladies Boot Fund (1926)
The Birmingham and Midland Homes for Aged Jews (1955)
Joy Silverstone House, Home for the Aged (1972)
Alongside many of these these domestic charities, the nineteenth century jewish community included key individuals who connected to the wider development of arts and culture in Birmingham. For instance, Jacob Phillips, an international businessman and later a town councillor, served in 1866 as Chairman of Birmingham’s original ‘Reference Library’. Here, he would have engaged with the non-conformist minister George Dawson, who argued Birmingham needed an artistic, political and moral ‘civic gospel’ to connect its many citizens under a vision of social progress. In the twentieth century, pioneers in the arena of drama and cinema would show how Jewish people played central roles in the cultural development of Birmingham. See icons for more information.