Come along to a free lunchtime talk and gallery tour of our current special exhibition, R.B. Kitaj: Obsessions – The Art of Identity, with Dr. Aaron Rosen, Lecturer in Sacred Traditions & the Arts at King’s College London. He taught previously at Yale, Oxford, and Columbia Universities, after receiving his PhD from the University of Cambridge.

Dr. Rosen has written widely for popular and scholarly publications including The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Apollo, New Humanist, Jewish Quarterly, Art and Christianity, Religion and the Arts, and Literature and Theology. His first book was entitled Imagining Jewish Art: Encounters with the Masters in Chagall, Guston, and Kitaj (Legenda, 2009). He is currently working on a book entitled, The Hospitality of Images: Modern Art & Interfaith Dialogue.

Box Office: 020 7284 7384 / admin@jewishmuseum.org.uk

Click here to listen to a podcast of Aaron discussing Kitaj for the Jewish Quarterly.

Join us for creative play in our mess-friendly space. Have fun exploring the museum, including our special Kitaj exhibition, through song, stories, art and dressing up.

For under 5s with an adult.

Touch, open and even smell real museum objects on our specially designed tour for all the family. Every museum object tells a story and this is your chance to become an object detective. Suitable for all ages

Join the exciting Mirror Mirror for an immersive experience bringing the paintings of Kitaj to life through movement, making and conversation. Come explore colour and gesture in this workshop specially designed for the Jewish Museum.

4-8yrs, siblings welcome

'Great for stimulating imagination - the children really enjoyed it.’ Mirror Mirror participant at Tate

An opportunity for those both new or not so new to family history to ask for help with Jewish genealogical data from experienced researchers.

This illustrated lecture by Charles Sebag-Montefiore will explore 250 years of Jewish collecting in Britain, from the opening of Bevis Marks Synagogue in 1701 to World War II. It will explore the achievement of prominent individuals, such as Sampson Gideon, Ralph Bernal, the Rothschilds, Ludwig Mond, Sir Philip Sassoon and Sir Percival David, and encompass works ranging from Old Master paintings and drawings, Classical marbles and bronzes, silver and delftware, Hebraica and oriental ceramics. It will conclude by asking whether differences of religious background and political affiliation have any bearing on the way that people collected.

Charles Sebag-Montefiore recently retired as a Director of Ludgate Investments and is a Trustee of the National Gallery. He has served for many years as Treasurer of the Friends of the National Libraries, the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust and The Walpole Society, and is a former trustee of the Samuel Courtauld Trust and the Art Fund. He is joint author of 'The British as Art Collectors: From the Tudors to the Present' (2012) and the author of 'A Dynasty of Dealers: John Smith and Successors 1801-1924' (2013).

To book please contact the Box Office: 020 7284 7384 / admin@jewishmuseum.org.uk.

Join two leading lawyers from the UK and Israel who specialise in international law and human rights, as they discuss the Jewish contribution to the creation of international legal frameworks, the rule of law in Israel, and why international law has come to be seen as the 'enemy' by Israel and Diaspora Jewish communities.

Professor Philippe Sands QC is a barrister at Matrix Chambers and professor of international law at University College London. He is the author of Lawless World (Penguin, 2005) and Torture Team (Penguin, 2008), and writes for the Guardian, Vanity Fair, the Financial Times and the New York Review of Books. His new book, to be published by Alfred A. Knopf, is on the role of lawyers from Lemberg (now Lviv, formerly Lwow) in the development of international criminal law, including crimes against humanity and genocide.

Michael Sfard is the Israeli human rights and peace movement’s leading lawyer. As Legal Advisor for Israeli Human Rights group Yesh Din, and for Peace Now's Settlement Watch project, Sfard has brought scores of human rights and land-use cases challenging Israel’s policies in the Palestinian territories, and has handled numerous petitions concerning the Separation Barrier. Sfard is widely respected by judges and adversaries. Born in Jerusalem, Sfard completed his legal studies at the Hebrew University, and holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law from University College London (UCL). Sfard served in the Israeli Defense Forces as a military paramedic.

Join our Blue Badge Guide Rachel Kolsky for a rare opportunity to discover the many members of the British Jewish Elite, for whom Willesden Cemetery is a last home. Their varied stories are fascinating, ranging from the first Jewish MP and Lord, both Rothschilds, the discovery of DNA , diamond Randlords, the first Singer's Prayer Book and one of the UK's largest furniture manufacturers. Meeting place provided on booking.

Following his hugely successful Jewish Museum debut earlier this year, master songwriter Daniel Cainer presents a performance of excerpts from his hit fringe show about Jewish identity. Tales of immigration, of feuding Yiddish Tailors, of a young Jewish woman that runs away to join a Christian cult, of a coke-dealing rabbi – all in song. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry – what’s not to like?

"Stories within stories" Alan Bennett

"Does on stage what I do on the page" Howard Jacobson

"Go see this man" Dillie Keane, Fascinating Aida

"Fab-u-lous" Craig Revel Horwood

"Charming, intimate, funny… light hearted genius" 3 Weeks, Edinburgh

"His lyrics paint a lovingly detailed portrait of a life and a people full of paradox" Time Out

A performance of stories about identity and heritage from the vestry of the Plymouth Synagogue – the oldest Ashkenazi synagogue in continuous use in the English-speaking world.

Join actor Ruth Mitchell and chair of the Ladies Guild, Vera Jockleson to share a cultural conversation in the vestry.

A leading actor for 25 years Ruth originated the role of Helga in Kindertransport for the Soho Theatre in 1993. For the past 12 years she has been living in Plymouth and has been co-creating award winning site-specific theatre events called Hidden City.

This performance is part of Ruth’s year long Masters in Research in Theatre & Performance at the University of Plymouth where she is researching the dramaturgy of solo performance.

Box Office: 020 7284 7384 / admin@jewishmuseum.org.uk

Join this delightful walk where memories of the Jewish community abound with an 18th century Sephardi cemetery, Stepney Jewish School, Rothschild Dwellings, the Jewish Anarchist Club, boxing champion Daniel Mendoza, a Jewish nursery and the Bnai Brith day centre. You will also discover the fascinating history of Queen Mary College based on the original People's Palace.

Camden, Amy Winehouse's spiritual home, was once a centre for transport, the ice trade and piano making. Later, Camden Lock became the home of the Britpop scene and music poured out of the pubs and converted warehouses. This walking tour with Rachel Kolsky relives Camden's musical heritage from Pink Floyd to Oh Calcutta and Madness to MTV and the tour ends at the Jewish Museum, itself housed in a converted piano factory.

Meeting point provided on booking.

Join our Blue Badge Guide Rachel Kolsky for our tour in and around Westminster, following in the footsteps of British monarchs (and a republican), past and present.

Through churches, palace and parks you will discover some background to 'the Firm', royal personalities and at the same time uncover Jewish connections through friendships, heritage and honours bestowed.

Meeting place provided on booking

Jewish life in Hackney was once rich and vibrant.

Join our Blue Badge Guide Rachel Kolsky on a journey from Hackney Central to Dalston, discovering the stories of synagogues, boxing rings, Rothschild dwellings, socialist movements and the array of singers and writers for whom Hackney was a childhood home.

End at the lively Ridley Road market where bagels were once sold amid the heckling of the Fascists.

Meeting point provided on booking

Piccadilly became 'Rothschild Row' when they made their money in the City but spent it on opulent homes in London's West End. Join Blue Badge Guide Rachel Kolsky to discover the sites of the homes of Lionel, Leo, Ferdy, Alfred and their neighbours including the Duke of Wellington and Disraeli and hear the stories of love and marriage, business and charity.

Meeting point provided on booking.

Join our Blue Badge Guide Rachel Kolsky for this fascinating tour of the National Portrait Gallery, where you will discover members of the Jewish community who became distinguished British subjects in the fields of politics, finance, industry and culture.

Their stories and those of the artists reflect the wider story of the development of the Jewish community in the UK.

Meeting point provided on booking

In the early twentieth century, the women’s suffrage issue convulsed British politics. As the campaign for women’s votes escalated, passions exploded in window-smashing, police brutality, hunger strikes and forced feedings. Some well-to-do Jewish women joined the struggle and historians have taken note of this. Changes in the status and roles of Jewish women, however, came in quieter ways as well. While the battle for the franchise was raging, Jewish women, often drawn from the same social milieu as those who embraced political militancy, pioneered new roles in religion, culture, and scholarship. These women were not seeking to overturn the social and political status quo, but their active participation in spheres of activity that were historically masculine made them, in effect, rebels, even if that was not their intent. Among them were the novelist Ada Leverson (1862-1933), the educator Henrietta Franklin (1867-1964), the religious reformer Lily Montagu (1873-1963), and the Hebraist Nina Salaman (1877-1925). Their backgrounds were similar but the paths they chose were dissimilar, as were their Jewish commitments. This lecture will explore the hows and whys of their surreptitious rebellion against the conventions of their time.

Todd M. Endelman is Professor Emeritus of History and Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan. He is the author of The Jews of Georgian England: Tradition and Change in a Liberal Society, 1714-1830; Radical Assimilation in Anglo-Jewish History, 1656-1945; The Jews of Britain, 1656-2000; and Broadening Jewish History: Towards a Social History of Ordinary Jews. His most recent book, Leaving the Jewish Fold: Conversion and Radical Assimilation in Europe and America from the Enlightenment to the Present will be published by Princeton University Press in 2014. He is currently a visiting fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

Join Blue Badge guide Rachel Kolsky on a tour of London's West End and discover the stories of Jewish actors, impresarios, writers and producers.

The cast includes Lionel Bart, Lord Delfont, Barbra Streisand, Vivian van Damm, Oscar Deutsch and many more. Credits are also due to Lyons for the refreshments, Moss Bros for the costumes and Freed for the dance shoes.

Meeting point provided on booking

What do Jews do when establishing a community, praying, eating and mourning?Join Jewish Museum favourite, Blue Badge Guide Rachel Kolsky, on this series of walks and talks revealing the background to the Jewish community in London's City and East End and a visit to a large and vibrant synagogue for an insight into synagogue design and modes of prayer. A tour of a north London cemetery provides an opportunity to discover different burial practices and the series ends with a talk highlighting Jewish cuisine.

This series of events is perfect for those who want an introduction to London's Jewish world. The series includes:

1. Visit to the Jewish East End, 2 February 2014

2. Visit to a synagogue, 9 February 2014

3. Visit to a cemetery, 16 February 2014

4. Kashrut talk at the Jewish Museum, 23 February 2014

To commemorate the centenary of the slashing of the National Gallery's 'Rokeby Venus' join tour guide and author, Rachel Kolsky, to discover the Jewish women committed to the campaign for votes for women and equal rights for synagogue membership. Their Jewish League for Women's Suffrage was the first organisation to link Judaism with suffrage and with support from key members of the male Anglo- Jewish elite they succeeded in breaking down barriers to political and religious emancipation.