A quick one today, because I’ve been disorganised and distracted, but I wanted to celebrate the unveiling of a new mural to Jewish London that has gone up at JW3, the flagship Jewish community centre on Finchley Road.
And it’s actually rather good, which lets face it, civic murals are not always, but Leon Fenster’s unique, colourful, vibrant vision is both thoughtful and full of vitality, and will reward spending time with a pair of binoculars (it’s massive - 26.5 x 14.2m, covering the side of the nine storey building).
It’s great fun too. Stuffed with people - more than 150 figures, fictional, historical, local - and references, some of which you’ll get immediately and some of which might inspire further exploration.
Iconic kosher butchers, bakers and tailors are jumbled up with the likes of a young Nicholas Winton directing Kindertransport trains; Sigmund Freud (inevitably), who made his final home here; agony aunts Margorie Proops, Claire Rayner and Irma Kurtz; Disraeli; Elizabeth I watching the trial of her Jewish doctor Rodrigo Lopez (he was executed, though she was reluctant - it’s also thought he may have been the inspiration for Shylock in The Merchant of Venice though how you get from a doctor alleged to have attempted to poison the English queen to a moneylender in Venice I’m not entirely sure); Amy Winehouse; David Baddiel (in conversation with his dad at JW3 tomorrow night, in fact); Mr Fish (Mayfair fashion maven and inventor of the kipper tie) and more.
There are Rabbis galore, of course, including Julia Neuberger, Lionel Blue, Miriam Lorie, Joseph Dwek, Louis Jacobs, Joseph Hertz, and Jonathan Sacks; a depiction of the Battle of Cable Street; the Haredi decampment from Stamford Hill to Canvey Island in a bus, laden with belongings, and a golem warding off Nazi planes during the Blitz by hanging off St Paul’s Cathedral like King Kong. It’s a riot, and a joy.
And it’s timely, too, in a not entirely positive way. The Jewish community is an unpickable part of the fabric of London, and has been for many generations. The city would be poorer, culturally and economically, without its influence and its intellectual generosity. And yet an alarming rise in anti-semitism has made the last few years a very, very frightening time. So it’s important, I think, to acknowledge and celebrate this influence, and remind ourselves of an unsurpassed contribution to the richness and vitality of our capital city.
I’m ashamed to say I’ve never visited JW3 (I live in Lewisham, I kind of thought it was SO far and SUCH a ball-ache but I’ve just checked and it’s really not that hard) but this - and the fact that they have a pop-up beach for the whole of July and August (and it’s weatherproof, unlike all the other beaches) means I’m galvanised to go and check it out.