1. LESSON PLAN RESOURCE MATERIALS
SECTION 1 The Irish Jewish Communities and the Jewish Home
Topic 1.1 The Development of the Irish Jewish Communities
Description of
Topic
Key moments in the history of Irish Jews. Recorded
history of Irish Jewry in the Annals of Innisfallen; the
incremental establishment of communities in Cork,
Dublin, Limerick and Belfast. Irish Jewish participation
in the creation of the Free State. Waves of immigration
and their participants. The impact of World War II and
Irish government policy on immigration. Current patterns
of Jewish immigration. A short biography of some Irish
Jewish men and women and their contribution to the
academic, cultural, economic and political life of Ireland.
The contribution one Irish Jewish person made to the
religious or secular life of Israel. Trace the historical
development of the Irish Jewish community in one Irish
town or city.
Learning
Outcomes
Trace key events in the history of the Irish Jewish
community. Give a brief account of the Annals of
Innisfallen; the incremental establishment of communities
in Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Belfast. Irish Jewish
participation in the creation of the Irish Free State.
Waves of immigration and their participants. The impact
of World War II and Irish government policy on
immigration. Give an account of current trends of Jewish
immigration. Provide examples of the contribution that
individual Irish Jews have made to the academic, cultural,
economic and political development in Ireland. Discuss
the contribution one Jewish person has made to the
religious or secular life of Israel. Give an account of the
historical development of one Irish Jewish community.
Methodology
These Lesson Plan Resource Materials are designed using a variety of methods including self-
assessment activities, interpretation of data, discussion; case study and group work. These
methodologies were used so as to give students an opportunity to identify, explore and clarify the
concepts and to record, structure and elaborate on their existing knowledge and understanding of the
content. A Glossary of Terms has been provided in the materials which give short explanations of
terminology which is in Hebrew and Yiddish.

2. Procedure:
Begin by looking at the continental origins of the Jewish community in Ireland by
placing them in context.
Animoto Clip
Show the Animoto clip of the Jewish community in Ireland as an introduction to
this topic. Copy and paste the following on to that:
http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1322752188&f=zXlO1xlbEOGFKhNcrds4ZQ&d=289&m=a&r=360p
&volume=100&start_res=360p&i=m&options=%22%3E%3C/param%3E%3Cparam%20name=%22allowFullScreen%2
2%20value=%22true%22%3E%3C/param%3E%3Cparam%20name=%22allowscriptaccess%22%20value=%22always
%22%3E%3C/param%3E%3Cembed%20id=%22vp1zXlO1%22%20src=%22http%3A//static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?
w=swf/vp1&e=1322752188&f=zXlO1xlbEOGFKhNcrds4ZQ&d=289&m=a&r=360p&volume=100&start_res=360p&i=m&
options=%22%20type=%22application/x-shockwave-
flash%22%20allowscriptaccess=%22always%22%20allowfullscreen=%22true%22%20width=%22432%22%20height
=%22240%22%3E%3C/embed%3E%3C/object%3E
Map
Locate the movement of the people from mainland Europe – Lithuania, France
and Spain - to Ireland

3. Find Normandy and Rouen, the first recorded details of Jews coming to Ireland.
NUMERACY MOMENT
KEY DATE: 1079
Get students to read the following text which has the first recorded reference
to the existence of a Jewish community in Ireland:
Chart the distance by land
and by boat from Rouen to
Cork or Dublin.

4. The Annals of Innisfallen
The earliest reference to the existence of a Jewish community in Ireland is in the
Annals of Innisfallen, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, in the year 1079, that
states, “five Jews came from over the sea with gifts to Tairdelbach [king of
Munster] and then were sent back again over the sea.” It is probable that they
came as merchants from Rouen in France. According to Benjamin T. Hudson, this
delegation could have come from William the Conqueror, or from England where
a Jewish colony was claimed to have been established by William of Malmesbury,
or they may have come directly from Normandy where the largest Jewish
population was located in northern Europe at that time.1 ‘This terse statement
sums up what would be Ireland’s attitude toward Jews for the next 900 years. In
fact, so inhospitable was Ireland to the Jews that in 1249 the British King Henry
III began penalizing Jews who failed to pay their special ‘Jew Tax’ by sending
them there.’2
The word ‘annal’ comes from the Latin ‘annus’ meaning ‘year’. Annals are a
concise historical chronology of events that happen as a narrative from year to
year. The Annals of Innisfallen give an account of the historical events which
occurred in the medieval history of Ireland. There are more than 2,500 entries
written between the years between 433 CE and 1450 CE, but it is believed to
have been written between the 12th and 15th centuries. They were written by
the monks of Innisfallen Abbey, on
Innisfallen Island on Lough Lein, near
Killarney, Co. Kerry. The island, 21 acres
(8.5 hectares) is one mile from Ross Castle
and the ruins of the Abbey are still visible
today. The monastery was originally
founded by St Finian the Leper in the 7th
century CE. Diverse events are to be found
in these annals including deaths and births
of kings, feastdays, battles, tribulations of
Irish family clans, new moons, the sightings
of comets, to mention but a few entries.
They are written in Irish and Latin and the
manuscripts are preserved today in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.3
Questions on the text
1 Benjamin T Hudson, Viking Pirates and Christian Princes: Dynasty, Religion and Empire in the
North Atlantic, New York: OUP, 2005, p. 168.)
2 George E. Berkley, Jews, p. 94
3 A cursory glance at some of the entries provided on the UCC/CELT website, gives the breadth of
the course of Irish history in medieval times: The Annals of Inisfallen: CELT, Corpus of
Electronic Texts, The Free Digital Humanities Resource for Irish History, Literature and Politics.
It brings the wealth of Irish literary and historical culture to you on the Internet, for the use and
benefit of everyone worldwide. It has a searchable online textbase consisting of 14.7 million
words, in 1161 contemporary and historical documents from many areas, including literature
and the other artsCELT, Corpus of Electronic Texts, The Free Digital Humanities Resource for
Irish History, Literature and Politics: http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100004/index.html
[accessed 8 November 2011].

5. Where is this record to be found?
Why would the details have been found in Annals?
What other historical documents might record such details?
Where and when were the Annals written?
Why might the Jews have been coming from France?
Find out what was going on in Europe at the same time.
Visual-verbal Squares
Each pair of learners is given a keyword and is asked to draw a square and in corner
of it they:
Write their own definition
Write a sentence using a keyword
Give a word that is connected to the keyword
Draw a sketch of a word or something related to the word
(The image used above from the Annals is from the Bodleian Library where the Annals are kept in the collection of Medieval
and Renaissance Manuscripts: http://bodley30.bodley.ox.ac.uk:8180/luna/servlet/detail/ODLodl~1~1~4032~104137:Annals-of-
Innisfallen,-from-the-Cre)
Student’s Definition Connected
Word
Key word
Sample
Sketch Sentence
Innisfallen
The Annals of Innisfallen give the first
record of Jews coming to Ireland in
1079 when they document that the
Jews brought gifts to Tairdelbach, King
of Munster.
Annals

6. WAVES OF IMMIGRATION
In the following map, the waves of immigration can be seen across Europe and
the direction and movement of the Jewish communities in the aftermath of
persecution from 1100-1600. The following section gives some information
about a number of these persecutions and those which occurred into the 19th
century. The Jewish communities of Ireland are descendants of those who had to
flee these persecutions in Europe.
(Map is from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Expulsion_judios-en.svg/500px-
Expulsion_judios-en.svg.png)
What was occurring across Europe which had an impact on the
immigration of Jews?
Jews were constantly moving to escape pogroms and expulsions in different
countries. Below are a number of different waves of immigration which had a
significant impact on Jews living in these areas.

7. KEY DATES: 1290
KEY EVENT: EXPULSIONS FROM ENGLAND
Context: There was widespread antisemitic sentiment in England in the 12th
and 13th centuries: rumours of blood-libel cases and desecration of Roman
Catholic Communion hosts, false accusations of poisoning neighbours and being
responsible for the spread of the plague. All of this was in advance of the
eventual expulsion of Jews from England in 1290 by Edward I. England was the
first European country to expel Jews.
(The following material is abridged from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/350.shtml)
Jews had been living in England since Roman and Anglo-Saxon times, but they
did not become an organised community until William the Conqueror arrived in
1066. He encouraged Jewish merchants and artisans to move from northern
France to England.
In 1144, Jews in Norwich were accused of a ritual murder. A rumour sprung up
that a Christian child had been kidnapped by Jews, tied to a cross and stabbed in
the head to simulate Jesus' crown of thorns. While the Norwich account did not
contain the accusation that the child's blood was drained and was then ritually
drunk at Passover, and so does not constitute the full blood libel, it is a story of
the same type and is generally seen as the entry point into England of such
accusations.
The rumour was false - for one thing, the Torah forbids the eating and drinking
of any form of blood - but it became the first recorded case in Europe of 'blood
libel'. The accusation was enough to get Jewish leaders in the town executed.
The other main charge that early 11th-century Christians levelled at Jews was
that of host desecration. The host is the wafer used during Christian
communion; England was Catholic at this time and to Catholics the host is
literally Jesus's flesh, so mistreating it was an incredibly serious thing to do.
Jews were variously accused of stabbing the host wafer with pins, stepping on it,
stabbing it with a knife until Jesus' blood flowed out and nailing it in a symbolic
re-enactment of the crucifixion.
Jews were also accused by their Christian neighbours of poisoning wells and
spreading the plague. Each fresh claim gave rise to new massacres.
Accusations of blood sacrifice continued in the 12th and 13th centuries in
Suffolk, Bristol, Winchester, London. In 1247, Pope Innocent IV ordered a study
into the charges brought against the Jews. The investigation found no evidence to
justify their persecution.
The Jewish community was vindicated by four more Popes but accusations, trials

8. and executions continued to rise.
The Jews were banished from England by Edward I. His motivation was partly
financial: once they were banished, their possessions became property of the
crown.
England was short of money and illegal coin-clipping was on the rise. The Jews
became Edward's scapegoat. He banned them from usury (money-lending at
interest) in 1275. 1278 brought widespread arrests of Jewish men; many were
hanged and 600 imprisoned in the Tower of London.
In 1290 Edward banished the Jews outright. He issued writs to the sheriffs of all
English counties ordering them to enforce his Edict of Expulsion, a decree
which required all Jews to be expelled from the country by All Saints' Day (1st
November) that year. They were only allowed to carry with them their portable
property. Apart from a few exceptions, houses and properties were passed to the
king. Some Jews stayed in England by hiding their identity and religion but the
majority settled in France and Germany. It wasn't until the 17th century that
Jews were allowed back to Britain.
KEY DATES: 1492
KEY EVENT: SPANISH EXPULSION
Context: In 1492, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand expelled the entire
200,000 of the Jewish population of Spain in an attempt to isolate conversos
(Christian converts) from contact with non-Christians. Eventually, many of the
exiles found new homes in North Africa, Italy, the Netherlands, the Americas, and
the Ottoman Empire (which at that time included Palestine). Below is an eye-
witness testimony to that event.
When the dreadful news [of the decree expelling Jews from Spain] reached the
people, they [...] wept bitterly. [...] However, they bravely encouraged each other:
“Let us cling unflinchingly to our faith [...] If they let us live, we will live; if they kill
us, we will perish. But we will not break our Divine Covenant nor shall we turn
back. We will go forth in the name of the Lord our God.”

9. 15th
century Spanish Jews taking refuge in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco (From http://www.1st-art-
gallery.com/thumbnail/325564/1/Spanish-Jews-Taking-Refuge-In-The-Atlas-Mountains-In-The-15th-Century.jpg)
In this spirit the people, old and young, women and children [...] went forth on one
day, unarmed and afoot. I was among them. They went whithersoever the wind
carried them. Some fled to the kingdom of Portugal, others to the kingdom of
Navarre. Many chose the way of the sea and were lost, drowned, burnt to death,
and sold into slavery.
(From Don Isaac Abrabanel (1437-1509), Memoir, from Leo W. Schwarz, Memoirs of My People Through a Thousand Years
(New York, Toronto: Farrar and Rinehart, 1943)
KEY DATES: 1648-1655
KEY EVENT: THE CHMIELNICKI MASSACRES (Ukraine)
Context: In 1648, the prosperous Jewish community in Poland met with
catastrophe, as Ukrainian Cossacks and Crimean Tartars went on a rampage. A
contemporary author, Nathan of Hanover, describes the bloodshed.
There was no cruel device of murder in the whole world that was not perpetrated
by the enemies. All the four death penalties: stoning, burning, beheading, and
strangling were meted out to the Jews. Many were taken by the Tartars into
captivity [...] They seized comely women as handmaids and house- keepers, some as
wives and concubines. Similar atrocities were perpetrated in all the settlements
through which they passed. Scrolls of the Law were torn to pieces, and turned into
boots and shoes for their feet[...] Other sacred books served to pave the streets.
Some were used for kindling purposes, and others to stuff the barrels of their guns.
(From Nathan of Hanover, The Abyss of Despair, Transaction Books: 1982)
KEY DATES: 1804, 1825, 1881-1884
KEY EVENTS: FORCED ASSIMILATION AND EXPULSIONS, RUSSIA
Context: In the Russian Empire the presence of Jews was not tolerated since the
Middle Ages. Jews were considered the enemy of Christ by Orthodox Christianity

10. and believed to aim at converting Christians to Judaism. The Czars (Supreme
monarchs of Slavic regions, also known as Tsars), in their role as Protectors of
the Faith, regularly refused permission even for Jewish merchants to enter
Russia. From 1825, children as young as 8 were conscripted to military service
for 25 years while the official age was meant to have been 12. After the
assassination of Czar Alexander II in 1881, Jews were blamed and pogroms were
carried out against them. The May Laws of 1882 instigated by Czar Alexander III
signified greater persecution of Jews.
(The following is abridged from http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/beyond-the-pale/english/29.html [accessed
7 December 2012])
In his "Statute Concerning the Organization of the Jews" from 1804,
Alexander I was the first to formulate the dual policy of forced assimilation and
expulsion from the villages. With the aim to draw the Jews into the general
stream of economic and cultural life, Jews could now enter public schools for the
first time. In order to undermine the Jewish village economy, Jewish residence in
the villages was prohibited, and expulsions began soon afterward. Jews were
also forbidden to distill or sell alcohol to peasants, or continued leasing activities
in the villages.
Czar Nicholas I (1825-1855) sought to destroy all Jewish life in Russia and his
reign constitutes a painful part of European Jewish history. In 1825, he ordered
the conscription of Jewish youth into the Russian military beginning at age 12.
Many of the youngsters were kidnapped by “snatchers” (“khappers”) in order to
get them to spend their formative years in the Russian military. The Jews that
were not forced to spend decades in the military were often expelled from their
towns and villages. The following gives more detailed information about this:
(The following is from http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/ru-mil.txt)
The men who were a part of it were, unofficially, called by the Russian "lovchiki" or
the Yiddish "khapper" which is translated as both "bounty-hunter" or, more
colloquially, "one who grabs." And it is with this activity that the stories of Jews
avoiding conscription must come under closest scrutiny. This is what appears to
have happened.
The high quota that was demanded, the brutally severe conditions of service, and
the knowledge that conscripts would be forced to contravene Jewish religious
precepts and cut themselves off from their homes and families, made those
liable for conscription try every means of evading it. The communal leaders who
were made personally responsible for implementing the law took the easiest way
out and filled the quota from children of the poorest homes.
Every community had special officers, khappers, who seized the children,
incarcerated them in the communal building and, finally, handed them over to the
military authorities. The khappers were not scrupulous about adhering to the
minimum age of 12 and frequently impressed children as young as 8. These were

11. alleged by witnesses on oath to have reached the statutory age. These children
were most frequently then spirited away to inaccessible places (cantonist
institutions in Kazan, Orenburg [now Chklaov], Perm, and Siberia) from where they
could not escape and return home, and where they waited until achieving the age
of 12 at which point they were then formally inducted into the army.
So it seems that something like half of the inductees would not have been to claim
that they were sole supporters of families since this half was no older than 12 and
more likely no older than 8. The radical author, A. Herzen, described a meeting in
1835 with a convoy of Jewish cantonists (Jewish children conscripted for military
service):
‘The officer who escorted them said, "They have collected a crew of cursed little Jew
boys of 8 or 9 years old. Whether they are taking them for the navy or what, I can't
say. At first, the orders were to drive them to Perm; then there was a change and
we are driving them to Kazan. I took them over a hundred versts farther back.’4
The officer who handed them over said, 'It's dreadful, and that's all about it; a
third were left on the way' (and the officer pointed to the earth). 'Not half will
reach their destination,' he said.’
‘They brought the children and formed them into regular ranks: it was one of the
most awful sights I have ever seen, those poor, poor children! Boys of 12 or 13
might somehow have survived it, but little fellows of 8 ....’
The May Laws: When Czar Alexander III became monarch, he initiated the
‘Temporary’ May Laws in May 1882 bringing a new period of anti-Jewish
discrimination and severe persecution. It lasts until 1917. The area of the Pale of
Settlement was reduced by 10%. Jews were once more prohibited from living in
villages, buying or renting property outside their prescribed residences, denied
jobs in the civil service and forbidden to trade on Sundays and Christian
holidays.
NUMERACY MOMENT
4 A verst is an old Russian measurement. The modern equivalent is 1.06 kilometres.
Calculate the approximate
amount of Jewish people who
had to leave England, Spain
and Russia.

12. Exercises based on the Waves of Immigration
1. Study the following picture and answer the questions which follow:
Photo is from http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/ppmsca/05400/05438r.jpg
(a) Describe in detail what you see.
(b) In what century do you think this picture would have been painted? Why?
(c) Why might that century be important in Jewish immigration?
(d) What do you think is being portrayed in this picture?
(e) How many figures do you see there?
(e) Who is the person bearing the weight?

13. (f) The word ‘OPPRESSION’ is written on the weight being carried by the
man. What do you think that means in the context of the Jewish people in
Europe from the 13th to the 19th centuries?
2. Imagine that you are a child in Russia in 1825 being conscripted for
military service at the age of 12. Describe, in detail, the kind of life you
have in Russia at that time and what happens to you and your family
when you receive the news of your conscription.
LITERACY MOMENT
3. There are many words and phrases highlighted in the texts on the
subject of the waves of immigration. In each of the following give
reference to the place and the approximate years which are relevant to
the question.
(a) Discuss the issues presented in the situations which presented
problems for observant Jews.
(b) Outline the false accusations brought against Jews in some of the
countries mentioned above.
(c) What were the punishments inflicted on Jews in some countries?
4. Construct a drama surrounding any of the events outlined above. In
your drama, include the facts of the stories, key dates, a description of
the place where they occurred, and the different perspectives of the
people affected by these events.
There are many words and phrases
highlighted in the texts on the
subject of waves of immigration.
Explain what they mean and put
them in sentences.

14. L-I-N-K-S
Many of the ancestors of the present Irish Jewish
community had to flee these persecutions in Europe. In the
next section, we will focus on the Irish Jewish communities,
their origins, where they are, and some facts about
members of the Irish Jewish communities who have made
significant contributions to Irish life.
Powerpoint and Focused Questions on the
Jewish Community in Ireland
Here, we will focus on the Jewish community in Ireland. It is presumed that
some background work would have been covered before doing this exercise.
The following photographs are photographs which would be shown in a
powerpoint presentation, with one photograph per slide. Here I have used ten
pictures. Ten to twelve is sufficient. There are no copyright issues attached to
these images since I have taken them myself. (See powerpoint entitled Jewish
Ireland with Focused Questions in the Teacher Resource Section)
Show the powerpoint first in silence, with enough time in each slide to allow
the students time to observe and assimilate some information relating to the
pictures.
Give them a sheet of questions as follows:
1. If you were to give a title to this powerpoint presentation, what would it
be?
2. What can you recognize in these pictures which relate to Jewish life in
Ireland?
3. What is the significance of buildings which are photographed here?
4. Do you know of their association with the Irish Jewish communities?
5. When were those buildings founded and for what reason?
6. Where are these buildings located?
7. In the map of Europe which was shown, what parts of Europe might be of
particular relevance to Irish Jewish communities?
8. Why might these places be relevant?
9. Where would you expect to find Jewish communities living and
congregating today in Ireland?
10. Where is the cemetery which is shown?
11. Who is the person whose name is on the inscription?
12. What was his contribution to Irish Jewish society and internationally?
13. Do you know where he was born?

15. 14. What was the most distinguished position of his career?
15. What are the customs in Jewish law relating to burial?
16. What is the Jewish tradition when one visits a cemetery?
17. What is the significance of the two food-related pictures?
18. Where might one expect to find kosher food in Dublin?
19. What foods are considered kosher?
20. One road sign is given. What is it called?
21. Why is this included here?
Consider the following structure for what happens now:
THINK
Students attempt to answer the questions on their own.
PAIR
They pair with someone else in the class and focus on the questions together.
SHARE
They share the answers.
View powerpoint again. Go back over the questions and bring it to the next
level focusing on higher order questions. Correct any information which is not
accurate. Fill out information which is required. Then move into deeper

16. learning and application by asking them to write an exercise based on the
pictures which give us some information about the Irish Jewish communities. Or
you could follow it with a text which has information about the Jewish
communities.
LITERACY MOMENT
Word
Searches and
Crosswords
Use to reinforce key words. Grade them in difficulty for differentiation. Write
them left to right for those with literacy difficulties.
Here is a moderately difficult word search based on information about the Irish
Jewish communities. Where two words are on a line in the key below, they are
not separated in the word search itself; for example, ‘Adelaide Road’ appears in
the word search as ‘Adelaideroad’.
L T K B E L F A S T P G U D W
A E K C S A L C K N L E G A A
L E I R I F K P V I X R L O L
A R D C O R O M T G O A O R W
N T U A E C E H E S A L U E O
S S B E R S U M V N H D I D R
H X L W U A T E I E E G S I T
A O I E N W N E R L A O L A H
T N N I E O E Z R P T L E L R
T N A K R K O H V A S D N E O
E E W R E G T D C E V B T D A
R L O S T M I A H C P E I A D
D A V I D M A R C U S R N T L
D R O F R E T A W P M G Y U R
E O C S I R B T R E B O R S E
Word searches are easy to do.
Prepare your own on any topic.
The following is on Jewish
Communities in Ireland.

17. ADELAIDE ROAD
AKMENE
ALAN SHATTER
BELFAST
CHAIM
CORK
DAVID MARCUS
DUBLIN
GERALD GOLDBERG
GROSVENOR ROAD
HERZOG
Reading
Becoming a successful reader
Understand how to locate, retrieve and find evidence in a text
Identify techniques for skimming and scanning a text
You will see a series of words and pictures. You need to pay attention as you will
then need to answer a series of questions on what you have just seen …
LEICESTER AVENUE
LENNOX STREET
LIMERICK
LITHUANIA
LOUIS LENTIN
ROBERT BRISCOE
TERENURE
WALWORTH ROAD
WATERFORD
Ackmene
The town was established in the
16th century. It was burnt in
1705 in a war with the Swedes.
In 1792, Ackmene received the
Magdeburg Rights which were
granted by the nobility to Jews
and a few other minorities for
commerce, trade and money-
lending. Jewish settlement in
Ackmene began in the
beginning of the 18th century.
In the first half of the 19th
century, Jews numbered
approximately two-thirds of the
population. The mass
immigrations of Jews began
after the so-called May Laws
were instigated in Tsarist
Russia in 1881. These laws
were meant to be temporary
measures but lasted over thirty
years.
Ashkenazi

18. The following exercises are based on the text and image combinations from
the page before this.
Questions
1. What is the name of the town which is mentioned in the first text box?
2. When was that town first established?
3. When did Jews begin to settle in that area?
4. What happened that made life difficult for them in the 1800s?
5. What is meant by the word Immigration?
6. What area of the world is indicated by the map?
7. Can you name any countries on that map which have particular
significance for the origins of Irish Jews?
8. To what does the word Ashkenazic refer?
9. How did people end up on the shores of Ireland in the waves of
immigration?
10. What is illustrated in the photograph from Cork?
11. What are the languages of the inscription on the stone?
Answers
1. Ackmene.
2. In the 16th century.
3. In the 18th century.
4. The Russian/Czarist Laws.
5. Immigration is the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign
country.
6. Europe.
7. Ireland, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France.
Immigration
People came and settled in
different parts of Ireland and
created communities. These
journeys to Ireland were
generally unexpected due to
circumstances: sickness,
disorientation, lack of kosher
food. However, a small number
settled and made their homes
here in Cork, Limerick,
Waterford and Dublin.

19. 8. Originally referred to Jews from northern France and Western Germany,
but later including Jews from Poland and Lithuanian regions.
9. Because they came on ships and sometimes they were not sure of their
destinations, or else they were sick, or if they were observant Jews they
needed to stock up on their kosher foods.
10. The Curraghkippane Cemetery in Cork.
11. English and Hebrew.
L-I-N-K-S
In Ireland there are Jews who are Sephardic and
Ashkenazic.
Sephardic means that they are descendants of the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula
(Spain and Portugal), North Africa and the Middle East. The Hebrew word
Sepharad was a name associated with Spain. Sephardic Jews (Sephardim) are
often subdivided into Sephardim, from Spain and Portugal, and Mizrachim, from
the Northern Africa and the Middle East. The word "Mizrachi" comes from the
Hebrew word for Eastern. Ladino is the traditional language associated with the
Sephardim. Sephardim have tended to live in Islamic environments and have
Arabic and Greek influences.
Ashkenaz was the name given to the area of settlement of the Jews of North
western Europe, initially on the banks of the Rhine. The term became associated
with Germany, and German Jews and their descendants living in other countries.
Many of the Jews of the Irish Jewish communities are Ashkenazi in origin. Yiddish is
the traditional language associated with the Ashkenazic Jews (Ashkenazim).
Ashkenazim tended to live in more Christian environments.
There are differences between the groupings, culturally, in their observations of
laws, choice of foods, holiday customs, liturgies, music, and some Hebrew word
pronunciations.
LITERACY MOMENT
Example of a QuAD: Based on the
sources from this initial exercise using texts, words and images.
QuADs help you to look at a text
and explore it in more detail,
taking account of important
information in the process.

20. Complete the following columns?
Questions Answers Details Sources
1. What is the name of
the town which is
mentioned in the
first text box?
2. When was that town
first established?
3. When did Jews
begin to settle in that
area?
4. What happened that
made life difficult
for them in the
1800s?
5. What is meant by the
word Immigration?
6. What area of the
world is indicated by
the map?
7. Can you name any
countries on that
map which have
particular
significance for the
origins of Irish
Jews?
8. To what does the
word Ashkenazic
refer?
9. How did people end
up on the shores of
Ireland in the waves
of immigration?
10. What is
illustrated in the
photograph from
Cork?
11. What are the
languages of the
inscription on the
stone?
1. Ackmene.
2. In the 16th
century.
3. In the 18th
century.
4. The Russian/Tsarist
Laws.
5. Immigration is the
action of coming to
live permanently in a
foreign country.
6. Europe.
7. Ireland, Lithuania,
Germany, Poland,
Czech Republic,
Slovakia, France.
8. Eastern European
Jewish tradition.
9. Because they came
on ships and
sometimes they were
not sure of their
destinations, or else
they were sick, or if
they were observant
Jews they needed to
stock up on their
kosher foods.
10. The
Curraghkippane
Cemetery in Cork.
11. English and
Hebrew.
THE IRISH JEWISH COMMUNITIES5
Dublin6
5 A one-hour documentary is available online which gives some insights into the Jewish
community in Ireland and how they contributed to the development of Ireland and Israel:
http://www.shalomireland.com/

21. In 1660, the earliest recorded synagogue was established, consisting of a prayer
room in Crane Lane, opposite Dublin Castle. The oldest Jewish cemetery dates
from the early 1700s, and is situated near Ballybough Bridge, Clontarf, Dublin 3.
Anglicised Jews who lived in Dublin before the Russian immigrants arrived had
been designated the Dublin Hebrew Congregation in 1839. Their synagogue or
shul was in 12 Mary’s Abbey on the northside of the city. It was established in
1836 with seating capacity of 90-220.
The Russian Chevra (religious group) opened two
small prayer houses in vicinity of Lower Clanbrassil
Street and South Circular Road, an initiative
resented by the established Dublin Hebrew
Congregation.
In 1889, a representative group from the Russian
Chevra approached Mary’s Abbey to discuss the
prospect of amalgamation. A year later, £100 was
contributed by Sir Julian Goldsmid ‘to the building fund of the new synagogue ...
at Dublin’. The building was completed in 1892 in Adelaide Road and it was
Ireland’s first purpose-built synagogue. It was consecrated by Dr Adler, Chief
Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations in the British Empire on 9 December
1892. It seated 450 people with overflow accommodation in the basement and it
was easily accessible by foot from South Circular Road. It did not unite the
Dublin Jewish community and was perceived to attract those who were less
Orthodox and better educated.
Synagogues in 7 St Kevin’s Parade and 32 Lennox Street continued to function.
By 1912 others in Lombard Street West, 1 / 2 Oakfield Place, Heytsbury
Street, 52 Camden Street and 3 Walworth Road were also in existence. The
Lithuanian Jews settled south of the centre in an area that was eventually
dubbed “Little Jerusalem.” Many of the immigrants became peddlers, petty
traders and moneylenders. The second-generation would eventually go on to
become a major force in the manufacture of clothing and furniture. Even with
this amount of places, the flow of immigrants continued and premises were
inadequate to accommodate them. Representatives of four different synagogues
met in Longwood Avenue on 10 October 1909 to discuss the situation. They
became the founders of the Dublin United Hebrew Congregation and
eventually a site, Greenville House, Dolphin’s Barn, on the southside of the
city, was purchased in 1913 for £625. It was
officially opened in 1916. In 1922, a new
Building Committee raised a loan of £5,000 to
erect the long-awaited synagogue. Greenville
Hall Synagogue was consecrated in 1925. Dr
Isaac Herzog was appointed Chief Rabbi of
Dublin from 1919 but his status changed in
6 There is a lovely article worth reading entitled ‘A Stroll Through Jewish Dublin’ and is available
at the following URL: <http://www.theirishstory.com/2012/02/27/a-stroll-through-jewish-
dublin/#.UMRh6Y5hra4>

22. 1926 to Chief Rabbi of the Irish Free State, encompassing the Jewish
communities of Cork, Limerick and Waterford, in addition to Dublin. Rabbi
Herzog had a significant influence on the relationships between the Jewish and
non-Jewish communities. He had an affable personality, and was gentle, humble,
and highly respected. De Valera said of him, ‘From the moment I met him, I felt
in the presence of a good and holy man.’ Rabbi Herzog was appointed Chief
Rabbi of Palestine from 1936 which left the post vacant in Ireland for almost
thirteen years.
The Rathmines Hebrew Congregation, catering for the Jewish communities of
Rathmines, Rathgar and Terenure, had their synagogue in 6 Grosvenor Place.
By 1940, with increased numbers they moved to 52 Grosvenor Road. Later
again, they ecided to erect a purpose-built synagogue in Terenure. ‘Leoville’ on
32a Rathfarnham Road was bought for £1,490.
When the renamed Terenure Hebrew
Congregation opened Terenure Synagogue
in 1953, its seating capacity of 600 made it
the largest synagogue to be built in Ireland
in the thirty-five years.
The prospect of amalgamating the Dublin
synagogues was again discussed but no
consensus achieved. A new Chief Rabbi for
Ireland was appointed in February 1949:
Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits. Jewish population in Ireland had dropped from
3,907 in 1946 to 3,255 in 1961, which meant that they now had more capacity in
the combined existing synagogues than was actually necessary. A number of
factors contributed to this decrease:
emigration, intermarriage, and smaller
Jewish families. Community debts were
increasing. The founding of the first
Progressive synagogue was another factor
which impinged on the Orthodox
population.
The Progressive strand of Judaism are more
liberal in their approach to Judaism
compared to the Orthodox. According to
Rabbi Jakobovits it was a ‘new and potentially growing splinter group’ pioneered
by Larry Elyan, its first chairman.
In the early 1960s, Lombard Street Synagogue closed and St Kevin’s Parade
Synagogue relocated to 77 Terenure Road North (now Machzeikei Hadas
Hebrew Congregation). Greenville Hall’s population had halved in ten years due
to migration away from the South Circular Road vicinity.
In 1959 another Chief Rabbi was appointed to Ireland: Dr Isaac Cohen. He was
glad to be able to uphold ‘the great traditions of Irish Jewry’ which he defined as

23. Jewish education, the maintenance of facilities for fulfilling religious obligations
and care of the sick and needy.
Ireland Fourth Chief Rabbi David Rosen took up office in 1979. He had
estalished the Council for Christians and Jews in Ireland and set up a programme
in Christian-Jewish relations at the Irish School of Ecumenics.
In the 1980s, the Lennox Street and Walworth Road synagogues finally closed,
followed by Greenville Hall.
Ephraim Mirvis came to Ireland from Israel in 1982 on Rosen’s recommendation
to fill the post of communal rabbi at Adelaide Road. In 1984 he became the fifth
Chief Rabbi of Ireland. He shared Lithuanian ancestry with many of the Jewish
community in Dublin at that time. He was anxious to make Judaism ‘relevant,
meaningful and exciting’.
Changes in the Jewish population in Dublin left only a few who were strictly
Observant. Driving to synaguge for Sabbath, eating non-kosher food in public
places were becoming more common practices. With Jewish (and Christian)
society moving towards greater secularisation, the number of regular shul
(synagogue) attenders continued to decline. With the attachments to both the
Adelaide Road and Terenure Synagogues being strong, it meant that the decision
to have to close one again was more painful. The Adelaide Road site was sold in
1999 for approximately £6,000,000.
Progressive Jewish membership remained steady with converted non-Jewish
spouses and occasional defectors from the Orthodox communities replacing
members who emigrated or died.
Today, there are three synagogues in Dublin: Machzekei Hadass (Terenure)
Dublin Hebrew Congregation (Rathfarnham Road, Terenure), and the Dublin
Jewish Progressive Congregation (Kenilworth).
Questions
1.Where did the Jewish communities in Dublin come from originally?
2.What were the factors contributing to the growth of the Jewish
communities in Dublin?
3.What parts of Dublin were the Jewish shuls to be found?
4.In present-day Dublin, where are the synagogues of Dublin to be found?
5.How does the population of Jews in Dublin differ from the 1880s?
6.How many Jewish congregations are in Dublin and where are they
located?
EXERCISES
In the following map of Dublin City Centre, locate the following and
insert an X in the map below:

24.  Mary’s Lane (St Mary’s Abbey is near this)
 Adelaide Road
 South Circular Road
 Kevin Street
 Camden Street
 Clanbrassil Street
From http://www.dublincitymap.com/
2. Create an Animoto Clip to present information about the Jewish
community in Dublin including photographs, maps, short text headings
and information which would give the viewer some idea of the history of
the history of Dublin Jewish communities. (Details of making Animoto
Clips are in the Teacher Resource Section)
THE IRISH JEWISH COMMUNITIES
Cork

25. Cork’s Jewish community was thought to have originated with Sephardic Jews
from Portugal. Two centuries before, the Jews of Spain (1492) and Portugal
(1496) were expelled. The first Jewish mayor of Youghal, William Annyas, was
elected Mayor of Youghal in 1555.
William Annyas
From http://media1.picsearch.com/is?eVhmY4e7b-dA_DY_drvAIwr49kr6l_F2cc6nffQRy10
His descendants were from Portugal. Many of those who arrived from the
Iberian Peninsula to Ireland were known as Marrano Jews, those who were
forced to convert to Christianity but continued to observe their religious
practices in secret. The community which arrived to Cork in 1772 was from
Portugal. There was a synagogue at Cork also in the first half of the eighteenth
century, with its own Shochet7 and its burial-ground in Kemp Street, Cork,
behind the present synagogue in No. 10 South Terrace; it was founded
apparently between 1731 and 1747, but was no longer in use by 1796. This
community faded through assimilation and intermarriage with local Protestant
families. Records show that from 1891, a second community emerged in Cork
but this community was Ashkenazi originating from the town Yakmyan in Kovno
(former White Russia, present-day Lithuania, also known as Kaunas), in a very
Catholic country where persecution of Jews was rife. It is unlikely that those
fleeing persecution in a Catholic country would choose to live in another Catholic
country. The Cork Hebrew Congregation’s website gives the following
explanations:
Among various explanations proposed, it may have been the case that an
unscrupulous ship-captain advised the Jews to disembark and row to America to
save money. Possibly they confused ‘Cork’ for New York (the Jews spoke only
Yiddish, and the words are – slightly – cognate). From Cobh (then Queenstown),
where they disembarked, the Jews made their way into Cork City, and specifically
settled in an area known as Hibernian Buildings, in the City Centre, soon to be
known as ‘Jewtown’ by the locals.
Their employment was usually in peddling materials and as door-to-door
salesmen. Among themselves, they were known as vicklemen (vickle means
weekly in Yiddish, and their door-to-door rounds took roughly a week). They
would travel around Cork City and its surrounding areas knocking on doors and
selling various things to the local Catholic farming community.
7 A Shochet is a person who is trained and licenced to slaughter and inspect animals and birds in
accordance with Jewish law so that what is to be consumed is kosher.

26. When they discovered that Ireland was hospitable towards Jews, they decided to
bring their families, so that the population of the Cork community peaked at the
turn of the 20th century. Originally, this community prayed in a small room in
Eastville, and subsequently renting a property in Marlboro Street. Later again,
they transferred to where the present synagogue is located at 10 South Terrace.
A cemetery was acquired in the outskirts of the city at Curraghkippane.
The Commissioners of National Education oversaw the establishment of the first
Jewish school, South Terrace National Schools, in 1891.
At its peak of about 450-500 people in 1939, the Jewish community was very
active. Before the decline in numbers, there were two football clubs, a table
tennis clubs, a debating club, a branch of the Bnei Akiva (Zionist Youth
Movement), as well as, of course, an officiating ‘Reverend’, a butcher, a doctor
and a Chevra Kedushsa (burial society).
The sons and the grandsons of the peddlers and vicklemen had qualified as
professionals in University College Cork and wanted to leave for a place with
greater Jewish life and professional opportunities. There was also emigration to
the State of Israel, established in 1948. The combination of emigration to Israel
and the U.S. (among other destinations) resulted in a steady decline in number
which persisted from the late 1930s until the 1980s, by which stage only 15 to
20 Jews remained in Cork, Ireland. At present there are only two families left, as
well as a scattering of Jews in the surrounding country, as well as occasional
visitors and business-people who may come to pray at the shul. Because of the
decline in numbers, services are now only conducted every fourth Friday night,
and during the High Holidays. Even during the High Holidays, Rabbis have to be
‘imported’ from the U.K. to make a Jewish religious quorum (Minyan) of ten men
in order to be able to conduct a service.
1. True or False
(a) The first Jewish Community in Cork originated in Russia.
(b) William Annyas was the first Lord Mayor of Cork city.
(c) Chevra Kedusha is the Jewish burial society.
(d) The second Jewish community in Cork was Sephardic.
(e) The area in which they settled in Cork was known as the Hibernian
Buildings and ‘Jewtown’ by the locals.
(f) Shochet is food which is ritually slaughtered.
(g) The Jewish community in Cork peaked to a population of almost 500 in
1939.
(h) The present Jewish community in Cork is located at 10 North Terrace.
(i) Bnei Akiva is a Zionist Youth Movement.
(j) A minyan is the ten men required in order to conduct an Orthodox
service.

27. 2. Compare the Dublin and Cork Jewish communities in their growth
and development through the years.
THE IRISH JEWISH COMMUNITIES
Limerick
In the 1870 a small group of families from Lithuania settled in the Collooney
Street and Lord Edward Street areas of Limerick. In 1871 there were only two
Jews recorded as living in Limerick but waves of immigration began to come
from Czarist Russia and augment the city’s population. Prayers were said in a
private house in Emmet Place (Wolfe Tone Street) until a regular place of
worship was opened in 18 Collooney Street in 1889. The census of 1901 said
that there were 168 Jews in Limerick. In 1902 a cemetery had been established
in Kilmurray, Newcastle, Limerick. Such was the relationship between the Jews
and their surrounding neighbours that they used to contribute to one another’s
charitable causes.
The following account from Gerald Goldberg’s sister, Fanny, gives an indication
of the lengths some families went to, in order to keep a Sabbath:
Buba [Grandmother] always did the cooking and serving, my mother looking after
us children, and helping my father in the shop [a drapery shop on Henry Street,
Limerick]. The table was always beautifully laid with a white tablecloth, sometimes
lace-trimmed, with the candles lighting in the shining brass candlesticks. These
candlesticks were brought over from Russia by Buba. The cutlery cleaned and a
cruet stand was in the centre of the table with the various condiments in the cut
glass bottles. The stand was old Sheffield plate polished to the gleam of silver. Wine
was in a lovely cut glass decanter, a very lovely one as I remember it.
According to family folklore, Louis Goldberg was conscripted to the army at the
age of 14 in Akmene in Lithuania. Louis fled, going to Riga where the authorities
sent back some boys who were seeking to emigrate to the US. Gerald Goldberg
suggested that because of his fair colouring, he was allowed to proceed and
found his way to Ireland on a timber ship. This was meant to be the first part of
his journey to the US. It was 1882. Having spent sojourns in Cork, and Dublin, he
settled in Limerick in 1883. According to the census the Jewish population in the
developing community was cited as follows: 1861, 1 Jew; 1871, 2 Jews; 1881, 4
Jews; 1888, 35 Jews; 1892, 90; 1896, 130 Jews; 1901, 168 Jews. The increase in
numbers reflected the migrations from Russia after the May Laws were
instigated.

28. Anti-Jewish incidents were noted in 1884 or 1892. In 1884, a Jew had
slaughtered a chicken in ritual fashion on Good Friday and, in protest, some
locals threw stones in through the windows of Lieb Siev’s house injuring Siev’s
wife and children.
Fanny Goldberg remembered how Jewish pedlars were jeered by local children
chanting the following words: ‘A pitchie [picture]man, a tallyman, a Jew, Jew,
Jew.’ Following the pogrom in Limerick in 1904, Louis Goldberg and his family
moved to Cork. A Redemptorist priest, Fr John Creagh, formed in very
conservative French Catholicism of the time, launched a vicious verbal attack
against the Jewish community, inciting the Roman Catholic community to
boycott Jewish traders.8 This boycott was manifested economically, socially, and
often in violent attacks. He said that Jews were ‘sucking the blood of other
nations, and must not be allowed to do the same in Ireland’. He pleaded with his
congregation ‘not to prove false to Ireland, false to your country and false to your
religion, by continuing to deal with the Jews’. Six days after that, Elias Bere Levin
reported that the Jews of Limerick were ‘insulted, assaulted and threatened with
the most menacing language’. Newspaper correspondence exchanged prevalent
views of the time and some distanced themselves from such ‘narrow-minded
bigotry’. Some were in support of the Jewish communities. O’Grady stated ‘These
Limerick Jews seem to be a very harmless body, neither money-lenders nor
extortioners; just traders trading in clothes and selling the same at no more
profit than is permitted’. The boycott lasted almost two years and resulted in
the reduction of the Jewish community to approximately forty people. The
Jewish community of Limerick was irreparably and irrevocably damaged. After
that, they dispersed mainly to Cork, Dublin or travelled further afield to US.
Questions:
(a) From where did the Jewish community of Limerick originate?
(b) Give four facts about their place of origin.
(c) Why did they settle in Limerick?
(d) What parts of the city were home to the Jewish community?
(e) What evidence do we have of the community trying to maintain its
traditions?
(f) Why was there such an increase in the city’s Jewish population over
the late 1800s?
(g) What was a pogrom?
(h) Why was a progrom organised against the city’s Jews?
(i) What were the direct affects of this pogrom for the Jewish residents
and for those of the city?
2. Write an newspaper account of the history of the Jews in Limerick
3. Imagine you have just arrived into Limerick in the early part of the
19th century. Describe life for you at that time and where you had come
from in order to get there.
8 If you are seeking further information on this topic, look at this website from Limerick City
Council: http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/jews%20of%20limerick%2038.pdf

29. THE IRISH JEWISH COMMUNITIES
Belfast
Dr Alexander Carlebach, rabbi to the Belfast community from 1959-1967 said
that Belfast had a synagogue in Great Victoria Street, with its own minister and
choir since the 1870s when the Russian immigrants began to arrive. German-
born Daniel Joseph Jaffe had founded the first community there in 1871. He had
a linen business and this was
a major source of exports
from the city to the continent
of Europe. Between 1871 and
1903 this congregation
increased from 55 to over
1,000 members. Otto Jaffe
(1846-1949), son of Daniel
Joseph Jaffe, the twice-elected
Mayor of Belfast and member
of this congregation, paid
most of the £4,000 cost of
building the synagogue in
Annesley Street, near Carlisle
Circus, which was opened in
1904. This was an attempt to unite the German-born Jews and Russian
immigrants of which the community was comprised. Three years later with his
wife, Paula, they set up the 'Jaffe School for the Jewish Children of Belfast' on the
Cliftonville Road. A new synagogue was opened in 1965 at Sommerton Road,
Belfast to replace the other building; this is an aerial photograph of the
synagogue (Google). Now there are only about 100 members left in this
community.9
Questions
1.When was the first Jewish community established in Belfast?
2.Where was the original location?
3.Who were the key people mentioned in this text above?
4.What difficulties might have been presented by Jews of German and
Russian origin being part of one congregation in the 1800s?
9 Interview with Adrian Levy, member of the Jewish Community in Belfast:
<http://www.jewishbelfast.com/index.php?cmd=viewsong&viid=12>

30. 5.What contributed to the increase in the congregation’s size between 1871-
1903?
6.What do you notice about the design on the roof of the Sommerton Road
synagogue as illustrated in the photograph above?
Important Dates in Irish Jewish History: Summary Sheet
1. Legends
(a) Tuatha de Danann – thought to be part of the tribe of Dan
(b) Lia Fáil at Tara – thought to be stone used by Jacob as the pillow when he dreamt of
the ladder
(c) Legend that an Ark of treasures of the Temple are buried at Tara
(d) Ten Lost Tribes came to Ireland
(e) Name of Kippure mountain (South Dublin/Wicklow) derived from Yom Kippur.
2. Early References
(a) 1079 – Annals of Innisfallen
(b) 1170 – Strongbow’s invasion of Ireland, part-financed by Jews from Gloucester
(c) 1232 – Viceroy of Ireland given custody of Jews in Ireland
(d) 1555 – First Jewish Mayor of Youghal: William Annyas
3. Foundation of Community (Dublin)
(a) c.1660 – founding of shul (another word for synagogue) in Crane Lane by three
Conversos
(b) 1718 – land for Ballybough Cemetery acquired
(c) 1746 – record of shul in Marlborough Street (in reality, Lower Abbey Street – 1762-
1790)
(d) 1822 – founding of Stafford Street Shul – 1835
(e) 1836-1892 – Mary’s Abbey Shul
4. Modern Community
(a) 1892-1999 – Adelaide Road Shul
(b) 1925 – Greenville Hall Shul
(c) Shtibblach (House of worship for a Hasidic group) – St Kevin’s Parade, Lombard
Street West, Lennox Street, Walworth Road, Lower Ormond Quay.
(d) 1918 – creation of Chief Rabbinate. First incumbent Rabbi Isaac Herzog (1937)
(e) 1934 – Talmud Torah moved to Bloomfield Avenue and re-opened as Zion Schools
(f) 1889 – creation of Board of Guardians
(g) 1935 – Jewish representative Council set up
5. Belfast
(a) 1814 – First record of Jews in the city
(b) 1872 – Great Victoria Street Shul opened
(c) 1898 – National school where Jewich children had religious education opened
(d) 1904 – Sir Otto Jaffe (1836-1939) elected Lord Mayor
6. Limerick
(a) c.1880 – Jewish presence established
(b) c.1920s – formal shul in Colooney Street
(c) 1904 – The Limerick Pogrom
7. Cork
(a) c.18th century – scant evidence of community
(b) c.1860s – establishment of modern communities

31. Interview/Survey: Finding out about one Jewish Community in Ireland.
Select a Jewish community and survey the community by finding answers to
some of the following questions:
(a) What branch of Judaism is represented by this community?
(b) What is its history and origins?
(c) How many people does this community serve?
(d) What are the roles and functions of the Jewish Representative
Council?
(e) What is the Board of Guardians?
(f) Who is the rabbi for this community?
(g) What is the name of the synagogue where this community gathers?
(h) What happens in the synagogue?
(i) What is the symbolism of the different parts of the synagogue in
relation to the Jewish community?
(j) Who conducts and attends the services within the synagogue?
(k) How are people involved in the educational activities of the Jewish
community?
(l) What are the community’s charitable commitments?
When students have completed their research each is asked to make a
presentation of their findings to the rest of the class i.e. through project,
photos, creation of a video, podcast, powerpoint, write-up of interview.
L-I-N-K-S
Jews from different parts of Ireland have made an
important contribution to Irish society. Here we present a
list of Jews who have made a contribution and there is a
creative way of investigating some of these in the form of a
WebQuest which follows below.
List of Irish Jews who have made a
Significant Contribution Nationally and Internationally
Lenny Abrahamson Irish Film Director

32. Leonard Abrahamson (1920s-1961), Gaelic scholar, who switched to
medicine and became a professor, was born in Russia, grew up in Newry
where he attended the local Christian Brothers school and lodged with the
Nurock family in Dublin while studying at Trinity College, Dublin.
William Annyas (Ãnes), Mayor of Youghal (1555) a Marrano merchant.
Francis Annyas (Ãnes), Mayor of Youghal in 1569, 1576 and 1581, Youghal
garrison commander and a spy for Francis Drake.
Justice Henry Barron, Irish Supreme Court judge 1997-2003.
Leopold Bloom, fictional protagonist of Ulysses.
Louis Bookman (1890–1943), Irish international soccer and cricket player.
Michael Noyk Irish Republican and solicitor during the Irish War of
Independence.
Robert Briscoe, member of the Irish Republican Army during the Anglo-
Irish War and twice Lord Mayor of Dublin (1956 and 1961).
Ben Briscoe (son of Robert Briscoe), former Fianna Fáil T.D. and Lord Mayor
of Dublin (1988).
Joe Briscoe (son of Robert Briscoe), member of the Jewish Representative
Council (predating Israeli Embassy) and Commandant in the Irish Army[40]
Michelle Citron, feminist film, video and multimedia producer, scholar and
author.
Max Eager (son of George Eager), first Chief Rabbi of Ireland.
Daniel Day-Lewis, actor.
Maurice Freeman (1875–1951), Mayor of Johannesburg 1934/35.
Gerald Goldberg, Lord Mayor of Cork in 1977.
Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, Chief Rabbi of Ireland from 1919 to 1937,
later of Palestine and Israel.
Chaim Herzog, sixth President of Israel and British World War II veteran.
During and after his service in the British Army, he was also known as
"Vivian Herzog" ("Vivian" being the English equivalent of the Hebrew name
"Chaim".)
Sir Otto Jaffe, Lord Mayor of Belfast (1899 and 1904).
Immanuel Jakobovits, Chief Rabbi of Ireland between 1949 and 1958, later
British Chief Rabbi.
Harry Kernoff, Painter (1900–1974)
Louis Lentin, director (documentary films, television, theatre).
Ronit Lentin, Head of Sociology, the director of the M Phil in Race, Ethnicity,
Conflict, Department of Sociology and founder member of the Trinity
Immigration Initiative, Trinity College, Dublin.
June Levine, feminist, journalist and writer.
Maurice Levitas (1917–2001) (born Dublin) was an anti-fascist who took
part in the Battle of Cable Street and fought in the International Brigades
during the Spanish Civil War. He is the father of Ruth Levitas.
David Marcus (1924–2009), author, editor, broadcaster and lifelong
supporter of Irish-language fiction.
David Marcus, author and professor of Bible and ancient languages at The

33. Jewish Theological Seminary.
Max Nurock, Israeli Consul-General to Australia, subsequently Israel's first
Ambassador to Australia.
Yaakov Pearlman, Ireland's Chief Rabbi.
Alan Shatter, Fine Gael TD for Dublin South and currently Minister for
Justice and Equality and Minister for Defence.
Bethal Solomons (1885–1965), medical Doctor, Master of the Rotunda, Irish
Rugby International.
Estella Solomons (1882–1968), landscape and portrait artist and member
of Cumann na mBan.
Stella Steyn (1907–1987), Dublin-born artist.
Mervyn Taylor, former Labour Party TD and Minister for Equality and Law
Reform.
Abraham Weeks (or Abraham Wix) was the first person killed during 1916
Easter Rising A Jewish comrade who joined on Easter Monday and died in
action. He joined the Irish Citizen Army and assigned to the GPO.
Gustav Wilhelm Wolff, founder of Harland and Wolff shipbuilders, MP for
East Belfast for 18 years.
District Judge Hubert Wine, family court judge and prominent member of
Dublin's Jewish community
WebQuest
Jews and their Contribution to Irish Life
This material is adapted from a website entitled ‘A Woman’s Place: A WebQuest about Jewish
Women in Jewish History’ from the Lookstein Centre for Jewish Education at the following
address: http://www.lookstein.org/webquests/jewishwomeninjewishhistory.htm
The following is a template for exploring, through the use of web materials, the
contribution of members of the Jewish community to the cultural, educational,
artistic, political and sporting life of Ireland. For the purposes of the exercise
here, three members have been selected. The web resources used are limited but
it will be possible for you to look at different websites and choose what you
consider appropriate. It will be imperative to choose sites with care, discernment
and appropriateness in mind.
Introduction
The Jewish Chronicle has decided to run a feature on members of the Jewish
community who have contributed to the cultural, educational, artistic, political
and sporting life of Ireland. They have asked a panel of historians to nominate
the Jewish people of their choice from these categories. The historians have
narrowed down the list to the following people (in no particular order):
Louis Lentin (Film Producer and Member of Aosdana)
Alan Shatter (Minister for Justice and member of Fine Gael)
David Marcus (Author, broadcaster, life-long supporter of Irish language fiction)

34. Other famous Irish Jewish people whom you could invesigate include the
following: Ben Briscoe (Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1988 and former member of
Fianna Fail); Ruth Romney (Sculptor); Ronit Lentin (Head of Sociology and
Director of the M Phil in Racism and Ethnicity; Leonard Abrahamson (Professor
of Pharmocology, and later of Medicine, at Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland,
Gaelic scholar); June Levine (Journalist, Novelist and Feminist) or any other Irish
Jewish figures of your choice.
Now the readers of The Jewish Chronicle will vote for the person whom they
consider to have made the greatest impact in Irish Jewish history. You, as a
journalist at The Jewish Chronicle, have been asked to write the biography of one
of the personalities. In your biography, you must convince readers why they
should vote for this personality.
Task
You are one of the journalists assigned to this story. Each journalist will take one
of the people from the list above (either the one that you can most identify with
and most interests you or that is allocated to you by the editor) and write a series
of biographical features on him/her, in order to convince the readers of The
Jewish Chronicle to vote for this personality.
Process
In order to do this, you must follow the following format (as requested by the
editor!) and complete the tasks in each stage. Your editor will be checking your
work at each stage, so remember to keep your work organized! The resulting
article in its finished state will be printed in a specially constructed edition of The
Jewish Chronicle (or perhaps your school newspaper or website).
Stage One - Research
You must carry out an in-depth research on the personality that you have been
assigned (using the online resources suggested below as well as any other
resources that your editor can recommend to you). Make sure to include the
following information:
Full name
Place of birth
When he/she lived (Dates of birth, and death where relevant)
Historical Context
Childhood experiences
Educational Background
Life experiences
Skills/talents
Personality
Greatest influences he/she had (role models, etc.)
His/Her impact on Irish Jewish history
Stage Two - Biography
Now you have carried out your research, you must write the biographical piece.

35. Use all the information asked of you in stage one and any other interesting facts
to compile a comprehensive biography of the person from Irish Jewish history
that you have been allocated.
Remember, you are trying to convince your readers that this is the person that
has made the most important impact on Irish Jewish history, so make your
biography exciting!
Stage Three - In an Irish Jewish Historical Perspective
You must now write a few paragraphs explaining to your readers exactly why you
think that this personality has made the greatest impact on Irish Jewish History.
Include why he has had a great impact on YOUR life. In this article you must build
a convincing argument as to why the readers should vote for this person.
Stage Four - A Day in the Life
As a secondary feature, compose a “day in the life of” feature on the personality.
This can either take the form of a diary entry in the fictitious diary of the
personality (you may wish to choose an important or special day in his life or an
important date in Irish Jewish history where he played a part) or you may just
wish to capture his life by taking an average day from his life and writing his
schedule. This is a creative writing piece (you should try to keep to the facts but
will not have enough information from you research alone to do this) and your
editor will be noting your creativity.
Stage Five - Interview
As a secondary feature, write a fictitious interview with the personality. You must
first think of interesting and probing questions about his life and experiences and
his impact on Irish Jewish history. You must then decide how you think he would
answer those questions. You must try and express his personality through his
answers, and at the same The Jewish Chronicle portray an insight into the events
that shaped his life and his contribution to Irish Jewish history. This is creative
writing (you should try to keep to the facts but will not have enough information
from you research alone to do this) and your editor will be noting your creativity.
Stage Six – Presentation
You have now completed your research and writing on the personality. All you
have to do now is present it in an attractive way to your readers (or more
importantly to your editor!). If you have knowledge of desktop publisher
software then use that, but if not, you can still do a good exercise using a word
processor. If you can find pictures to include in the feature, all the better. After
putting it together in an attractive and organized manner, hand it in to your
editor.
Resources
General
Jewish Virtual Library, The Virtual Jewish History Tour: Ireland

36. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Ireland.html
The Jews of Ireland, Robert Tracy
http://www.ucc.ie/icms/irishmigrationpolicy/Judaism%20The%20Jews%20of
%20Ireland.htm
Ireland’s Jews: A Fading Tribe on the Emerald Isle
http://www.isjm.org/jhr/IInos1-2/ireland.htm
Louis Lentin (Film Producer and Member of Aosdana)
Aosdana:
http://aosdana.artscouncil.ie/Members/Literature/Lentin.aspx?Cnuas=1
[accessed 23 November 2011]
Grandpa… speak to me in Russian, Louis Lentin
http://www.imrstr.dcu.ie/currentissue/Vol_3_Issue_1_Louis_Lentin.pdf
Lentin’s works as director, producer and writer
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2310417/
Alan Shatter (Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, and member of Fine
Gael)
Political Profile
http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-
hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=30&MemberID=1028&ConstID=90
Some important issues which the Minister has to deal with on any day
http://www.kildarestreet.com/search/?pid=6&s=section%3Awrans&pop=1
David Marcus (Author, broadcaster, life-long supporter of Irish language
fiction)
David Marcus dies, RTE news
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0509/marcusd.html
Obituary from The Guardian newspaper
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jun/12/obituary-david-marcus
Information from the Munster Literature Centre
http://www.munsterlit.ie/Writer%20pages/Marcus,%20David.html
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have written an important article on the contribution of
Irish Jews to society. By completing this WebQuest, you have helped keep their

37. memories alive. We all look forward to seeing your article published in The
Jewish Chronicle!
Evaluation
This plan suggests possible grading standards for your WebQuest.
Task Beginning Developing Accomplished Exemplary
Stage 1
Research
1-5
Little evidence of
research. Questions
addressed
inaccurately.
6-10
Evidence of some
research. Most
questions addressed
accurately. No
additional
information provided.
11-15
Evidence of good
research (use of
resources listed here).
All questions asked
addressed accurately.
Further information
found.
15-20 (Max. 20)
Evidence of extensive
research (beyond the
resources listed here).
All questions asked
addressed accurately.
Further information
found.
Stage 2
Biography of
first choice
1-5
Incomplete
biography. Details
are inaccurate.
Poorly written.
Organization and
presentation is poor.
6-10
Complete biography.
Details are accurate.
Fairly written. No
interesting further
facts. Organization
and presentation is
poor.
11-15
All details are
accurate. Thorough
biography. Some
interesting facts given.
Well written.
Organization and
presentation is poor.
15-20 (Max. 20)
Accurate details,
thorough biography,
interesting further facts
included. Well written.
Organization and
presentation is good.
Stage 3
Rationalizati
on for choice
as “Greatest
Woman of
Jewish
History”
1-5
Legitimate
justification for
choice given. No
further analysis
shown.
6-10
Evidence of some
analysis of
character. Legitimate
justification for
choice given.
11-15
Evidence of extensive
analysis of character
and character’s
achievements.
Legitimate justification
for choice given.
Presentation poor.
15-20 (Max. 20)
Evidence of extensive
analysis of character
and character’s
achievements.
Legitimate justification
for choice given.
Presentation good.
Stage 4
A “Day in the
life” feature
1-3
Attempts made to be
creative. Personality
is character not
accurately captured.
No references made
to achievements and
impact on Jewish
history.
4-7
Evidence of some
creative thinking and
writing. Attempts
made to capture
personality’s
character, and some
references made to
achievements and
impact on Jewish
history.
8-11
Evidence of creative
thinking and writing.
Successfully captures
personality’s character.
References made to
achievements and
impacts on Jewish
history. Presentation
poor.
12-15 (Max. 15)
Well written, creative.
Successfully captures
personality’s character.
References made to
achievements and
impacts on Jewish
history. Presentation
good.
Stage 5
Interview of
personality
1-3
Attempts made to be
creative. Personality
is not accurately
captured. No
references made to
achievements and
impact on Jewish
history.
4-7
Evidence of some
creative thinking and
writing. Attempts
made to capture
personality’s
character, and some
references made to
achievements and
impact on Jewish
8-11
Evidence of creative
thinking and writing.
Successfully captures
personality’s character.
References made to
achievements and
impacts on Jewish
history. Presentation
poor.
12-15 (Max. 15)
Well written, creative.
Successfully captures
personalities
character. References
made to achievements
and impacts on Jewish
history. Presentation
good.

38. history.
Stage 6
Final
presentation
1-3
Inaccurate spelling
and grammar.
Presentation lacks
creativity and
imagination, without
clarity and neatness.
4-7
Inaccurate spelling
and grammar.
Presented creatively
and with imagination,
though without clarity
and neatness.
8-11
Inaccurate spelling and
grammar. Presented
neatly and clearly.
Presented creatively
and with imagination.
Professionally laid out.
12-15 (Max.15)
Spelling and grammar
accurate. Presented
neatly and clearly.
Presented creatively
and with imagination.
Professionally laid out.
FACT FILE EXERCISE
Complete the following fact files. Create your own fact files on other Jewish figures.
FACT FILE
CHAIM HERZOG
Date and Place of Birth:
__________________________________
Immigration to Palestine:__________
Role in Palestine:_________________
Ambassador to UN: _________________
Member of Knesset (Israeli
Parliament): ______________________
President of Israel: _____________
Date and place of Death:
__________________________________
FACT FILE
MERVYN TAYLOR
Date and Place of Birth:
_____________________________________
Occupation:_________________________
Labour Party Membership:
______________________________________
Constituency: _______________________

39. Ministerial Roles: ______________________________________
Anti-Discrimination Bills:
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
L-I-N-K-S
We have been looking at the Jewish community in Ireland.
Now let us take a look at the Jewish home, its distinctive
features and observances. There are homes which are
Jewish and not observant. There are other homes which
are Jewish and very observant. Let us look at what follows.
SECTION 1 The Irish Jewish Communities and the Jewish Home
Topic 1.3 The Significance of the Home in Judaism
Description of
Topic
How the Torah is the basis for Jewish home and family.
The religious activities that take place at home and within
the family (e.g. Sabbath and Holiday meals, Torah study,
prayer, Passover Seder). Characteristics of a Jewish home
(mezuzah, prayer books, candlesticks, ketubbah, charity
box, etc.). The biblical origins of the Jewish food laws. The
main elements of kashrut observance. The role of the
various family members in religious activities in a Jewish
home. Their respective functions in preserving Jewish
identity and in promoting an ethical and just life style. The
role of women in maintaining a kosher home, educating
the children, and transmitting religious practices, beliefs
and values to the next generation.
For HL: The protection of equal rights for women in
Jewish marriage, as guaranteed in the marriage
contract
Learning
Outcomes
Discuss the significance of the home in Judaism; describe
three religious activities that take place in the Jewish
home; describe the characteristics of the Jewish home and
their significance; explain the Jewish food laws and identify
the texts where they originated; describe the main
elements of kashrut observance; describe the role of
various family members in a Jewish home; provide
examples of how each family member preserves an ethical
and just life style; discuss the role of women within the
Jewish home and community.
For HL: explain the origins of equal rights for women
in Jewish marriage; evaluate the current status of

40. women within Jewish faith and practice.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JEWISH HOME10
There are elements which are characteristic of a Jewish home regardless of the
practices of its residents and there are other additional characteristics which are
particular to very observant Jewish families. Firstly, we will look at the general
characteristics and, later, we will look at what one might expect to find in the
households of more observant Jews.
Mezuzah:
Mezuzah literally means ‘doorpost’ and is a
small casing, made of wood, metal, ceramic or
other material. It is the rabbinic interpretation
of the instruction to ‘write them on the
doorposts of your house’ (Deuteronomy 6:9).
The mezuzah contains the parchment with the
Shema Israel, Deuteronomy 6 text, reminding
Jews of the oneness of G-d and of G-d’s
commandments.
Tzedakah Box:
The original word Tzedakah means righteous
behaviour but has come to mean the giving of
charity. It is a fundamental religious
obligation or mitzvah (good
deed/commandment) to do right in Jewish life
and is required even if a person is of limited
financial means. It is taught that Tzedakah
money was never yours to begin with, rather,
it always belongs to God, who merely entrusts
you with it so that you may use it properly.
Hence it is one’s obligation to ensure that it is
received by those deserving of it.
Dreidel (Yiddish)/Sevivon (Hebrew):
A four-sided spinning top for a game at Hanukkah.
Each side of the dreidel bears a letter of the
Hebrew alphabet: ‫נ‬ (Nun), ‫ג‬ (Gimel), ‫ה‬ (Hei), ‫ש‬
(Shin), which together form the acronym for "‫סנ‬
10 Vanessa Oochs has a very good article on what makes a Jewish home in ‘My Jewish Learning’:
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/life/Life_Stages/Building_a_Jewish_Home/Home

41. ‫דולג‬ ‫יהה‬ ‫"םש‬ (Nes Gadol Hayah Sham – "a great miracle happened there"). These
letters also form a mnemonic for the rules of a gambling game played with a
dreidel: Nun stands for the Yiddish word nisht ("nothing"), Hei stands for halb
("half"), Gimel for gants ("all"), and Shin for shtel ayn ("put in").11
Shabbat Candles
Shabbat candles are lit on Friday
nights 18 minutes before sunset.
Lighting Shabbat candles is a
tradition enshrined in rabbinical
law. Candlelighting is traditionally
done by the women of the household
but may be done by men. After
lighting the candles, the woman
waves her hands over them, covers
her eyes, and recites a blessing. It is
traditional to light two candles, but
in some homes an additional candle
is lit for each child. The lighting of
Shabbat candles has a dual purpose:
To "honor Shabbat" (‫כבוד‬ ‫)שבת‬ and
create shalom bayit or domestic
peace
Menorah or Hanukkiyah
A menorah is a six-branched candelabrum and
a hanukkiyah is a eight-branched candelabrum
used at Hanukkah. It has become an
expression of Jewish creativity an art. Every
type of style is used: antique, classical ornate,
modern, austere, plain, elaborate. The candle
holders can even be in the form of small silver
or copper birds, and can burn with oil or a wax
candle. Each member of the family may light
his or her own. On successive nights of the
eight-day festival of Hanukkah, (beginning on
25th of the Jewish month Kislev, near
December in the Gregorian calendar) a candle
for each of the previous nights is lit again, so
that on the last night, eight candles are
burning, plus a ninth – the one which is used
each night for lighting the others. It is known
as the shamash – the servant. It is usually at a
different height to the other candles.
11 Information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreidel

42. In more observant households, one would expect to find the following:
Two sinks for the separation of meat and dairy.
Containers separating meat, dairy, and parve (which is neutral food which
can be eaten with meat or dairy).
This is required according to kashrut or Jewish food laws.
Colour-coded cutlery or crockery, pots or pans.
Red is usually for meat and blue for dairy.

43. Siddur
Jewish prayer book containing the order of daily prayers.
Tikkun Chumash
The Chumash (the
Torah/Pentateuch/first five books of
the Bible), books of the Ne’vim
(Prophets), and the five megillot
(scrolls) which are parts of the Ketuvim
(Writings), the third major section of
the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). The Five
Scrolls are the Song of Songs, the Book
of Ruth, the Book of Lamentations,
Ecclesiastes and the Book of Esther.
Shulchan Aruch
A four-volume work on legal codes
of Judaism dating back to the 1500s.
It covers areas such as laws of

44. prayer and holidays, laws governing charity, tzedakah, dietary laws, laws
concerning Jewish marriage and divorce, and Jewish civil law.
The following items are commonly found in a Jewish home with Jewish affiliation
but not shomrei mitzvot (observant):
Items Books
Everyday Use Mezuzah may be only one on the
front door
Tzedakah (charity) box (in Yiddish
Pushke)
The more strong the Jewish
identity, the more likely one might
find paintings or decorations of
Jewish interest.
Dreidels (Yiddish) or Svivonoim
(Hebrew)
Graggers (Yiddish) or Ra’ashanim
(Hebrew) – percussion
instruments, noise-makers
In Dublin:
The Irish Jewish
Yearbook
Elsewhere:
Jewish Calendar
Tanakh (Hebrew
scriptures)
Siddur (Prayer book)
Jewish cookbooks
Novels and/or general
non-fiction books of
Jewish interests, e.g.
history, politics,
biography
Children’s story books.
Shabbat Two candlesticks
Kiddush cup (Kiddush means
sanctification and is used often as a
ritual of blessing of wine)
Challah cover (deckl) (challah is
the braided bread eaten on
Shabbat)
Hagim Menorah(s) (8-branched
candlestick for Hanukkah)
Seder Plate (For Pesach meal)
Pesach dishes (Passover)
Hagaddahs (texts
associated with the
Passover events)

45. The following items are commonly found in a Jewish home where the family is
shomrei mitzvoth (observant):
Items Books
Everyday
use
Mezuzot: On the front door and
all real rooms other than toilets
and bathrooms
Tzedakah box
2-handed cups for netilat
yadayim (Hand-washing)
colourful plastic for casual use,
silver or bronze ones for more
fomal use
Bentschers (Birconim: Prayer
and song books) for Bircat ha
Mazon (Grace after meals)
Kitchen with two sides, two sets
of dishes, counter-tops etc.
Ketubah (Contract detailing the
obligations of a husband towards
his wife)
Decorations, artistic calligraphy
(possibly Bircat Habayit –
blessings for the home - inside
the front door)
Jewish-themed paintings are
common
Toys included alef-bet (AB) toys,
puzzles, etc.
In Dublin: The Irish Jewish
Yearbook
Elsewhere: Jewish calendar
Tanakh
Chumash
Tikkun (Chumash written as
in Torah scroll)
Siddurs (Prayer Books)
Tehillim (Psalms)
Mishna (rabbinical texts from
c. 220 CE
Talmud
Shulchan Aruch (
Kitzur Shulchan Aruch
Modern halachic books
Other books from rabbis and
authorities meant as guidance
Kosher cookbooks
Novels and/or general non-
fiction books of Jewish
interests, e.g. history, politics,
biography
Children’s story books.
Shabbat At least 2 candlesticks (may be
for the number of family
members)
Kiddush cups and saucers (may
be different ones for family
members, havdalah etc.
Challah cover
Challah knife
Breadboard for Shabbat
Mayim aharonim (ritual washing
Lightweight siddurim
(possibly combined with
chumas) in towns with an
eruv (The eruv allows
observant Jews to carry
needed things in public on the
Sabbath)
Pirkei Avot (Part of Jewish
Law from the Mishnah)

46. before meals) dispenser
Havdalah candle and holder
Saucer for havdalah cup
Spice box (Besamim)
May be special platters, etc.
labeled for Shabbat and/or yom
tov (days on which certain
activities are not permitted)
Timeswitches
Slow cookers or blech in kitchen
Urn left on for hot water
Thematic toys
Hagim All the items for Shabbat may be
used for yom tov.
Some families will have separate
items like Kiddush cups marked
for yom tov use.
More specialized items include:
Shofar (ram’s horn used at Rosh
Hashanah)
Etrog holder (for Sukkot)
Lulav holder (for Sukkot)
Sukkah may be taken apart and
stored
Menorahs (Could be several)
Dreidels (svivonoim)
Graggers (Ra’ashanim)
Plates for mishloach manot
(Basket of food or items sent to
friends at Purim)
Seder plate (Ke’arah)
Matzah plate
Matzah cover (can be combined
seder plate/matzoh item)
There may be special containers
for seder items –
Matzah, maror, charosets
Afikoman pouch
At least 6 machzors, for Rosh
Hashannah, Yom Kippur,
Sukkot, Pesach, Shavuot
Megillat Esther
Eichah (Book of Lamentations
for Tisha B’Av
Kinot (Laments or dirges)
Selichot (Penitential poems
and prayers)
Haggadot
Jewish Food Laws
(See powerpoint in the Teacher Notes Section)
Kashrut is the body of Jewish law dealing with what foods Jews can and cannot
eat and how those foods must be prepared and eaten. "Kashrut" comes from the

47. Hebrew root Kaf-Shin-Reish, meaning fit, proper or correct. Kashrut is the same
root as the more commonly known word "kosher," which describes food that
meets these standards. The word "kosher" can also be used, and often is used, to
describe ritual objects that are made in accordance with Jewish law and are fit
for ritual use. The Torah offers no explanation for the dietary laws other than the
holiness of God and his chosen people: ‘You are to be holy to me because I, the
Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own’ (Lev.
20:26).
It is difficult to know what ingredients are in one’s food and how they were
processed, so it is helpful to have a rabbi examine the food and its processing and
assure kosher consumers that the food is kosher.
The origin of these food laws is contained in the Torah:
1. ‘Animals with split hoof and chew cud’ (Lev. 11:3;
Deut. 14:6): Cow, Lamb, Chicken, Duck, Turkey, Goat, Deer.
2. ‘Fish with fins and scales’ (Lev. 11:3; Deut. 14:6): Cod, Trout, Plaice,
Herring, Salmon, Tuna.
3. ‘These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are
unclean: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, the red kite, any kind of black
kite, any kind of raven, the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of
hawk, the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the white owl,
the desert owl, the osprey, the stork, any kind of heron, the
hoopoe and the bat’ (Lev 11:13-19). The Torah lists forbidden
birds but does not specify why these particular birds are
forbidden. All of the birds on the list are birds of prey or
scavengers, thus the rabbis inferred that this was the basis for
the distinction. Other birds are permitted, such as chicken, geese, ducks and
turkeys.12
4. Of them you may eat: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of
any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any
kind’ (Lev 11:22). Of the "winged swarming things" (winged
insects), a few are specifically permitted but the Sages are no longer certain
which ones they are, so all have been forbidden.
5. ‘And these are unclean to you among the swarming things
that swarm on the ground: the mole rat, the mouse, the great
lizard of any kind, the gecko, the monitor lizard, the lizard, the
sand lizard, and the chameleon’ (Lev 11:29-30, 42-43).
Rodents, reptiles, amphibians, and insects (except as
mentioned above) are all forbidden.
12 The information here is abridged from the Jewish Virtual Library:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/kashrut.html

48. 6. All fruits, vegetables and grains are permissible
(Gen. 1:29), with the exception of grape products.
Due to laws against eating or drinking anything
offered to idols, and the fact that wine was often made
for pagan offerings and celebrations, all wine and
grape juice that is not made under Jewish supervision
is prohibited.
Although the details of kashrut are extensive, the
laws all derive from a few fairly simple, straightforward rules:
Certain animals may not be eaten at all. This restriction includes the flesh,
organs, eggs and milk of the forbidden animals.
Of the animals that may be eaten, the birds and mammals must be killed in
accordance with Jewish law.
All blood must be drained from the meat or broiled out of it before it is eaten.
Certain parts of permitted animals may not be eaten.
Meat (the flesh of birds and mammals) cannot be eaten with dairy. Fish,
eggs, fruits, vegetables and grains can be eaten with either meat or dairy.
(According to some views, fish may not be eaten with meat).
Utensils that have come into contact with meat may not be used with dairy,
and vice versa. Utensils that have come into contact with non-kosher food
may not be used with kosher food. This applies only where the contact
occurred while the food was hot.
Grape products made by non-Jews may not be eaten.
Kashrut Certification: Food which is kosher will be indicated as Kosher or Glatt
(without blemish) Kosher. See the following pictures:

49. Food that is permissible is KOSHER.
Food that is not permissible is TRAYF/TREIF.
PARVE is a Hebrew term (PAREVE is the Yiddish term) that describes food
without any meat or dairy ingredients.13
Exercises on Kashrut
13 Jewish dietary laws considers parve food to be neutral; Parve food can be eaten with both meat
and milk dishes. Fish, eggs, fruits and vegetables are parve.

50. 1. Prepare a menu for a kosher restaurant with a starter, main course and
a desert.
2. What might make kashrut observance difficult if one is an observant
Jew and is visiting a non-Jewish household? Make reference to food
and utensils in your answer.
3. Draw a table of acceptable kosher foods.
4. Which of the following are kosher or in accordance with Jewish food
laws? Why? Why not? Explain.

51. 5. Explain why there might be a problem with any of the following foods. In
each case, state your reason and give the text from the Torah which is its
foundation:
A cheese-burger
A cardigan with cotton and wool
A creamy sauce over a meat dish at dinner time
A bottle of wine
Pork chops or sausages
A crabmeat sandwich
Monkfish