British Library archiving lockdown experiences, including passover preparation
‘Covid Chronicles’ will be based of callers to BBC Radio 4 and will 'document the national experience' of the pandemic.
The British Library has said it is archiving listeners’ experiences of life under coronavirus lockdown and including a Jewish family’s Passover preparations.
The ‘Covid Chronicles’ will be based of callers to BBC Radio 4 and will “document the national experience” of the pandemic.
Alongside the thoughts of the Jewish family will be recollections of a woman who gave birth at the height of the health crisis as well as a mourner’s experience of their mother’s funeral.
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the Jewish people’s celebration of Passover this year was “exceptionally difficult” because it is “the ultimate family-orientated event” yet social distancing measures and limits on travel meant it many felt isolated.
Polly Russell, a curator at the British Library, said the Covid Chronicles would “provide a snapshot in a time of national crisis,” and be “a wonderful record of this time and a brilliant resource for researchers in the future”. She added that they were “personal, intimate, surprising, sometimes funny and often moving”.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
