Episode 2 The Quizeum

A fascinating and loving record of assimilation and community,

heritage and identity.

This is the Jewish Museum in London,

and today it's host to the Quizeum.

Welcome to the quiz about museums, here in Camden in North London.

And we're sitting in the Judaica Gallery.

It's a little treasure house.

We have four rounds of questions to come about the fascinating

and sometimes moving things that are collected here.

And these include gorgeous, ritual items, which we have all around us,

reflecting the principal of hiddur mitzvah,

or "making beautiful the commandments".

Let's meet our guests,

who I can see have gone to some trouble to make themselves

beautiful for tonight.

None more beautiful, of course, than The Quizeum's principal

and long-standing exhibit, Lars Tharp.

THEY LAUGH

He's joined by art historian, writer, publisher and broadcaster,

and strictly on loan to our exhibition today, Jacky Klein.

Hello, Jacky. Jacky's returning to The Quizeum after appearing in the

Cardiff edition of series one.

And you came back. Wow, thanks, Jacky. Great!

The team they have to beat,

though, is captained by another regular, Professor Kate Williams.

And joining her, writer, broadcaster, historian, Simon Sebag Montefiore.

Simon's Jerusalem: The Biography led to his BBC Four television series,

Jerusalem: The Making Of A Holy City.

So, this is going to be a bit of a walkover for you, isn't it?

-Don't count on it!

-Oh, well, we shall see.

I don't think Lars is going to let you walk all over him.

We're going to go! Anyway, mazel tov to all of you.

THEY LAUGH

It means good luck!

OK, let's go exploring this miniature marvel in our opening round.

The first questions, I should explain, are open to all.

And the correct answer will earn a point and then first go at a

slightly more detailed special extra question, which is worth two points.

Of course, if you are utterly ignorant or make a complete bish of it,

then the whole question goes to the other side.

Fingers on the buzzers. Have a look at this.

This trunk belonged to Ernst Kohnstamm.

He brought it, whatever he could in it,

when he fled the Nazi persecution in 1937.

But for one point, can you tell me

which European country expelled the Jewish people from 1290 to 16...

BELL AND BUZZER RING

-You were first over here, Kate.

-Britain.

-Britain.

Britain expelled them.

Well, can we call it England?

-I think I'll give you the point there.

-1290, we were the first.

-We expelled them.

-England were first in.

So, OK, well done.

So, Kate and Simon, you get the special question.

And here are some objects for you to examine.

OK.

Can you tell me why is this pair not a pair, but could be?

They're not keys to something, they're not actually keys, are they? What are those markings?

-They look like some kind of pincers.

-Yeah, like callipers.

Or something to pick something up, or eating.

They're not... They're different sizes.

-They're obviously from different sets.

-Yeah.

You're not going to get it, so I'm going to offer it over to the other side.

We're going to move the object over there.

Jacky and Lars, why is this pair not a pair, but could be?

I think they're tallies.

I think they're not a pair, because the way these tallies were worked

was that you made a record of a payment that you gave

and it was receipted on a stick with a notch.

And then the stick was split,

so the person from whom you bought had a record of the transaction.

You kept your split side of the stick,

so these are not from the same splitting.

But they are two different tallies,

or half of what would have been two pairs.

And you get the two points.

They are indeed two tally sticks.

They were used to record financial transactions and these two relate

to tax payments by a Jewish butcher in Gloucester in the 13th century.

He kept one half, and the tax authorities kept the other.

Let's move on through the museum,

which was partly established to help explain what Judaism really is,

and what the people really are,

as Israel Spielman, one of the founders, put it.

So, your open, one-point question.

Have a look behind me, here, because this is a synagogue ark.

It's 17th-century and from North Italy.

But your question is why would you usually find an ark...

BELL RINGS

I think this is a question about why...

Where the position of the ark was in the synagogue.

Might be.

And it's usually on the east wall,

and that is because it's facing towards Jerusalem.

Yes, you get your one point.

And here's a specialist question worth two points.

So, to get your extra point, have a look at this lamp. It's a Hanukkah lamp.

Perhaps the most recognisable of Jewish ritual objects.

And your question,

what are the origins of the nine, there, for eight?

There was one extra candle needed to let the other ones.

There's eight days of Hanukkah and there's one extra candle.

That's right, you usually light the middle one each time.

Then you light the new light, first one.

Use that to light the other ones.

You're completely correct, there.

And that's one point. But what are the origins?

It's the Festival Of Hanukkah,

which is in memory of the Maccabee rebellion

against the Seleucid king, or emperor,

Antiochus, Epiphanies, who ruled the Seleucid Empire,

successor empire, Alexander The Great.

And who, by appalling attempts to wipe out the Jews altogether,

to turn the temple into a Greek idolatrous temple,

and to force the Jews to eat pork, caused a rebellion.

The Maccabees defeated the powerful Seleucid forces,

retook Jerusalem and rededicated the temple.

And for a week without any oil,

the light was lit and this is the symbol,

the celebration of that miracle.

Griff, I just have one point of information in Simon's brilliant exegesis,

which is that in fact there was oil in the temple,

but there was only enough to last one night.

And the miracle was that it lasted for eight nights.

So, hence the eight nights.

Simon's answer was such a wonderful answer I'm going to give you two points for that.

So, another opener.

Buzz to get one point, and a go at the specialist question.

This is a sign for a Russian baths.

What Russian word meaning systematic destruction...

BELL RINGS

You were first there.

Pogrom.

Pogrom entered the English language in the late 19th century

around the time that these baths were established.

A point for that.

So, for your two-pointer, have a look at these.

And what are they?

And what was unusual about their being issued to a Jewish person?

So, this is some kind of military identification, isn't it?

One coin was taken off when someone died, and the other one

was left on the body so the body could be identified.

Yeah, so is it Russian...

So are these... Are these... Are these from World War I?

They could be World War I.

World War I identifiers, and they reference the Jewish religion which

reflects the fact that Judaism was accepted by the army at the time?

-No.

-No.

Amazing, the idea that these were identity tags,

-which you've identified.

-Yes!

You've got one point there.

So, in the interest of fairness,

I'm going to pass it over to the other side.

-They must be...

-Shall we give it a stab?

Oh, here we are. That's it.

C of E. Church of England.

So, why was it unusual that they should be issued to a Jewish person?

Was it because you COULDN'T be Jewish in the army at this time?

-They're Second World War tags.

-Right, that would be a no, then!

SHE LAUGHS

OK, I'm going to pass it back to you.

These are from the Second World War.

Of course they have C of E on them, because if they were captured

by the Germans they would be ill treated for being Jewish.

Indeed. That's exactly the reason. A point for that.

Jewish servicemen were sometimes given Christian identity tags

to prevent them from being treated badly.

Or, potentially, even taken to a concentration camp,

in the event of capture.

And these were especially issued to special operations personnel

going behind enemy lines.

But they ran the risk, of course, of being denied Jewish burial

if they were killed.

So, a one-point opener. Again, fingers on the buzzers.

Have a look at this. This...

BUZZER

HE LAUGHS

We've got to get in there quick with these two!

You've got in quick, so I haven't given you the question.

-That's all right, I can give you the answer, Griff!

-OK, go away.

Is it a ketubah, or a marriage certificate?

That's not the question.

Carry on, then. So sorry to interrupt.

-I'm afraid I'll have to give the full question to the other side.

-So sorry.

This beautifully illustrated document is a marriage contract,

but what country does it come from?

I would guess sort of the west, rather than the east,

because it's so colourful. You know, the flower. I don't know.

But it could be... I'm tempted to say Spain, but...

-I'm tempted to say Spain.

-But we've got... But it's all in Hebrew.

What is your answer?

-Spain.

-Spain.

I'm afraid you're wrong.

-You've had a go.

-England?

-You've had a go.

It is in fact Indian.

If you look at the peacocks, they're a little bit of a giveaway.

As are, in fact, are the roses.

So, we're still looking for the right answer to earn that special question.

-Another question about marriage here.

-OK.

If you get married in a synagogue, what is the name of the canopy used...

BELL RINGS

You were first, there, Jacky.

-It's called a chuppah.

-A chuppah. Well done.

So, you get the special question. Have a look at this.

For two points, tell me why is this man depicted wearing two hats?

I think this was a satirical print, possibly of Rothschild.

He's a banker, and presumably he's wearing two hats

because he has split loyalties.

One to his own community, and one to the ministry he might be serving.

Well, I don't know.

I think he might have been satirised as a second-hand clothes dealer.

I'm going to give you both points, there. You're absolutely right.

That's Nathan Rothschild, the banker.

And he's being satirised as a used clothes dealer,

a trade which was taken up by a large number of the Jewish population.

And therefore was used as a way of stereotyping people.

Rothschild was, of course, one of the richest men in England.

In 1825 he was able to supply the Bank of England with enough coin

to avoid a liquidity crisis.

That was a banker bailing out the nation's finances.

THEY LAUGH

Almost the exact opposite of the way we currently deal

with financial meltdown.

So, we've come to the end of that round.

And it's time to have a look at the scores.

And the scores look exactly like this.

Now, Jacky and Lars, you got five points. Congratulations.

But Simon and Kate, you're ahead with seven.

It's close, it's close at this point.

And we'll see how we get now, because it's time to play our next round.

It's called A Question Of Attribution.

The attribution being what each member of the team gives us

when we bring a mysterious object to the table.

And the question being which one of them is telling an outright lie?

One factual account, one piece of unadulterated trumpery,

three points for telling which is which.

So, let's have the first object, and can we get an account from you,

Simon, to start us off?

This is simple. You might even say it's bleeding obvious.

It is an essential piece of equipment

for the preparing of kosher meat.

You'd hang the meat on it,

drip the blood down and it would just drip out the bottom

and there you have your kosher meat, which, of course,

can only be prepared by naturally letting the blood run out of the meat after it's slaughtered.

OK. So, Kate, you have a different version for what this is.

Simon's wrong, because it is for food, but it's not for meat.

What it is for, is it's for fruit

and it's for the harvest festival, the Sukkot festival.

So, we put the food in to make sure they are completely dry of impure

water, so particularly the etrog, which is a very crucial fruit.

So, the etrog is there, all of the fruits are there.

The water is drained off and they are dried and ready to use in the festival.

And it's wood, of course, and dates from the 1950s, we think.

Now, Jacky and Lars, would you like to decide in just a few seconds

which you're going to go for?

Jacky, come on. You're confident on this, aren't you?

-I'm reasonably confident.

-Yeah.

Because I was wondering why this thing needed to be on an angle

and Simon's justification of the blood having to drain away

in kosher meat sounds very legit to me.

I'm not quite convinced that, for the festival of Sukkot,

the fruit actually needs to be dried out.

Or if it does,

why do we need it to be drained on an angular sort of graded board.

That just sounds like hocus-pocus to me.

Did you have any problem with why is there no blood staining on here?

-I did wonder that.

-Maybe it's just a shop sample and it was never used.

Or it could have just been kept very, very clean.

-Cleanliness is a hugely important part of the laws of...

-Yes, yes.

So, Kate.

Were you telling the truth?

Is it in fact a vegetable roll-out?

I was telling a lie.

-They are right.

-So, it was hocus-pocus.

Simon was telling the truth.

It is indeed a kosher board for draining blood to ensure

that meat complies with dietary laws.

But we have another object to look at

and more gallifrumpery to listen to.

So, which of the following two stories

is going to be a complete fabrication? Lars.

These are tallies that you could either buy yourself,

or buy for other people.

These tallies are for very poor members of the community

who would visit the soup kitchen.

It meant that your fellow man was able to avoid being seen to beg

by non-Jews.

They were introduced in 1854

and were still going in the 1950s.

Jacky, you got another explanation for what these things are.

-I do. I actually have the correct explanation.

-Good.

Which is that they are indeed tally spikes

and they are connected to Jewish charity.

But what they are is for use in the synagogue service.

Essentially, each row of the synagogue service would

collect money for the big festivals.

And you would put the tag which represented an amount of money

that you wanted to give as charity to the community.

Why do people need to do this?

Because if you're Jewish and if it's a high holy day,

you are not allowed to carry money in the synagogue.

So, these are essentially tokens that you would put on

and say, "I pledge to give this amount of money to charity."

Add a couple of weeks later, the synagogue clerk would phone

you up and say, "Thank you for putting that tag on.

"Now I'm actually coming to reclaim the real cash."

OK. They're soup tokens or they're synagogue tokens.

Either way, they're tokens.

They've managed to come up with...

I'd say they're both exactly the same thing for different purposes.

That's very cunning.

-So, I'm going to have to hurry you.

-OK.

-Which do you think?

-We're going to... We think...

-We think Jacky is telling the truth.

So, do you think they come from synagogue

and they are for recording charitable donations?

So, Jacky, is that what they are?

Well, that tradition does carry on today

because in the synagogue you can't carry money

and you get given a little card and you put a little hook through it.

-But, actually, it was complete rubbish!

-No!

I was not telling the truth, I'm afraid.

Oh, no!

Well, I have to say, very, very skilfully done there.

That's an team showing that they can work together.

They are indeed soup kitchen tallies.

They were originally established in 1854 in Leman Street

in the Jewish soup kitchen.

Moved to Brune Street and didn't close until as recently as 1992.

So, let's look at the scores and see how that has changed.

Simon and Kate, I'm afraid you're still stuck there with your seven points.

Whereas Jacky and Lars picked up six points during that game.

-And so they've gone up to 11.

-Oh.

-Well done.

-Ouch.

In our next round, we're setting off into the museum on a guided tour.

Jacky and Lars, you're up first.

I'm going to ask four questions,

and I'm looking for a connection between two fascinating objects.

Right, have a look at these two objects.

So, here is your first question.

Jacky, what is this, do you think?

Well, it's obviously a cape of some sort.

Highly decorated in a sort of patchworky style.

There's lots of different badges on it,

from possibly different parts of the army.

Right.

-I might need help in a moment.

-OK, Lars.

Do you want to step in and help here? Do you think you know what it is?

It looks like a nurse's cape to me.

Yes, that's quite right. You get your first point.

It's a World War II nurse's uniform worn by the Jewish nurse, Doris Benjamin.

Now, she was a VAD nurse,

a Voluntary Aid Detachment.

That meant that, effectively, she wasn't a fully qualified nurse,

but she worked, as it were, in auxiliary services.

Looking after people who'd been invalided out.

Now, what do you think the badges represent?

Are they from patients of hers?

A sort of thank yous, for having saved their lives?

They're regimental badges.

You're quite right. This is her nurse's cape.

She's put regimental badges from all the people she helped at one stage.

But when I say all, in fact these are all people she helped,

but she did say herself

that if she has tried to keep a flash from every single person

that she'd aided during her service...

She'd have needed a bigger cape!

..she would have a cape which stretched back three or four miles.

So, these are just some of the regimental insignia of the people.

OK, can you tell me what that is?

It's a World War I Iron Cross.

German.

Yes, you're right.

It's a German World War I Iron Cross.

What's the Iron Cross?

When it started off, it was actually a very, very great honour.

But in order to improve morale,

more and more people got the Iron Cross towards the end of the war.

It is an Iron Cross and I'm going to give you the point

because I was going to ask you, in supplementary,

what sort of level of medal was it,

but there were over 5 million given out

at the time of the First World War.

All right, so your fourth question here.

What is the connection, then, between these two objects?

Is it Doris's husband's medal? Doris's family connection?

No, that would have been an amazing connection! You're taking the connection too far, there.

These are two exhibits that the museum has of both...

-About the Jewish contribution to war?

-Yes.

But, effectively, these are a measure of how most Jewish people put

citizenship in a different box to faith.

The Iron Cross, this one that we're looking at,

was won by a Jewish soldier named Wilhelm Bowman.

And it was one of 30,000 Jewish servicemen who were awarded

the Iron Cross in World War I.

Well, you sailed through that, you got your entire four points.

Let's go and see how the others get on.

'It's the same challenge for Kate and Simon.

'Answer four questions and connect to the museum's objects.'

Right, we are treating this as one exhibit,

and this as one exhibit.

I have four questions.

We are going to answer them one by one.

And they sort of connect, like a sort of daisy-chain.

But if you can put them, one, two, three, four,

-then you'll get your four points.

-OK.

And the first question is, what is the general purpose...

of these pictures?

To tell the stories of the Jews in England?

We think it might be to tell the story of the Jews' return to England.

That's what we are guessing. Just because of the era.

-It looks like... Looking at the dress.

-OK, what era do you think that is?

We think it is probably a Cromwellian era.

-Since the Jews did return to...

-So 17th century?

-Yes.

-1656, the Jews returned to...

-Cromwell decided...

OK, I'm going to stop you,

because you're barking up the wrong tree there.

-They're simply a memento mori.

-OK.

So, Kate, you know what a memento mori is. Would you explain that?

It is to remind people on Earth that death can always come to us,

so we must always be thinking about death.

And that is a particularly Christian idea,

but here it has been given a Jewish slant.

So this is a wealthy young merchant, a Dutch merchant, confronting,

in the first picture, a corpse, or death.

And this is the first, or overall, purpose of all three pictures.

So can you tell me

therefore what you think is the message of the second picture?

Yes. It looks like he is Abraham, he is sacrificing...

-Is that about...

-Abraham sacrificing...

-Isaac?

On the left-hand side... people are sewing, growing...

Creating the promised land?

OK, so tell me, what is the instructive value of this

one in the middle, do you think?

-Obey God and you will be rewarded with plenty.

-Exactly. Well done.

You've got your point there.

The message here is, follow God's law

and you will prosper in this world and in the next, OK.

This is your third question. What is the one at the bottom telling us?

I think it is saying to you, you'll be judged,

you will be rewarded if you're good.

And if you're a good man, you'll flourish like this palm tree.

And there is the scales of justice, where you are good and bad.

They're going to be weighed up.

Now, I'm puzzled here because you were both...

You got the principle, which is to be good,

but effectively this is about paying attention to the Word of God,

-and this is about paying attention to your...

-Fellow man.

fellow man.

-So you have two...

-I think we sort of got that.

I'm going to be, because it is about charity, I'm going to be

charitable at this point, and I'm going to give you two points.

And finally, how is it related to this other object from another

-part of the museum?

-Can we look it at?

-Do, yes, come and have a look at it. OK.

Well, it's got Hebrew written on it. It looks like a comb.

Would it be connected to the life of a working Jew?

I'm sorry, I'm going to have to ask you,

what is your final opinion, your answer to that connection?

Is it the comb for a furrier to prepare the furs?

-Not to prepare furs.

-No?

-No.

Is it to groom the beard of a religious Jewish male?

No, that's another good idea, but it isn't.

No, it is actually to groom a corpse.

It is to groom somebody in preparation for a funeral,

and then you have a few useful little sort of itty-bitty Swiss knife

type tools here to sort of, I don't know, clean-up the fingernails.

-How disgusting.

-So, really, these three are

a warning of death, and these were used

for death, and death is what I was looking for, and you didn't get it.

So, unfortunately, that means I can only give you two points,

and we now need to join the others.

Well, during that, Simon and Kate,

you got two points.

But Jacky and Lars got four points, which means that Simon

and Kate, you are with nine, and Jacky and Lars have got 15.

But it is time to see

if we can even this up a bit with a round that takes us

through a bit more of the collection here, with some quickfire questions.

So buzz in, and buzz in quickly. Have a look at this.

-What trade was this...

-I think that is used in the tailoring trade.

-BUZZER

In the tailoring trade. Correct.

This is a register, made to measure Sabbath donations to the

Great Synagogue. Why the thread? BUZZER

I think it is because Jews weren't allowed to handle money on the

Sabbath, so the thread is there to show how much everyone has donated.

Correct. This is Sir David Salomons, in 1855...

BUZZER

-He was the first Lord Mayor of London.

-The first Lord Mayor?

The first Jewish Lord Mayor.

I know that is what you meant to say, so I'm going to give you the point.

Look at this. Which ritual are these used in?

BUZZER Jacky.

-Circumcision.

-Circumcision, correct.

Here is a porcelain Passover cup,

but what is the special function of its design?

BUZZER Lars.

To prevent your moustache getting wet.

It is a moustache cup, designed to prevent drips.

So this is an elegy written in Hebrew in 1806 mourning

the death of which national hero? BUZZER

-It has to be Nelson.

-It is Nelson.

Indeed. This is the Book of Esther, in the form of a scroll, to celebrate Purim.

But what is the significance of this fish?

BUZZER

It is that Purim, or the festival of Esther, takes place

in the month of Pisces, which is... Pisces is a fish.

It is a sign of the zodiac, yes.

The two Jewish peddlers, made around 1760,

by which fac... BUZZER

-Derby.

-By the Derby factory.

So, can you tell me what is written on this panel?

BUZZER

-Jacky was first, I'm afraid.

-The Ten Commandments.

-The Ten Commandments.

Where does this baby's good luck amulet come from?

BUZZER

-Iran.

-Iran. Not Iran.

-Morocco.

-Morocco.

Well done, you've got a point there. So what do these numbers represent?

BUZZER I think you were first there, Kate.

This is the Omer scroll that counts down the length of time

between Passover festival and then the Shavuot festival.

Yes, this is a quick round, so that's absolutely fine. Good.

-I'll just keep talking!

-Can you tell me, who is this stout fellow?

BUZZER

-That's Daniel Mendoza.

-Daniel Mendoza, the prize-fighter.

And can you tell me, when is this belt worn?

BUZZER

-That's a marriage belt.

-It is a marriage belt, correct.

HOOTER That hooter tells us we've reached the end of our competition,

and it is closing time here at the Quizeum.

Which of our teams will get a season ticket,

and which will be left trapped overnight in the toilet?

It is time to reveal our final scores.

It's very close, but Simon and Kate,

you got 17 points in total.

But Jacky and Lars, you got 20, and you clinched it,

clinched it...just. I thought you were going to catch up.

-We did well, we did well in catching up.

-You all did very well.

Thank you to our hosts here at the Jewish Museum London, in Camden Town.

For over 80 years, this establishment has presented

an extraordinary insight into Jewish belief, life and history,

and we've done our best to match them. In half an hour.

But sadly, we must now take our leave. Goodbye.