Cultural Diversity - The Civil Service

Land Registry Cultural Diversity• Hannukah (sometimes spelt Chanukah). A festival of lights which commemoratesthe rededication of the temple in ancient times. The festival lasts for a week andeach night candles are lit on a 9 branch candelabra, known as a ChanukahMenorah. It is celebrated during November and December.• Passover (Pesach). A Spring festival which commemorates the deliverance ofIsrael from slavery in Egypt.DressMost of Britain’s Jewish people dress in the same way as the wider community. It istraditional for men to cover their head when in the synagogue and devout Jewish menand boys wear a skull cap at all times. There is one group, however, which isparticularly distinctive in its manner of dress. Male Hassidic Jews (chiefly from EasternEurope) wear dark clothing and wide brimmed hats, and curl their side burns.Dietary LawsThe Jewish faith has many dietary laws; the extent to which they are upheld willdepend on the individual and the degree of their orthodoxy. Many Jews do not eatpork, or shellfish, or dairy and meat products at the same meal. Food which has beenprepared in a ritually acceptable way is known as ‘Kosher’. In the case of meat, forexample, this means that the animal has been slaughtered by a qualified person in away which allows its blood to drain away. In the case of other food, there must havebeen no contact with banned items. An example of this would be an egg which, iffried in bacon fat, would not be permissible.Rites of passageAll Jewish boys are circumcised eight days after birth. They are considered to come ofage in a religious sense at 13 when their Bar-Mitzvah ceremony is held. The Jewishmarriage is both a contract and a holy covenant. Divorce is permitted after allattempts at reconciliation have failed. Most Jews bury their dead, as cremation isstrictly prohibited in Jewish law. This is followed by a week of private mourning and bya further ceremony one year after the death.20