A Jewish-Japanese fusion drawer

My wife and I are transplants to the UK; she from Japan, me from the USA. As a Rabbinic couple, we’re expected to regularly host meals in our home.

This chest is a Japanese Sendai Tansu. It’s made from cedar wood and was used to bring the bride’s trousseau to her husband’s new home. It was made in the late 19th century.

The drawer contains an assortment of decorative serving dishes we use depending on the food being served. The silver goblet is to bless the Sabbath or Festival at the beginning of the meal, while the Venetian pitcher holds water to wash the fingers of our guests after eating. The drawer shows a fusion of cultures – Japanese and Jewish – and is frequently in use.

Rabbi Jeff Berger

 

 

“If light is in your heart, you will find your way home”

In my drawer there is a variety of candles and various quotes and sayings about Light. Each day I have to find what sparks a light in me so that in my own way I can illuminate the world. The candle for me represents the light of Christ.

Daily lighting a candle symbolises the way in which I enable others to stir into flame their own particular spark.

“If light is in your heart, You will find your way home” Rumi

“It’s not what you have on the outside that glitters in Light, it’s what you have on the inside that shines in the dark.” Anthony Liccione

A drawer of memories and gratitude

This drawer represents significant times in my life for which I have many reasons to be grateful. The small piece of paper is the receipt for my mother’s confinement in the nursing home, the cost was £12.12s for 10 days – without my parents I would not be here. The large music book is my first piano lesson book, my Grandmother sacrificed a great deal to pay for my piano lessons and I still enjoy playing the piano to this day. From an early age my mother taught me the joys of knitting, it is a great hobby and I enjoy creating lots of woolly garments to keep us warm in the winter.

I spent two happy years teacher training at a college near Barnsley, making lots of friends, this gave access to many years of teaching in schools in Bradford, thus the college scarf.

There is also an order of service for my marriage to Frank and we have spent 51 happy years in the same house we bought all those years ago. Finally, the New Testament in the drawer was bought for me as a child, I am grateful that I was taken to Sunday School which gave me a good foundation for a life long connection with the Methodist Church.

Rosalind

 

                                                                               

 

A piece of Britain and Iraq in a drawer

A piece of Britain and Iraq in a drawer – our money and watches that we’ve used on our travels as a family since getting our UK passport twenty years ago, and scarves made in different countries and worn by three mothers – my Iraqi mother in law, my mother, and me – and now by my daughter who hopes to pass them on.

Sally Binymin

 

 

 

 

A “useful” drawer

Here’s my “useful” drawer. It has useful things in it, although sometimes it gets so full and overcrowded that it is no longer useful because I can’t find anything in it. Then I have to have a tidy up and throw all the useless things away which makes me wonder why I decided to keep them in the first place!

I’m sure there are lots of people who have a drawer like this.

Nicola

Carpentry through the generations

I inherited some of these tools from my grandfather 45 years ago – they have served me well. They are special to me and one day I will pass them on to my grandson in the hope that they may be special to him.

The carpenter passes on the mystery from generation to generation – faith and carpentry often go together.

Andrew

Art…on my face

This is my make-up drawer; on the right hand side is face make-up, on the left hand side is lip make-up and in the middle, eye make-up. Underneath the trays are the original boxes the make-up came in. My mum thinks I’ve got way too much and doesn’t know how to use half of it, but I think of it as art…on my face.

Esther, aged 15.

 

 

Tape Drawer

My tape drawer. I don’t know why I keep them – I have nothing to play them on.  Do I get something to play them on? Or just throw them away?

Ruth

The importance of mealtimes

 

 

 

 

 

My cutlery drawer full of cutlery old and new; a reminder of the importance of mealtimes as occasions when we gather as family and friends to share food, fellowship and conversation.

Bronwen