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How mysterious garden decor made me feel at home as a Jew in Bob Vylan’s England

JL;DR SUMMARY Karen E. H. Skinazi explores the ambiguous appearance of Star of David designs in a Birmingham garden, questioning their significance as either a sign of solidarity or cultural appropriation. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Star Of DavidJewish IdentityJewish HeritageJewish AssimilationBritish JewsCultural SymbolsBirminghamGavin SchafferMoseley In BloomEaster European Traditions

Places mentioned

Birmingham, United Kingdom
"I was instead at Moseley in Bloom, an annual event that takes place in my leafy neighborhood in Birmingham in the middle of England, trying to make sense of what seemed to be a Jewish garden decoration."
Staffordshire, United Kingdom
"He talked a little more about the bricks, which had been manufactured by a company in nearby Staffordshire."
Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, United Kingdom
"Schaffer uses Merthyr Tydfil, the Welsh town where his family came from Jews and Jewishness rarely fully disappear from anywhere in Britain."
London, United Kingdom
"At a recent doctoral defense in London, a fellow examiner told me he wasnt buying Schaffers conclusions."

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Cairo Item ID 56498
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Retrieved 2025-07-09 18:00:38 UTC
Curated 2025-07-09 19:00:42 UTC