Life

‘The strange and beautiful love story of the Maori and the Jews’

The tight relationship between the two peoples predates the founding of New Zealand in 1840, and the Maori case for self-determination draws parallels with Zionism. Kiwi journalist David Cohen reports

By David Cohen

8 min read

A haka in Queenstown, New Zealand, and the Jewish-Maori film-maker Takia Waititi

Vegetables for keeps: Karen Glaser, aged nine with her brother, Steven, and the writer's mother Jolanta Glaser's fermenting kitchen ledge with her pickled pears on the far left

Food

So just how easy is it to make your own pickles?

By Karen Glaser

5 min read

Travel

South Africa with a Jewish flavour

By Karen Glaser

9 min read

Confidants: Nancy Mitford (played by Bessie Carter) in the series Outrageous with her Jewish friend Joss (Will Attenborough)

tikkun olam

How a Mitford sister came to hear about tikkun olam

By Simon Rocker

3 min read

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From left: Naomi's grandmother, Hannah Haruni, with grandfather, Eli, on their engagement in 1948; Naomi, aged 16, with her grandmother in Israel in 1995, a year before she died

Persian Jews

Could my Persian grandmother be a winner at the Academy Awards?

By Naomi Greenaway

4 min read

Defying his detractors: Philip Roth (right) and Steven J Zipperstein

Books

How I found the real Philip Roth

David Bennun talks to Steven J. Zipperstein about his new literary biography of the pre-eminent Jewish novelist

By David Bennun

6 min read

Kosher chef

Keeping kosher in marvellous Montenegro

It was made famous by James Bond. And the hechshered hospitality at Dukley Hotel & Resort is outstanding. But where exactly is this enchanting country?

By Victoria Prever

6 min read

Family

My mother is 102 and scared of being Jewish in public

American film-maker Gayle Kirschenbaum on how October 7 has changed life for her and her mom

By Gayle Kirschenbaum

5 min read

Big Jewish Comedy Gala

The Big Jewish Comedy Gala has the last laugh

The sell-out evening showcased the best of Jewish humour – and the best of Jewish pride

By Ben Felsenburg

2 min read

Lifestyle

Film

Hamnet review: ‘needs a middle ground between modern and Elizabethan English’ ★★★

The film’s climax is stunning, but producers Steven Spielberg and especially Sam Mendes have directed enough Shakespeare on stage to make the archaic language accessible to a contemporary audience

By John Nathan

2 min read

Grieving process: Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare (centre) in Hamnet

Theatre

Woman in Mind review: Sheridan Smith sparkles in Alan Ayckbourn’s dark comedy ★★★★★

The actor will surely be in line for an umpteenth Olivier nomination for her quicksilver performance of Susan and her disintegrating mind

By John Nathan

1 min read

Mad release: Sheridan Smith and Sule Rimi as Susan and Andy (Photo: Marc Brenner)

Books

The Jewish woman who parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe

Jennifer Lipman meets the author of a new book about Zionist paratrooper and poet Hannah Senesh

By Jennifer Lipman

6 min read

Jewish Joan of Arc: Hannah Senesh and Douglas Century with his book Crash of Heavens

Books

Berlin Shuffle review: Pimps, prostitutes and peddlers in Weimar Germany

Hopeless cases, lowlifes and down-and-outs, the atmosphere in the extraordinarily talented Ulrich Boschwitz’s first novel feels like something from Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera

By David Herman

2 min read

Berlin Shuffle review: Pimps, prostitutes and peddlers in Weimar Germany

Theatre

Into The Woods review: Goyishe Brothers Grimm gloriously reinvented by a Jewish creative team ★★★★★

Jordan Fein’s masterpiece interpretation of this European fable draws from real life to subvert the idea of happily every after

By John Nathan

2 min read

Katie Brayben as the baker's wife in Into The Woods. (Credit: Johan Persson)

Theatre

Christmas Day review: A not-quite-realised effort at Jewish catharsis ★★★

Arguments over Jewish identity become super-heated in this dark comedy full of timely – although unfortunately random – elements

By John Nathan

2 min read

Theatre

2025 in review: Theatre

John Nathan chooses the best plays of the year, from a new stage adaptation of Mel Brooks’s musical The Producers to a comic revenge fantasy about the kidnap of Jeremy Corbyn

By John Nathan

4 min read

Dance

The Red Shoes review: Trademark Bourne wit in an ultimately tragic tale ★★★★★

Matthew Bourne’s ballet about a woman who must choose between love and dance is full of passion and self-awareness

By Joy Sable

1 min read

Film & TV

All TV

Odessa A'zion, who plays Rachel Mizler in A24's "Marty Supreme", attends the film's New York Premiere on December 16, 2025. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

How Jewish is?

How Jewish is Marty Supreme star Odessa A’zion?

By Eliana Jordan

2 min read

Rental Family review: Secrets, lies and life lessons in wryly touching Tokyo dramedy★★★★

By Ben Felsenburg

2 min read

Marty Supreme review: ‘Timothée Chalamet is monumental’ ★★★★★

The Jewishness of Chalamet’s Marty is both defining and lightly worn in Josh Safdie’s classic American fable

By John Nathan

2 min read

2025 in review: Film

From a superhero to the very worst Friday night dinner – John Nathan picks his favourite Jewish representations on the silver screen

By John Nathan

4 min read

Travel

All Travel

Celebrating nature: all Eilat needs is more visitors

Israeli travel

Come to sunny Eilat – it’s got everything...except tourists

By Misha Mansoor

7 min read

High teas, hot springs and Jane Austen: Finding winter wellness in Bath

The geothermal hot spot in Somerset offers a relaxing retreat for us world-weary Jews, and all the romance of an Austen novel

By Nicole Lampert

3 min read

My own butler? This is how to cruise...

From a deluxe Friday night dinner and spa treatments to lectures about Jewish heroes and a round of golf, Mark Silver on his sails of the unexpected

By Mark Silver

5 min read

14 fantastic Chanukah gifts to light your foodie’s festive season

Spark joy with these tasty treats and gourmet gadgets

By Victoria Prever

1 min read

Books

All Books

The long lines of blood and family: Moritz's book and his family tree

Books

Auslander review: a tale that supports the theory we don’t belong anywhere

By Jenni Frazer

2 min read

Sensory vignettes from Walter Benjamin’s Berlin childhood

This short book is an excellent introduction to the eminent philosopher’s formative years through the eyes of his child self

By Mark Glanville

2 min read

2025 in review: Books

Our critics’ stand-out Jewish books of the year include eviscerating fiction, assiduously researched history, memoirs and reflections on the lives of poets

By Robert Low and Jennifer Lipman and Jenni Frazer and David Herman and Mark Glanville and Amanda Hopkinson and Monica Porter and Rabbi Howard Cooper

7 min read