Saturday, 29 March, 2025

29 Adar 5785

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Elisa Bray

Latest from Elisa Bray

I love Chrismukkah and I’m not afraid to admit it

Chanukah begins on Christmas Day this year, which is perfect if you adore both of them

By Elisa Bray

2 min read

Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square (Getty Images)

Mum of baby with Tay-Sachs urges people to get tested before starting a family

5 min read

Mark Cass (l) and his father Wilfred Cass with a painting by Max Liebermann of Mark's great-grandfather Richard Cassirer (Photo: Mark Cass)

Family’s artistic legacy lives on with inaugural prize

3 min read

Dancing with Torah scrolls during the Simhat Torah in Netanya (Getty Images)

A Simchat Torah of reflection, sadness, loss, pain… and hope

3 min read

More from Elisa Bray

The power of the voice to preserve memories

Caroline Pearce specialises in audio recordings of people’s lives

2 min read

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October 16, 2024 11:32

Caroline Pearce, who specialised in audio recordings of people's lives, says that the voice alone has the power to evoke strong memories and emotions (Photo: Tori Deslauriers)

We will say l’chaim this Succot – but we can’t forget the darkness

Shuls will be trying to find a balance between our obligation to celebrate and remembering those in captivity

3 min read

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October 16, 2024 09:00

We will say l’chaim this Succot – but we can’t forget the darkness

Jami combats loneliness by launching a community befriending scheme

The charity Jami is starting the new service on World Mental Health Day at its Head Room café in Golders Green

2 min read

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October 9, 2024 17:24

Jami is offering a new befriending service in its Headroom Cafe in Golders Green (Photo: Jami)

What Nathan Englander talks about when he talks about his Anne Frank play

The American writer on the Patrick Marber-directed stage adaptation of his 2011 Pulitzer-finalist short story ahead of its UK premiere

7 min read

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October 9, 2024 16:21

In partnership: Nathan Englander and Patrick Marber Credit: Matt Crockett

The ‘Iron Nation’ fund putting steel back into Israel’s start-up economy

An emergency fund to help viable Israeli startups impacted by the war has so far invested in 18 companies

3 min read

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October 9, 2024 08:44

Jewish eco-charity volunteers start campaign to clean Hendon river

‘By the time we’re done, we’ll have a river clean enough to swim in’

1 min read

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October 8, 2024 09:30

Naomi Verber, chief executive of EcoJudaism, cleaning Dollis Brook in Hendon as a "Reverse Taschlich" initiative (Photo: EcoJudaism)

‘In art therapy, you just pour your feeings on paper’

Art therapists Yafit Nahari and Simona Rotman Shats tell the JC why they are holding a creative session to mark the first anniversary of October 7

1 min read

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October 7, 2024 15:01

Studio Pituach art therapists (l-r) Simona Rotman Shats and Yafit Nahari (Photo: Studio Pituach)

Why survivors of the October 7 massacre are tattooing over their scars

In the Jewish state, kippot-wearing Israelis, men and women in their 70s, and Jews, Muslims and Christians are trying to reclaim their damaged bodies by sinking ink into their skin

2 min read

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October 2, 2024 10:32

Pop singer and tour manager Melvyn J Taub mourned

He worked in the advertising department for the Jewish Chronicle in the early 1980s, the same decade in which his music career took off

3 min read

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October 1, 2024 10:55

Performing Just Wanted I Always Wanted in 1982 on Top of the Pops with Mari Wilson and the Wilsations (Melvyn J Taub is centre of the trio of backing singers)

The shows you won’t want to miss – on stage and screen

Here are some of the best (Jewish-adjacent) shows that TV, film and theatre have to offer in October and November

4 min read

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September 30, 2024 16:21

Autumn highlights: (left to right) Cable Street, Giant and Nobody Wants This. (Photos: Jane Hobson, Netflix. Compiled by Jordi Pol)

The brilliance of beige: How a palette of neutrals packs a positive punch

Interior designer – and new mum – Elana Ilan welcomes the JC into her home of warm muted tones

3 min read

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September 30, 2024 12:12

Slim Shaker-style kitchen in unconventional terracotta clay shade, with antique brass finishes and quartz top counters.

The Vagina Business: Taking the stigma out of women’s health

Marina Gerner’s new book uncovers myriad health innovations for women, offering eye-opening solutions to the ways our medical system snubs female pain

8 min read

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September 30, 2024 11:40