Life

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The Jewish reason I took up smoking again...aged 60

To hell with all those health risks. The day I lit up again was the day my worries went up in smoke

By Mark Solomons

4 min read

The Jewish reason I took up smoking again...aged 60

Theatre

This Menuhin show is all about the words, not the music

By John Nathan

5 min read

Jews have been winning Oscars since the awards ceremony first began in 1929. (Photos: Oscars/Getty Images)

Movies

And the Oy-scar goes to…Inside the long Jewish history of the Academy Awards

By Eliana Jordan

7 min read

Showtime: Jamie Lee Curtis and (right) Pamela Anderson Photo: Roadside Attractions

Film

The Last Showgirl review: ‘Pamela Anderson dazzles’

By John Nathan

1 min read

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Children's books

The best new books for toddlers, teens and those in between

By Angela Kiverstein

1 min read

Cookbook

Meet the recipe writer hopelessly obsessed with tzimmes

Alissa Timoshkina talks to Victoria Prever about Kapusta, her veg-centric Eastern European cookbook

By Victoria Prever

4 min read

Theatre

Unicorn review: ‘Stephen Mangan, Nicola Walker and Erin Doherty in threesome’

Having explored a gay couple being attracted to a straight relationship in the play Cock, Mike Bartlett now turns to a heterosexual relationship where a spouse wants a same-sex affair

By John Nathan

1 min read

Throuple therapy: Erin Doherty (Kate), Nicola Walker (Polly) and Stephen Mangan (Nick) in Unicorn Photo: Marc Brenner

Television

Kugel review: ‘superb Shtisel spin-off’

With its phenomenal writing, perfect pacing and all-round excellent storytelling this new Israeli series does its predecessor proud

By Eliana Jordan

2 min read

Sasson Gaby as Nuckem Shtisel and Hadas Yaron as Libbie Shtisel Photo: Izzy

Television

Shtisel reunited! The series is back on our screens – sort of

A spin-off of the Netflix hit set in Jerusalem’s Charedi community, Kugel is a prequel featuring Nukhem and his daughter Libbie. Israeli actors Sasson Gabai, Hadas Yaron and Mili Avital share how it feels to star in the television drama

By Nicole Lampert

6 min read

Diamond days: Kugel's key characters, Nukhem (Sasson Gabai) and Libbie (Hadas Yaron)

Lifestyle

History

The Jewish entrepreneurs who helped revive post-war Wales

Treforest, near Pontypridd, became a magnet for businesses run by refugees

By Gaby Koppel

5 min read

Aero Zipp executives outside the zip factory, in Treforest, South Wales

shoah

‘My film finally tells the story of the first escape from a Nazi death camp’

Israeli director Lior Geller on his new movie The World Will Tremble

By John Nathan

4 min read

Harrowing scenes: Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Jeremy Neumark Jones in The World Will Tremble Photo: Ivan Vatsov

Friday Night

Why you need to eat more on Shabbat

The latest healthy eating mantra requires us to eat thirty plants a week – here’s how you can use Friday night to help you get there

By Victoria Prever

3 min read

Wiener Library

‘I was working at the Wiener Library but didn’t realise I had my own Holocaust story to tell’

Ben Barkow, former director of the Shoah archive, has now written an anthology confronting his family secrets

By Gaby Wine

6 min read

‘I was working at the Wiener Library but didn’t realise I had my own Holocaust story to tell’

Theatre

Richard II review: ‘has lessons for Trump’

The American President, not known for his appreciation of Shakespeare, won’t watch this, but he should

By John Nathan

1 min read

Right royal: Jonathan Bailey as King Richard Photo: Manuel Harlan

Theatre

The Value of Names review: ‘a bitter ode to the victims of McCarthyism’

Jeffrey Sweet delivers a dark play about a previously blacklisted Jewish comic who refuses to let go of the past, even if it’ll destroy him

By Imogen Garfinkel

2 min read

Katherine Lyle as Norma, an aspiring actress (left), and Jeremy Kareken as her father, Benny, a retired comic who was blacklisted from Hollywood in the 1950s. Photo: Zack Layton

Theatre

Elektra review: ‘Oh. Is that it?’

Is this a must-see production of the classical work? As Elektra puts it (throughout): no

By John Nathan

2 min read

Just say yes: Stockard Channing as Clytemnestra Photo: Helen Murray

Theatre

As Long As We Are Breathing review: ‘poignant but not enough punch’

The message that it is possible to replace trauma with inner peace is reassuring, but it is prioritised over the drama of Holocaust survivor Miriam Freedman’s story

By John Nathan

1 min read

Hidden treasures: Caroline Gruber as Miriam Freedman in her eighties Photo: Arcola Theatre

Film & TV

All TV

Gary Lineker

Gary Lineker among celebrity signatories of letter criticising BBC for dropping controversial Gaza documentary

By Jacob Jaffa

2 min read

All I Had Was Nothingness review: ‘you will never see a more haunting road movie’

Guillaume Ribot’s film has been culled from unseen footage that Claude Lanzmann’s filmed for his epic documentary, Shoah

By James Mottram

2 min read

I’m Still Here review: ‘it feels timely’

As we enter an era of strong-men politics, this Brazilian film is a reminder of the price they exact

By John Nathan

1 min read

Baftas 2025: Glory for Adrien Brody and Mikey Madison as Jewish talent leads awards

Brody’s Holocaust survivor epic The Brutalist was the pick of the night as it swept four gongs

By Ellie Grant

2 min read

Travel

All Travel

Cityscape image of Nashville, Tennessee, USA downtown skyline with reflection of the city the Cumberland River at spring sunset.

Travel

Nashville’s on my mind

By Barry Toberman

7 min read

The Thai vegan retreat where Israelis go to zen out

Kapuhala is popular with Israelis drawn by an environment that lends itself well to those keeping kosher – or who just want to take in its off-the-beaten-track vibe

By Lianne Kolirin

3 min read

Visiting the artists’ village in the south of France where Chagall is buried

St Paul de Vence is a must-visit destination for art lovers

By Anthea Gerrie

5 min read

Visiting Denmark’s Triangle – and discovering its surprising Jewish history

The Scandinavian nation is having an economic boom, thanks to weight loss drug Ozempic

By Lucy Daltroff

5 min read

Books

All Books

Jewish Book Week 2025

Israeli writers under siege reflect on the world since October 7

By Lianne Kolirin

7 min read

33 Place Brugmann review: ‘secrets, betrayal and courage in occupied Brussels’

From RAF pilots and members of the resistance risking their lives, to Jewish refugee nurses caring for the desperately wounded, this American playwright’s first novel is packed with twists and turns

By David Herman

1 min read

A Fool’s Kabbalah review: ‘Is comedy a valid response the Shoah?’

Readers must decide for themselves if this challenging novel is a valid response to the nihilism inherent in the Holocaust

By Alun David

2 min read

‘For Peter Beinart, focusing on the right of Jews to be secure from terrorists is immoral’

Stephen Pollard reviews Peter Beinart’s new book Being Jewish after the destruction of Gaza

By Stephen Pollard

3 min read

Music

All Music

Nightlife

Turntables, cabaret and Middle Eastern jazz: nightlife with a Jewish twist

By Eliana Jordan

7 min read

Despite growing antisemitism, unity and dialogue headline emotional German-Jewish music festival

From klezmer to classical, The International Days of Jewish Music celebrates the diversity and depth of Jewish music in venues across Germany

By Eliana Jordan

7 min read

Jeremy Sassoon find his mojo singing his way through Jewish musical history

From psychiatry to jazz, Sassoon wants to lift the spirits of his audience

By Jane Prinsley

4 min read

Amsterdam concert hall accused of ‘capitulating to terrorism’ as it cancels Jerusalem Quartet

The Royal Concertgebouw said it could not guarantee the safety of visitors or performers

By Jane Prinsley

2 min read

Sport

All Sport

Soviet chess grandmaster Boris Spassky has died aged 88 (Image: Getty)

Obituary

Boris Spassky, chess grandmaster who played the ‘game of the century’, dies aged 88

By Menachem Wecker

2 min read

Israel Premier League match announced reportedly arrested after he called Hamas ‘humane’

Saeed Hassanain also dubbed the IDF an ‘occupation army’ and discouraged Arab-Israelis from joining the military

By JC Reporter

1 min read

How the world’s most popular wrestling championship ended up in a Tel Aviv shopping centre

The belt was contested by megastars like Rick Rude and Jerry Lawler during the sport’s cultural heyday and its lineage maps the tragic history of its founding family

By Jacob Jaffa

3 min read