Life

The Polish nurse, the Nazi officer and the Jews in the basement

Hollywood screenwriter Dan Gordon on his new film Irena’s Vow, the true story of a teenage housekeeper who hid and saved 12 Jews in her employer’s cellar

By James Mottram

6 min read

Courage and faith: Sophie Nélisse (centre) as Irena Gut, the housekeeper for a Nazi officer

Marital issues: Jerry Rabow and his book

Books

How Henry VIII turned to rabbis to divorce wife No1

By Jenni Frazer

5 min read

Jewish celebrities

Like mother used to make

By Elisa Bray

4 min read

Holocaust Centre North

Holocaust Centre North launches exhibition to mark 50 years since Cambodian genocide

By Gaby Wine

2 min read

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breast cancer

My silicon implants feel like two permanent ice packs

By Karen E H Skinazi

3 min read

When matzah starts to feels like a plague it still has some uses.

Passover

How to celebrate Pesach after Shabbat

Trying to get your head around what to do and when to do it for Passover 2025? Here are some questions answered

By Victoria Prever

5 min read

Family

The Jewish parents propping up the bank of mum and dad

How much help do you give your adult offspring?

By Eliana Jordan

9 min read

The Jewish parents propping up the bank of mum and dad

Celebrity

The Israeli beauty influencer fighting to free the hostages

Ashley Waxman Bakshi used her social media skills to become a powerful voice for the hostages – including her own cousin

By Lianne Kolirin

8 min read

The Israeli beauty influencer fighting to free the hostages

Israeli chef

Heading to Israel for Pesach? Here are 18 kosher restaurants to try

The must-try restaurants open this Passover in Jerusalem, Eilat and Tel Aviv

By Debbie Kandel

5 min read

Heading to Israel for Pesach? Here are 18 kosher restaurants to try

Lifestyle

Film

Novacaine review: ‘sticks and stones won’t hurt him’

Lars Jacobson’s violent action-comedy is about an assistant bank manager who can’t feel pain

By John Nathan

1 min read

No pain, no gain Cain: Jack Quaid Photo: Marcos Cruzmarcos Cruz

Apple TV+

The Studio review: ‘proof that Jews still make the best TV and movies’

In this truly perfect showbiz series, Seth Rogen both satirises and pays homage to Hollywood’s movie making industry

By Eliana Jordan

2 min read

Ike Barinholtz and Seth Rogen in an episode of 'The Studio'. (Photo: Apple TV+)

Theatre

Dear England review: ‘permission to be patriotic’

How good to able to sit in a theatre and with some justification, rather than deluded hope, feel the unashamed urge to cry ‘Come on England’

By John Nathan

2 min read

Defying expectations: the cast of Dear England, with Gwilym Lee as Gareth Southgate (light sleeves) on stage at the National Theatre Photo: Marc Brenner

Books

My novel shows that Jews and Scots have more in common than you may think

Jenni Daiches’s family saga is on the longlist for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction

By Jenni Frazer

5 min read

Displacement theme: Jenni Daiches and her new book

Theatre

A Comedy of Terrors review: ‘a hoot’

This athletic Dracula send-up certainly puts the vamp into vampire

By John Nathan

1 min read

Out for blood: James Daly as Dracula Photo: Matt Crockett

Theatre

The Seagull review: ‘Cate Blanchett gives it pitch–perfect pizzazz’

The star is ceaselessly flamboyant in Thomas Ostermeier’s staging of the Chekhov comedy

By John Nathan

2 min read

Zachary Hart as Medvedenko ansd Cate Blanchett as the selfish Irina Arkadina in Chekhov's story about unrequited love Photo: Marc Brenner

Theatre

Farewell Mister Haffman review: ‘an unlikely ménage à trois’

There is much to enjoy in the London premiere of this darkly comic play set in Nazi-occupied Paris, but its premise means it is ultimately unconvincing

By Imogen Garfinkel

2 min read

Three's a crowd: Alexander Waldmann (Joseph Haffmann), Jennifer Kirby (Isabelle Vigneau) and Michael Fox (Pierre Vigneau) in Fairwell Mister Haffmann at Park Theatre Photo: Mark Senior

Dance

Dance review: Romeo and Juliet

The Royal Ballet shines in a classic production

By Joy Sable

1 min read

Film & TV

All TV

Apple TV+

‘It’s an industry founded by Jews’: Seth Rogen pokes fun at Hollywood in new showbiz series

By Eliana Jordan

4 min read

House of David review: ‘hokey biblical adaptation rings hollow’

The new Amazon Prime Video series offers no new insights into the story of David and Goliath

By Eliana Jordan

2 min read

House of David revives ancient story of faith and destiny amid Israel’s modern struggles

Stars of the David and Goliath adaptation Ayelet Zurer and Stephen Lang share what it was like to play larger-than-life biblical characters in epic new Amazon series

By Eliana Jordan

4 min read

Snow White review: ‘a Grimm remake’

Oh no, it’s off to woke they go in this new Disney adaptation, co-starring Gal Gadot, of its 1937 animated classic

By John Nathan

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

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Books

Are we really so special? Two new works take on the great Jewish identity debate

By Alun David

5 min read

Manya Wilkinson: ‘I wanted to write an edgy novel about the shtetl’

This year’s Wingate winner on her tragicomedy Lublin and lost family history

By Jennifer Lipman

6 min read

The Chasidic stories that anticipate the parables of Franz Kafka

Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav was one of the great Chasidic writers of the early modern period, and this Pushkin Press translation of his tales of rabbis, robbers, princes and paradoxes is a treasure

By David Herman

1 min read

The Prosecutor review: ‘the Jew who put his country on trial’

This is a monumental biography of Fritz Bauer, the German-Jewish lawyer who went back to Deutschland to see justice done

By Jenni Frazer

2 min read

Music

All Music

GOLDY is a Jewish Ukrainian singer bringing her unique sound to the UK. (Photo: Vadim Yatsun)

Yiddish music

‘I don’t want to hide where I’m from’: Ukrainian singer Goldy on launch of new Jewish-inspired single ‘Shalom’

By Eliana Jordan

1 min read

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

The JC meets three young women bringing Jewish inclusivity to London’s nightlife scene

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

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